911 fan boy here. Will be buried in my Porsche and do love it.... Problem is it was an aspirational car for me that I had to save for some time to purchase and it's too "perfect" in terms of condition and driving experience. Complete plastic wrapped plus ceramic coating. Full boltons and tuned with a lot of small mods. The car looks OEM to your average observer but people that know 911's recognize the small differences. It's kind of an abomination to the purists But I'm one of the fastest when we go on PCA drives (while staying in the lines and not getting stupid). I like to mod and tinker and there's very little left to do on the 911. I love the high revving 3.8 flat 6 and don't mind working for the power. The car before was a beast at 550hp and 500tq from the factory but at 4800lbs was a little scary to actually drive.

I'm shopping for a clean AP2. Really looking forward to getting back into a manual. I've already planned the majority of my stages of mods - and am LOLing at how cheap everything is! First stage will be replace all bushings possible with poly/street, coilovers and as much bracing as makes sense. Second will be to make sure the car has the OEM lip and small wing if the purchased car doesn't have it. Third will be lightweight pulleys and ITB setup with header and 100ct cat with single outlet exhaust. At some point we'll add dry carbon hood an trunk in OEM pattern and paint.

I'm really looking forward to a lightweight, minimal compromise street car. I have tracked - honestly, don't enjoy it as much as going to the mountains with the top down and finding a place to have a cigar on the side of the road. I'm also a bit OCD and have anxiety about proper maintenance and [unlike many people] understand the difference between maintaining a track car and street car. Plus - I feel that most street cars aren't good on the track and most track cars suck on the street. May go supercharger route instead of ITB's but I'm not power hungry. I have a lot of learning but it looks like the main 3 suppliers of parts will be Toda, Spoon and J's racing... will decide one part at a time once I get the right car. Looking forward to learning and finding out about best practices. Aside from being slightly lowered; but certainly not slammed, most people won't be able to tell my car is modified by looking at it most likely when all is said and done.

 

Welcome to the gang bang and one of the fastest HPDE cars for the money. GL on your search. And consider the purest...the AP1 9k tastiness.

 

Thanks. I'm pretty set on an AP2. I've owned a couple calico miatas and a radical that were dedicated track cars. The S2K will likely see some occasional track time but more mountain getaways. For HPDE, how lucky are you guys to not have any of the electronic crutches? Looking forward to controlled body roll and natural car inertia. My 911 has black magic that keeps the car flat and tightens up things on hard corners. Great for magazine articles but it does add a lot of compromise to the fun factor. It's like trying to make babies with a condom vs commando

 

I dont use mine for HPDE, just autox and fun drives, but one of the main reasons I love it is the lack of nannies Feels a lot more like a sports car than a comfy couch that does a lot of cool things with computer controlled aids

 

Seems the self-adopted "ricer" screen name is already well earned with all the unnecessary (ITBs, lowering, carbon fiber, lightweight pulleys, etc.) "mods."

-- Chuck

 

If you consider yourself a purist and don't get an AP1, you're selling yourself short. Period.

 

Yup but I enjoy the hell out of driving my cars. Here's the current rice rocket. She needs a sister.

 

Enjoy the S2000. It's pretty easy to wrench but there are few gains in power or handling. Note the Speed Academy experience with ITBs proved to be no help. Super- or Turbocharging is the only way for serious power although a tune that includes a lowered VTEC will put the engine on the high power cam earlier than the 6000 rpm stock engagement.

-- Chuck

 

Yeah I knocked 2 seconds off my time at my local (small) track with just adding a piggyback to my AP1. It's just about as good as it gets now on NA. Worth iiiiiit

 

It's kind of crazy how similar "tuning" is on these compared to an NA 911.... I have more money than I'll admit publicly in mods - hell over 12K in just exhaust! With all the bolt ons available - many lost power. I did a lot of dyno testing before/after on the same day for some manufacturers trying to get reviews. Anything [sans exhaust] that didn't make actual gains came off the car. It was a Loooooong road to find well made, working parts that are at least oem quality and made actual results. There is a dip in power ~4500 rpm when Cam comes on from the factory. My tune added more power than I thought but thats with filters, sport headers with sport cats and intake plenum.... embarrassingly small gain for the money - but it did even out that dip which makes a noticeable difference and worth it.

My ideal S2000 won't have big power. It will be strong but not some kind of widow maker. Once I find the right one.... probably drive it for a year with just a header, intake, TB, manifold and tune and work on making sure everything else is solid. I really had the impression that these made NA power easier.