Back S2k

I have only driven the 00-01 s2000 the suspenion is identical. From my experience (5+ years of DD a few autox events and a lot of "spirited" driving) you can learn to anticipate the toe change when the car is fully settled at apex and corner exit. Just drive it hard and learn, whatever you do DO NOT LIFT when you feel her step out just counter smooth. Once you figure her out and still not happy than proceed onto fiddling with sway bars/bump steer etc... With a staggered wheel set up aggressive alignment and sticky tires I am very happy with the way she feels.

vtec9

cheddaboy

So hard to not lift lol

fifty5engineering

I track my 2000 a few times a year and had the same concerns you have. Coming from an 05' I was expecting the 00' to be very hard to control. This turned out to be not true and I actually prefer it to my previous AP2. Here are changes I made that further improved handling and why.

1. These cars need sticky tires. Not r-comps but something aggressive. I am running RS3s and will likely stay with them. On the old S02s the car would transition from oversteer to understeer somewhat violently and reduce my confidence. The new tires make the vehicle really neutral and consistently understeer if I stay on throttle.

2. Installed front springs of an AP2 (2005 to be exact) and added an Eibach front sway bar. I felt like the car wanted to lift the inside rear tire on tight slow speed turns resulting in instability. These to 2 cheap mods seemed to eliminate the issue. Combined with the tires the car drives and handles great.

3. This car is TERRIBLE in the rain on track. I'm not sure if this issue is worse on AP1 cars as I never tracked the AP2. I recently ran at Mid Ohio in the rain and couldn't believe how poor the car handled. The car drives similar to when equipped with crappy tires but multiplied by 100! Massive understeer and oversteer with little prior notice. It was an interesting experience, but in the future I won't go out if the track is wet.

Ultimately, with the tires, springs and swaybar (on a dry track) I push it as hard as I did my race car. Avoid recklessly backing off the gas and its pretty easy to drive.

Gottabfast

There are a few big mistakes that drivers make and the AP1 S2000 can be unforgiving in those scenarios. Auto-x is probably the safest place to learn it. Don't be afraid to spin, but learn from it when you do.

As someone mentioned - don't lift when the back end comes around, but also gently steer into the direction of the skid. Keep the throttle steady and back out or dip back in as needed, which takes some getting used to. The car can really be steered with the throttle if you can modulate it right.

Be gentle with initial throttle and brake inputs. By gentle, I mean find the right pace to reach full application that doesn't upset the car - again, something that takes practice and feel. Releasing the brakes at the right pace is also a step that can help with control, but tougher to master.

Read "Drive to Win" by Carroll Smith. Most of it is still very relevant today.

Apex1.0

Good info...

The more I drive the car, the more I am starting to feel better about pushing it.

I will switch to AP2 wheels and tires and get the alignment setup. I also plan on dropping it with mild springs, but I know that will not help to tame the car.

ZDan

Check your rear toe. My 01 is great at the track in the wet, except when I was first tracking it and running the massive rear toe-in that people used to recommend for these cars. With .64 total rear toe, the car is all over the place in the wet. Darting left and right and randomly threatening to swap ends, then plowing at turn-in. With minimal rear toe, the car handles great in the wet. I run 0.2 degrees total.

fifty5engineering

Your description of the "dartiness" in the wet matches my experience. .64 Sounds like a lot. I thought the recommended rear toe specs (euro) was .4. At .2 aren't you experiencing toe out when the rear wheels are unloaded (inside tire on turns, under braking)?