regray1

I'm living in North Dakota and the roads are shit. I was wondering if a new set of coil overs could even out the conditions or could air suspension? I'm not stanced and pretty much stick to spirited driving, carving up the mountains when I go to New Mexico, and like some comfort highway driving (seats are coming soon). I know it's usually personal opinion but I'd like to see what some of actual S2K owners think.

Manga_Spawn

Pretty much no coilover is going to be more comfortable and soak up the bumps better than the OEM suspension. There are some that are ont he softer side like PSS9's but I think those are still stiffer than OEM. Can't speak to air ride but pretty sure you won't gain in the performance area with air ride.

engifineer

Air Ride makes a system that supposedly handles well, but I think it is costly and really it "performs well for an air suspension". Air suspension really is crap for most spirited driving. Bags of air just do not make very good handling setups. Leave the bags for the stanced VW folks and frame draggers :P. As Manga mentioned, OEM is going to be your best bet. Just about everything else will be stiffer, since that is what most people want for aftermarket. I thought the OEM setup was very smooth for this type of car.

rrounds

One more thing you can do is run taller tires. On my '06 I run 235/45-17 front and 245/45-17 out back on stock wheels with no mods to the fenders. Have a little over 100k miles on my S with those size tires and the taller tires do soak up the bumps better. I also run a stiffer front sway-bar(C/R sway-bar). Car has been all over the western 13 states, including the Black Hills of the Dakotas. If your lowered I doubt you can run those size tires and not rub the fender wells.

ROD

alSpeed2k

Personally, I think Ohlins are more comfortable than OEM suspension and they work great! Downside is they aren't cheap.

Car Analogy

Stock suspension lasts a long time. One big reason for that is the seals are really heavy duty. But the downside is there is a lot more stiction, or static friction, in the stock shocks. That makes them stiffer over road imperfections.

Aftermarket shocks often have more performance oriented seals, which have less stiction, and hence shocks don't last as long before needed rebuild. But that makes them more supple, even with stiffer springs than stock.

So many aftermarket coilovers are as or more comfortable than stock. But probably most are indeed more uncomfortable than stock.

Manga_Spawn

rpg51

Or, you can run oem shocks with 16" wheels and tires ala ap1 oem which gives you the taller sidewalls without changing total diameter. That is one reason I returned to 16 inch wheels for my ap1 cars after running ap2 wheels for a couple of years. That, and if you can find some good forged 16 inch wheels, you end up with a lighter set up on each corner which has its advantages also. Think BBS JDM 16" forged wheels. I love them. Not the most beautiful wheels maybe, but performance-wise they are excellent. Handling is great. Comfort is enhanced. Hard to beat. Especially if you are tired of getting beat up on rough roads. Someday maybe the ap2 owners who drive on the street will see the light!

senninha1994

You could fit the shocks from a later model if you want a softer ride.
00-01 - Extremely stiff setup
02-03 - Slightly less stiff
04-05 - softer again
06-07 - the softest setup of all S2000's
08-09 - back to 02-03 stiffness

GSteg

Stick with OEM suspension if the roads are crap and you don't mind the ride height. Replace the shocks and possibly the control arm bushings if they're worn out. OEM is your best bet for road comfort.