simple answer? buy a used SC for $3k on the board and be happy.

stock wheels and tires are great, stock suspension is great, but that does not mean there isn't room for improvement. there are always more room to improve. Rather you need that improvement or can afford is entirely up to you

i think the stock s2k is far from at it's maximum potential. but as to how to mod to make it get closer to maximum potential? thats what this board is about.

 

Another mod that's more about looks than performance in many cases...

Josh Jacquot, the editor of Sport Compact Car had the following to say about the Comptech S2000

"On the street and during slalom testing, it suffered from the same problems we've experienced in every lowered S2000 we've driven. Our best guess is that an overly aggressive stock rear toe curve makes these cars difficult to drive at the limit when they're lower than stock (hence the slower than stock slalom speeds). Even with huge wheels and tires at all four corners, the added grip is lost during hard cornering. Bottom line? Don't lower your S2000 unless you're prepared to deal with this ill-handling character."

 

I usually try to avoid listening to magazines. The Comptech S2000 needs a lot of work if its the car I am thinking about. So yes he would have said what he said. Put him behind a properly tuned/lowered S2k and he will have a totally different writeup.

 

js Ap1

i might be a newbie.. which is why you dont know me and what i do.

personally the best modification to my civic was the tein flex w/ edfc..

because its stiff like i like it.. minimal suspension travel which mends well with my 19" fetish and when my gf gets in the car i can soften it and she doesnt bitch.

i own a shop so the tein will be at cost.. which is like 1k. the project mu.. i can get here in 7 days.. and the kit costs me 2400$ all inclusive...
and as for wheels i make wheels .. 18" 3 peice and 19/20 1 peice 6061 t6 forged.. cut w/ my CNC machine..

so i will be using the project mu diagram for brake profile and designing the front wheels to "hug" the brakes.. 19x8 idk what design i want tho.
and in the rear ill more than likely do a 19x10 and shave the backplate completey to maximize the "itty bitty" lip.. and fit the fenders perfectly

then i will "learn to drive" my car and later invest in comptech SC/reinforced diff/lsd/act clutch/aem ems/apexi vafc

anywho in a nut shell... im gonna basically do to my s2000 what i did with my civic but ill have power as well.. and it will cost me no more than the "simple" mods would if i didnt get wholesale..

anywho.. thats just me tho

 

If you think you are a good driver but you have never auto-xed, then be prepared to find out that you suck. Seriously.

And that leads me to the answer to your question. Auto-x is the best and first place to go to learn how to drive. It's cheap, highly accessible and you'll develop skills there that will stay with you no matter what form of driving you take on next. Just look at Jason Saini. He's honed his skills as an auto-xer and is now moving on to track events and is kicking ass. There's just no other form of highperformace driving that is as safe as auto-x. You can exceed your limits safely and the more you do, the more you'll get to know your limits. That's what it's all about.

To take your car on a track before getting to know the car (auto-x) is less beneficial because the ramifications of exceeding your limits on the track can be much more expensive in terms of money and health. This will definately slow your progress as driver.

Check out http://www.cfrscca.org/ for information on auto-xes in your neck of the woods.

Matt

 

Your just further proving my point. Thats not a bad thing. We all start somehwhere. You cannot compare what you did to your civic with this car. I had an integra and del sol and they are totally different animals in terms of cars, prices on parts, installs, power, RWD vs FWD, etc. Brakes will not cost you $2000 unless you gray market them in with no warranty. Mackin retails them for $4500 +shipping plus a wait time. Tein I can get for $800. So you have a decent deal on them.

 

rijowysock, have you driven an S2000? What don't you like about the stock suspension? Why are you planning to "fix" it before you buy the car? Just curious.

 

Well I think we've just proved my first point here...

"Definitive answer? You won't get one. You'll find people arguing both sides pretty fiercely."

Good luck sorting it all out billmesh

 

if your gonna run 18's or 19's wheels, then you are talking about looks over performance imo. 19's and performance doesn't really go hand in hand. your adding weight to your car in the worst way possible. Same as the project Mu's. they are extremely nice BBK dont' get me wrong, but they do weight more than stock.

 

billmesh don't buy an s2k and dump thousands of dollars on basic bolt-on parts until u know exactly what each one will actually do to the car and how they will affect the way the car performs vs. the way you are driving it.

first.. are you going to use this as a street driven car or are u setting it up to run on a track? if its for track use then do u want to focus on making quick lap times or do u want to drag it? this will help a lot in deciding what car u want to buy and what mods u want to make.

in the case of the s2k. as you already know you aren't going to unleash large amounts of hidden power with only a few bolt ons. the car does have a large selection of mods and some may lose power some may gain but even if u get top notch parts (that cost lots of money and have applications to change out a lot of different components) its still not going to significantly change the power of the car. all mods have pros and cons.

if hp is your concern and u want an s2k just spend that money on a supercharger setup and get it installed properly and take care of your car then you likely won't have to worry about reliability issues (which are more rare than you'd think, people only complain when there is something wrong not when everything is running perfectly). with more power however, the drivetrain becomes more of a tricky subject because we all know its not the strongest link in the car so if u want to drag race (high rpm clutch-dump launches with more than stock power) then you will need to think about buying beefier parts to transfer the power to the wheels without failing. if u get f/i and don't drag or launch the car and you treat your clutch with some respect then you shouldn't have to worry about the drivetrain.

as far as suspension i run a street driven s2k on some eibachs and koni yellows and it handles great imo. i can take corners at higher speeds than i did with the stock suspension and i don't feel as much body roll left to right in corners or front and back while accelerating and braking. i don't know what they are talking about in the sport compact article but my guess is the s2k they are running is on 18's or 19's since they are saying huge wheel/tire combo. i think the s2k feels most nimble on the stock 16s but the back end likes to squirm around. i run the 17 inch le28n's and the extra width in the back seems to help keep the back end planted.

in the end you gotta do the research for yourself and figure out what you need/want in your new car. take some time to learn about the s2k and its modding potential and compare it to other cars you are interested in and also go out and test drive the cars. i'm sure you'll be able to find the perfect car for you.