SoCal Craig, I believe a matched pair of thicker sway bars should help you reduce roll/dive/squat without having to drop the car. That's before you move to say coilovers for some serious stiffening.

 

Guys, in my personal opinion, everyone is mistaken if they think that the S2000 is truely tuned absolutely perfectly from factory. EVERY car's performance can be improved with well planned, well engineered aftermarket parts. In the integra type R groups, there is also an idea that many parts on the car cannot be improved upon by using aftermarket parts. Yet, while the improvements may be subtle, most high quality parts ( mugen, spoon, etc) do have a positive impact on the cars performance.

That being said, unlike a DX civic, throwing on a set of springs from company x that simply made the spring rates more stiff and made the length of the spring shorter will not dramatically improve the performance of car and may in fact, reduce it's maximum capabilities in exchange for less body roll, less squat and less dive.

For the type R, Spoon makes springs matched specifically to the stock type R's shock rates, and generally they seem to get good reviews. Perhaps someone should see if a company does this for the S2000. If not, if someone knows their stuff about suspension then I know that ground control will actually make a custom spring rate for an application. For a truely noticable improvement, one should probably get some true coilovers and tune the suspension to the drivers style by adjusting the stiffness, ride height, rebound, camber etc. Good luck everyone and hopefully, I'll be a s2k driver in the near future and be in the "predicament" that you guys are in.

 

what if you have 19" wheels? then the s2000 will be ?highered? (dunno if thats a word, but yeah you know what i mean), then maybe buy comptech springs?

 

ITR #203, Spoon does make springs for the stock S2000 shocks. From my understanding, there is a range of spring rates that will work with a specifically damped shock. If you go outside that range, then the car will feel floaty and underdamped, and you will get the Cadillac bounce. The question is, what is the range for the S2000?

The other option I am exploring is the Honda Modulo system. This system is available from Honda Japan as an aftermarket system, and I know that it would have been tested rigorously before being put into production.

 

S2kRob

Let us know if you get this system imported and what the features are. I love the S2K's handling at low to medium speeds but at higher speeds, it starts to show its flaws.

If anyone for that matter has more info about it, please post it here. Thx

 

I agree with ITR the S2000 (like the ITR) is well-tuned from the factory but you can improve on it. There is only so far a car company will go before it realizes it is alienating too many people by offering too much performance over other things like comfort.

Will plain old springs improve handling? MAYBE. Will it decrease handling? MAYBE. I took a <$150 chance to find out and I am glad that I did. Does the car handle better? I don't know. I'm sure it doesn't handle much worse. I like it lower. I like how it FEELS. I like how it looks.

The stock handling of the S2000 is plenty good for a street car. If you need more performance, go with stickier tires because that is the biggest improvement you will get. End of story. On the track the weak point is definitely the tires. Your suspension (or anything) is only as strong as the weakest link. Replace the S02's with sticky gumballs and you're set.

If you are a hardcore racing nut who will sacrifice money, comfort, and reason for the sake of going a little faster then you should research suspension options. I would recommend posting in the racing forum and not in the general forum since i would estimate ATLEAST 90% of the S2000's out there are daily drivers or street-only cars. You would have to be crazy (or crazy rich) to want to spend way over $1000 on fancy suspension toys to make your car handle better for the street. Like I said, tires cost way less than that! Besides, if you've never driven your car on the race track then you should upgrade your skills before you upgrade your car - that is probably an even bigger bang-for-the-buck upgrade than the tires. Besides, you might get hooked and start racing and really need that $2000 suspension

I'm just trying to save you guys some money. don't flame me....

 

Being an active reader of SPORT COMPACT CAR, I remember a few months ago (maybe longer) when they compared a stock S to one that was fitted with Neuspeed suspension components, and the Neuspeed one actually pulled LESS lateral G's and a slower slalom than stock.....

 

Will springs alone degrade handling? - Definitely - unless the shocks were overdamped to begin with -

The stock s2k REAR SHOCKS ARE UNDERDAMPED already..
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if you really want handling advice try this:
1. Align your car to the UK Honda specs - it will give you good baseline feel - even try increasing caster more to increase turn in (it will increase steering weight though).

2. Then, see what your car is doing, too much understeer? Check your pressures

3. Consider upgrading your swaybars, especially if you don't like the oversteer condition - ie. mugen front bar

4. Change your springs and shocks - for the 50th time, you DON"T have to go full coilover shock - in fact - the japanese spring rates are way to harsh for anything but a smooth race track. If you drive on the road, or drive on road courses which "work" the suspension, I would advise speaking to some suspension tuning companies, who will be able to put a set of revalved konis and springs together for FAR FAR less $$


2. Then, replace your springs ONLY together with your shocks

 

But to say that springs are a complete waste of money arent really completely accurate. tse, I agree that just throwing on springs on a S2000 will degrade AT THE LIMIT handling. However, at 4/10's to 6/10's of a car's ability, you would be suprised how much springs give the illusion of a better handling car. So for those people who never push their cars over 8/10's, springs may not be a bad idea.

For example, my friend has a Integra type R with Skunk 2 Coilovers ( not true coilovers) and heavy 17's. His car turns in better than my car and at 6/10's feels like the better handling car due to the lack of body roll and less squat and dive. I havent raced him in a autocross or a track so I cant validate my suspicions but I suspect that at the limit, my type R will be the better handling car. However, even my friend with the S2000 ( bjechols @ s2ki) feels that his car is the better handling car.