bpro_r8

Hey S2000 people,

I'm a new owner of an '02 S that I bought about a month ago. My plans for the car consist of turning it into a weekend car/track car over the next couple of years. I plan to do somewhere in the range of 3-5 track days and 5-6 autoxs every year. The first track day is this June, 2018 at Road Atlanta. I plan to only upgrade the brake pads and fluid for this first event because I want to see how the car does in its stock form. I already know I'll want to upgrade to coilovers soon after that event. Looking at KWs but also open to other brands. Wanted to see if anyone could help me decide if V3s are worth the extra money over V2s for someone like me who is a novice track day goer. Thanks!

B serious

The double adjustability was nice on my V3. But the bump adjuster was difficult to get to.

Some people just left bump alone and adjusted rebound. But...then what is the point of buying double adjustables?

The external reservoirs on the V3 are a useful trait. Do the V2's have them?

Do you plan to drive the car in really harsh environments where a stainless steel body is important?

If not....

How much are Ohlins DFV's nowadays?

Have you looked at those or Fortune autos?

DavidNJ

I'd spend a bit of time snooping around here on typical autocross (I'm presuming STR) and track day preferences. The autocross class has rather strict rules with failing to comply putting you into a class with few entries and those often highly modified.

Look at the suspension as a complete system. Autocross setups tend to have slightly softer spring rates (e.g. 14k/12k, 12k/10k) and a large front anti-roll bar (Karcepts bars are a work of art). Track day setups tend to have stiffer springs (e.g. 16k square, 18k/16k) and less on the anti-roll bar. This is to keep the car more stable on braking and to deal with the higher forces that occur at higher speeds. All need some component on the upper or lower ball joints to allow higher than OEM negative camber, especially on the front. Brian at Karcepts is brilliant, his anti-roll bars gorgeous, and would be a good person to call.

OEM brakes can handle autocrosses, may be enhanced by a pad change. However, they have far too little heat capacitance and cooling to handle a race track. There are lots of posts on that. Solutions range from different rotors front and rear using the OEM calipers with different pads and at least front cooling ducts. In addition, there are big brake kits with lots of discussion as to which is ultimately less expensive because of component costs expendable pads and rotors. Urge and Sakebomb would two companies to call; they both offer big brake kits in front and alternate rotors setups in the rear; Urge also has rotors to use with the OEM calipers.

The first question should be: why are you looking at a twin tube shock instead of a monotube? Do a little googling on the subject. There is a lot going here and I would recommend calling Ankeny, Anze, and maybe FatCat to get their recommendations. They are all top shock places. There is one alternative I like, available only from Evasive (although a used set was available on the forum last year), that none of those recommendations will probably mention.

In addition, you will be adding a roll bar, seats, and harnesses. You can fit the harness without the seat (to allow pass-through) and roll bar (to mount the shoulder belts). It is a significant investment in time and the weight of the roll-bar will be a disadvantage at autocrosses.

These are all big expenditures. Just the parts, especially after adding wheels and tires, can easily top $10k and compromise your car for street use. That is before doing anything to increase power or alter the aerodynamics. The people I recommended I believe have good solutions in the specific areas I recommended them.

DefSport

IMO, Fortune Autos are cheap overseas units with *maybe* some valving put together here. They do "bad stuff" like put the spring hard up against the shock mount in the rear. That's fine on a budget coilover setup, but not acceptable at the price point they now occupy.

I'll them them credit for using a lot of marketing to improve their brand image and move a little more upmarket. I still don't seem them competing with either KW or Ohlins, even though they're not far off on pricing. The times I've ridden in a Fortune Auto car reminded me way too much of the old "dark days" of K-Sport/D2 coilovers being some of the only affordable options for my old S13... *shudder*

DavidNJ

What did you mean by that? This is a picture of Fortune S2000 shocks.



For comparison, these are the Eibach Multi-Pro R2 shocks from Evasive: Eibach Evasive SPEC Multi-Pro-R2 Coil-over Kit - Honda S2000 00-09 | Evasive Motorsports , https://www.s2ki.com/forums/sponsor-...lusive-878301/

B serious

I found FA's to ride really well.

What do you mean put the spring hard up against the shock mount in the rear?

Car Analogy

This opinion of FA seems uninformed. They are made in usa, serviced in usa. They are constantly improving their designs. They are on like rev 6 now. At rebuild time you can upgrade to latest. You can upgrade to their more track focused 510 at any time.

As good as Ohlins, Bilstein etc are, how many revisions have they had? Are they still improving? It could be argued they got it right the first time, but there is value in something thats good and always getting better.

Look at the size of the shock body. The piston is massive. They seem well designed, and well made.

They build each set of shocks as they are ordered. They will build to your specified spring rates. They dyno EVERY shock, and make sure the set is well matched. You can get the dyno sheet for your shocks.

How many shock suppliers offer that?

Adjustable suspension is all too easy to adjust wrong. A ride in one car with any given suspension is not a sufficient indicator of their potential (well, if it handled awesome its an indicator its at least that good. But if it rides badly, it could just mean it wasn't setup well).

DavidNJ

Actually the piston is in the much smaller cartridge which is in the shock body. Much smaller than one where the shock body is the OD. Cartridges are used on the DFV, Tein, HKS, etc. monotube shocks. To the best of my knowledge Bilstein PSS is the only monotube where the body is the tube under $2500. They work, just not ideal. Few would notice the difference unless they were tested back-to-back and both were set for the springs, bar, tires, ride height, etc.

A big problem with all the cartridges is not enough space bump on a lowered car. Urge and Sagebomb try to mitigate that with their own custom lower mounts, a workaround at best.

Fortune does build the shocks to order in the US from components largely sourced abroad. They can rebuild and revalve them. It could be nice have the manufacturer in Virginia, and they have been around long enough to expect them sto stay around.

Bilstein is using the same pistons they used 20 years ago. They use it on their street and race shocks. There is a double linear and double digressive. There are several tuners who can revalve them. It is probably possible to get some of the Bilstein racing shocks with S2000 compatible mounts if you contact Bilstein.

The Eibach Multi-Pro R2 is another where the body is the tube. Only one piston. These are far and away the least expensive monotube shocks with reservoirs, which in turn makes them base valve shocks. They have extremely clever mounting of the reservoirs. In the front, they come with a clamp to mount them to a top hat bolt. In the rear they are piggyback. Only available through Evasive and about $2600. If you google you can see reviews and videos. They were used on the Speed Academy S2000 build. They would probably be my choice for your application.

Then you get into real competition shocks. Penske 7500DA and 8300s. JRi. Ohlins TTX. Penske is always innovating their pistons and low-speed shaft bleeds. Their adjustments are very linear although some may have a narrow range; made for fine tuning on the track rather than a track to street adjustment. The TTX is a very innovative shock, a poor racer's TTR. The 7500DA's, less than $3400, can't really handle a lowered S2000. The 8300s with remote reservoirs is a bit over $4000. The TTX is available from PSI and doesn't need an external front reservoir; the rear reservoir is piggyback. Closer to $5000 and needs a vacuum pump to rebuild..

Motion is another brand used in racing, but I'm not familiar with them. They are on the Elan NP01. And their are a lot of others. However, none seem to offer a performance advantage over the Eibach, Penske, JRi, or TTX at about the same price.