I'll be at NHIS, running the north chicane/south chicane configuration.

Car is a totally stock '01 AP1 on 225/50-16 and 245/45-16 Kumho V700 VictoRacers (stock wheels).

Camber: -1.5 front, -1.8 rear (all they could get at the alignment shop)
Toe: zero front, .64deg rear (.32L + .32R)

Carbotech XP-8 pads in front
Hawk HPS pads in back

I understand that this will be an oversteery setup. Unfortunately I am prevented from any suspension mods (save for shocks) in Showroom Stock. Stiffer front bar = highly illegal!

Anyway, I've got a fair amount of experience tracking an oversteery modded 240Z, so I figure I'll see how it goes as is.

I have read in the forums that inside wheelspin can be hell on the Torsen LSD. I'll have Amsoil 75W90 or 80W90 in there. Is the diff going to be a genuine concern for a car that will see maybe 8 - 10 track days this year? If so, how best to preserve it?

[edit]
Is the ABS OK on-track, or should I disconnect it (if yes, how)?
It's the subject of some debate with my club. I know of at least two ABS-induced "incidents", one resulting in a huge off when the ABS decided the car was on black ice or some such, and wouldn't allow braking despite massive effort on the pedal! Also, apparently in a big spin it's possible for ABS to prevent keeping the wheels locked, which can result in unintended lurching across the track when traction is regained. So what's the story with the S2000's ABS for track use?

Thanks for any and all *informed* advice or words of wisdom!

 

You will be fine with that setup however your alignment shop should have been able to get more rear camber (my shop gets -2.5 no problem). Also, that is a LOT of rear toe in but that may help offset the fact that you do not have a larger front swaybar. XP8s are fine initually although you will probably end up using XP12F/10R at some point. Diff should be fine, you might want to step up to a pure 90w fluid (LE607) at som epoint.

 

Yeah, I was expecting at least -1.75 front, -2.25 rear for camber.

I went with the max rear toe-in in the Honda-specified range. Still less than what's recommended in the FAQ (1/4" ~ 1deg?), but yeah, still a lot.

Will look into LE607 for the diff next change. I'll probably change it every few events as preventive maintenence.

Note added ABS questions above. What's the consensus on track-worthiness for the S2000's ABS?

Thanks for the feedback!

 

Don't disconnect ABS.

 

There's a reason F1 outlawed ABS and it wasn't cause it made the cars slower.

 

I'd advise against disconnecting ABS also.
ABS won't prevent your wheels from locking in a spin or sideways slide anyway. Plus without ABS, replacing flat-spotted tires get very expensive quickly.

 

I say disconnect the abs and run 4 spare tires

 

Reminds me of a story I heard about some folks who were running in the 24hr Daytona race. Seems they rented a bunch of vans for the weekend, and they all had the same donut spares. So somebody got the brilliant idea to take four spares and create a "custom" van. They drove it around like that all weekend, and swapped the real tires back when it was time to return it.

 

there has been more than one joke about putting an s2k on 4 spares and running an auto-x on it.

See who can be the fastest on bike tires

 

For the record, I'm not talking about disconnecting ABS to go faster, and I know it won't prevent all four wheels from locking in a slide.

BUT, I have seen in-car video of an Audi where the ABS prevented hard brake application (black ice mode) under normal track conditions, in a braking zone immediately after a small hill that unloaded the suspension; resulting in said Audi expensively smashing itself into an embankment.

Also, there HAVE been incidents of ABS UNlocking the wheels near the end of a slide, resulting in unexpectedly lurching across the track and into cars sneaking by on the inside.

ABS *should* be a good thing to have, but in some conditions it's better for the driver's foot to have UNRESTRICTED access to the brake calipers.

Anyway, I haven't heard of any such incidents with the S2000, just thought I'd see if there are any reports of on-track ABS weirdness here.

As for the "four spare tires" idea, it's an argument for another topic (the "non-OEM 225/50-16 are the WRONG AP1 rear tire size" one), but I remember Car and Driver testing the C4 with a space-saver spare just for yuks, and it was pretty unbelievable how LITTLE grip was lost vs. the stock 255-width tire!

Anyhoo, I knew I shoulda made the ABS question a different thread...