I've seen it done in real life with full interior and 16" OEM wheel + tires. I'm not so sure if it can be done on 17" though (haven't seen that myself).

 

I've done it with 225F/245R Victoracers on OEM 16's... One rear in the trunk. The two fronts upright side-by-side on the passenger's seat. Then stack the other rear sideways on top of the two fronts and let it slide back and to the center. Then put the top up. You have no viability out the right side of the car, and you have that rear tire rubbing against your elbow and shoulder, but it's doable. That said, I did it once and then said, "This sucks, I'm getting a trailer!"

 

You can run RA1's and drive them to the track. Having owned a MY99 and a 03 I definitely prefer 02+ cars - the suspension changes make it a bit less scary but still tailhappy and the ECU gets more out of the engine.

In EU I think 04+ still has the 2L engine so you would be spending more for the revised look, 17" wheels and setup that from what I read here will understeer rather than oversteer.

 

Well, let me play a bit of the Devil's advocate over here:

-Mods are expensive.
-Repairs are expensive.
-Maintenance is expensive.
-Power is hard to come by. NA the car is already at diminishing returns, FI may require rebuilds (frequency based on levels of boost) for hard tracking/racing.
-Some tracks/clubs may require you to run some combination of hardtop, rollbar, rollcage, and racing harnesses. Some tracks/clubs may not let you run at all.

The S2000 is one of the best sports cars ever made and needs very little preparation to play and go fast on the track. However, sports car does not equal race car. If I was starting from scratch without owning one, it would not be my number one choice for a dedicated track car. There are too many obstacles that are costly to overcome. If you happen to have the money to overcome them, then you should be buying a faster car.

 

I don't have any tires BUT RA1s.

 

OK, money is not a problem and you have seat time. Buy one, you are going to have a blast!!

 

i've done 3 in the passenger 255/40/17 tires
1 in the trunk

but this is without the passenger seat

 

OEM rotors are perfectly good for the track. Just change the pads. Carbotech XP10s on the front and XP8s on the rear work fine up to the more advanced driving with r-compounds. Take the car out stock with DOT4 fluid and the Carbotech pads and you'll have a blast!

 

Some of the UK guys have purchased and used the Racelogic Traction control system on MY00-05 with some success.

It's similar to the system used in the Exige. Variable settings for slip %.

 

All: thanks a lot for your input. Those were the things I needed an answer for. Next track season starts in March. We'll see what time brings. The S2000 is definitely an option.


FormulaRedline: thank you very much for your input. You have some very intresting points, I will take into consideration!