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UK & Ireland S2000 CommunityDiscussions related to the S2000, its ownership and enthusiasm for it in the UK and Ireland. Including FAQs, and technical questions.
I arrived at Narita airport at 9.20am. Took the Skyliner to Nippori.
Walked around Nippori where there were some nice traditional looking shops. Feeling quite tired by now as it is quite humid and warm, but overcast.
Left Nippori at 2.05pm back to Narita airport for 3pm, and picked up my stored baggage.
Transferred to Terminal 2 to meet Ko and the rest of the guys flying in from Frankfurt, to catch our flight to Nagoya.
Here I am with the Italians and Tommy (leftfootbraking)
We eventually arrived at our hotel, after what felt like about a week travelling!
After dumping our stuff at the hotel, we went out for a nice Japanese meal.
Day One
After getting up at 9am, feeling fresh although a little tired, we were picked up by the Chicken Dragon Bus at the Nagoya Tokyu Hotel.
The bus ride was a good hour or so down to Suzuka, with first stop at Suzuka Circuit
We passed the Honda Factory on the way, which created much excitement and anticipation for our visit later that day.
After Suzuka, we had a brief visit to Autobacs. There were a few interesting and a few not so interesting cars there
That afternoon it was time for one of the biggest highlights of the trip for me, our visit to the Honda Factory at Suzuka. We arrived and were greeted by Funabashi san.
Upon our arrival we were taken into a training room and presented with a unique S2000 cap each, together with some information about the factory. A presentation was given to us all about the factory before we began our tour.
Suzuka Factory was opened in 1960, at which time only motorcycles were manufactured there, such as the famous Honda Supercub. Production of 4 wheel vehicles was started in 1967 with such things as the TN 360. At this time the factory was unique, being the only plant to produce both 2 and 4 wheel vehicles.
The factory site is 1.5KM long, 890,000 square metres, and is fenced by trees, which makes it a 'green' factory, preventing noise and smells. The plant is an 'I' design which means it is linked from one end to the other which assists in efficiency. Within the factory are all the facilities you'd expect, such as welding and robot spot welding, powertrain and engine, a test course and also a gym and sports field for the 7500 workers there. The workers work on 2 shifts; 6.30am to 15:15 and 15:05 to 23:30.
They produce many models at Suzuka including Civic, Airwave, Edix, Fit (Jazz), Crossroad, Partner, Insight and the S2000. All in all the paint shop produces 27 different colours.
There are 3 production lines - Number 1, Number 3 and 'TD'. Line one produces the Civic, insight crossroad and Edix (FRV), it produces 800 units per day, but 1100 is possible. Line speed is 65 seconds - that means a finished car comes off the line every 65 seconds!. Line 3 is similar and produces the Fit (Jazz) Airwave and Partner, with the same capacity and line speed. Both these lines are almost fully automated.
The TD line is something quite different. TD means "Technology Dream" and the line is dedicated to the S2000. This is the one we were going to spend most time on, obviously!
The TD line produces 15 cars a day and has 15 workers on the line on each shift. Line speed is 30 minutes. Production was going to stop in June, but demand in the domestic market (JDM) increased substantially when this was announced, so it has now been extended to August 7th. All the cars coming off the line now are already sold and all into the Japanese Domestic Market.
The tour was absolutely brilliant, and quite emotional too, although there were no tears Unfortunately cameras, mobile phones and dictaphones are strictly forbidden in the factory, so we were unable to take any pictures, however I will do my best to describe what we saw.
We were given some very special privileges thanks to Mr Funabashi san, who organised the factory tour for Ko san, he is highly respected and trusted by Honda.
The first place we visited was where they welded the chassis together, here we could see the raw shell of the car, and how the S2000 gets its rigid strength. It was amazing to see the raw steel shape of the body panels being spot welded on by hand. The only Automation on the S2000 line is where the Chasis is welded together.
After seeing the welding shop, we moved through to the paint shop, where we met the TD unit head, Motoya San, and his colleague Aoki san who showed us through the rest of the line. This was the most amazing part of the tour, seeing how the S2000 is put together into the fully finished article.
The most experienced workers work on the S2000 line and many of them have worked on the S2000 since its introduction. Aoki san invited their most experienced worker to come over and meet us but Eguchi san refused, as he said it was more important to build the cars than to introduce himself. The passion and pride these guys have in their work is astounding.
After the car comes through the paint shop, the paint is inspected, by hand. The car then goes on to have panels such as bonnet and boot fitted, and the interior starts to go in. There were about a dozen stages on this line from fuel lines, door cards, console, soft top (which is fitted by 2 people in a very short time!). Every 29 minutes a complete engine, clutch, gearbox and axles are fitted all at once by 2 workers, this was amazing to watch, car hanging from the air, the innards moved upwards and bolted in. It all took about 5 minutes.
At the end of the line there is thorough inspection carried out - another of their most experienced guys there who can spot paint imperfections in almost microns by his eyes! Here at the end of the line there was also a Lime Green 03 car, with a mixture of blue and red interior on this car they were testing the fit of each hardtop and checking for leaks.
After our tour up the line Mr Aoki took many questions from us, and when we questioned Motoya San what the line will be used for when the S2000 finishes, he just covered his lips :sshh: and would not be drawn
We had the opportunity to write comments on a large board at the end of the line, anything we wanted to, like a graffiti board. There had obviously been a Japanese group in previously judging by the look of the board, and lots of our group wrote on it. I told them about my 2002 having done 200k miles on the board and ended with the words "Let's all meet up in our S2000s"
Mr Aoki ended the tour by saying to us: "S2000 came from a dream, it was built with passion and even thought production will end on 7th August the dream will live on, so please keep it by your side for long!"
This was a brilliant tour, and ended on such an emotional note. We were all amazed at just how much passion goes in to producing our car, and to see the guys who probably built our own cars for us was truly amazing. It was also fantastic to see just how 'hand built' the S2000 is.
We left the factory in Suzuka and made our way over to Osaka. How we fitted so much in to one day I don't know!
The bus journey to Osaka was quite tiring, and some guys fell asleep, here is Stocky having a dream...
Upon our arrival the first thing we saw was this...
J's were really welcoming and very helpful explaining all about their cars, and what kind of things the guys who race their cars can do to fix problems, improve performance etc.
Here is Tom and me with THE MAN Umemoto san
Here is their lovely Lion dog Jomo
The array of cars on show was great, together with the 's moped and Hummer pushbike
Inside the shop stood the trophy cabinet
We spent some time looking around the workshop. One S2000 chassis which had been stripped down, and the black car being rebuilt after a crash on track.
Here are a load of car pics for your delectation!
We were there until darkness, and there was plenty of shopping going on too!
After the day had ended we retired to our hotel in Osaka
Which was located within a busy shopping/amusement area.
After all that we're only on day 2! This day was less busy and a bit more relaxing. On the agenda is a visit to Rays wheels in Osaka, then to do some tourist activities at some of the Temples in Osaka.
First top was Rays Wheels headquarters. Although they had a bit of a mix up and the people there weren't ready for us, they put on a good show for us. Showed us a video all about Rays, the manufacturing processes they use, and told us about a new wheel they have developed for the S2000 which should be available in a couple of months time. The guys were very receptive about our comments regarding distribution in Europe and how difficult it is to source their wheels at a price similar to that in the USA or Japan. They also gave us a lot of advice all about wheels, and how function is more important than form.
We also got to see a forumla One wheel which had been signed. Here are some pics
I won't type up about the Temples here, but I will do it in Off Topic
Day 3 is mostly travelling. We visited some temples again this morning, and are then driving to Atami where we will have some relaxation time with a Japanese bath, hot spring and a traditional Japanese meal at a luxury hotel. (off topic again!)
I can't believe we are only on Day 3, and we have done and seen so much already
I've just finished a brilliant typical Japanese meal, after bathing naked with 19 other men. A very strange but interesting experience!!
07-12-2009, 12:31 PM
on this car they were testing the fit of each hardtop and checking for leaks.
It was also fantastic to see just how 'hand built' the S2000 is.
