Ks320

Hehe ... well ... I was hoping to find out about this from people with prior experience with the bar

RED MX5

We use additional chassis bracing on our MX5's, but haven't seen the need on the S2000. You may have to be the guinea pig.

To me the X brace looks like a lot of money for a small gain in regidity (if that), and the car is already extremely stiff, at least for an open car. LOL, it's stiffer than a lot of closed cars.

Are you getting cowl shake over bumps?
Are you running R compound tires?
(I'm having a hard time figuring out why you feel the chassis needs to be more rigid.)

Ks320

My ride's bone stock (and plan to keep it the way it is until I become a better driver).

I want the chassis to be more rigid, cuz I practically live in a 3rd world country -- the roads are horrible in New York City -- and would like to keep the frame straight as long as possible.

RED MX5

Strip mining is the primary industry in the area where we live, so we have some county roads that are as bad as anything in NYC. Fortunately they aren't the only roads we have, and they're easy enough to avoid.

IMHO the biggest problem with the S2000 when hitting pot holes is the limited suspension travel. The big impacts come when the suspension hits the bump stops, and even a full roll cage won't improve the situation. If I had to drive on such roads I think I'd try a set of the Koni bump stops that ride on the shock absorber. LOL, I don't even know if they still make the things, but somebody probably makes more progressive bump stops. Shocks with more compression damping might also help. If you can keep the car off the bump stops, or get more progressive bump stops, the impact forces will go WAY down, and this will do more to reduce the stresses on the chassis than any amount of additional bracing.

I know things like shocks and bump stops aren't as glamorous as cool looking chassis braces, but they'll do more to reduce the peak loads transmitted to the chassis, and that seems to be what you're trying to accomplish. There is absolutely nothing wrong with putting an X brace on the car if you want; They look cool and may provide a slight increase in tortional stiffness, but if it were me I'd spend the money on shocks and aftermarket bump stops.

Actually, I *DO* have to drive on the nasty roads in our county, and on the mining company roads as well, and my S2000 wouldn't make it a mile on the company roads. If I lived in NYC I'd do the same thing I'm doing now; You can get an older AWD Lexus RX300 for a song; They aren't really suitable for off road use, but they have enough suspension travel to handle pot holes and speed bumps without bottoming out. They're also easier to drive in snow, and in traffic the view is much better than in an S2000. LOL, a side benefit is that the handling will make you love the S2000 more than ever.