My learning curve
10-18-2012, 04:46 AM
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My learning curve
So first of all my name is Bobby. I have been in the car scene for a few years now. I got into it to increase my chances with girls, but now I'm just your normal enthusiast who realised girls don't like cars, they just like money. Some of you guys might know my previous car which was a EJ8 honda civic coupe with a JDM ITR front swap. Anyway, i will start from the start. I purchased a JDM B18C through Hi Power Racing back in 2007. From the first moment i drove it with the new motor i was hooked. Ivan invited me to attend a saturday afternoon sprint in the same year and well at that moment everything changed. I stopped driving like a dick on the street as i learnt you could legally drive faster in a safer environment for only 90$. With my first run out i ran a 64.1 on the sprint circuit and i had never been happier. Fast forward a few months and a lot of wasted money a good friend of mine Paul finished his civic build ( 40rgd ). The day he showed it off at the annual meet was the day I took mine off the road as i wanted to try to build what he did. Paul was in my opinion one of the first few aussie guys to build a honda correctly. His attention to detail was amazing and the cars performance spoke for itself. Also the most important thing i learnt from pauls build was you could do things yourself. The attention to detail a owner/builder puts into a car can been seen a mile away. So that night the part out started and the new plans of a K swapped self built civic started. After a massive falling out with HPR i started to source parts for myself, opening my eyes up to a wider view of what was possible with these cars..... 2 years on i finished it. I had a lot of problems, but slowly things come together and with the help of some good friends and 101 we got it over the line. But some 6 weeks after finishing it and after my first track day with the new setup the motor let go. What happened was the Kseries engine has a design fault with the retainers, when the car over revs it can fracture OEM the retainers. I didnt know this and instead of selecting 5th i went back to 3rd. But it was driving the car back from the city 2 weeks after the over rev that it let go, about 100m from pauls house. So after 2 years of building it was dead. I thought that i might aswell go all out so i built the motor with the help of 101, rob novak and JHH. We ended up building a motor that was running WELL below its limit so it had room for driver error. See up until this point 1 had only completed 2 track days so i was still well green and theses days were some 3 years apart. Anyway after a few hiccups with the cars setup we got it to work again and i might add work well.
Anyway, a goal i always wanted to achieve was to win best JDM style car in a honda civic at auto salon. The idea of winning that in a car made in america (coupe) and what your nanna does her shopping. After meeting another good mate Rory ( Downshift) and being introduced to downshiftaus he invited me to the 2010 auto salon at the GC. Where i ran 131db on the dyno at around 240hp and took out best hard tuned street car. Now i don't believe i deserved this award as i was shadowed by the mercury motorsports GTR35 with a dry carbon front and the skylark skyline, but the idea of people taking notice of my civic was more then i could have ever have hopped for. Later that year i guess was when it all changed for me. I wasn't having much luck at the track, like i had this big goal time where the car SHOULD be running, but i couldn't get close to it. I was having braking issues and the car just scared me. So in november of 2010 i went on a 6 week holiday to Japan by myself to do some looking around then finishing up with 3 weeks in the snow. While i was there i stopped by Spoon sports/ Type one in Tokyo. One thing i noticed there was people don't seem to spend money on race parts like we do and not use them. All the guys i spoke to all seen the track. But the all started off as a stock car and added as needed. Something that i had not done. They basically were saying before you apply power you need to be able to slow down and turn. A few days later i visited J's racing in Osaka ( i have been a big J's fan for a while so i was excited). What i didn't realise about J's was their business approach. First and fore most they are a race team, they produce parts to win. If they don't have success then people don't buy their parts and they don't last. J's has been there for well over 10 years and only dealing with Honda's, so they knew a thing or two. I got a guided tour by one of the staff members. He showed me a customers FD2R ( the new civic type R sedan japan only ). Showed me lap times. Another customers EK9, same deal, lap times. Then on to the s2000's. There were 3 there. S2000 is a car i have always wanted but was encouraged not to buy by HPR. My cousin owned one and i loved driving it. So this was a eye opener to me. All 3 were amazing, all 3 track times. i asked why there was only one ek9? He then explained that cars get better and that technology changes for the better. He explained that take for instance the s2000, it was built to be a well preforming car for the average man to take to the track on the weekends and still drive to work the next day. That statement right there is something that i had lost with my civic, i couldn't drive it anywhere without worry of being pulled over not to mention that i doubt they had circuit work high on the design list. For all the crap i had to remove to make it what it was. I had a good chat to kuzo and left there with a completely different view. I knew that in 5 years i didn't want the civic in my garage and up until then i need to keep developing it on the track. Out of the blue i got a message from a guy that wanted to buy it. A few months later my garage was empty. But the weekend before it was received i went for one last run with my friends at powerplay. It was good to send the car off in the same manner it was made. Around friends having fun with the hope that peoples opinions on honda's can change. I think that at powerplay we defiantly raised some eye brows. The start of the day another good mate josh (mullens red ekk20) and I were in the staging lanes getting laughed at by people and being called gay because we were there in civics. But 3 cruise sessions passed and by the end of the day we had people coming up to us and talking to us like normal people, not gay outcasts. To get credit from older guys driving badass mustangs that leave 11's down the straight as the blow away from you was something i never considered would happen. I would really like to thank Rory for the chance to do that, i must say that that day was the day when i knew my time with the car was done.
My cousin was selling his s2000 at a price i couldn't say no to. The issue was, it needed repair. The front bar was cracked, bald tyres, major wear and tear, needed a lot of tlc etc. So I happily bought it, BUT this time no big builds. I wanted the tested and proven approach to be the main focus. I wanted to stay away from custom work, i wanted to use proven parts and most importantly i wanted to only really use japanese parts. My main reason for this was the fact that having been to the work shops, i could see where the profits were going. Back into grass roots programs, R&D. Thats not to say other countries don't do the same thing. But with the civic i had learnt that a lot of the stuff i was getting from the states was the same as the japanese items, just built in china and sold for less. I asked myself if i was giving these guys my money, Where were the profits going. They weren't going into making new parts like the more expensive japanese items. Im not trying to make anyone fell guilty or trying to seem like a elitist but for me i could see the bigger picture. The most fun i was having with my friends was at the race track and to think of the day when all i could get was 20 year old copy wheels because the copy companies sent the bigger companies broke and now don't make new parts was something that i didn't want to contribute too. Enough ranting and down to the building process. I fixed the problems on the car back to OEM as i wanted a standard car again. I wanted to set smaller goals and meet those. I wanted to notice small tweaks and not just buy stuff because someone said it could shave 3 seconds off my time as that approach didn't work last time.
First few items i fixed was the front lip. When i got the car it had c west side skirts and rear pods. The front lip was broken in half after trying to snow plough a fox. Josh came around, taught me to fibre glass and after about 2 weeks of bogging and sanding i got it on. I removed the side skirts as i just didn't like them. Doing so revealed some defects in the paint. Faded, chipped and just gay. Tyres were replaced with federal Rsr, i had ran on semi's on my last car and i wanted to see how close to my old PB i could get using street tyres. Next on the agenda was the exhaust, the one that was on it hung too low and was loud. I managed to win a Js racing 70RS titanium exhaust on Yahoo. Another thing i learnt when visiting J's was they made bad ass s2000 parts. The entire system cat back weighs in at 4.4kg. Not bad considering the standard system weighs 30kg.
The OEM clutch gave way so i replaced that with a ORC309ds. I didn't know what i was doing so i got the help of my good friend rob novak (definition motorsports) and B2d to put it in for me as well as weld up the hole that was in my new exhaust before it could be fitted. I attended a happy laps at lakeside and found the car to have this strange wobble in the rear when turning about 100kph. I later read that with the design of the body of the car it creates lift, thus the wobbling feeling. All roads pointed to a rear wing. I replaced the intake as it was rattling, added a ETD because the F20 in the s2000 moves, ALOT. One thing i did do this time however was REPLACED THE RETAINERS. Like the Kseries motor and the F series suffers the same fault. Lesson learnt. I opted for super tech items as at the time i couldn't afford the japanese items. Got rid of the heavy OEM leather seats and put in some Bride fixed back saving a few KG's each side. Also deleted the Airpump as it does nothing and weighs 5kg. A focus of mine is to make the most of what you have and in my opinion the best way to use what power you have is to reduce weight. My old ARC intake was rattling and i had some spare coin so i purchased a Js intake. This in turn was a poor decision as it meant i needed to order a new bonnet. The js snorkel goes over the radiator support and thus means you have to cut your OEM hood to make it fit. The J's bonnet has a bump in it to allow for the intake. Another great addition on the js bonnet is the two vents. This reduces engine bay heat and allows the flowing air in the engine bay to be sucked out of the bonnet instead of being stuck in against the firewall. Josh sold his s2k and in turn i bought his wing. I didn't think it would make any difference but during a practice day at lakeside i was proven wrong. The car had no rear wobble.
Learning the car at the lakeside practice day
With the addition of the wing i was feeling comfortable in the car finally. Aesthetically i thought the wing wasn't wide enough for the car. B2D was after a wing so i bought a bigger 1600 (old one was 1350) but this time a single blade. I figure I'm not going to be going super fast anytime soon so a single will be fine, later on i can add a gurney flap if i need more df but i doubt that will happen. The new bonnet finally arrived,7 months later. Along with it a new baffled sump and braided brake lines. It took me 8 hours to swap a sump and brake lines, haha. Dont work on your car after a red eye flight home. The next day was my first turn at sprints in the new car and at QR. From the first session out there i knew this was the right decision. Although i was running slower then my old car time wise my cornering speeds were faster. The cornering ability of this car is amazing. Honda really hit the nail on the head with this, my turn 2 speed is 10kph faster then what i was doing in my civic and I'm on street tyres weighing probably 200kg more then it. I ended up with a 63.3 which is 2.5 seconds slower then my old car. I then got to drive home with the AC on which was something i have never had been able to do. While i was back at work i started piecing together my diff setup. Although this time, before it goes in i have to reach my goal time of 61.5. So until then it sits at home. My current train of thought is to concentrate on seat time and protecting the car. I have upgraded the radiator ( kayo dual core), catch can, cooling plate ( the main reason for this is looks, it matches the engine bay), oil filter stopper ( a common problem with the s2000 is it vibrates so much that the oil filters come loose squirting hot oil over the exhaust, nek minnit engine fire), thermostat and fan switch. When i swapped out the thermostat and fan switch i also put on after market radiator hoses. Lucky i did because up near the housing on the top hoses there were some splits in it.
(I copied and pasted this from another forum which will have some what of a date reference too it. I will fix it, but not right now)
Lakeside scares the crap out of me, it excites me but it scares me more. But in saying that, each clear lap i had i improved on times. I set out to finish the day with a 67 and i ended up with a 64.6. my last session saw a 64.9 then a 64.6. a result i am extremely happy with as it shows I'm consistent with the car and I'm learning and becoming more comfortable. That is something i couldn't achieve in the civic. I built that car beyond what i was able to drive. So after lakeside i learnt a few things. When i go sideways i poo myself grabbing the window washer and under hard braking the rear of the car gets extremely un balanced. The car sniffer dogs very heavily. When i bought it, it came with some 7 year old buddy club n+ which i think might be a cause of the problem. Gone of the days of buying a replacement part straight away, now i want to see if i can better myself with what i have, i figure if i can learn to drive faster on what could be a bad suspension choice then when the day comes when i get something nicer i should fully be able to see the difference between the two. A long rant i know, but these have been my experiences so far, hopefully i can dip into the 50's at qr with this car someday still enjoying driving with mates and driving home with the AC on.
I was home last week for my week off and managed to fall on the same weekend as the Hardtuned Norwell day. For those of you who have been to a day like this will know how much fun it is and for those of you who haven't. GET OUT THERE! I suggest going with a bunch of mates as i did, it was really the best 200 i have spent in a long time. Also on the same weekend was the downshift meet. I haven't been to one of these for quiet a while, so i was looking forward to seeing what was on offer. The event its self is great. But i don't understand the scene, it seems people are more interested in having a parts list then using just a few simple parts that work better. Also trying to fit a mould but not willing to go the whole hog. For instance there was a car there, running on copy wheels with stretched tyres which were skinnier then the OEM ones, but it was tucking rim. I get the whole stance thing needing to stretch tyres, but this was just stupid. What annoyed me the most was its a GTR. Anyway, Enough angry. A few days before the norwell meet i went to see Ken for accurate suspension. I have been using Ken for a few years now and since i make the step to RWD he has helped me a lot with my driving and setup. After my last outing at lakeside i gave him my feedback on how the car felt. As a result he left the front camber at 2.5 and we moved the rear from 2 to 3. Because my car is slow, we are hoping with more camber i can get on the pedal sooner allowing me to get a better straight line speed. We also discussed a new coil over setup. The spring rates in the buddy clubs are 8K front and rear, with where the car is now thats too soft and with where i want to head there is no way they are going to cut it.
On sunday i met up with my mates at early am for some maccas, I always complain about the crap food at work, but my body was not ready for a maccas meal. After not eating that crap for 6 months +, it didn't go down well. We got to the track day and i was blown away by the quality of the cars there. It was good to see dudes sliding bad ass cars then going out in the sprint sessions, what hard tuned do, the community they create is something i want to be apart of. Everyone is really supportive and helpful. There was even a hilux ute out there, and he was killing it. Watching him in the gymkhana was amazing, hats off to that guy, he sure can steer. I ended up having a go on the skid pan. My main goal was to spin out as so far i haven't gone backwards in this car i wanted to see what it was like. Now, trying to 'drift' this was hard, I'm sure most of the crowd was having a good laugh because i was struggling. I could get it out ok, but when i would try and keep it there i would spin, then when i would back off before i would spin it would straighten. In learning to try and ' drift ' this, i think i learnt more in 10 minutes in that skid pan and all of my track days in all of my cars combined. At the end of it i got one very rough full circle, rough is the key word but. I was as graceful as a fatty at the alex grinding up on the pole. Out of the track, i noticed the difference the 1 degree of camber made, i was able to get on it a little bit earlier and it felt solid. My gearing seemed really off and i will show you why when my video uploads. I have a 4.7 final gear sitting at home that i think will fix this issue but i have been waiting for my lsd to die or reach 60 around qr. So until then i will have to work with it. The only issues i left the day with was my timing chain tensioner is dying and the chain slap is getting louder. Toda make a good replacement so thats on the cards. The other, my right rear coil over is starting to make noises when it gets hot. So i think its track racing days are numbered, and on the back of that. I just bought these bad boys. Zeal super functions. 6 way adjustable with 16K front and rear springs. Settings 1-2 is street driving, 3-4 is circuit on high end street tyres (S) and 5-6 is for track work on SEMI's. I don't think i will get the most out of these until i switch to semis some time down the track, but for now they will be better then what i have. I also upped my tyre pressure to 28psi hot, i seem to be wearing the tyre better on the higher PSI.
Norwell day
So next from here is finish getting ready for summer. I need to purchase a oil cooler kit and I'm looking at a hardtop as i never use the soft top and this way i should get more out of my rear wing as the air will be smoother hitting it. Not to mention i drop another 20kg.
Going into storage
Got 2 packages when i was home last, one of which consisted of my new (2nd hand) zeal super functions. Now for what ever reason they have 14KG springs in them all round, which is surprising as they only come out with 16Kg all round. Regardless the 14K will be better then the 16k with the current rubber, aero and tracks that i run on and to be honest probably well into the future. Unless i go nemo aero. I am getting them dropped off at ken's to get serviced and get the old once over so hopefully when im home next i will get them in and a corner balance at the same time. I was also considering running 3 degrees up the front. I almost have my 2nd car up and running so i dont mind getting a bit more aggressive with the s2k's suspension setting. But i wouldnt be surprised if i just leave it as it works at the moment and works well. So while the system is empty i figured i would nip it in the but and do the hoses. TCT, well my old one was shot when i bought the car, so i replaced it with another OEM one and some 5,000kms later its noisy again. The Toda unit has been modified and has the promise of not wearing out like my last one did. Also Toda being Toda, i know it will work. Clutch line purchase is something im not sure if i got right but my ORC setup is noisy ( as i got the one without the springs) normally but when at the hardtuned day a few weeks ago, when the car got hot it got worse and the pedal throw became alot longer. So i have no idea why its noisier but im guessing the increased pedal was due to the expenditure of the OEM rubber line. We will see how this goes, my money is on it will make no difference but fingers crossed im wrong. So next from here is the 11/10 time attack day at QR. My last time at qr was 63 and 65 sprint and clubman but since then i have done 2 lakeside practices and 1 sprint and then 1 norwell day. Setup wise i havent changed anything EXCEPT for the coil overs. It should be interesting to see what direction these take me, on paper i should run quicker, but just stuffing with a system that has worked for me up until now might set me backwards. After this sprint it should be the death of my RSR's and was thinking of getting some AD08's. After that my next run should be in november back at QR but on the newer tyres so that will be interesting to see the difference's back to back. Also still need to purchase a oil cooler, but after being at work for 3 days i have already just spent WAYYYY to much on my next mod. No teasers until it arrives in around 3 months. That buy should be my last major one for the year as im now putting cash away to head back to japan in Feb for some more snow and shop visits.
Spec Sheet thus far ( for those that care ):
2001 Honda AP1 S2000
F20C, Grand Prix White with Red interior and tape deck standard .
Exterior:
Js racing type S body kit
Js racing type S bonnet FRP
Js racing 1600mm Gt wing ( Voltex) 245mm Stands (recommend to any one that enjoy time attack)
Mugen FRP hardtop (worth every cent)
Js racing Tow hooks
Craft Square Mirrors
ASM FRP duckbill
Interior:
Bride Zeta 3 x2 (One of the best mods IMO you can do to a car)
Bride seat rails that i can't move because the s2000 floor pan is crap and the seats sit flat on the ground.
Spoon (discontinued) Ti gear knob
Circuit hero extension. (the longer throw helps me not miss gears)
Some CD player and speakers.
2.2Kg fire extinguisher
Custom made carbon block offs
Seeker gauge pod
3x defi bf gauges (oil pressure, oil temp and water temp)
Schroth 6 point harness
Engine stuff:
Js racing intake (for type S bumper)
Js racing cooling plate
Js racing heat shield +heat reflecting tape (comes with a hole for the ETD to go through)
Js racing oil filter stopper ( highly recommended to s2k owners )
Js racing 2-1 catch can/overflow setup
Spoon venturi Throttle body
Gt motoring air pump delete kit (the worst customer service)
Spoon Baffled sump
Koyo dual core radiator (great buy)
Js racing headers (heat wrapped)
Js racing 70rs to exhaust ( sounds like poo under 5000rpm)
Js racing hardened exhaust rubbers ( THESE ARE A MUST if you have a Ti exhaust )
Js racing ETD
Js racing oil cap and radiator cap.
Billion radiator hoses.
Billion Water temp sensor adaptor.
Js racing thermostat and fan switch.
Toda TCT (far better then the oem)
Js racing braided clutch line
ORC 309DS clutch and fly wheel (noisy but drivable)
Walbro Fuel pump 255 lph
Haltech ECU
Full river dry cell battery 6kg
Trust 9 row oil cooler kit
ASM pulleys
Toda pulley kit
Super tech vales springs and retainers ( a must do)
J's racing engine mounts
Suspension,brakes and bracing
Zeal Super functions 14k all round (easily the best coilovers I have ever driven on )
Spoon offset front ball joints ( offset to add more camber)
Spoon steering rack spacers ( To return steering to OEM levels after lowering)(bump steer)
Endless MX-72 pads (dusty but awesome)rear
Project mu Club racer(awesome) front
Project mu oem sized slotted re placement rotors all round
Cusco brake stopper (i think i feel a difference)
Js racing front and rear strut braces.( Front is a waste of money but they rear was noticeable.)
Spoon Front and rear lower subframe braces (no difference)
Spoon rear diff mounts
Hard dog 4 point roll bar + c bar
Enkei RPF1 17x9x45
Federal RSR 255 all round
Js racing braided brake lines ( endless i believe)
Current alignment F -4, R staggered 2.7 - 3.2
Js racing Type S brake ducts
Spoon front gusset brace (stop the tearing of the OEM mounts)
Spoon rigid collars (great item)
Spoon Suspension bushings
Js racing steering rack ends / bump steer (only noticeable on the track)
Js racing adjustable toe arms/ bump steer (only noticeable on the track)
OS giken 1.5 LSD
Mazda 4.44 final gear treated
AP2 rear housing with billet end caps
Ebach front sway bar set to firm.
Track times:
QR sprint track - 59.91 (Z2)
QR Clubman - 62.27 (Rs3)
Lakeside - 61.94 (Rs3)
Norwell - 64.4x (Rs3)
I will update with some photos of everything another night along with some photos of Js and Spoon. Also a update on my most recent track day/day on the river. As far as not spending money for the rest of the year, that plan died as well.
Anyway, a goal i always wanted to achieve was to win best JDM style car in a honda civic at auto salon. The idea of winning that in a car made in america (coupe) and what your nanna does her shopping. After meeting another good mate Rory ( Downshift) and being introduced to downshiftaus he invited me to the 2010 auto salon at the GC. Where i ran 131db on the dyno at around 240hp and took out best hard tuned street car. Now i don't believe i deserved this award as i was shadowed by the mercury motorsports GTR35 with a dry carbon front and the skylark skyline, but the idea of people taking notice of my civic was more then i could have ever have hopped for. Later that year i guess was when it all changed for me. I wasn't having much luck at the track, like i had this big goal time where the car SHOULD be running, but i couldn't get close to it. I was having braking issues and the car just scared me. So in november of 2010 i went on a 6 week holiday to Japan by myself to do some looking around then finishing up with 3 weeks in the snow. While i was there i stopped by Spoon sports/ Type one in Tokyo. One thing i noticed there was people don't seem to spend money on race parts like we do and not use them. All the guys i spoke to all seen the track. But the all started off as a stock car and added as needed. Something that i had not done. They basically were saying before you apply power you need to be able to slow down and turn. A few days later i visited J's racing in Osaka ( i have been a big J's fan for a while so i was excited). What i didn't realise about J's was their business approach. First and fore most they are a race team, they produce parts to win. If they don't have success then people don't buy their parts and they don't last. J's has been there for well over 10 years and only dealing with Honda's, so they knew a thing or two. I got a guided tour by one of the staff members. He showed me a customers FD2R ( the new civic type R sedan japan only ). Showed me lap times. Another customers EK9, same deal, lap times. Then on to the s2000's. There were 3 there. S2000 is a car i have always wanted but was encouraged not to buy by HPR. My cousin owned one and i loved driving it. So this was a eye opener to me. All 3 were amazing, all 3 track times. i asked why there was only one ek9? He then explained that cars get better and that technology changes for the better. He explained that take for instance the s2000, it was built to be a well preforming car for the average man to take to the track on the weekends and still drive to work the next day. That statement right there is something that i had lost with my civic, i couldn't drive it anywhere without worry of being pulled over not to mention that i doubt they had circuit work high on the design list. For all the crap i had to remove to make it what it was. I had a good chat to kuzo and left there with a completely different view. I knew that in 5 years i didn't want the civic in my garage and up until then i need to keep developing it on the track. Out of the blue i got a message from a guy that wanted to buy it. A few months later my garage was empty. But the weekend before it was received i went for one last run with my friends at powerplay. It was good to send the car off in the same manner it was made. Around friends having fun with the hope that peoples opinions on honda's can change. I think that at powerplay we defiantly raised some eye brows. The start of the day another good mate josh (mullens red ekk20) and I were in the staging lanes getting laughed at by people and being called gay because we were there in civics. But 3 cruise sessions passed and by the end of the day we had people coming up to us and talking to us like normal people, not gay outcasts. To get credit from older guys driving badass mustangs that leave 11's down the straight as the blow away from you was something i never considered would happen. I would really like to thank Rory for the chance to do that, i must say that that day was the day when i knew my time with the car was done.
My cousin was selling his s2000 at a price i couldn't say no to. The issue was, it needed repair. The front bar was cracked, bald tyres, major wear and tear, needed a lot of tlc etc. So I happily bought it, BUT this time no big builds. I wanted the tested and proven approach to be the main focus. I wanted to stay away from custom work, i wanted to use proven parts and most importantly i wanted to only really use japanese parts. My main reason for this was the fact that having been to the work shops, i could see where the profits were going. Back into grass roots programs, R&D. Thats not to say other countries don't do the same thing. But with the civic i had learnt that a lot of the stuff i was getting from the states was the same as the japanese items, just built in china and sold for less. I asked myself if i was giving these guys my money, Where were the profits going. They weren't going into making new parts like the more expensive japanese items. Im not trying to make anyone fell guilty or trying to seem like a elitist but for me i could see the bigger picture. The most fun i was having with my friends was at the race track and to think of the day when all i could get was 20 year old copy wheels because the copy companies sent the bigger companies broke and now don't make new parts was something that i didn't want to contribute too. Enough ranting and down to the building process. I fixed the problems on the car back to OEM as i wanted a standard car again. I wanted to set smaller goals and meet those. I wanted to notice small tweaks and not just buy stuff because someone said it could shave 3 seconds off my time as that approach didn't work last time.
First few items i fixed was the front lip. When i got the car it had c west side skirts and rear pods. The front lip was broken in half after trying to snow plough a fox. Josh came around, taught me to fibre glass and after about 2 weeks of bogging and sanding i got it on. I removed the side skirts as i just didn't like them. Doing so revealed some defects in the paint. Faded, chipped and just gay. Tyres were replaced with federal Rsr, i had ran on semi's on my last car and i wanted to see how close to my old PB i could get using street tyres. Next on the agenda was the exhaust, the one that was on it hung too low and was loud. I managed to win a Js racing 70RS titanium exhaust on Yahoo. Another thing i learnt when visiting J's was they made bad ass s2000 parts. The entire system cat back weighs in at 4.4kg. Not bad considering the standard system weighs 30kg.
The OEM clutch gave way so i replaced that with a ORC309ds. I didn't know what i was doing so i got the help of my good friend rob novak (definition motorsports) and B2d to put it in for me as well as weld up the hole that was in my new exhaust before it could be fitted. I attended a happy laps at lakeside and found the car to have this strange wobble in the rear when turning about 100kph. I later read that with the design of the body of the car it creates lift, thus the wobbling feeling. All roads pointed to a rear wing. I replaced the intake as it was rattling, added a ETD because the F20 in the s2000 moves, ALOT. One thing i did do this time however was REPLACED THE RETAINERS. Like the Kseries motor and the F series suffers the same fault. Lesson learnt. I opted for super tech items as at the time i couldn't afford the japanese items. Got rid of the heavy OEM leather seats and put in some Bride fixed back saving a few KG's each side. Also deleted the Airpump as it does nothing and weighs 5kg. A focus of mine is to make the most of what you have and in my opinion the best way to use what power you have is to reduce weight. My old ARC intake was rattling and i had some spare coin so i purchased a Js intake. This in turn was a poor decision as it meant i needed to order a new bonnet. The js snorkel goes over the radiator support and thus means you have to cut your OEM hood to make it fit. The J's bonnet has a bump in it to allow for the intake. Another great addition on the js bonnet is the two vents. This reduces engine bay heat and allows the flowing air in the engine bay to be sucked out of the bonnet instead of being stuck in against the firewall. Josh sold his s2k and in turn i bought his wing. I didn't think it would make any difference but during a practice day at lakeside i was proven wrong. The car had no rear wobble.
Learning the car at the lakeside practice day
With the addition of the wing i was feeling comfortable in the car finally. Aesthetically i thought the wing wasn't wide enough for the car. B2D was after a wing so i bought a bigger 1600 (old one was 1350) but this time a single blade. I figure I'm not going to be going super fast anytime soon so a single will be fine, later on i can add a gurney flap if i need more df but i doubt that will happen. The new bonnet finally arrived,7 months later. Along with it a new baffled sump and braided brake lines. It took me 8 hours to swap a sump and brake lines, haha. Dont work on your car after a red eye flight home. The next day was my first turn at sprints in the new car and at QR. From the first session out there i knew this was the right decision. Although i was running slower then my old car time wise my cornering speeds were faster. The cornering ability of this car is amazing. Honda really hit the nail on the head with this, my turn 2 speed is 10kph faster then what i was doing in my civic and I'm on street tyres weighing probably 200kg more then it. I ended up with a 63.3 which is 2.5 seconds slower then my old car. I then got to drive home with the AC on which was something i have never had been able to do. While i was back at work i started piecing together my diff setup. Although this time, before it goes in i have to reach my goal time of 61.5. So until then it sits at home. My current train of thought is to concentrate on seat time and protecting the car. I have upgraded the radiator ( kayo dual core), catch can, cooling plate ( the main reason for this is looks, it matches the engine bay), oil filter stopper ( a common problem with the s2000 is it vibrates so much that the oil filters come loose squirting hot oil over the exhaust, nek minnit engine fire), thermostat and fan switch. When i swapped out the thermostat and fan switch i also put on after market radiator hoses. Lucky i did because up near the housing on the top hoses there were some splits in it.
(I copied and pasted this from another forum which will have some what of a date reference too it. I will fix it, but not right now)
Lakeside scares the crap out of me, it excites me but it scares me more. But in saying that, each clear lap i had i improved on times. I set out to finish the day with a 67 and i ended up with a 64.6. my last session saw a 64.9 then a 64.6. a result i am extremely happy with as it shows I'm consistent with the car and I'm learning and becoming more comfortable. That is something i couldn't achieve in the civic. I built that car beyond what i was able to drive. So after lakeside i learnt a few things. When i go sideways i poo myself grabbing the window washer and under hard braking the rear of the car gets extremely un balanced. The car sniffer dogs very heavily. When i bought it, it came with some 7 year old buddy club n+ which i think might be a cause of the problem. Gone of the days of buying a replacement part straight away, now i want to see if i can better myself with what i have, i figure if i can learn to drive faster on what could be a bad suspension choice then when the day comes when i get something nicer i should fully be able to see the difference between the two. A long rant i know, but these have been my experiences so far, hopefully i can dip into the 50's at qr with this car someday still enjoying driving with mates and driving home with the AC on.
I was home last week for my week off and managed to fall on the same weekend as the Hardtuned Norwell day. For those of you who have been to a day like this will know how much fun it is and for those of you who haven't. GET OUT THERE! I suggest going with a bunch of mates as i did, it was really the best 200 i have spent in a long time. Also on the same weekend was the downshift meet. I haven't been to one of these for quiet a while, so i was looking forward to seeing what was on offer. The event its self is great. But i don't understand the scene, it seems people are more interested in having a parts list then using just a few simple parts that work better. Also trying to fit a mould but not willing to go the whole hog. For instance there was a car there, running on copy wheels with stretched tyres which were skinnier then the OEM ones, but it was tucking rim. I get the whole stance thing needing to stretch tyres, but this was just stupid. What annoyed me the most was its a GTR. Anyway, Enough angry. A few days before the norwell meet i went to see Ken for accurate suspension. I have been using Ken for a few years now and since i make the step to RWD he has helped me a lot with my driving and setup. After my last outing at lakeside i gave him my feedback on how the car felt. As a result he left the front camber at 2.5 and we moved the rear from 2 to 3. Because my car is slow, we are hoping with more camber i can get on the pedal sooner allowing me to get a better straight line speed. We also discussed a new coil over setup. The spring rates in the buddy clubs are 8K front and rear, with where the car is now thats too soft and with where i want to head there is no way they are going to cut it.
On sunday i met up with my mates at early am for some maccas, I always complain about the crap food at work, but my body was not ready for a maccas meal. After not eating that crap for 6 months +, it didn't go down well. We got to the track day and i was blown away by the quality of the cars there. It was good to see dudes sliding bad ass cars then going out in the sprint sessions, what hard tuned do, the community they create is something i want to be apart of. Everyone is really supportive and helpful. There was even a hilux ute out there, and he was killing it. Watching him in the gymkhana was amazing, hats off to that guy, he sure can steer. I ended up having a go on the skid pan. My main goal was to spin out as so far i haven't gone backwards in this car i wanted to see what it was like. Now, trying to 'drift' this was hard, I'm sure most of the crowd was having a good laugh because i was struggling. I could get it out ok, but when i would try and keep it there i would spin, then when i would back off before i would spin it would straighten. In learning to try and ' drift ' this, i think i learnt more in 10 minutes in that skid pan and all of my track days in all of my cars combined. At the end of it i got one very rough full circle, rough is the key word but. I was as graceful as a fatty at the alex grinding up on the pole. Out of the track, i noticed the difference the 1 degree of camber made, i was able to get on it a little bit earlier and it felt solid. My gearing seemed really off and i will show you why when my video uploads. I have a 4.7 final gear sitting at home that i think will fix this issue but i have been waiting for my lsd to die or reach 60 around qr. So until then i will have to work with it. The only issues i left the day with was my timing chain tensioner is dying and the chain slap is getting louder. Toda make a good replacement so thats on the cards. The other, my right rear coil over is starting to make noises when it gets hot. So i think its track racing days are numbered, and on the back of that. I just bought these bad boys. Zeal super functions. 6 way adjustable with 16K front and rear springs. Settings 1-2 is street driving, 3-4 is circuit on high end street tyres (S) and 5-6 is for track work on SEMI's. I don't think i will get the most out of these until i switch to semis some time down the track, but for now they will be better then what i have. I also upped my tyre pressure to 28psi hot, i seem to be wearing the tyre better on the higher PSI.
Norwell day
So next from here is finish getting ready for summer. I need to purchase a oil cooler kit and I'm looking at a hardtop as i never use the soft top and this way i should get more out of my rear wing as the air will be smoother hitting it. Not to mention i drop another 20kg.
Going into storage
Got 2 packages when i was home last, one of which consisted of my new (2nd hand) zeal super functions. Now for what ever reason they have 14KG springs in them all round, which is surprising as they only come out with 16Kg all round. Regardless the 14K will be better then the 16k with the current rubber, aero and tracks that i run on and to be honest probably well into the future. Unless i go nemo aero. I am getting them dropped off at ken's to get serviced and get the old once over so hopefully when im home next i will get them in and a corner balance at the same time. I was also considering running 3 degrees up the front. I almost have my 2nd car up and running so i dont mind getting a bit more aggressive with the s2k's suspension setting. But i wouldnt be surprised if i just leave it as it works at the moment and works well. So while the system is empty i figured i would nip it in the but and do the hoses. TCT, well my old one was shot when i bought the car, so i replaced it with another OEM one and some 5,000kms later its noisy again. The Toda unit has been modified and has the promise of not wearing out like my last one did. Also Toda being Toda, i know it will work. Clutch line purchase is something im not sure if i got right but my ORC setup is noisy ( as i got the one without the springs) normally but when at the hardtuned day a few weeks ago, when the car got hot it got worse and the pedal throw became alot longer. So i have no idea why its noisier but im guessing the increased pedal was due to the expenditure of the OEM rubber line. We will see how this goes, my money is on it will make no difference but fingers crossed im wrong. So next from here is the 11/10 time attack day at QR. My last time at qr was 63 and 65 sprint and clubman but since then i have done 2 lakeside practices and 1 sprint and then 1 norwell day. Setup wise i havent changed anything EXCEPT for the coil overs. It should be interesting to see what direction these take me, on paper i should run quicker, but just stuffing with a system that has worked for me up until now might set me backwards. After this sprint it should be the death of my RSR's and was thinking of getting some AD08's. After that my next run should be in november back at QR but on the newer tyres so that will be interesting to see the difference's back to back. Also still need to purchase a oil cooler, but after being at work for 3 days i have already just spent WAYYYY to much on my next mod. No teasers until it arrives in around 3 months. That buy should be my last major one for the year as im now putting cash away to head back to japan in Feb for some more snow and shop visits.
Spec Sheet thus far ( for those that care ):
2001 Honda AP1 S2000
F20C, Grand Prix White with Red interior and tape deck standard .
Exterior:
Js racing type S body kit
Js racing type S bonnet FRP
Js racing 1600mm Gt wing ( Voltex) 245mm Stands (recommend to any one that enjoy time attack)
Mugen FRP hardtop (worth every cent)
Js racing Tow hooks
Craft Square Mirrors
ASM FRP duckbill
Interior:
Bride Zeta 3 x2 (One of the best mods IMO you can do to a car)
Bride seat rails that i can't move because the s2000 floor pan is crap and the seats sit flat on the ground.
Spoon (discontinued) Ti gear knob
Circuit hero extension. (the longer throw helps me not miss gears)
Some CD player and speakers.
2.2Kg fire extinguisher
Custom made carbon block offs
Seeker gauge pod
3x defi bf gauges (oil pressure, oil temp and water temp)
Schroth 6 point harness
Engine stuff:
Js racing intake (for type S bumper)
Js racing cooling plate
Js racing heat shield +heat reflecting tape (comes with a hole for the ETD to go through)
Js racing oil filter stopper ( highly recommended to s2k owners )
Js racing 2-1 catch can/overflow setup
Spoon venturi Throttle body
Gt motoring air pump delete kit (the worst customer service)
Spoon Baffled sump
Koyo dual core radiator (great buy)
Js racing headers (heat wrapped)
Js racing 70rs to exhaust ( sounds like poo under 5000rpm)
Js racing hardened exhaust rubbers ( THESE ARE A MUST if you have a Ti exhaust )
Js racing ETD
Js racing oil cap and radiator cap.
Billion radiator hoses.
Billion Water temp sensor adaptor.
Js racing thermostat and fan switch.
Toda TCT (far better then the oem)
Js racing braided clutch line
ORC 309DS clutch and fly wheel (noisy but drivable)
Walbro Fuel pump 255 lph
Haltech ECU
Full river dry cell battery 6kg
Trust 9 row oil cooler kit
ASM pulleys
Toda pulley kit
Super tech vales springs and retainers ( a must do)
J's racing engine mounts
Suspension,brakes and bracing
Zeal Super functions 14k all round (easily the best coilovers I have ever driven on )
Spoon offset front ball joints ( offset to add more camber)
Spoon steering rack spacers ( To return steering to OEM levels after lowering)(bump steer)
Endless MX-72 pads (dusty but awesome)rear
Project mu Club racer(awesome) front
Project mu oem sized slotted re placement rotors all round
Cusco brake stopper (i think i feel a difference)
Js racing front and rear strut braces.( Front is a waste of money but they rear was noticeable.)
Spoon Front and rear lower subframe braces (no difference)
Spoon rear diff mounts
Hard dog 4 point roll bar + c bar
Enkei RPF1 17x9x45
Federal RSR 255 all round
Js racing braided brake lines ( endless i believe)
Current alignment F -4, R staggered 2.7 - 3.2
Js racing Type S brake ducts
Spoon front gusset brace (stop the tearing of the OEM mounts)
Spoon rigid collars (great item)
Spoon Suspension bushings
Js racing steering rack ends / bump steer (only noticeable on the track)
Js racing adjustable toe arms/ bump steer (only noticeable on the track)
OS giken 1.5 LSD
Mazda 4.44 final gear treated
AP2 rear housing with billet end caps
Ebach front sway bar set to firm.
Track times:
QR sprint track - 59.91 (Z2)
QR Clubman - 62.27 (Rs3)
Lakeside - 61.94 (Rs3)
Norwell - 64.4x (Rs3)
I will update with some photos of everything another night along with some photos of Js and Spoon. Also a update on my most recent track day/day on the river. As far as not spending money for the rest of the year, that plan died as well.
10-18-2012, 06:01 AM
#3
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Gold Coast/Melbourne
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Great exam procrastination read for me! Love how you tell us you turned the car back to OEM, and wanted small mods/tweaks... hahaha your list is very comprehensive! Well done.
OT for the MOD: I think we should get a sub forum for builds!!! There's quite a few of them popping up.
OT for the MOD: I think we should get a sub forum for builds!!! There's quite a few of them popping up.
10-18-2012, 04:13 PM
#6
yes too early for me to rear as well but I shall read it later tonight in the can LMAO.
Your dc2 was awesome man !!! s2k needs to get to that level!
I got into it to increase my chances with girls, but now I'm just your normal enthusiast who realised girls don't like cars, they just like money. <-- HAHAHAH, nice cars can still get girls man just gotta know how to use em
Your dc2 was awesome man !!! s2k needs to get to that level!
I got into it to increase my chances with girls, but now I'm just your normal enthusiast who realised girls don't like cars, they just like money. <-- HAHAHAH, nice cars can still get girls man just gotta know how to use em
10-18-2012, 04:40 PM
#7
Registered User
Nice write-up Bobby. I think the first time I came across you was when I saw your Civic with an S2000 gauge cluster and a great looking engine bay. Nice 
So when I saw you and Josh on one of our cruises with S2000s, I was looking forward to seeing what you guys were going to come up with.
Keep it up mate. I haven't been out to the track for a while. I've got about 5 money pits. Doh!
So when I saw you and Josh on one of our cruises with S2000s, I was looking forward to seeing what you guys were going to come up with.Keep it up mate. I haven't been out to the track for a while. I've got about 5 money pits. Doh!
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10-19-2012, 01:57 AM
#10
Registered User
Thread Starter
So here are some of my s2000 photos from my visit to spoon/type one and Js racing. I can't take a photo to save my life so look from a distance.
First up is the ground floor of type one. Spoon itself isn't a workshop. Type One is the shop where you get the parts put on, not spoon. If that makes sense. When you visit spoon HQ they send you down the road to type one. In the show room which i didnt get photos of was the CRZ demo car and a white honda S600.
Back to type one. Ground floor.
In the corner which isnt pictured is the lift to go up to the second floor.
The above s2000 i believe was there 2010 super taikyu car. Also up on the same gantry hanging from the 2nd story roof is another CRZ and a DC5(which a few weeks later was destroyed in the sendai disaster).
Also up there was this LHD Nsx-r GT that they offer to cashed up punters. You can send your stock LHD to spoon, they give it the NSX-R GT make over and send it back to you.
The car that caught my eye the most up there was this. The workmanship on it was amazing, not really my cup of tea however.
Next up was Js. As i have already mentioned i have been a big fan on them for a few years so i was pretty excited. Also from a tourist point of view i would recommend visiting Js over Spoon as they international marketing guy Kuzo is a super rad dude and offers a guided tour.
A customers FD2R, which they now use as their Js racing RR demo car. This is the same one that is in the touge battle agaisnt a 180sx. It made 360ps and pretty much had every js part. Street driven also.
This was my first time seeing the GT kit in real life. The quality was amazing and holy shit its wide. Just shy of 2000mm if i remember correctly. This one once again is a customers car, 320ps covered in rad stuff.
Love the engine bay of this thing
Also there was the car that is currently floating around on the internet with the new js rear fender flares. I think it was doing 62's around tsukuba.
And in the back corner, the Js shop s2000. Which won the touge battle. Ginzu i think. Still running AC!
Hope you enjoy.
First up is the ground floor of type one. Spoon itself isn't a workshop. Type One is the shop where you get the parts put on, not spoon. If that makes sense. When you visit spoon HQ they send you down the road to type one. In the show room which i didnt get photos of was the CRZ demo car and a white honda S600.
Back to type one. Ground floor.
In the corner which isnt pictured is the lift to go up to the second floor.
The above s2000 i believe was there 2010 super taikyu car. Also up on the same gantry hanging from the 2nd story roof is another CRZ and a DC5(which a few weeks later was destroyed in the sendai disaster).
Also up there was this LHD Nsx-r GT that they offer to cashed up punters. You can send your stock LHD to spoon, they give it the NSX-R GT make over and send it back to you.
The car that caught my eye the most up there was this. The workmanship on it was amazing, not really my cup of tea however.
Next up was Js. As i have already mentioned i have been a big fan on them for a few years so i was pretty excited. Also from a tourist point of view i would recommend visiting Js over Spoon as they international marketing guy Kuzo is a super rad dude and offers a guided tour.
A customers FD2R, which they now use as their Js racing RR demo car. This is the same one that is in the touge battle agaisnt a 180sx. It made 360ps and pretty much had every js part. Street driven also.
This was my first time seeing the GT kit in real life. The quality was amazing and holy shit its wide. Just shy of 2000mm if i remember correctly. This one once again is a customers car, 320ps covered in rad stuff.
Love the engine bay of this thing
Also there was the car that is currently floating around on the internet with the new js rear fender flares. I think it was doing 62's around tsukuba.
And in the back corner, the Js shop s2000. Which won the touge battle. Ginzu i think. Still running AC!
Hope you enjoy.