i drive mostly highways and most are kinda bumpy but definately bearable. the ride is not jarring at all. like voodoo said ride is also dependant on valving

 

I think that the EVO handling as far as skid pad numbers are matched up or greater than the ones for the S2000. However, the car is AWD. So it's kind of an inflated number.

The balance of the car plays a big role in ACTUAL handling. Skid pads are done with gradual incrase in G. When you flip the wheel in an AutoX environment, you instantly change the car's velocity and increase the G force.

Even in road racing, the Velocity and G delta is greater than a skidpad test.

So the S2000's inherent better handling balance (tendency not to plow), suspension design, and weight distribution shine through.

Corner entry and mid corner points are the EVO's weak spot. This just happens to be the S2000's strength. Corner exit is the EVO's strength (AWD means you can probably just mash the pedal). However, the fact that the S2000 has little torque means that with the right steering angle and midcorner to corner exit transition position, you can pretty much mash the pedal in the S2000 a lot of the time as well.

The EVO still has corner exit advantage because of the greater torque and the ability to put it down. But you have the advantage 2/3 of the way thru the corner. The stock or mildly modded EVO's corner exit speed isn't enough to regain the advantage on a S2000.

My point is that the S2000 allready has the handling advantage by more than a little.

I'll be at gingerman in about 4 days. I don't think there's any EVOs running in my class. But I've made a camera mount and will be recording the sessions. Hopefully, a late entry EVO shows up.

edit: the EVO may have a huge corner exit advantage in autocross, but only if the cars are both bogged down since it makes much more torque. Again, not a handling advantage, just a torque advantage. The EVO is just easier to get out of the bog zone.

People didn't believe me a long time ago when I said that if you were road racing STOCK or close to stock cars (stock power levels, anyway), and you wanted to take out an S2000, an EVO wouldn't be the right choice of car.

 

well...why do you want 16k spring rates if you just street drive the car anyway? What's the advantage of going higher?

 

you can increase the spring rates on the PSS9, but I wouldn't go past the 5K mark.

BC track CO might be mroe suited for your needs.

Gears will definately help

When using R compund tires, you will need a stiffer suspension to really make them work.

I imagine the higher the spring rate, the faster (more direct) the weight transfer would be to the tires, but at a sacrifice of comfort of course.

 

Something else you need to consider which I have not heard mentioned yet is maximizing your traction with the proper spring rate. If you go too stiff you will lose traction do to less weight transfer. There is a balance between body control and maximizing your tractability. I have a 00-01 sway bar set up and find the stock BC RC coilovers 10k a great balance with pre load on the spring up front and none in the back. I believe this coilover is going to be your best option. It has the durability and damping room to run 14k springs without taxing and still maintaining proper damping headroom, though even with R compounds I think you will find the 10k to be very sufficient to handle your car and give you max traction. As Rdizzle mentioned you want to utilize your damping properly, this is the other aspect of a coilover as well as spring weight choice that needs to be considered, and like I mentioned before is one of BC RC's great features. You want a coilover that has room for adjustability and not be maxed out just to make work. The Pss9's I think would be a mistake for anything over 8k springs.

 

Thanks again for the responses. Lot's of good info here. I think I will proceed with the BC's with 12k/10k springs then. Where as I am sure I would like the ride of the PSS9's, no sense in spending money only to find that the main reason for spending is not adequately addressed by the billies.

 

I think that combo will serve you well with this year of S. I will suggest running no pre load with these spring rates front or rear. I think you will also find running in the 10 to 12 click from full stiff to serve you well also. happens to be what I have found to be in the range you will want to run with your 16 click damping range, This will get you close to a great starting point for set up anyhow. Your tire size/pressure/ alignment set up will also dictate some of your settings. good luck and have fun!

 

You can actually adjust the rears without extenders. The left rear requires a little flexibility since the fuel tank gets in the way but it's very doable.

 

Thanks for the great start off tips - I need that kind of info to get me started.

I have never had experience with coil overs before - just upgraded (or up rated) springs and dampers. So at the risk of sounding like a total noob, I am not 100% sure what is the purpose of spring pre-load. Can you expound on this for me?


Bought the BCs! Thanks rijowysock.

Tanx.

 

spring preload makes the spring artificially stiffer. Since the buddy clubs are fully adjustable, you can crush the spring with one perch, and lower the car with the lower perch.

I tend to avoid it. It's hard to predict the results. It's kind of a black art. It's hard to know how much to preload and most times it will end up screwing things up.