Project S2000: Testing Temps and Tools (Replay Camera and IR Pyrometer)

by Khiem Dinh

Project S2000 - Testing Track Upgrades and Custom Brake Ducts

By Khiem Dinh

All of the stars aligned a few weeks ago and I took Project S2000 to the track.  Centerforce clutch and AP1 flywheel – installed and broken-in, Hasport engine mounts – installed and broken-in, custom brake ducts – prototyped and test-fitted, K.R.O.P.S holding track day at Willow Springs – scheduled, other MotoIQ project cars going – check.  Custom brake ducts?  Let's start with those.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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).

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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!

Project S2000: Part 2 - Suspension Tricks

By Khiem Dinh, photos by Jeff Naeyaert

We chose our S2000 as a project car for its handling prowess.  With multilink suspension and a 50/50 weight distribution, the S2K has all the right stuff to carve corners with. AP2 S2K's like our car have revised rear toe link pick up locations so they don't exhibit the twitchy at the limit cornering issues that the older AP1 chassis has.  What's good can always be made better so we decided to spend our efforts in improving our car's suspension in the next round of mods.

To read the rest on Project S2000 click here!

Project S2000 Part One, Wheels and Tires

By Khiem Dinh, photos by Jeff Naeyaert

The Honda S2000 or S2K as it is affectionately known is one of our favorite cars from one of our favorite brands, Honda. Its most endearing feature is its front engine rear drive chassis with a front mid engine configuration giving an ideal 50/50 weight distribution.  Although the S2K has a bad reputation as being a twitchy, hard to handle car, we have found, that with the proper modifications, it is just the opposite, a sweetheart that is easy for a reasonably skilled driver to flat out haul ass in that is nearly impossible to make understeer.