well - i heard countless times that S2000 is so well balanced, that it's like a surgen's blade, etc

for such a perfectly balanced car i see suspension and brakes sections of this forum are too busy talking upgrades/improvements.

people even improve CR's suspension.

so - what's the deal?
is its overrated? (please don't kill me )

but seriously?

i personally want less body roll.
brakes stop kinda OK but better pedal feel and modulation ability whould be very very welcomed.

 

Balance is a matter of preference and 2 opposing factors. In the same weekend I once autox'd my 99% stock AP1 in the middle of nowhere Indiana (won that autox iirc) then had a nice dinner at a fancy hotel in downtown Chicago where the valet parked the car out front. The S2000 was at home in both places. That's balance.

What would have thrown off that balance would have been if I put on some jdm bling stiff and low suspension and a giant wing. It could possibly do better at the autox but the valet probably would oversteer into a wall bringing it to it's spot in the back.

I think the S2000 is a great balance for
Performance vs Price
looks vs price
Performance vs reliability
power vs brakes
comfort vs handling
exclusivity vs practicality
power vs weight

 

If you mean balance as in purely suspension, then it's up to you if you think it's balanced enough. I am perfectly content with the handling abilities of my car now that I put some real tires on it. I don't experience body roll at all.

 

yep, that, the snowplow front lip and smurf blue paint ruins the valet eye candy value

seriously, Pat is right on with how great the S2000 is in the mix of tradeoffs.

with respect to the various sub-topic forums full of "improvements" - first, some are not objective improvements at all, rather they are subjective "personalization" that may or may not create a performance improvement. for example, some people modify the suspension purely for the cosmetic effect of eliminating wheelwell gap - w/o much consideration for impact to handling.

second, many of the true "improvements" are targeted for a specific purpose. as i'm sure Pat can confirm, when it comes to suspension tuning in particular (which also includes tires), what may be "ideal" for a tight autocross autocross course may provide the opposite effect on a wider-open, much faster, road course. and vice-versa.

as for brakes, the stock brake package is quite good and entirely sufficient for the street and most autocross work. when you are on a road course though, with repeated stops from very high speeds, you need a brake pad compound that is designed for that purpose. the problem with puttting track parts on your street car though, is that most track-oriented brake pads don't work well (or at all) until they have heat in them. so they are not just ill-suited for the street, they are unsafe.

every car has owners and enthusiasts that want to personalize and potentially improve on what the factory provided. even for cars where the manufacturer wasn't building to a price point (e.g., Ferrari), there are many aftermarket exhausts, suspension parts, etc. available.

 

everybody wants something else.

plus, some people just want something different even if its not necessarily better.

OEM stuff is great - but you have to realize that honda did make some sacrifices in the suspension so it could be daily driven..

 

People like to tinker. That's the fact.

I would suggest that too many people attempt to 'buy performance' instead of putting the time into their driving.

I noted a huge improvement in my driving when I started autox. I would suggest I could be a better or faster than others who dump money into modifications.

But really, it's what you one. No one car will please everyone.

 

Look at it like this, a car can't be perfect. Compared to some cars in similar price range (ie Ford Mustang) the S2000 is extremely well-balanced. But it isn't perfect. Just because people tend to upgrade doesn't mean the originality in the car was terrible. This car handles better than any car I've ever driven, and looks really sharp. Those are some things that can never be taken away from the S, modified or not.

 

Post of the day award.

Of course, if you want to make tweaks, its better to start from a better place than not, and the S2000 is in a pretty good place to begin with.

 

depends on how chunky the chick in the passenger seat is...








i keed, i keed.

 

I think when people say 'ITS BALANCED' they mean wkight distribution, which the s2k i believe is 52% front 48% rear which is pretty damn spot on