i remember that one, but i think he was building a domestic, i'll be sad if i had to do that too

 

QUOTE (jeggy @ Feb 12 2007, 06:36 PM)
"people have bad days at work. robots dont."

I work in the Powertrain dept. of Toyota Motor Mfg in Kentucky, where we build 1.8L 4-cyl and 3.5L V6 engines as well as axle assemblies.
Believe me: robots can have bad days, too.

 

This robot had a bad day: http://youtube.com/watch?v=UQKk3PI-DW8

 

Good to see someone else appreciate some of the finer qualities of this vehicle.

Do you have any other good info like this REDMX5 on the S2000? More details such as the casting marks on the manifold and such? Dan Carney's book doesn't provide any insight into the manufacturing process so I'm keen to learn more. If it'll clog up this thread, then please do PM me with this kind of info - I'd definetely like to know more.

 

I've picked up a ton of stuff on the Web, in no small part through links posted here on S2kI. I"m sure I've forgotten more than I remember.

The steering wheel in the early AP1's (I don't know about the later cars, but they're probably the same) have a magnesium core. I think this is the only produciton car in the world that has such a steering wheel. The airbag in the steering wheel was was developed especially for the S2000, because conventional airbags wouldn't fint inside the small steering wheel. External resevoirs on the rear shocks. Tires designed specifically for the car. I have trouble seeing any roadster as an exotic, but the S has some pretty exotic bits and pieces.

There's a bunch more in the S2kI archives, but I usually don't have much luck trying to dig it out.

 

That show was great and the factory is amazing. I've never heard of growing trees inside to make sure the right air conditions/humidity exists to build engines.

 

I've been reading everything I could find on the car for several years now, and I'm sure I have forgotten more than I can recall. One of the most complete sources of information is right here on S2kI, but most of the time I have a hard time finding old posts. Fortunately, most information gets reposted from time to time.

Maybe we should start a thread for the assimilation of information about things that make the S2000 special or unique (or just different). It would also be a good place to accumulate links to some of the related videos.

The steering wheel has a magnisium core, and as far as I'm aware, that's unique to the S2000.
The drive axles were beafed up, not to handle the power, but rather (according to Honda) to imrpve feel.
The rear shocks have external resevoirs.
Of course being hand assembled gives the S2000 something in common with true exotics.
The prototype had a sequential shifter.

There's more to be sure, but that's all I can think of right now. Maybe some others can throw in some more tidbits.

I don't have info on the actual source, but the following came from somebody at Honda:

[QUOTE]The S2000 exists today thanks to our long and distinguished involvement with racing. We've collected more than 70 Grand Prix victories in Formula One racing and 65 wins in CART open-wheel racing. And in just our second season of Indy Racing League

 

in this day and age automation doesn't bother me, in fact I'd like to see the robots doing ALL the work on american cars, maybe then we can get some build quality

 

I'm definetely up for creating such a thread. This car is very unique with many attributes that put is heads and shoulders above the competition.

The driveshafts were strengthened because Honda's research suggested that given two vehicles with similar objective acceleration figures, the driver of the one with less flex in the drive axles would perceive a greater sense of acceleration. This was talked about in Dan Carney's book.

Another tidbit: Obviously as we all know, the S2000s X-bone frame endows it with torsional and bending rigidity equalvalent to hard topped vehicles - per Dan Carney's book, the S2000 surpasses the NSX COUPE in torsional rigidity and equals it in bending rigidity (I'll have to double check, I might have it the other way around!). Either way, its amazing that a convertible can have comparable rigidity to Honda's exotic NSX coupe!

 

Before you do, make sure it hasn't already been done. If there is already an old thread it can just be revived by making a post.

I think there are perspectives from which one could argue that the S2000 has no competition. If you want a roadster that feels more like a race car than a street car, that has a powerband that feels like a hard core full race cam at work, a light flywheel that lets the engine rev quickly, a super short-throw shifter, the high specific output of a race tuned engine, near dead neutral handling, and Honda-like reliability and parts availability, where is the competition?

LOL, that's probably where I read it. Told you I couldn't remember where it all comes from.
NSX =

I seriously considered getting an NSX, but a roadster makes a better motorcycle surrogate.