Fast forward another 6 weeks or so, a new R1 Titan Euro exhaust was completed and delivered! This time it wasn't broken, so it went on without a hitch.

My first impression of the exhaust was nothing short of excellent. Sound wise its very compliant at lower revs, and its easy to forget that there is an aftermarket piece on the car because there is no drone. Once you get upwards of 5k RPM or so, you really start to hear it sing. Its louder than stock, but its not obnoxious and you definitely won't kill your hearing abilities with it. The biggest surprise that I wasn't expecting was how the car actually drones less when you let off the throttle around the 3-5k RPM zone.

A key factor that lead me to this exhaust over others was the titanium *zing* noises I read about and heard through youtube videos. It is not quite as pronounced as I expected, however some of these other samples were using test pipe / HFC, which would effect the sound. Regardless, I have to get the revs up into VTEC territory to really hear the titanium sounds, which is the perfect excuse to drive the car as intended. I had the chance to take this through a tunnel with the top-down and I couldn't wipe the grin off my face for the remainder of the drive.

Overall, I would recommend this exhaust to an enthusiast who is looking for a unique and pleasant acoustic enhancement to their S2000, without drawing unwanted attention from the general public.

Props to my mechanic for further cleaning the exhaust once it was on the car, it truly is a piece of art!

Sound Clip:

 

Looks the part

 

Its been cold the last few weeks so the car isn't getting out at all. I'm sorting out a couple of things for the interior, wheels and engine in the mean time. Excited for spring to come and update this!

 

If anyone somewhat tall drives an S2000, they are instantly familiar with their knees hitting the steering column. I wanted to learn how to rev-match on downshifts and it is very difficult when you don't have the space. Not to mention holding yourself in position during cornering is a distracting exercise that prevents you from feeling the car. Naturally, installing an aftermarket racing seat is a logical step.

I only considered Recaro's to keep the decision choice simple. They have been around for a long time, I had friends who I could easily test the seat fit, and aesthetically I preferred the look. I had the chance to try both the ASM Recaro RSG and Pole Position. While I think the ASM spec RSG looks cooler, its too small for me in the thighs for it to work. For reference I'm around 6 feet tall and 200lbs. If you're not sure what seat might be a good fit for you, take the extra effort to find someone who has it already and confirm, this will save you tonnes of time (and money) down the road if its not the right fit.

The key upside of getting Pole Positions, is that the instructions for installing it is well documented online. I was able to figure it out in spite of the fact I'm not a handy person. In particular, @andrewhake has extensively documented and researched the setup and he even sorted out an effective solution for the seat belt,. Many thanks Andrew! You can find his documentation on his website here, and on S2Ki here.

Parts Required for Driver Side S2000:
(1x) Recaro Pole Position FIA
(1x) PCI Driver Side Sliding Seat Rail (passenger side has nuances you have to confirm)
(1x) 4extender Seat Belt Extender (their website looks sketchy but the part delivered lol)
(1x) Schroth Racing side belt replacement (SR 01120 - you must get the B23B for the sleeve)
(1x) Schroth Racing 2in 3-bar slide adjuster (SR LV10.A)
(1x) Schroth Racing Pivot Sleeve for 7/16in (SR S82)
(2x) Schroth Racing Washer 7/16 in (SR S82)
(1x) Generic 20mm 7/16" hex bolt grade 8.8*
(1x) Generic 7/16" nut*

Step 1: Putting the PCI Sliding Rail Together and Attaching the Seat:
I followed the video from @Sdoismil on youtube to sort out putting the rail together. I hope I've tagged the right person, but either way he's a beauty for doing this. Definitely the better tutorial of the ones I found on youtube.

Also, because I am lazy I decided to mount the Pole Position to the rail in the same configuration as @andrewhake and cross my fingers it would work first time in for me. To quote him "In my case I put the seat at 4/5 on both the front and rear of the side mounts. 4 was the lowest position the Pole Position could sit at the rear of the mount, which puts the rear of the seat on the floor, the front could be adjusted however you like but keeping it at the same position worked well to recline the seat the correct amount."


Step 2: Configure the New Seat Belt Receptor
- Detach the belt from the 4extender receptor using a seam ripper. Note: this is a pain in the ass
- Unthread the end of the Schroth Side belt, as it needs to fit through the new receptacle
- Loop the Schroth Harness through the receptor
- Follow Schroth instructions for looping the harness around the 3 bar slide (*Note the link in Andrew's thread doesn't work anymore, but you can find a diagram on the bottom right of p.15 on Schroth's updated link here)
- Attach the hardware together from outside to in: Bolt, washer, seat rail mount, sleeve, side belt, washer, nut.
*IMPORTANT NOTE* In Andrew's example he used a 25mm bolt, however I noticed that this actually stuck out too far for my application. After some back in forth, the only plausible explanation is that the rail design has been updated since he posted (or I butchered the install somewhere along the way lol). I picked up a generic brand grade 8.8 20mm 7/16in bolt and matching nut instead and it worked fine. The only caveat is now I don't have room for the pivot, but so far that hasn't caused me any issues not having it on. I guess I could mount the pivot and belt on the outside of the seat rail instead of the inside, but for now I'm happy.

Step 3: File the Rear Holes on the PCI Seat Rails
The one issue I had with the PCI sliding rails was that the holes to mount the seat to the car are not a perfect alignment with the factory floor. I used a round file to provide extra room needed to twist the bolts into the floor without issue. You may need to refit the seat a couple of times to ensure that you've filed the seat rail enough.

Step 4: Take Out the OEM Seat
This is a straight forward affair. There are four bolts that hold the OEM seat in place. Just need to disconnect the wires for the seatbelt and if you have them, the headrest speakers. You'll also want to undo the bolt that holds the seat belt in, right by the floor. I did this just before putting in the Recaro, and had my friend hold the length to ensure it didn't get stuck fully retracted like what happened to lol. They had the full assembly out though so not sure it was even worth worrying.

Step 5: Install the Recaro Seat and PCI Rail
Again, straight forward affair. You may have to take out the seat and put it back in a couple of times to get your desired fit, so be prepared for it to take a bit more time.

Other Notes:
- I wasn't sure what would happen to the seat belt chime. Rest assured the belt does not cause a chime when the seat belt harness is not plugged in. With that being said my airbag light is now on.
- Schroth USA has various colours of belts you can use to personalize it for your car. I bought blue for the sake of mocking up the car, as black was on back order
- I might be missing some more nuances, but feel free to ask any questions or provide suggestions. Photos to come below

 

Some pictures below to document the steps...

Here is how I positioned the seat on the rail. It actually looks a bit different than what I said I copied from Andrew above:





Here are the part from Schroth laid out. Remember I replaced their 25mm 7/16in bolt with a 20mm 7/16in bolt.



Heres how the 25mm was too long for my application. Again, I don't know why 25mm didn't fit for me while it worked for others in the past. Looking at Andrews rails, it appears the design has changed slightly.



Here is the looping of the belt through the 3 bar slide. This is loose, just for the sake of mocking it up. I tightened it before installing.



Here is mine assembled with the 20mm bolt, followed by Andrews with a 25mm bolt. Remember, I do not have the pivot on mine since there isn't enough clearance between the seatbelt mounting point and the inner base of the rail.




Final product here!

 

Love it! My next purchase will most likely be a PP as well.

 

Hard to go wrong with it. The red Schroth side belt might be a nice accent to match the exterior

 

Great walkthrough of the install man! Definitely jealous of the seats haha

 

After your suspension gets dialed in, its the next best piece to support getting more connected with the cars handling

 

Very nice thanks for taking the time to update this.