I thought that was pretty much what it cost to have a custom-valved three or four way JRZ/Mouton setup, maybe with a few different spring options.

And seriously, no matter how much money I had, I would probably spend it on a different car or more track time rather than fiddling too much with the S2000 suspension. But then I'm the guy who tracked it stock for about four years.

 

^ I agree. The marginal benefit of additional track experience far outweighs that of suspension enhancement.

 

If you are going to drive it on the street and cost is not an issue, then get at least 3-way coilovers, like the JRZ's and Motons. The third adjustment is for high-speed (of piston) compression, so you can make the bumps and potholes a lot smoother while keeping the low-speed compression and rebound fairly stiff for cornering. (I drove on the street on my 3-way JRZ's for the last two years at teeth-rattling stiff (lazy to change from the track), then just recently reduced a few clicks on the hs-compression and... "wow, why didn't I do this earlier?" )
For track-mostly car, then 2-way is fine, 1-way okay. Of course, this is if the budget allows.

 

No argument there, but what do you do with all the money that's left over after you've paid for all the track time your schedule allows? If you've got $10k for suspension, after all the other stuff, then what? I'm not totally sure that it's anything more than a rhetorical question, and I'm certainly not saying that suspension mods are going to provide the kind of improvements one can gain from good schools and track time. I've actually been autocrossing longer than most of the Evolution School instructors, but I still benefit from the schools and exercises.

What I really wanted to know was how Mike would spend $10k on an S2000 suspension setup, because I respect his knowledge and was curious.

 

I said price was not a problem earlier... but I imagined a light to modest setup wouldn't run me more than $3000... but holy christ, $6,000 for a tripple-adjustable setup.

It's easy to see how you could throw $10,000 into suspension in a blink of an eye.

 

But suspension is a field in which I don't have a lot of experience, sorry. I know the engineering theory, but I've never gotten involved in the practice much. I just installed my first set of adjustible dampers. Maybe by next year I'll know more.

 

I think I'll end up matching your four years on stock (or nearly stock) suspension, but then my car is more toy than race car. I doubt I'll be doing any extensive suspension mods until I'm ready to upgrade the tires to something grippier than the S02's.

 

I had my M3 on Coilovers with 550 front and 600 rear rates... and the stock ap1 ride feels more firm/stiff than my M3 did.

I think the stock suspension is more than good enough to use for a long time. Wheels, tires, some sways... I don't think you need much more than that.

 

Spring rates don't transfer from car to car. Too many other variables involved.

 

Well if it helps, the car weighs about 2900lb and stock rates on the M3 are 115 front, rear 335