Project S2000 - More Winter Testing and a Challenge

By Khiem Dnih

It started off like any other chat conversation (note: actual words may have been modified from the original text in order to fit the screen and time allotment)

Khiem:   Yo Martin, what's happenin man?  

Martin:  Workin.  What's up with you?

Khiem:  I need to take the S2k out for a track day in cold weather.

Martin:  Oh yeah?  I need to take the SE-R out.  Speed Trial USA has a day coming up at Streets.

Khiem:  Perfect!  How much power does that SE-R make...

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Project S2000 - Guest Test Drive

By Vic Y.

I am what you'd consider an auto enthusiast, with a few track days and quick karting times under my belt. I love taking advantage of the fun roads in the Hill Country near Austin (but probably not often enough). On the technical side, I come from an engineering background and the backing of a dozen auto RSS feeds.  When the random opportunity came up to visit Khiem in Los Angeles (and drive his tuned S2000), I couldn't turn it down. Having originally driven the car in stock form back in Austin before it made the cross-country trek on I-10, it was good to be reunited with an old friend (and Khiem too).

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Project S2000 - Track Testing Revised KW Clubsports and Earl’s Oil Cooler

By Khiem Dinh

The last track outing for the S2000 showed a few deficiencies still existed in the setup.  The most problematic from a reliability standpoint was the scorching oil temperature.  From a speed standpoint, the car was still very loose (last track update).  Going back to the beginning of the project, you'll remember that we switched the tire sizing from a stock staggered setup (215 widths up front, 245 on the rear) to an even, or non-staggered, setup utilizing 245 width tires front and rear (Part I).

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Project S2000 - Oil Cooling

by Khiem Dinh

Tracking the S2000 and monitoring the oil temperatures has taught us one thing: it runs hot!  Even with the reduced coolant temperatures afforded by the Koyo radiator, the oil temperatures were still too high for a car to be tracked for long-term reliability.  This is occurring at completely stock power levels even (the more power an engine makes, the more heat it makes and consequently needs to reject).  High oil temperatures lead to reduced oil viscosity and faster oil breakdown.  Low oil viscosity can mean inadequate oil film strength and thickness with the end result being metal-on-metal contact between engine components.  While low oil viscosity may not grenade your engine immediately, it will lead to accelerated wear of components.

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Project S2000 Part 8 - Oil Control

By Khiem Dinh

Oil is the vital life blood of an engine.  It allows the engine's internal components to slide past each other with very little friction or wear.  However, there is one place an engine does not want oil and that is in the incoming air stream.

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Project S2000 Part 7 - Cold (For SoCal) Weather Fun

By Khiem Dinh

Our previous track day was in the middle of the freakin desert during the heat of summer to see how the car's various systems handled the almost 100F temps. The upgrades of the Koyo radiator and StopTech brakes took the heat thrown at them and didn’t even break a sweat, but the stock oil system wasn’t up to the task and probably wished it could have sweated to get rid of some heat.

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Project S2000, Stiffening the Chassis

By Khiem Dinh

As with anything, a strong foundation is the key to success.  For a good handling car, that means a super rigid chassis.  The S2000 is blessed with a very stiff chassis from the factory, but when you chop the top off of any car it will be less stiff compared to a car with a roof.  The S2000 doesn’t have the bad cowl shake that is the tell-tale sign of a not-so-stiff convertible chassis, but there are a few creaks from the soft top roof as the chassis flexes.

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Project S2000 Part 5: Keeping it From Overheating

By Khiem Dinh

In keeping with the theme of making this car as reliable as possible, we’ve added ARK Design’s newly released MFD2 (Multi-Function Display).  The benefit of the MFD2 over the previous MFD is the ability to plug straight into the OBDII port whereas the old MFD required splicing into the ECU harness.  We hate electrical work, and this makes it about as plug-n-play as you can get! 

Read the Project S2000 Series Here!

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Project S2000 Part 4- Taking it to the Track!

By Khiem Dinh

The Honda S2000 is one of our all time favorite cars.  In stock trim, it is also pretty capable.  With its 50/50 weight distribution and low polar moment of inertia and sophisticated multilink suspension, the S2000 is pretty darned good out of the box.  So good that it's one of those cars that tuners often mess up and actually end up reducing the performance on.  Well hopefully that won't be us.

To see what else we did to project S2000 click here!

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Project Honda S2000 Part 3- Brakes that don't Break

By Khiem Dinh, Photos by Jeff Naeyaert

Although the Honda S2000 is one of our favorite all time cars, one of the parts we like the least about the car is the brake system.  Although they are perfectly adequate for street duty, the stock brakes do not match the excellent handling ability of the car and are not up to snuff for track day use. S2000s that are tracked heavily, especially on non-staggered setups running 245 or 255 width front tires, are prone to cracking front rotors.  The added traction from the wider front tires means more braking power and therefore more heat the front brakes must dissipate.  This added heat is simply beyond the capacity of the stock brakes’ design, leading to oft cracked rotors.

To see what else we did to project S2000 click here!

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