I want to get more serious about getting faster at the track and becoming the best damn driver I can possibly be. BUT, i think my car needs some attention. So I was wondering if some of you FAST drivers out there can tell me what I can do to up my car and up my skill.

My Current Setup:
02 S2000, AEM CAI, THM exhaust (similar to stock weight, semi-restrictive), stock wheels with RA-1, JIC coilover (balanced and semi-tuned / race alignment), P+ pads all around

I also have a wilwood brake kit up front (installing tomorrow) which is ~9lbs lighter and bigger than my factory brakes on each side and a greddy catch can I need to install to elimate my smoking problem in hard turns.

My car has 36xxx miles on it. my factory brakes pads disintegrated last week thanks to using them on the track (too lazy to change them out, thought they'd work, apparently I was wrong) and my P+ pads in the rear are all but gone. I have no race pads for the wilwoods yet. The car is a daily driver and I need it everyday.

My Thoughts:
I was going to gut my interior later this year or next year and remove my top in favor of a hard top once I had enough $ to buy a second car for daily driving. I figure I can gut all but the top and still daily drive it.

I have an oil cooler kit sitting around and was considering installing it and selling my AEM in favor of a PRM to make room for it, but from what I'm hearing it may not be worth it and it may not do much for me (I'm looking for improved engine longevity). What do you think?

either way I want to lose the AEM to make room for the brake ducts I want to build for the front.

I'm broke, so my mods can't be expensive. I definitely need to select new pads for the wilwood dynalite caliper and stock rear calipers - one for street and one for track so ). I need suggestions.

I was also thinking I can free up cash and maybe improve handling by selling the JICs in favor of a different setup. Maybe Konis w/ KG/mm springs or something. What do you think?

I also need street wheels OR new race wheels. I had Volks b4 my cash flow turned bad and I had to sell. I'm daily driving my RA-1s and they aren't gonna last much longer. If I get race wheels I can get Hoosiers.Are hoosiers worth the money for a budget-minded guy like me?

Lastly, I was thinking I need more power. I think a dyno-tuned V-AFC2 can do the trick.Is there another way to get more power (that's inexpensive)?

thanks for you help!

 

I'm certainly not "FAST" yet, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...

Hoosiers aren't worth it unless you're racing somewhere where money or some modicum of prestige/honor is on the line. There's no sense "training" on them unless you've got money to burn. Kumho Victoracers or Toyo RA-1s make much more sense for your purposes.

Oil cooler is a nice mod but probably not worth the plumbing/leak possibility headaches in an NA car.

I like the Porterfield R4 or PFC 97 compounds for the track, stock stuff or Porterfield R4S for the street. Not sure what's available for that caliper, but odds are your selection is even better than for those of us with stock calipers.

If your JICs are adjustable, I'd focus on trying to get them dialed in as opposed to looking for some sort of silver bullet coilover. You might be close right now and will just have to start all over again with new gear. Unless you're willing to go back to stock...

For the most part power mods are the worst "improvement in lap times for the buck" mods you can make to the S2000. Past a CAI and exhaust (single 2.5" Borla XR1 with some custom bends is light, cheap, and flows well), and maybe a VAFC, you're really hitting diminishing returns. A complete intake/header/exhaust/ECU from either Spoon or Mugen will make the car faster, but probably not as much as....
practice
get out there, and make yourself faster. Go to the track, the autocross, race driving school, whatever. Get the setup working "well enough", and work on driving. Burn through a few sets of brakes and tires without any other mods, get comfortable with your setup, learn the strengths and weaknesses, then spend some time thinking about what to do next. Chances are the answer to that question will become self-evident with more time spent behind the wheel.

With that in mind, we'll see you at Pahrump, right?

 

i might make it to pahrump, budget permitting. My car is dialed in fairly well after two track days of tuning my JICs (which SUCKED BADLY at willow springs, then were pretty good at buttonwillow after some reworking).

I've been to maybe 5 track days in my MR2 (sold) and 6 in my S2000. I did the mazda rev it up and took the driving clinics (which gave me some good pointers). I find my skills improving, but think they might get better if I could get some fast driver to race me around in my own car and give me some feedback on what I'm doing wrong and then show me how to do it faster. Unfortunately, fast guys like driving their own cars fast...

Also, I am confident in knowing what my car lacks (somewhat). I think my brakes are more than good (as long as they don't fade, which they tend to do by the end of the day) but my handling needs improvement. I'd like more power but I'm sure if I upped my handling and go higher exit speeds the power wouldn't be such a big deal, especially considering I probably won't see real results without 20+hp gains.

This is why I would like to gut my car - better handling and accelleration (and braking).

 

Like stickier tires, gutting will make the car faster, but it won't make you faster. If you're comparing your laptimes to someone with a lightened car, just subtract about a second for every 100lbs. they've removed. Trust me, it's an easy calculation to make while sitting in your cushy air-conditioned car with your Norah Jones CD coming over the speakers, as the guy in the gutted car is sweating and his ears are ringing...

I tend to think of handling as the car's balance, response, and the interpretability of those responses to the driver. This is largely a function of vehicle design and implementation - each corner's suspension geometry, alignment, relative spring and sway bar rates, shock tuning, bushings, chassis stiffness. "Handling", in this sense, is separate from a car's all-out cornering grip, which is more a function of wheel width, tire size and compound, vehicle weight, track width, cg, etc.

So, while gutting the car might make it faster, it might not make it handle better, at least using my definition of the word. If the handling "needs improvement" is the problem that it won't turn in, terrible mid-corner understeer, or oversteer on exit? These problems are different than "the other guy can carry 5mph more through the sweeper" and should be approached differently. Plus the A/C, CD player, and windows are nice things to have. If you were actually going racing (Honda Challenge for instance) then priorities change somewhat, but remember even the most wild series still have rules.

If you can get into the same track session as a "fast" driver, do your best to get behind one of them. Even if it means putting around the track until they've come around to lap you. Follow behind, watch where they're braking, turning in, rolling on the gas to exit, etc. Autocross is great for this because you can get right out in it when working course, and study the moves of the top guys. Another option is bumming a ride with a "fast" guy/gal in their own car, see what they're doing differently.

Good luck dude - if you can make it out to Pahrump, I'm sure you can find a ride in one of the faster S2000s.

 

I am also sure some of the fast guys will gladly drive you in your own car, which is even better so you can get a sense of what your car can do (even if not at 10/10ths) and also get some feedback on the handling. Those were the best lessons I ever got.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by rlaifatt
I am also sure some of the fast guys will gladly drive you in your own car, which is even better so you can get a sense of what your car can do (even if not at 10/10ths) and also get some feedback on the handling.

 

Your budget concerns should be geared toward getting yourself as much track time as possible. So think consumables, entry fee, gas, tires, brake pads and rotors.

jguerdat, Has a great point. Forget about spending money on mods until you get someone fast to drive your car. When you can come close to matching what they can do in your own car that will be the time to consider further modifications. And as JZR said, whenever possible get behind a better driverand watch very closely what they do. And remember better is not necessarily faster. A very good miata driver can show you a lot about going faster around a track, follow one sometime and you'll see what I mean.

http://www.colemanracing.com/section/index.htp?id=463

The HT10's are a great track only pad, easy on the rotor and cheap. The HP Plus should be good for street use and occasional track use.

http://www.hawkperformance.com/brakepads.cfm

 

If you want speed that is good for the track look into the toda N/A power packages I know they are expensive but save up and it will be good for instant throttle response and good power all over. Also it wont be too powerful so you don't have to worry about a problem I have right now.

 

300+s2000, what kind of lap times do you/your car turn at some of the local tracks (willow, streets, buttonwillow)?