Nate Tempest

Great advice above. I don't have a ton more experience than you do, but I would suggest two possible tweaks that could help you in terms of controls. First, I would try shifting your hands down to more of a 9 & 3 position rather than the 10 & 2 you've got. Should just give you a touch more balanced control over steering input. You've got a nice relaxed grip on the wheel already though, which is great.

I would also consider adjusting how you grip the shifter. Some advice I got that has been helpful is to grip the shifter with your palm on the right (as you currently are) for first and second gear. For third and fourth, put your palm directly on top, with fingers curled over the top. And for fifth and sixth, pivot your palm from there slightly to the left, so your had is facing slightly away from you. This makes it more difficult to mis-shift, as the hand position encourages the correct gear selection. I wrote a bit more about that here: https://www.s2ki.com/forums/s2000-ra.../#post24555574. (Oh, and not a driving thing, but speaking of misshifts—I would suggest upgrading to the AP2 valve retainers if you haven't already.)

Finally, since it sounds like you've got the bug and want to do this more, I would recommend some safety mods (before worrying about any go-fast mods). Roll bar, racing seat, harness and HANS, and arm restraints (at least if you're going to run with the top and windows down, although with a soft top car should probably have them regardless).

K20iVTEC

Kind of off topic but what organization are you driving with where you don't need a roll bar?

Jay Cujo

Is not just club specific, it's the track that enforces the rule also.

I can run poconos and NYST workout a roll bar.

I can't go to NJMP as they are more strict

stewpitt

I have been doing exactly that! Been studying videos of other s2ks running on the same track and watching their corner entry speeds, the lines they take, and so on. I am starting to get to the point of reaching the point of grip during trail braking and constant throttle modulation. I am not to the point of where I can comfortably initiate said rotation and use it to an advantage... yet =)

Thank you, I will try to make the adjustment tomorrow when I'm back out on the track! I was told early on to try and keep a relaxed grip so you can feel what the car is doing thru the wheel instead of trying to manhandle the steering. As for the shifting I think I had to make adjustments because I kept missing 3rd and 4th gear on this car for some reason... It may have been because I went from a miata to this car and the way the gears line up is slightly different. But I DD a different 6 speed manual and never had issues. Will also try to make this adjustment as well!

Our local track does not require cars with convertibles with factory rollover protection to have rollbars. This only applies for non-competitive events such as open lapping and HDPE. I do plan on getting a rollbar and harness sometime in the future however. I lost focus on a long sweeping turn and lift-off oversteer spun at ~60 mph. That definitely got me thinking about proper safety equipment!

Thank you all for the input!

circuitclub

John, didn't realize this was your thread - great video and lots of good advice on here. You seem to be on the right track, steady, controlled, not over-driving the car and open to feedback. I echo a lot of the advice on here, 1 addition would be: patience, it just takes time to learn the car, learn the track and build up skills. What videos of other s2000s are you looking at?

Quin

stewpitt

Hey Quin! Always nice to reconnect with someone you met at the track! Funny enough, one of the videos I watch is Jeff following your car.
as for some other videos I try to watch and analyze are
Another s2k member on here as well who I met!
Nick who I don't if he is on the forums
Hsun's

circuitclub

thanks for compiling that, I always enjoy watching other drivers

stewpitt

It's hard to compare sometimes. It seems like ap2's, which most of the videos seems to be, have just the slight advantage overall. And I believe all of the cars in the videos are running square setups. Nick mentioned he can take turn 3 flat out. I don't have the cajones to do that yet...

circuitclub

I've driven or sat in cars with 265/35/18, 255/40/17 squared, 245 square, oem stagger; no aero, CR aero, big voltex +/- splitter, spring rates from 10kg up to 16kg, oem vs gendron vs karcept vs no/miata swaybar combos all at HPR - Unfortunately all those videos have different combos with diff driving styles so it's really difficult to make comparisons. Like others say, I think having another person drive your car and sitting in another car will give great perspective. I agree with your hesitation to mimic another drivers "flat out"

With all that said, aero plays a big part on taming the AP1 on high speed turns. You prob noticed I ran a big J's 1700mm wing in that video

s2kshepard

If there's advice to be had out there, I wouldn't mind some as well. I have about 5 months track experience, maybe ~10 track days. This is my fastest lap from my recent visit to Chuckwalla in SoCal, but I spend most of my time in Arizona.

The car understeers pretty heavily currently. You'll see me punching the throttle and other things to try to help it rotate. Definitely appreciate any driving advice as I am trying to up my game entering TT4.

My car is a 2006 AP2
~2,750 lbs with driver
~230 whp tuned and bolt ons
kwv3 with stock springs, karcepts bars front/back
on Hankook Ventus RS4 with 4 hard days on them
stock brake setup
GT250 wing, homemade 4" birch front splitter (not pictured)