Good Afternoon!

I am proud owner of a 2006 S2K as of today! Just won my first auction on BAT.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2006-honda-s2000-153/

I pick up the car this weekend and will begin a refresh focused on reliability and drivability. It is a stock condition 3 car that has been well maintained with 47,000 miles. I found the maintenance schedule here on another post (awesome!) and will likely do the 60,000 mile service for starters. I'm new to the H2K world and look forward to any advice and insights I can get.

For starters:

1. I've read how important a valve adjustment is, but couldn't find when, or how often, it should be done. Help
2. Wheels are original but have some pronounced surface curb rash (no bends or dents). Assuming they are aluminum? Any reason why I can't have them refinished?
3. Tires are like new, but dated (~10 yrs old). Looking for suggestions here too for a soft tire for some canyon carving.
4. Any other suggestions on problem areas or items typically worth addressing to freshen up the ride (bushings, etc.)?
5. Suggestions for a mechanic in my area (Long Beach/Huntington Beach, CA)?

Thank you ahead time for your patience and advice with a newcomer!

Boz

 

What a nice pickup! Welcome to the forums.

 

Welcome! A few answers for you

For more on the valves, see this post
****Warning for 2006-2009 owners (DBW cars)**** - S2KI Honda S2000 Forums

I also recommend trying to get ahold of a factory service manual if you plan on doing all your own work. Very good to have on hand. But basically follow the looser end of the spec as Billman mentions. Rob R has a decent writeup on the process with pics from the manual though
Valve Adjust

I would just take the wheels to a shop that does wheel refurb and see what they can do with them but unless trashed completely should be doable I think.

For tires, yeah get rid of the 10 year old tires. Depends on how much you want to sacrifice tire life for grip really. If wanting to go pretty sticky but keep some rain performance, the RE-71RS may work for you. Super good 200TW tire that can still handle rain. Some of the "super 200's" are terrible in rain. Yokohama A052 are also fast but maybe not as good in rain. Both are spendy tires and wear fast though. A good all around street tire that does pretty well and also handles rain is the Continental EC Sports. I have heard good things about those. I am normally shopping track tires as that is mostly what I use mine for so others may have more input on other options.

That is a pretty low mileage S2k. So the maintenance you suggest should be good. Get it up on a lift and check everything of course but not a lot of things tend to fail early on these cars. Clutches do not last as long as many manuals due to low tq and people slipping the clutch a lot as a result, but if it feels good, no reason to touch it.

 

There's several write ups here on a "new" S2000 preventive but beyond fluid changes the only vital things are the valves and tires.

My 2006 S2000 is only a few months newer than yours. Other than scheduled maintenance (change all the fluids to establish a base line) note the valve adjustment check listed earlier. Easy Saturday morning job. If you can find another S2000 owner it will help. Only a rare Honda dealer will have any clue how to do this. Find a specialty shop or to it yourself as I did. Lots of detailed tips here including putting the car on a low lift to save your back! Tools and gauges are less than $50 and gaskets maybe another $50. This is vital. The Robinette valve adjustment article (linked earlier) is first class and what I've used.

The all season tires on this car should never been on a car of the S2000's performance in the first place. Highly recommend the Bridgestone RE-71RS tires. Yeah, you'll wear them out in 11,000 - 13,000 miles but so what?, you bought this car for it's driving enjoyment and ability not to save money. I'm on my 3d set of replacement tires in the 25K-ish miles I've driven the car in the past 10 years. Seven (7) years is my limit on tires. You can go up a size. I've run "CR spec" for about 10 years. 215 front, 255 rear. Some run 225/255. If you stick with OEM wheels there are no clearance issues.

You need tires NOW so you may want to refinish the wheels first. There are competent wheel refinishers in all major metro areas. I'll bet California is awash with them. Refinished wheels and new tires is gonna set you back maybe $2000 but other than fluids is about the max cost for now.

I've determined to keep my car close to stock so I'm retaining the AP2V2 wheels although I can't guarantee I'd not snatch a set of AP2V3 wheels if they fell into my lap. My only real change is the Tanabe Medalion Touring exhaust and a FlashPRO tune to drop the VTEC to 3600 rpm. Plenty of time for either of those. OEM front lower spoiler (required repainting the front bumper to eliminate all the stone chips), and a reproduction rear spoiler.

-- Chuck

 

Thank you!!!
I have no plans on doing this type of work myself, but the Billman content was just what I needed.

I've run the Continental EC's on my Elise, and they were good in the weather and lasted a long time, but want something a bit softer. Might be that the Lotus is so light, it never really heats up the tires properly. RE-71RS were on my short list and they sound perfect for me. I'm in SoCal so there are very few rain days, but tons of mountain roads.

Thank you again,
Boz

 

I came across Autowave in Huntington Beach, so I think I will be in good hands for the refresh. RE-71RS tires are at the top of my list (now) and will have all that done straightaway.

Like you, I plan on keeping the car stock. Also, like you, I will be pursuing a tune, exhaust and spoilers. I've read OEM front spoilers are a bit of a unicorn... accurate? I haven't started looking for rear spoilers, but open to suggestions.

Boz

 

Ah nice, Elise's are indeed fun (other than exiting one !) . I had the opp to autocross a couple of them a number of times, one day on hoosiers! Yep the are considerably lighter and thus tire choices are different. But you will enjoy the RE71RS. They are way up at the top as far as performance on a 200TW tire. A cheaper option that is also very fast that I left out was the Kumho V730. Very fast tire but cheaper. Only reason I did not bring them up first is that they completely suck in rain If you just avoid rain days though, worth a shot. I ran them as HPDE tires for a while and they were impressive as far as track times. But on wet days... a bit of a handful

 

One of our Brit members has a highly protected source for the unicorn OEM front lower spoiler. Shipped in the factory box. I recall these run under $1000 including shipping and customs. May still be available, I only noted these in passing as I already have one and didn't need a second. Not sure what color(s) is available. My "$100 Ebay rear spoiler" has been held on the trunk lid for 10 years with double sided 3M tape. Came body color (Silverstone like yours). No holes to drill!

-- Chuck

 

Yes, please! Can you put me into contact with your "highly protected source?"

 

Welcome to S2KI! Be sure to check out the SoCal section for events that might pop up near you.