Honda S2000

[MrH]

Hmm, maybe adjustable damping would be good. Sounds like you have too much rear rebound. Might need some more toe in too. And with the square tires that front end is gonna hold on for dear life. AP1s are notorious for snap oversteer out of the box; surprised Bilstein didn't dual that back.

Pretty sure it's not a damping issue. Ride and wheel control all feel good. I went from a pretty big staggered setup on a car that was already tail happy to a square setup.

I'm not too concerned.  It's actually not far from ideal, but the twitchiness is inherent to the car to some degree (really low polar moment of inertia, quickest steering I've ever experienced, and a power train with a ton of inertia). I'm not drifting this thing around on the street with limits this high. I'd prefer a little oversteer than understeer too. If I really wanted to try and get it more neutral, I'd get a slightly stiffer front sway bar.

[12,000 RPM]

I guess if you're good with it I'm good with it When I hear oversteer I go all cupcake dog. Z had a little snap oversteer in steady state/off throttle and the G had weird slow oversteer that was rarely an issue but hard to recover from when it came.

Speaking of which, you gonna track it? I feel like you have to.

[MrH]

I guess if you're good with it I'm good with it When I hear oversteer I go all cupcake dog. Z had a little snap oversteer in steady state/off throttle and the G had weird slow oversteer that was rarely an issue but hard to recover from when it came.

Speaking of which, you gonna track it? I feel like you have to.

Better oversteer than understeer.

If there was something close and relatively cheap, I'd consider tracking it.  Not really interested in driving all the way up to Mid Ohio or something and spending a fortune to do a weekend there.  It's mostly just a fun street car.

I think I've finally accomplished with it what I wanted when I first bought it, which is:  a more exciting, more raw, open top version of the BRZ.  BRZ way too slow, too boring, too quiet, but the handling was phenomenal.  NC miata's engine was boring.  This power train is something really special.  Just took a lot of years of messing with it and fixing things to get there.

[CaminoRacer]

Take it to Trader's World and do autox.

[AutobahnSHO]

They make them in 15s and 16s which fit miatas better. S2000s all run the 17s for the most part because they make them in +55 offset which is a strange setup and pretty much S2000 specific.

Wheels were around $250 a piece, so it was maybe $1100 for the set shipped, and I think tires were another $840 think?  It was around $2k for wheels and tires.

Got the coilovers for dirt cheap of course.

I took it to TurnIn Concepts and they did the coilover install, ride height adjustments, alignment, and they rolled the fenders in the rear just slightly. Got away without rolling the fronts by running enough camber in the front. I get a very very slight rub if I go close to full lock with a lot of speed and off camber road surface.

Nice. !!   

That's too much money for me at the moment- I got a screaming deal on Scrappy and although I "want" to put a rollbar on and need to get some rust/paint done, I'm a cheapskate ...

[MrH]

The S2000 is alive and well.  Spent the last week getting it ready for the summer.  Had to do a lot of maintenance stuff.

- Oil change
- Timing chain tensioner replacement
- Soft top cleaning and protectant
- Detailed the whole thing
- Charge battery, tire pressure, etc

I thought my timing chain tensioner was fine, but it is a bit quieter with the new one.  Took the car on a long drive yesterday.  Whole car is buttery smooth, save for the clutch buzz sometimes.  Been throwing around the idea of selling it and getting something like a new BRZ or Miata.  When it's dirty, not being driven, and needs a lot of maintenance work in the dead of winter, I think about getting rid of it

But now that it's up and moving again, it's hard to deny the driving experience it provides with basically zero depreciation.  9000 RPM, loud noises, top down driving, and worth more than it was when I bought it 5 years ago.  All-in, it's a very, very cheap thrill to keep around.  Something like a new BRZ...I'm going to lose my ass on depreciation alone in the first few years.

I'm going to dump a little money and time into it to fix all the little things that annoy me and see if I'm still tempted to get something newer.  Some basic stuff:

- Upgrade the phone holder to a Magsafe one
- Fix all the flaking trim paint by just removing it with rubbing alcohol.  Seems to be the typical fix most go for.
- Swap to the OEM red honda badges.  It's kind of a stupid ricer thing, but I think it makes the car look a lot more modern
- Add speed sensitive volume to the stereo.  I'm constantly changing volume settings based on wind noise
- Maybe a new steering wheel or seats?  Undecided here.  Both are pretty expensive.

[FoMoJo]

Now you've come to your senses.

[MrH]

What really stood out after working on it this weekend (really the first time I've worked on it considerably myself.  I was just trying it to a shop for maintenance before).

Getting this car on jack stands is almost impossible currently   It's so low, and the jack point in the front is so deep...  I need to get some ultra low profile ramps.  My current ramps I can't even get up with using wood planks leading up to them.  Just too steep.  Even my low profile jack is too tall.  Took multiple steps up with wood, then partial ramp usage, then a jack, then jack stands.

[CALL_911]

Keep it. Way cooler than an ND

[CaminoRacer]

New seat or steering wheel: Keep it OEM or OEM-equivalent. No ricer junk! Which means it'll be $$

Seats can be a PITA when dealing with aftermarket brackets and stuff. A lot of the time you end up sitting higher unless you've very careful to streamline everything

[Rich]

- Add speed sensitive volume to the stereo.  I'm constantly changing volume settings based on wind noise

I'll be curious to see your solution on this one

[Laconian]

Bose Audiopilot(TM)?

[Soup DeVille]

I'll be curious to see your solution on this one

A small kite attached to the volume knob through an intricate pulley system and a calibrated rubber band.

[MrH]

New seat or steering wheel: Keep it OEM or OEM-equivalent. No ricer junk! Which means it'll be $$

Seats can be a PITA when dealing with aftermarket brackets and stuff. A lot of the time you end up sitting higher unless you've very careful to streamline everything

I'd love to find some OEM red seats in great condition, but everyone loves S2000 seats for Civics, so they're hard to find and expensive.

My bolsters are pretty sad looking on the driver side and there's some big scraps.

I'll be curious to see your solution on this one

Bose Audiopilot(TM)?

A small kite attached to the volume knob through an intricate pulley system and a calibrated rubber band.

I wish it was that cool.  The S2000 has that cool radio door, and all the HVAC controls and secondary audio controls are at the driver's hands.  When you replace the stock head unit, you need a device that connects the secondary audio controls to the new head unit.  There's a company called Modifry that makes these little devices that connect the two. Pretty much everyone with an S2000 has one.  They are able to be programmed to do speed based compensation.

I already have the Modifry device installed from when I redid the whole audio system.  I just need to tap into a speed sensor on the passenger side, run a wire over to the device on the driver side, and then play around with it to get it programmed right.  There are 2 settings to can preset, and 14 levels of adjustment.

[AutobahnSHO]

very nice!!! 

If you sell that car it will be the one you regret getting rid of for the rest of your life.

[MrH]

Ordered the fancy Honda accessory 4 piece carpet set. Not cheap, but the stock mats were cheap to begin with. 20 years of wear and they look pretty rough.



Red badges go on this weekend.

I took the center console off. The trim around the shifter had flaking paint. Everyone has this issue. So I took rubbing alcohol to it. There's a nice, real metal in dark chrome underneath. I was pretty happy with how it came out.

[FoMoJo]

Nice.

[MrH]

My OEM ricer type R badges took the following path with USPS.  Keep in mind, I live about 30 miles from Cincinnati.

- Plymouth, MI
- Detroit, MI
- Cincinnati, OH
- Dallas, TX
- Coppell, TX
- Irving, TX
- Cincinnati, OH



Should get delivered today after traveling around the country.  I'll probably install them tonight.

[CaminoRacer]

Lol hopefully it just got put on the wrong truck at the Cincy hub

[MX793]

My OEM ricer type R badges took the following path with USPS.  Keep in mind, I live about 30 miles from Cincinnati.

- Plymouth, MI
- Detroit, MI
- Cincinnati, OH
- Dallas, TX
- Coppell, TX
- Irving, TX
- Cincinnati, OH



Should get delivered today after traveling around the country.  I'll probably install them tonight.

You now owe taxes in TX and MI.

[MrH]

Race car badges:




The trim around the shifter and roof had flaking paint.  Common issue for these.  Turns out, it's real metal underneath?  An hour with a micro fiber towel and some rubbing alcohol got all the paint off.  It's a nice dark chrome color underneath.  I have no idea why these came painted from the factory, this looks much better.




I took my seats out to vacuum the whole interior.  I put in new "premium" floor mats that I ordered from the UK.  These are apparently from Honda's Access line?  It's like premium OEM stuff I guess.



While I had the seats out, I decided to tackle my dead bolster on my driver's seat.  Common problem in these from people basically sitting on the bolster to get in and out.  Mine was totally flat.



Pulled the leather off, and yep, the foam was torn and sitting outside of the molded plastic portion that's supposed to give it shape.  Sounds ridiculous, but I took duct tape, put the foam back where it should be, and covered the whole area with tape.  Pulled the leather back over and attached it.  Worked better than I expected!  It's not perfect, the leather is pretty stretched and worn in that area, but it definitely has support now.  First time driving the car with support on both sides.

[Laconian]

Oh, those red lacquered badges.. that really takes me back What's next, POWERED BY VTEC?

[CaminoRacer]

Oh, those red lacquered badges.. that really takes me back What's next, POWERED BY VTEC?

Yes but it needs to be a windshield banner

[Laconian]

Yes but it needs to be a windshield banner

Taking up the entire fucking windshield. Oh man, that'd be some bosozoku shit.

[MrH]

Underglow that flashes red when VTEC is engaged!

[SJ_GTI]

Underglow that flashes red when VTEC is engaged!

[Laconian]

Underglow that flashes red when VTEC is engaged!

When I was in high school, I had all kinds of ricer LED ideas but lacked the knowledge and resources to implement them. Now that I have ample amounts of both knowledge and resources, I think that ricer LED shit is stupid.

[SJ_GTI]

When I was in high school, I had all kinds of ricer LED ideas but lacked the knowledge and resources to implement them. Now that I have ample amounts of both knowledge and resources, I think that ricer LED shit is stupid.

[MrH]

When I was in high school, I had all kinds of ricer LED ideas but lacked the knowledge and resources to implement them. Now that I have ample amounts of both knowledge and resources, I think that ricer LED shit is stupid.

LEDs?! They were neon tubes!

[Laconian]

LEDs?! They were neon tubes!

Repurposed OPEN signs!