At the Donington track day I noticed what a difference having a light car with a stiff suspension made to cornering speeds (ignoring, ahem, my own inabilities). At the end of the day a supercharged S2000 is still going to be slower than a stiffened up stock S2000 on the twisties. This got me thinking, rather than ponder over a Mugen header etc in order to get a few extra HP and some more mid-range torque, perhaps uprated suspension is the most cost-effective way to go.

At the last Midlands meet I had a quick nose at Pete & Wren's S2000 which has the HKS springs fitted. Pete commented upon the improved handling and, in particular, the stability of the car under braking. I also had a chat with Frankyknuckles who mentioned a full coil over suspension set up that one of our more talented modding board members has.

An adjustable coil over set up obviously has a more practical advantage over a lowered spring set up in that the ride height can be adjusted depending whether you are on on the track on taking on the local speed bumps.

I've taken a look on some of the forums but I get a bewildering array of sometimes conflicting advice regarding supsension set ups. As I said above, it seems that a coil over set up with adjustable ride height is most practical - I can drop the car for track days etc. However, too much adjustment could be a dangerous thing in my hands. Anyone with any experience on this subject?

some suspension possibilities

PS I have a basic knowledge of pre-load, compression and rebound damping from my mountain bike experiences, but I'm not too confident about applying that experience to a

 

this is also something I am considering but for cosmetic reasons primarily.....I feel the gap between the the tyre and the arch is too great

 

Plenty of experience on the race car, none on the S2000 but some things to watch out for:-

When you say you just want to 'drop' the car for a track day, do you know exactly what is involved in doing that? Have a look at the suspension on my Locost:-





See the thing the spring is sitting on? Thats the spring platform, as you can probably guess it screws up and down the damper, altering the height - this is what you'd have to do each time you wanted to change the ride height, undo the allen bolt securing the platform, then using a C spanner adjust the platforms at each corner so they lower the height. Not something you want to do too often, especially what on the S2000 I would guess it would mean taking the wheel off and goodness knows what else.

However, see the little knob on the side of the damper, that gives me 21 degrees of adjustment to the stiffness of the damper, that means that by the turn of a dial, I can go from soft and compliant (what you want for the road) to hard and unforgiving (for the track perhaps?) - adjustable damping would mean that the geometry of the car wouldn't change, but the car could be quickly adapted from road to track.

Another change you could make fairly easily would be spring rate, the 'stiffness' of the springs can be changed by using thicker diameter springs, this gives a firmer ride, but this is a non-adjustable change, so you're stuck for the road with whatever you choose for the track.

I think before you decide what you want to do, you need to think carefully about what you want to achieve and why. Will you want to use the car day-to-day through the winter? If so, do you really want stiff, no compromise handling? Do you need something you can change for the track in 20 mins in the paddock? Also, lowering the car may well have unexpected results elsewhere such as bump-steer. The geometry is set up by Honda for the current height, lowering the car will lower the roll centre but the steering arms are set so they currently describe the same arc as the front wishbones, of you lower the ride height, the arc of the wishbones is changed slightly, but the steering arm arcs are not, resulting in bump-steer. What happens is that when the suspension is deflected, the steering arm cannot follow it and 'pulls' the wheel inwards or 'pushes' it outwards, causing the car to steer itself in a slightly different direction than the one you intended.

Have a look at the book 'Competition Car Suspension' by Alan Staniforth or 'How to Make Your Car Handle' by Fred Puhn - both give a good perspective on suspension changes, Puhn's book being the more accessible.

 

There is a very big improvement with properly setup aftermarket suspension on the S. I know the improve on my car, and another UK car I've helped setup is incredible.

I would advice against doing just springs - the stock dampers are under damped for the stock springs, and don't last that well. You make both traits worse by using just lowering springs.

Expect

 

Hi Craig,

As brian mentioned, I would look at a coilover setup over springs, anyday far more tunable to your liking & you can change the settings for the odd track day instead of loosing your fillings from your teeth by having a stiff setup all the time on normal bumpy roads.

[QUOTE]available within the next 2 month.

 

Thanks Mark, Brian and Andy, that's all really helpful advice I must admit I was looking more about the

 

Hi Craig,

The kit and part No I mentioned wasn't available when I spoke to him last, but was due out about a month ago.

Give them a call quoting the part No and they may e'mail you back some info?!?!?

the number is 01455-285851 ask for Julian & tell him Andy with the S2000 from Hyper sports & racing sent you

Andy

 

Thanks Andy

PS like the sound of your alloys in your sig

EDIT: Chesh, you're turning into Turner!

 

Craig when you find out the info can you post it?

 

I know do you want to buy them there well cooool "honest"


I'm ordering a set of Racing Hart CP035r's in the next week or two