Skrily

Hey guys!
I thought the time has finally come to share my SLOW Axx build
I purchased my 2007 Laguna Blue Pearl S2000 about 3 years ago in October.



She had 60k miles and was unmolested. The interior was in great shape as well! I was so excited to drive this car off the lot! I had always been a Honda fan and always owned Honda cars. Prior to this I was building a turbocharged b18 for the EG hatchback I owned. My plans were to build a drag racing car but I later on realized it's not what I wanted anymore. So I parted the whole build out and moved on to the S2000!

My very first mod was Stoptech braided lines front and back along with password JDM "track" rotors. A month after that I found Ap1 struts with Skunk 2 lowering springs on them for only $100 so I bought them. Also painted my calipers red in the process. About 2 months after that I picked up a set of gram lights but I was nooby at the time and they were 17x7.5 all around I got rid of them and went back to my stock wheels. I ordered a no name header as well for no reason (like I said I was nooby) haha. Password JDM dress up hardware made its way into my engine bay as well.







I had plans to track the car but unfortunately at the time I couldn't afford to do so. Almost 2 years went by and I didn't buy a single mod for the car. After saving up some money I was able to pick up a set of Advan Rg2's in s2000 spec. They were in used condition but not too bad. I purchased Potenza Re11s for them. I went with 255 rear and 225 fronts.




The offset on the Advans were a little agressive so I had to roll my fenders and relocate the rear bumper tab.



A local friend sold me his HKS dual hi power exhaust. I love this exhaust. Very quiet for daily driving and almost no drone ! I coupled it with a Rockstar garage test pipe.



I took a risk and ordered a replica Mugen front lip. It actually fit really great! I had it primered and painted.





The car pretty much say like this for a while. My plans were to finally meet up with Local s2000 owners, do some drives and take her to the track!



Sandeep and Robert


Let's fast forward now and talk about track days! I bought some proper gear right before my first event. Sparco shoes, pyrotech helmet and alpine star gloves. I chose red so I can pretend I'm Tsuchiya out at the track Oh! Can't forget about the Narita Dogfight sticker haha!


This year in January I experienced my first track day. It was by far the coolest thing I've done in a while! I enjoyed every second of it. This track was at wild horse pass and it's the West track. A little technical with one big straight away.


That day my car was on stock camber settings. I was finally putting the advans and re11's to use and Stoptech street brake pads for some stopping power.



I did a lot of learning in that first day. My instructor was very knowledgable and made me feel comfortable. It's funny, I thought I drove my car hard in the mountains but after that first track day I realized I was driving my car no where nears its limits.
After that track day all I could think about is my next track day! I run with Pro Auto Sports and I planned on doing at least one track day a month. My car is my daily so I don't want to beat on it too often.
My buddy offered to sell me his Password JDM intake. I always bugged him for it he gave me a great deal on it that I couldn't pass up!
I also bought his SOS hood dampers too.

Me and 2 friends did a little group buy on Wimnax brake pads. These are what's currently on my car.

I drove over to my friends house and we installed them there.

After they were installed we went out to bed them in. The initial bite on these pads are amazing. Time to take them to the track!!

I know this was only my second track day but having these brake pads really made my experience that much more exciting. I experienced ZERO brake fade and I become more confident with my driving. I was just blown away with these pads. I will buy them again that's for sure.
So my second track day was great. I used Harry's lap timer this time to keep track of all my laps and times. I ran 1:11 there and couldn't beat it. That's the goal next time I'm out there!!
My dad joined me for one session and I couldn't help but laugh! He was holding on so tight and cursing when the turns were coming up haha.

Skrily

All in all another fun track day.

I skipped track day in March. I became aware that our diffs tend to fail prematurely or just randomly explode lol. Since this is my daily I did not want to risk that chance. I also thought it would be a good time to change the gear out to a 4.44.
So, out with the old

And in with the new

This is the Puddy Mod stage 2 upgrade with the Mazda 4.44 gear.



I was super excited to get this back in the car! My s2000 was down for 28 days. Well worth it though. I honestly don't feel a difference on the street other than the 500rpm difference and my speedo is off like 8mph. On the track it's a whole different story. Not a single N/A s2000 has been able to keep up with me and I give all the credit to the differential. It allows me to stay within the power band and easily reach vtec faster. I'm not sure If the same goes with a tuned s2000 though so it will be fun to find out. My S is currently not tuned.
I used 75a innovative diff mounts and Blox axel spacers.


I was super excited for the upcoming track day. It was at Arizona Motorsports park. My only complaint that day is that I fought a lot of understeer. Still had a blast though. My personal best that day was 1:58.

Since then I've made some more changes to the S. The understeering led me to going with a 255 squared set up. I got a great deal on Volk te37sl's from Evasive Motorsports. I instantly fell in love with them. This might sound dumb but they have been like a dream wheel for me. I think the color combination is great with my car.
They are 17x9.5+40



I drove to Firestone where a friend works to purchase a set of Bridestone Potenza Re71r's. I've read and heard many great things about these tires. After more and more research I finally bought them.



I was super excited to go home and test fit them!

Yea, they don't fit. More fender rolling


They still rubbed and since I track my car I decided to be on the safe side and do some fender work.
No turning back now!

Yea, I moved my Volks right away! Thankfully the wheels were safe! Haha.
That's my brother in law, luckily he's an auto body guy and offered great advice to me before he left me alone to do the passenger side haha.


And the driver side is done! Passenger side done as well and all they need is paint!

So my brother in law came in clutch again and he painted them for me.

skatebrian624

Nice car man, and I'm jealous of that diff dude, that is awesome.

Glad you made it to the track. Most guys stay too scared to ever actually go. They say they will, or plan on it, but of course never do.


That's great that you are progressing quickly, but as you get faster I recommend you really consider investing in safety equipment, i.e. rollbar, seat, harness, and hans. Too many people overlook this.

Skrily

Thanks man! I really appreciate it and your right about safety. Im planning on buying an oem hardtop in September and in December I'm going to purchase the ballade sports roll bar as well. The seat, harness and Hans will follow.

tama05

Nice build so far man. Looks like you've taken your time with modding the car and got to see those investments work for you out on the track. I think its awesome that you're getting more track time in. I'm in the same boat as my car is a daily. With work and life, it makes it hard for me to get out there as much as I'd want to. I also really like the diff mod. That's something that I've thought about as well since it is a weak link for our car. Keep up the good work and look forward to seeing more on your car!

Skrily

Thanks! I appreciate the kind words! My local s2000 friends always told me not to just throw parts at the car. I always kept that in mind when I was in the market for new parts. I try to make it out at least once a month now to the track but I live in Arizona so I don't plan to track the car in this 100+ degree heat!
The diff is so awesome man, it really wakes the car up!

Skrily

So, here's some more photos after paint. So glad that it's all one color now



So here's how the old wheel setup fits now haha

So with this all done, I had a track day a week after! Back to Arizona Motorsports park! The goal was now to beat my old personal best of 1:58.

With the cars new setup, I was able to set a new personal best!

1:55!! I was super happy with that time. I was able to shave off 3 seconds with the new wheels and tires
My 3rd session in I spun off the track at around 88mph. After watching the video it looks like I over corrected while trying to save it. Everything is all good !!
After my last session of the day, my rotor cracked on me as well :/

I was told this could become a normal problem now with wider and stickier tires.
This was my last track day. The Arizona heat was already getting to me that day and it was only May. I don't plant on tracking my car during the summer. I just want to be on the safe side because this is my daily.
As of now I'm going to address some maintenance that my car needs and just have fun with it. I took it on a drive with a couple of friends 2 weeks ago. I had fun cruising the curvy mountain roads!




Here's my latest mod to the car. Seibon Mugen style wing painted by my brother in law, thanks


Yea, I cut my bumper. I got rear ended and insurance didn't replace it. The bumper sagged in the middle towards the bottom so I just cut it. I'll eventually get it replaced with a new AP2 bumper.


This is how she currently sits now
BUT, my AC stopped working. I removed the AC clutch today and it doesn't look good. Hopefully a new AC clutch will fix my problem.

tama05

I can appreciate not wanting to go out in the extreme heat. I've done several track days near 100 degrees and one that was 104! It really takes a lot out of you and the car. The diff is one of those things on the back burner for me, but I know once I pull the trigger on it, that I will love the new feel of the car even more. Got any videos of your track days?

Skrily

Yea your right about that! You'll love the diff man
I do have videos but they are just raw footage of a whole session. I'll be sure to share videos once I do some editing.

Skrily

Forgot to show my Sfactor center console and Moddiction weighted and counter sunk shift knob