Hey guys I'm about to pick up an AP2 S2000 and I heard it's not as good for autocross. I'd rather have an AP1 but for depreciation and age issues I need to get a 04/05.

My question is this, do any of you guys autocross an 04+ S2000 and do well? If so do you need to make any suspension modifications to make it handle as well as the 00-03 cars? Also, does the lower redline significantly hurt performance in an tight technical autocross course? Is there a way to get around the 8300 rpm vs 9000 rpms, I was thinking about getting 4.77's and just using the middle of 2nd gear where AP1's would be at the top of 1st.

 

The lower gearing is really helpful on tight (low speed) courses, where the AP1 cars would be tempted to shift to 1st gear. Where the gearing hurts is on higher speed courses where the AP2 wants go go into 3rd.

As for handling, you'd put on the same suspension parts for the same reasons as you would on an AP1. A stiffer front swaybar helps prevent inside wheel spin and compensates for wider front tires than stock. Shocks help reduce body roll and quicken the response and settling time.

In stock form, the AP2 should have less of a problem with wheelspin, although it isn't totally immune. The wider wheels should be a benefit as well, allowing for 245 width front tires and 275 rears!

Don't worry about the gearing until you've driven the car. It's not that bad, and it seems like it would be better to get really good at shifting rather than bump yourself into a higher class with engine or transmission mods.

 

Great info, I really appreciate it especially coming from an 05 owner. The question is, can you fit 245 on the front wheels and 275 on the rear wheels (factory that is). Also do the AP2's use the same swaybars and coilovers as the AP1? Also can you get an Xbrace for the AP2, my gf's 00 has an xbrace and I really like the way it stiffens the car up paird with the whiteline front sway bar.

 

Hope this helps:

- Yes. 245/275 is outside the recommended rim width range, but you will find a number of AP2 owners running these sizes in stock class autocross.

- No and definitely no. There are even significant differences in the AP1 suspension from year to year.

- The roll resistance you feel is almost entirely from the sway bar. Ignore the xbrace until after you try a bigger front sway.

 

I was planning on getting an xbrace/front sway bar at the same time since they're relatively inexpensive and work good paired together.

So i'm guesing you can't slap stock 02 suspension on an 04 at all much less to get an AP1 handling feel?

What's the ideal largest SAFE tire sizes for the factory 17" AP2 wheels? The car I'm buying has 245/40/17's on the rear, what would be ideal on the front with a larger front sway bar?

 

Aftermarket swaybars and shocks will work on both AP1 and AP2 cars. For example, I am using a Gendron front swaybar and Penske shocks that were previously used on AP1 cars.

I am using 245/275 tires on stock sized wheels, with a larger front swaybar.

Are you planning on using the same tires for autocross and street use? We're talking about the Kumho V710 competition tires in those sizes. For the street, I'm using Yokohama AD-07 tires, 225 front / 255 rear.

Do you care about being in a particular autocross category, and being competetive? The X brace is going to boot you out of any reasonable class that you'd drive a street car in. Switching to springs & shocks from earlier years won't buy you much difference, but it will bump you out of Stock category.

My suggestion would be to get a good adjustable front swaybar (the Gendron or Comptech) and forget about the X brace. Get competition tires if you want, get an alignment suitable for competition, and don't touch anything else for now.

 

[QUOTE=Orthonormal,Apr 17 2006, 07:34 AM] Aftermarket swaybars and shocks will work on both AP1 and AP2 cars.

 

If you're just planning to autocross with the NTS2K group...then do what you like for mods, but the advice provided by Orthonormal will get you to the 95% solution in terms of CAR competitiveness in AP2 stock class autocross.

You can swap suspension from any MY to your heart's content. Fitment is the same (swaybars, shocks, springs). Just be aware of the class limitations as Orthonormal points out.

245 rear tires are NOT ideal in the AP2 setup assuming the fronts are 225.

My advice?

Fix the tire situation (225/255 or 245/275), 2) get a proper alignment, 3) then drive the car in its current form for at least 2-4 events before you decide what needs to be fixed (or not).

But hey...it's your money

 

One coilover option I'll throw out there is the Bilstein PSS9. They're relatively inexpensive but ought to be pretty good. I have no direct experience.

AP2 alignment is pretty similar to AP1 alignment except it requires less rear toe-in. My own settings are max camber in the front, and about 0.3 degrees more negative in the rear than in the front, with (currently) zero rear toe-in. 1/8" toe-in is a more "stock" setting which will make the rear more stable under acceleration. Lowering the car or changing the spring rates is likely to require different alignment specs.

Kumho MX in 215/245 is one of the combos that I considered. Are you looking at that because it already has Kumhos on the rear?

 

A 225/255 tire setup fixes any issue with understeer. (It's still there a tad, but it's a good thing.) The issue that I continued to have was a general lack of response - the softer rear-end led to slow reactions and longer settling times for the car than I like. I'd be interested in driving an AP2 with 02-03 rear coilovers. And then from there contemplate a stiffer front swaybar depending on the balance.