Nerd's Eye View: Science of Speed S2000

By: Sarah Forst 

Images by Sarah Forst and Wes Dumalski

Back in March while covering the Modified Streetcar Shootout, this S2000 was tearing up the track. The car was clean but sounded dirty and upon inspection under the hood, the engine looked like it was put together by techs in white lab coats. What struck us about this car was the very exotic appearance! Surely this one off piece of art must cost a bajillion dollars and be impossible to re-create! As we looked closer we were absolutely shocked by what we found within this build.

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Global Time Attack - Round 1 - Road Atlanta 

By Wes Dumalski 

Quality images by Sarah Forst and mediocre shots by Wes Dumalski 

Attacking time is a funny thing… All sorts of things happen during these 2 day race weekends and no one knows what mother nature or Newton has in store for us. This past weekend at Road Atlanta both of these personas had a chance to show us who's boss and utterly prove that we are in control of very little. In this case the Saturday forecast brought likely promises of rain and when the teams hit the track to sunny skies they were in a fury to set down fast laps as no one knew (not even the weather people; do they ever?) what would unfold. As luck would have it the rain held off and as teams pushed ever further it was Newton who would prevail on this day. Through 11 wins in a row and numerous track records the Professional Awesome EVO VII would turn its last laps in anger, its life cut short by Road Atlanta.

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Event Coverage: MPTCC 2013 Round 1 - Auto Club Speedway 1

By Justin Banner

If there is one good thing about starting at Auto Club Speedway in March it's this: it ain't so freakin' hot! Well, it wasn't hot anywhere except Autoclub Speedway where the MotoIQ Pacific Tuner Car Championship presented by Motul was kicking off the 2013 Season. Would we see a repeat performance by Edik Stepanyan or would 2012 Champion Michele Abbate pull ahead this time? Could one of our new competitors make a charge?  Find all this out and more as you continue to read on about the first round of the MotoIQ Pacific Tuner Car Championship presented by Motul!

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Project S2000 - Making a More Responsive Drivetrain

By Khiem Dinh

The AP2 generation of S2000s were made a bit cushier and street friendly compared to the AP1s for the general American consumer.  A larger displacement engine along with shorter gearing were specified to give more torque at the wheels which Americans desired.  However, Honda also matched a heavier flywheel and modified the clutch system with both negatively impacting the level of track aptitude.  Step 2 of Phase 2 is to shift the drivetrain bias more towards the track side of the equation compromising some everyday livability for better performance.

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Fluidampr - New Performance Damper For Honda S2000

Industry Press Release

Destructive crankshaft torsional vibration accelerates the wear of critical engine components. Honda® S2000 owners can now protect their engine, while gaining power, with the latest performance damper from Fluidampr®.

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Global Time Attack Round 6 - Buttonwillow II

By Justin Banner

Here it is! The grand finale of the 2012 Global Time Attack series. Not only is a new track record set, but also a champion is crowned to complete the 2012 GTA season. So, who takes it all and who takes the track?

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Project S2000: Phase 2, More Grip

By Khiem Dinh

"Where has Project S2000 been" do you say?  I've been having fun and driving the piss out of it.  I had completed Phase 1 of the build which was to make a fast, reliable, and uncompromised daily driven street car that could be driven at the track without fear of breaking anything.  Well, the car is no longer my daily driver, so I have decided to commence with Phase 2.  A Porsche GT3RS is my philosophical car build benchmark; while it CAN be driven on the street, it's not exactly a car that you would want to daily drive as it introduces compromises to DD duties in order to improve track performance.  Phase 2, Step 1 = more grip and protecting the engine against increased lateral Gs.

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Project S2000 – Hondata KPro Gives More Power and Better Power

By Khiem Dinh

Power delivery is an important characteristic in being able to go quickly; just ask any motorcycle racer where they only have one tire contact patch to put down the power.  The S2000's one fault is a poor power delivery curve due to the VTEC engagement.  I hate the VTEC engagement and the resulting torque spike which hurts drivability.  It is not fun being WOT coming out of a corner and having the torque spike hit.  Therefore, my goal was to reduce the spike by changing the VTEC engagement point to smooth out the torque curve and I needed a way to tune the car to meet my goal.  The Hondata KPro system met my requirements for the job.

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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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Tested: Fluke Thermal Imager

By Khiem Dinh

Heat, it's a quantity we have to deal with in motorsports yet we often don't have a clear picture of it.  Thermal management is critical to performance and reliability of any race vehicle; everything from brake fluid temperatures, to rear differential temperatures, to making sure hot parts in the engine bay don’t melt other components.  One tool that can be used in product development and race track setup is a thermal imager.  I had access to a Fluke Ti32 thermal imager and put it to use.

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