So here is the back story, I slapped a set of buddy club racing spec coilovers on the s2k and thought I was good to go right? Yea ok... I maxed the dampening in the front and feel even more disconnected from the road than when I originally bought the car (bone stock 04 AP2 with 20k miles). So I've got the front maxed out now and the rear at about 2/3 the way (10th click out of 15).

I purchased a set of wheels I love and still love Super Advan SA3Rs in 17x8 +38 17x9 +38 as I again am not a good enough driver so I feel to run a non staggered setup and feel safer however my 215/45/17 245/40/17 nexxen JUNK tires are gone tomorrow with some 235/40/r17 255/40/r17 nitto NT05s should offer me more grip.

Here is where I need help. When I first purchased the car it was obvious I couldn't handle it, I got some advice from a friend and am doing much better to where I am starting to see what I want. I've never tracked never autox but want a more rigid feel to the car especially around turns. I've been in other s2000 with major suspension/chassis upgrades and they feel like go carts! I want that here and am willing to spend the money as I improve my driving (I'm now rev matching every gear at every turn and capable of handling the road safely).

These are my options/considerations:

-X brace
-Strut bars
-Bumpsteer kit
-driveshaft spacers
-roll centers
-bolt in roll bar
-Man up and get into a 255/40/17 square setup front/rear on enkei rpf1
-A better set of coilovers (HKS, Tein SDC)

Currently my alignment front/back is getting re setup tomorrow to -2 front/-2 rear but I am 100% unsure where to go next and would like opinions as I have no problem spending the money but want to go one piece at a time to feel the difference and make the car fit my driving style and adapt to it as I go.

I've looked through 3-4 pages of the suspension forum and can't find anything of real insight on this so I figured I would start my own thread and see what people thought!

 

Learn to drive first then play with suspension. The s2000s handles amazing stock, you may have improved it or made it worse, but until you can find the limits consistently in the track your just throwing money around.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

 

My advice: leave the car alone and spend your money on a few auto-x's first. A slow driver in a fast car is still slow.

 

Track time can only be had 3 times a year locally. I'll be going to 2 autos events here next month and plan on doing a lot of learning! Tossing money around isn't a huge concern for me however, not right now anyways...

Regardless I understand time in the seat is key I put my daily away and logged 15k ish miles this summer to feel more at home in the car!

 

track and autocross time before mods for sure.

otherwise, better alignment and thicker front roll bar.

 

I would personally not change to a square setup just for street and occasional track/autoX days unless you are trying to have a STR class (9" wheel limit) specific setup on your street car.

The Eibach front and rear anti roll bars were a great addition to my '05 stock suspension + 949 9" + 10" wheels. Tightened up roll (I installed them to keep these new wheels from rubbing) without sacrificing OE ride quality. I haven't taken the car to the track yet to explore the limits, though. That will be next year.

What are the spring rates on the BC racing specs? How low do you have the ride height set?

 

What do you mean you "maxed out the damping" ? You maxed out the clickers for compression/rebound?

 

Do you still have the buddy clubs, and do they still feel disconnected? If I was you, I would sell those and get bilstein pss/pss9 or step up to KW V3, Ive ridden most of the sub-$2000 coilovers and have been unhappy with just about all of them. Also, unless your SLAMMED, an 04 shouldnt need a bump steer kit, thats more of an ap1 thing. Driveshaft spacers are also for only if your SLAMMED and/or experiencing vibration after lowering. This would be my list of things in order of importance: 1. Practice practice practice. The more in tune with your car you are, the better you will sense of what it needs, instead of just throwing random unnecessary parts at it; 2. Better coilovers, bad coilovers have always felt downright dangerous to me; 3. Alignment, maybe start with the uk specs and go from there, or ask where the fast guys at your track get their alignments done; 4. Tires: Dunlop Z1 Star Specs, Hankook RS3, Bridgestone RE11, Yokohama AD08, all these tires have far and above more grip than just about anything else out there; 5. Thicker sway bar (roll bar). Most people only really need a front sway bar, and alot of track guys actually get SMALLER rear sways, or just remove them completely.

 

maybe get an alignment?
u can skip the bracing esp the strut bars
dont go non staggered until u research enough about it

best advice i could give is learn your car figure out what u want more/less off and mod accordingly to fix/improve.

 

You know your camber settings, but the more important thing for handling at street speeds is toe. What are your front and rear toe settings at? Get those specs first.

After you can confirm what those specs are, I can walk you through possible next steps.

When you say you don't like the way the car handles, what do you mean?

Definitely take the time to learn how to drive it before attempting to throw parts at it to make the car better. The car could be fine. Maybe let someone local that you trust and has more experience in the s2000 chassis drive it and see what their input is?