First of all, my car was in a bit of a tussle with a curb a couple of months ago which required the rear driver's side control arm to be replaced. Since I've gotten the car back, it doesn't feel quite as hunkered down on fast sweepers. Pardon me for my ignorance as I have very little experience with alignments, but would an alignment make the car feel more stable and "hunkered down" through the curves? Would an alignment improve turn-in and feedback through the steering wheel - my steering wheel feels a little loose (ie I can turn it 10 - 15 degrees and the car doesn't respond as much or as quickly as I'd like). Any info would be greatly appreciated - Thanks everyone!

On a similar yet unrelated note - what are the best mods to improve turn-in and steering feel outside of an alignment? Would an X-brace help? Any other suggestions welcomed!

Jim

 

Increase the caster to 6.0-6.5 for a somewhat improved feel. Tires with a stiffer sidewall will improve the feel as well. There was a long thread recently about the lack of steering feel; I can't recall if it was in this forum, UTH, or R&C.

 

The 04 and newer cars have a slower ratio steering. So the earlier cars are a bit quicker steering. Increased castor and a bit more neg on the camber should help. I plan this as well. Hondal dialed alot of understeer into the AP2's design.

 

Mugen makes hard rubber steering bushings.

 

Can anyone speak up about an x-brace? Would this help improve turn in?

 

I had an x-brace on my '01 and all it did was smooth out the feel of the steering over uneven road surfaces. I really don't think it improved turn in.

That being said I'm still going to get one for my '04 (a rick's x-brace), as I did like how the car felt with it installed.

 

It is the alignment if it started after the body work.

I would take it to a good alignment shop that will align the car to the middle of the spec and give you a printout, rather than what most shops do which is if the car is within the spec range, they don't do any adjustment.

Especially if the body shop farmed out the work, it is most likely a crappy alignment.

The S2000 is very sensitive to alignment.

Bill

 

I like the feel with my X-brace, but I am not sure if it helped with turn-it. The car mainly feels better on less than perfect roads.

 

Thanks for the responses everyone. Sounds like the xbrace wouldn't do much to help me out - the roads in socal are relatively nice and smooth. I'm thinking that an alignment will do the trick! There is a very well respected/knowledgable alignment guy here in socal (darin - westend) who I'll be taking my S to - I've heard nothing but great things about him. I just need to get an appointment...he's booked three weeks in advance

 

I highly recommend West End. A proper alignment will make a huge difference and is most likely what you need.