Hi all,
I'm hoping to get some advise. I'm thinking about purchasing a 2008 S2000 with a stage 1 SOS kit. It seems well taken care of. Is there anything I need to look out for, or should I have concerns about buying a car like this?

I've previously had a k24 Ariel Atom which I supercharged, so I'm a little familiar with supercharged Hondas. I also have 3 S2000's right now, but I've never modified any of my S2000s. I know if this car was supercharged, it was probably driven a bit harder than the norm, but anything else other than the obvious that I need to look for?

 

You own 3 S2000s? wot.

Anyway, Stage 1 SOS won't be too much of an issue if you can verify that the owner wasn't a complete tool and took care of the car. Those kits run relatively low boost but in the hands of a careless owner they could be problematic.

I'd just do the standard tests; compression, leakdown, check the plugs if you know how to read them.

 

I thought I loved S2000's. I only have 1 though. A boosted S2000 is the best!!! I like the turbo variation though.

 

Thanks guys. One thing that kind of worries me is that the car was never properly tuned. The owner is running the tune that was provided with the kit. I'm assuming that base tune would be a super safe tune. Is this typical? Can anybody provide more info on that? Also, I believe the stage 1 kit is supposed to run at 6lbs. That seems pretty conservative. Can somebody confirm?

 

Sounds about right, no tuning required for the Stage I kit as far as I can recall.

 

The Stage 1 tune is pretty solid. It uses a piggyback called the 'FVM' that adjust fuel trim and VTEC crossover point. I run an 'alternate' stage 1 tune on mine that has a variant of the FVM better suited to having an aftermarket exhaust. I've been running it on mine for several years. I just have to adjust the RRFPR twice yearly due to seasonal changes (think 90F to 20F). It also passes emmissions, which a Stage 2 would not do in my area (probably could if I ran the Hondata...but that's still technically illegal). I run with a wideband to keep an eye on things. Mine has a 5.5psi max observed boost, but it's still enough to break 300whp...on a Mustang dyno.

One thing to note is the 2006+ cars run on 8psi stock...I didn't really think there were 'stages' per se on those as I believe in all cases they use the stock ECU with a reflash. It's the 2000-2005's that use the separate ECU when you jump from Stage 1 to 2.

EDIT: It does look like they have stages now for 06-09, but at the time I bought mine the 'stage 1' for 06-09 was 8psi. They may have lowered it to 6psi.

If the compression is fine, and the car seems well taken care of, I wouldn't have any hesitations. The Stage 1 kits aren't too hard on the powertrain. Sure, a stage 2 would be better, but a stage 1 car is pretty much set-and-forget, quite reliable, and quite fun. I have no fears even on a cross-country drive...which is remarkable for a 14 year old car modified for FI.