Currently, my MY03 is stock including the 16" wheels and S02s, but I have CR suspension components (coilovers and both sway bars) sitting in my house ready to be installed next Monday. When I had ordered the parts from hardtopguy, I knew that the CR coilovers were stiffer than all of the other years, but failed to see that 00-01 sway bars, both front and rear, were the stiffest of all years.


Overall diameter / thickness / polar inertial stiffness

00-01
Front 28.2mm X T5.0 51314
Rear 27.2mm X T5.3 46282

02-03
Front 26.5mm X T4.5 39207
Rear 27.2mm X T4.5 42965

08 CR
Front 28.6 X T4.5 51196
Rear 26.5 X T4.5 39207


Instead of wasting time and money installing the CR sways, should I get the 00-01 front and rear sways instead? I figure that a stiff front bar would make the car turn flatter and be more stable in turns, and since a stiff front bar would make the car understeer, I would try to counter with the stiffest OEM rear bar. Yes, the stock 00-01 cars were tail-happy, but keep in mind they had rear-biased spring rates. If I do this, my car would basically be an 00-01 S2000 but with CR coilovers (which have front-biased spring rates), so I'm hoping the CR coilovers by themselves will tame the oversteery tailhappiness of the early S2000s. Btw, I want to stick with OEM pieces since I don't want to mess around with the adjustability of aftermarket bars.

And since my stock 03 bars were rear-biased AND my stock 03 springs were rear-biased... since my new setup with the CR coils and the 00-01 bars would both be front-biased... would it be safe to assume that the new setup would be no more dangerous to snap oversteer than what my stock 03 was? In fact, I'd think it would be far safer. Is this theory sound?

Given what I've said, should I A)install the CR bars or B)install the 00-01 bars? If you don't agree, please provide feedback.

Thanks.

 

I would use the CR sways (and don't forget the bushings too). I would consider it as a complete system. If you are going to change swaybars anyway...might as well get the CR sways.

But you probably could get away with an aftermarket front sway (Saner or Cusco) and then keep the rear sway that you have.

 

Thanks for your feedback. I'm just worried that the full CR package (while tested and is a proven complete system) will be too much of a relative understeer experience compared to what I've been used to in my stock MY03. I figured going with CR coilovers and 00-01 bars would still be relatively understeery, but closer to what I had with the stock MY03, and get the benefit of slightly flatter cornering. This new supposed setup would still feel understeery since CR coils and 00-01 bars are front-biased, whereas 03 coils and 03 bars were rear-biased. The full CR setup would be even more understeery since the front/rear bars have a larger disparity in stiffness.

Has anyone gone from an 02-03 AP1 to a full CR (either the car or the suspension conversion) and are not happy with the handling change? I'm sure on the track, the CR will outperform absolutely, but I did like the quick turn-ins and the fact that I was able to rotate the car at will during daily driving.

Thanks.

 

If the understeer is too much, you can always play with your tire pressure or tire sizes to correct.

Do you have 17" wheels? If there is too much understeer, run a 225 front with a 255 rear.

 

No 17 inch wheels. I'm on the 16 inch stock wheels with stock S-02s, and I don't plan on changing them anytime soon.

You don't think the added rigidity of the 00-01 bars to lessen body roll, plus the fact that the stiffness stagger is closer to my stock 03 bars, would be better than using the CR bars?

 

I've driven an ap2 with a full CR swap and running the CR tire sizes...with the 255s in the rear the car would understeer if I was going too slow through the corner. But add some power, and the rear would rotate without losing traction.

I only know of 2 AP1s with the CR swap...so you are venturing into fairly uncharted territory. Personally, I would go with the whole system, but then that is also built on a specific tire size that you won't be able to duplicate unless you switch to 17" wheels. So, at this point you are experimenting. Since you are experimenting, try just the CR springs/shocks and see if you need to adjust the swaybars at either end to make the car handle the way you want it to.

 

I converted to the CR sway bars and shocks on my 06 S2000. When the OEM tires wear out, I'll upgrade to the CR spec tires as well. I've also added Cusco shock towers and frame rails plus a Spoon lower rear brace. All-in-all, I'm very pleased with the mods. A back issue of Sport Compact Car that compared various suspension configurations on S2000s was a wealth of good information. One last thing, the AP1 to CR setup is rare from what I can determine so you may need to touch base with someone who has already made the change. Good luck with your decision!

 

Thanks for your feedback guys, I appreciate them.

I guess for now, even though I have all the CR pieces on hand, I will just install the CR coilovers for now. This way, I can also see exactly how the CR coilovers would change my handling instead of doing everything in one shot and not know what components affected what aspect of handling.

AP1s have 205/225 tire stagger. What tire stagger do AP2s have? Do all AP2s have the same stagger? And lastly, do the stagger changes provide more oversteer or understeer?

 

ap2's have a 215 front and 245 rear tire stagger. the CR is the same, except for the 255 rear tire. the change in stagger (more rear tread width) will result in less oversteer.

 

Damn, I guess Honda really really wanted to cut out any chance of oversteer with the CR. The spring rates AND the antiroll bar stiffness AND the tires all try to understeer relative to earlier models.