rickya

Hi there, newbie just picked up my 2003 GT in MCB on new years eve in pretty good condition with 89k miles and 3 owners & 14 service stamps in the book.
Coming from a decade of various Imprezas ownership & going through various states of tune & modifications, finally ending with quite a capable fast road / track car, I would like to once again start another project. The plan is try and modify this standard S2K into a capable track car, to do approx 5/6 track days a year as well as several roads trips up & down the country & Europe. It wont be daily driven & I want to keep modifications limited to wheels, tyres, cooling, catch can, gauges, bucket seat & full suspension. The bulk of the budget will be on suspension this time and not engine & turbos & suspension, as with Subarus. At the moment the car has odd tyres, 16" rims on 50 profile tyres, wonky alignment, & a propensity to jump across lanes when changing up a gear & generally wander, drift, & veer off to the left under power! lol I assume the 90k / 14 year old suspension is probably nearing the end of its useful life.

So with that in mind I would like to know what people would recommend to upgrade when overhauling the suspension? Which products & where to buy from? So far I have looked at the Tegiwa / Hardrace websites. I have researched some items but dont know if these are suitable & whether I am missing out on bits that are important or changing bits that are unnecessary. Below are some of my ideas:

-Buddy club Roll Centre kit, - Front & Rear?
-Steering rack spacers? - Do I need this with Roll centre kit above?
-Driveshaft spacers? - Do I need it as I wont be lowering car too much for track work
-Energy Suspension Hyper flex Poly bush kit? - Does this replace all bushes?
-Castor bush from Megan or Spoon
-Hardrace uprated track rod ends? How many, which ones?
-Subframe collar kit - From where?
-Do I need to do Gearbox / Diff bushes?
-Should I do engine mounts?
-Coilover suspension: Meister R Zeta R (F10kg / R8kg).

I am sure there are a few things I have missed out but its a start. Apologies for so many questions but I dont have the depth of knowledge with the S2000s yet and there is only so much hours of research on the web can get you! I would appreciate any advice, help and hope to start a mini project thread with lots of pics etc as I have a tendency to type alot! lololololol

lovegroova

Just buy decent coilovers and you don't need all the other stuff. Ohlins, Bilstein PSS9 or KWv3 come well recommended. You should still come in within budget that way.

CynicG

Hi. Decent tyre/suspension. What he said ^^^^^.

Nice car. Reminds me of what mine used to look like.

richmc

Before you start messing, try what Honda has given you, unless you think they don't know how to design a decent sports car.
and

rickya

I have driven it back to London from Brighton and taken it to work a few times, plus early morning hoons. There is definitely something out with the current suspension, most probably bushes but could be the rear shocks also which don't seem to offer sufficient damping. I will offcourse first take it to my tuners workshop, put it on the ramps and check all bushes as much as possible. Also I am ultimately trying to turn it into a more focused track car rather than just a road car on coilovers.

Singh_snisen

what is the car for? Street car? Race car? Spirited driving? And what is budget for coilovers?

unclefester

Looks nice and clean / original. Shame to spoil that and there's a decreasing number left in that condition. Get the calipers checked. Do what has been suggested for the suspension and get the bushes / bolts checked and a good geo check done. If it hasn't been done, get the fluids changed in the engine, box and diff and consider getting a valve train inspection done. These are really sensitive to mixed and match tyres / varying tread depths so look at getting that sorted along with the above geo and see where you stand from there.

I wouldn't do anything else with it

Nottm_S2

My 'track' car (which hasnt seen a track yet) has budget coils and they are very hard and overall i'm unimpressed. Maybe they'll suit the track but they are not great for the road and i think compromise grip at the back end

I would spend £100 getting it properly aligned by someone who knows what they are doing, they can tell you if anything is bent (something is on mine) and you can have a poke about seeing if stuff is siezed and the state of things like compliance bushes at the front.

People seem to like Ohlins, Nitrons and the like at the expensive end of coils and that's probably where i'll be looking next but I am wondering whether i need to sort out the problem on the back end first

rickya

Thanks for advice. Have done an oil and filters chnage. Still need to do gearbox and diff fluid. 3 different tyres doesn't help the cause so that will be next along with 17" staggered wheels. Need to check if maybe brake caliper on passenger side is sticking, hence pulling to left. May just jack up car from front amd try hand turning wheels and intermittently applying brakes to check? The car bodywork will remain completely standard apart from wheels and driver seat change. I will keep those original bits anyway for future. Hoping not hash it up with silly mods and mainly concentrate on upgrading suspension and maintaining it properly. Will keep standard airbox and keep engine bay oem. Things like an oil catch can or silicone hoses will be black in colour and neatly tucked away as much as possible.

GC84

Can't comment on suspension upgrades, but when my car pulled to one side during acceleration and deceleration, it was a seized rear caliper that was the culprit.