I owned an AP1 for about a year, then an AP2 for six years. Now I'm on my third S2000. An AP2.

MY03->MY06->MY09

Of course, we shouldn't turn this into an AP1 vs. AP2 thread.

 

 

note:I have an 04 ap2 with ap1 clutch slave, ap1 flywheel, Comp stage 2 clutch, cat delete, intake, suspension.

my friend joey bought a 2006 last week with 60k on it. i test drove it when we went to look at it as i was obviously more experienced with the car...

The throttle was noticeable in a non-so-good way. The exhaust seemed slightly quieter and the intake as well(but mine is modded so it should be). acceleration felt similar. handled great too. brakes felt identical( mileage is similar to mine so they should). so, a totally stock one even compared to a lightly modded ap2v1 will seem..."censored".

I have worked on a few ap1s and driven them too. and I will agree with the "more raw" aspect. i didnt like the ap1 trans as much but enjoyed the 9k redline at the slight DD torque loss.

overall, you must have driven a rough one mechanically. I love all s2000's so i dont have a single bit of bias.

 

No issues with my AP2. Don't really notice the CDV either.

 

Hey this is a little off topic here, but here's a question:

Do you think it would be possible to use the dbw on an f20? I don't know a lot specifically about engines, but couldn't you swap the ecu and run the Hondata with the same timing and such as an ap1, but use it to get launch control, and even raising the redline? I heard the f22 at redline is under more stress than an f20 at redline, so maybe that leaves some more room for power with the appropriate bolt ons?

Just a wild hair idea.

 

yes you could do that but you would have to change a lot of sensors in the engine and it is expensive(look up k-pro). you can achieve all of what you want with a standalone ems like an AEM v2.

ap2v1 owner chiming here, i recently did a quick driving swap with a buddies 01 and the first thing i noticed was the lack of torque... so ap1 owners can suck it overall since both cars are drive by cable they felt super similar, but the ap1 tranny felt better to me

 

I deleted my cdv...the flywheel still poses some issue, but it's a lot better than it was at high rpms.

 

i have an AP1 and i have driven various AP2's(2-04's, 06, and 07) of course the interior has the little makeover and little things here and there, the one thing i do like is that they are all pretty much a little more smoother than my transmission not saying mine isnt but i hope you guys know what i mean. of course they have a little more get up and go but from low end but i feel my top end feels so much stronger than any over the ap2s i drove, even before i got gears. ive actually raced my friends 06 and from a roll going about 10 he gets me by the front wheel but then once we get going after shifting 2nd gear i got him behind my passenger door and in front of my back wheel. we have even switch cars to make sure its not driver error and its the same outcome. now that i got gears i pull him from the get go how he use to and now i put 2+ car lengths on him. my conclusion is that if its for DD any ap2 is much more smoother than an ap1, but if you actually want to mod it i think the ap1 is the one to get.
the other thing i also wanted to say is that even ap2 owners tell me they get more of a rush driving my ap1 or other ap1s than there ap2 and i have to agree with them, i guess the suspension really makes a difference from one being really rough, raw and the other is more mellow, not as bumpy but i love it. jus my opinion

 

AP2 tranny is my favorite part of the car for sure. I haven't driven a ton of sports cars but I've driven a few nice, well cared for cars and it really just seems difficult to beleive that there is a manual tranny out there that is as smooth, and more importantly, as precise as the s2k's. The AP1's trannys that I've driven are just as good but don't feel quite as refined, especially for daily driving duties.

The throttle, on the other hand, I get. Coming from motorcycles and having driven alot of cable throttle cars I understand this feeling. I've read numerous threads about this (mainly before I bought the s2k)that break the response time down into numbers (fractions of a second) and according to those threads it's darn near impossible mathematically for our brains to tell a difference in response time, but the feeling is definitely different. This "feeling" is one of the many reasons why hondata is so awesome, best mod i've done to the s2k by far, especially living in the mile high city. If it rev-matched any quicker I swear it would feel as fast as a 600cc inline four sportbike! (maybe I'm exaggarting a bit here lol)

 

A lot of the perceived extra torque of the AP2 is the 4% shorter 1st-4th gear ratios of the AP2 transmission. 4.44 gears in the AP1 yields 8% shorter ratios which makes the engine feel a lot more torquey. Or you can bolt in an AP2 tranny.