Article: Entry level ap1 build.

I wanted to have a discussion on the start of a basic s2000 build for a article. While keeping the goals short,
and simple.. how would you go about modding the s2000.

Here is my take, again this is open to discussion and hope for your input.


==================
Week one
==================

Welcome to the wonderful world of the s2000. You've spent your first week buying a diet soda at a packed
gas station just so you can show off your car. You hate soda. The first thing is getting ready for that first time
you take a wrench to it, the oil change, tranny fluid, and differntial fluid as well.

Helms service manual.
Pennzoil (5lts) SAE 10W-30 $23.99
Castrol GTX Conventional 10W-30 Motor Oil ((5lts)) $18.99
Mobile1 10W-30 Synthetic Motor Oil (5lts) $37.79
OEM filter #15400-PCX-004 $14
Auto Store Dot3 Brake Fluid. $4

---
Transmission Fluid

Honda MTF, (avl at honda dealerships)
Gm Syncromesh (gm dealerships)
Redline MTL mixed 50/50 with Redline MT-90
Redline MT-90 *not for cold climates

---
Diff fluid
LE1605 From Honda
Mobil 1 75w-90
*must be SAE 90 Weight



==================
Week two
==================


First order of parts.. springs and a lip.
The box's comes, double check the parts and
make sure you're not getting a lip for a corolla,
or springs for a accord. You see the stickers..
those DO NOT go on your car, resist, and
stick them on a toolbox.

Springs: Swift Spec-R, $250
Ap1/Ap2 Lip. Ebay. $55
Ap1/Ap2 Lip. Oem color painted. $400-$450

The basics are simple, installing springs are
very easy. You will need to rent a spring compressor,
and have a basic tool set. The lip, double sided tape,
little adhesive. Screws. Paint should cost $150-175
at a decent auto-shop.

==================
Week three
==================

Braking and tires. I know you want the
intake, exhaust, and header.. but lets
work on being smart and safe first.
Brakes are simple, cheap, and tires
are one of the biggest safety items
we can address.

Tires will make a huge impact.
For the ap1 you can sell your front
rims, and buy some ap1 rear rims.
Doing this will allow you to run a 225
tire all around. To take this a step further,
you can remove the rear sway bar.

generic ceramic pads, oem or better quality.

-Beck/Arnley OE Brake Pads * advanced auto $46.99 rear, 65.99 front.
-Stoptech Front/Rear $101.95 * ebay.
-Ebc Green stuff, #DP21254 - $100.00/front. * ebay
-Eebc Ultimax, UD829 $55/front * ebay

Front:

Ap1
Front: 16" x 6.5", +55 offset, 205 tire
Rear: 16" x 7.5", +65 offset, 225 tire

AP2
Front: 17" x 7.0", +55 offset, 215 tire
Rear: 17" x 8.5", +65 offset, 245 tire (255 on the S2000 CR)

Tire Options
Summer - Dunlop Direzza Star Spec $130ea
Summer - Bridgestone potenza re-11 $166ea
Summer Budget - Hankook Ventus V12 $113ea
All season - Bridgestone potenza RE960AS $100ea


=========
Last week
=========

The last week.

Tires are on, springs are settled. Now lets tweak what
we have with a good alignment.

Front Caster 6°45" = 6.75°
Front Camber -1.0°
Front Toe 0.0°
Rear Camber -2.0°
Rear Toe 0°20" = +0.16°
Total Toe 0°40" = +0.32°

At this point the car turns, grips and
moves better than a Porsche 911.
From here i will leave performance
to you. If you want the fart can, get
the fart can. One advice is for you
to understand why you are
modding your car, always have
a end goal.

Enjoy.

 

I would maybe list more spring/lip options for a bit more detail, other than that you really nailed it. This is so much better than hellaflushed out or thrown together setup that I'm many people have setup...

 

springs? really? they're pretty far down the list when it comes to effective handling upgrades. better shocks are a MUCH better option than springs, and are what will allow the car to attain the best road compliance and dynamic stability. springs, not so much. heck, sway bar before springs. i'd skip the rotors as well, and simply invest in the best road going brake pad instead. otherwise, and overall, a good list. #1 of course is the Helm's manual (of, and a decent set of hand tools. Sears has been having RIDONKULOUS sales recently) cheers!!

 

Wow this is a terrible list.

 

Helms manual?

No. Get the S2000 service manual. This list could use some work.

 

confused.. helms is the s2000 service manual, what are you talking about?

 

As far as shocks.. your only real upgrade option is koni's, full coilover setups(not the jdm 36 way stuff) is bit away from 'entry' level building. I've actually seen a few cars win local/national classes with aftermarket springs/oem shocks.. however.. lets look at this... anyone else wanna chime in.

Thanks for the input vactor, I'm gonna ditch the rotors, lets expand the suspension discussion...

 

one of my very first mods were Tein Flex coilovers...i was looking around for coilovers for a little while and then stumbled on the teins a guy was selling on craigslist....brand new, never been mounted, and still in the box....i got them for 1,000 bucks so i couldnt turn them down...best thing ive put on my car so far

 

sounds like a great way to waste alot of money doing **** you will have to redo later on; the right way. terrible ideas...

ebay ceramic brake pads? seriously? ill have to ask around at the next autocross to see who is using those...

 

i didnt do anything to my brakes except replace the rotors with OEM blanks, some good ceramic pads, and stop-tech stainless steel brakes lines.... dont really need to do much to the brakes if your not much higher than stock power...the S2K had some of the best stopping times around when it first came out and it still has impressive stopping compared to sports cars made today

 

bingo. if OE is nearly as good as it gets (compare braking to some high end cars) i REALLY doubt some ebay **** is going to yield better results.

 

yea oem brakes are insane, as far as pads, really any creamic pad will work fine.. i've run hawks, ebc, etc most autocross guys just use autozone pads/blanks.

Hoever, i can list oem, ebay, autozone pads/part#'s/prices as well.

 

actually forgot a good driving school(not the one you take in highschool)

a weekend trip to skip barber/local track school for scca prep is prob worth its weight in gold. Maybe i can come up with a regional list people can use as well.

 

im actually working on getting my suspension where i want it now...im getting my rear toe arms next week, then its probably sway bars and then a whiteline subframe brace and ill be set....then ill probably move onto either the interior or power adders...im trying to get this thing ready for the autocross season that starts in february

 

now, what are your plans for sway bars.. for ap1, i see a few guys ditching the rear, and doing a larger bar up front, so far a lot of the bars I've seen offer very little increase

The whiteline stuff is nice, all solid..

 

I was in disagreement with the eBay lip. Gross. Show some restraint and pride. Buy the OEM lip or something else legit.

For a daily driver, skip the synthetic oil. I track the eff out of my car and was using castrol GTX last season. I have Castrol edge in there now that it's in storage...because there was an unbelievable sale on it. Don't get too scientific with it. Conventional oil is just fine.

The sprinfs arent a terrible idea. Since you're only going $200 out of your way to buy em. For a street car that you just want lowered for looks, springs are a better choice than the $800 junk coilovers that people go with.

Tires are a good item. But...buy good tires. All seasons are kinda useless...and a bit too much of a compromise. Not so grippy in any situation. Buy good performance summer tires. If you need to drive in the snow, consider snow tires as a second set.

Brakes? For the street, the stock brakes are more than adequate. Cheapo replacement pads are probably shittier than stock ones. AP1 brakes are ceramic. AP2 brakes are semi metallic. I use AP1 brakes on the street with blank rotors to keep my wheels clean....err...when I'm not too lazy to change out my Carbotech XP10/XP8 with blank rotors that I use for the track. Blank rotors are the key here. Don't use no name pads. I would also stay away from EBC from personal experience.

Use a decent brake fluid and flush it as needed to keep it fresh. I use Wilwood570. Never let me down at the track and obviously works fine on the street.

Stainless brake lines are a nice touch. The brake feel improves. Buy the ones with a teflon jacket or they will unravel. I use russell lines.

Track time should be on your list. It's the best thing that can happen to your S2000.

 

probably get the eibach front and rear...id like to get the swift bars but im not dropping 700 dollars on sway bars...350 is pretty much my budget for those

 

noted. will add options for both oem+paint, and ebay+paint. Maybe picture or two added on the side.

Yea i have dunlop z1's listed, anyone know a few other good entry autocross tires, summer perf

 

if you dont mind going through tires quick potenza RE-11 or the OE cr tires which are RE070, but they wear super quick, but theyre super sticky..the RE-11's have actually been compared to R compounds as far as performance goes

 

editing the break/tire section soon...

generic ceramic pads, oem or better quality.

-Beck/Arnley OE Brake Pads * advanced auto $46.99 rear, 65.99 front.
-Stoptech Front/Rear $101.95 * ebay.
-ebc green stuff, #DP21254 - $100.00/front. * ebay
-ebc Ultimax, UD829 $55/front * ebay

Front:

Ap1
Front: 16" x 6.5", +55 offset, 205 tire
Rear: 16" x 7.5", +65 offset, 225 tire

AP2
Front: 17" x 7.0", +55 offset, 215 tire
Rear: 17" x 8.5", +65 offset, 245 tire (255 on the S2000 CR)


Summer - Dunlop Direzza Star Spec -225/50/16- $130ea
Summer - Bridgestone potenza re-11 -225/50/16- $166ea
All season - Bridgestone potenza re050 -225/50/16- $100ea

 

ive run my fair share of STR events now. if you are a single driver car i prefer the star specs because i had issues heating up the re-11's. even when they were hot i didnt notice a difference between them and star specs, and no where close r comps... SS are cheaper and just as effective IMO. boots, what class are you planning on running?

 

the bars are very dependent on what suspension, wheels, and tires. you are running as well. i have BC racing coilovers with only 700lb springs, 17x9's 255 SS's, no rear bar, and the whiteline bar. i feel the whiteline may be a little to soft. saner's are the way to go for adjustability purposes as well

 

I'd expand your "week 1" a bit more.

I don't want to get into a parts argument about what is crap and such, but you assuming you just bought the car, do you know when the rest of the fluids have been changed?

Whenever I get a used vehicle, that is where I always start. Engine Oil, Tranny, Dif, Brake and clutch fluid. Most people over look this step when they know they're getting rid of a car and dealerships don't do it because its not something people ever seem to ask about.

Just some additional food for thought.

 

i wish we could datalog a oem ap1, an ap1 with tires, ap1 with coilovers/sway/bars,

get actually data showing grip, but there would be so many variables to account for.. temperature, elevation, driver...

 

+1 - well stated.

Single driver STR should run star specs. Even on the hottest days up here, I couldn't get the other alternative, Hankook RS3s to heat up to the point where they were performing at their best.