Hey I have been shoping for an S2000 for a while now trying to find the right one and reading every thing I can about these cars. I am not into shows or riding dumped lol I just want handling at the autoX and for spirited driving on back roads.

One thing keeps haunting me though and it was an article I read from SCC mag saying that handling was hurt by lowering the S2000 here is a quote:

"On the street and during slalom testing, it suffered from the same problems we've experienced in every lowered S2000 we've driven. Our best guess is that an overly aggressive stock rear toe curve makes these cars difficult to drive at the limit when they're lower than stock (hence the slower than stock slalom speeds). Even with huge wheels and tires at all four corners, the added grip is lost during hard cornering. Bottom line? Don't lower your S2000 unless you're prepared to deal with this ill-handling character"


Is this just because im guessing both cars the drove were lowered with springs? Sorry if this has been discussed already I tryed searching


I am not new to the RWD scene just returning. After owning 8 RX-7s its time for a reliable sports car lol

 

your best bet is to cut the stock springs, figuring that the spring rate is made for the car, unless you do a full out suspension kit, coilovers, sway bars, etc.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lucky13AP2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">your best bet is to cut the stock springs, figuring that the spring rate is made for the car</TD></TR></TABLE>

i hope you are joking.......


to orig. poster.....

if you are into autocross, leave it stock...... this car is very competitive in A stock class......

 

best bet is to drive the car like it was stolen with a stock suspension. once you know what it can do, then fool around with coilovers and sway bars.

 

At least around here, we get destroyed by the Corvettes in A stock

S2000 belongs back in B stock, where it originally was.

 

A lowered S is not a bad handling car. I would think that it depends on what set up you go with.

Cutting the springs is the WORST thing you could do.

If the problem is the rear toe, change it to the stock setting after the car is lowered.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lucky13AP2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">your best bet is to cut the stock springs, figuring that the spring rate is made for the car, unless you do a full out suspension kit, coilovers, sway bars, etc.</TD></TR></TABLE>


Dude. WTF! hahahahhahaha LMAO

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lucky13AP2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">your best bet is to cut the stock springs, figuring that the spring rate is made for the car, unless you do a full out suspension kit, coilovers, sway bars, etc.</TD></TR></TABLE>

welcome to 2006

may I vouch for worst advice for the month?

The worst thing you could do it throw a bunch of aftermarket part into the car without knowing the limit of the car's handling and your skill.

you can get something with 200 to 2000 dollar if you go into a shop but adding more part doesnt make a car faster/better.

I think SCC is addressing the overlowering of suspension, which most of the honda guys loves to do. riding bumpstop= proper suspension travel= once a while you see a post in A/C featuring some dumped civic and every 16 years old thinks it's low so it handling well.

ask anything moved from a honda to something else, you try to lower 3 inch in a miata or sentra and the rear suspension just craps out

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Francesco &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">best bet is to drive the car like it was stolen with a stock suspension. once you know what it can do, then fool around with coilovers and sway bars.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The best advice!!!!

Mine is hammered and still handles like stock on cut springs!!!!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iam7head &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">welcome to 2006

may I vouch for worst advice for the month?

The worst thing you could do it throw a bunch of aftermarket part into the car without knowing the limit of the car's handling and your skill.

you can get something with 200 to 2000 dollar if you go into a shop but adding more part doesnt make a car faster/better.

I think SCC is addressing the overlowering of suspension, which most of the honda guys loves to do. riding bumpstop= proper suspension travel= once a while you see a post in A/C featuring some dumped civic and every 16 years old thinks it's low so it handling well.

ask anything moved from a honda to something else, you try to lower 3 inch in a miata or sentra and the rear suspension just craps out</TD></TR></TABLE>


Ok I am new to the S2K but deffinatly not new to racing or RWD. I know not to cut springs and all that garbage. I was considering running a GC/Koni setup like I have on most of my cars I love the versatility of that setup.

I dont happen to think there talking about over lowering, in the article they say lowering at all is bad. And there not talking about cheep setups considering that there talking about the Comptech car. It is lowered on Comptech springs with adjustable pearches.

Im guessing part of there problem through the slalom is that they didnt upgrade the dampners. I am wondering if a car with full coilovers would have a similar problem. I just cant see how a nice coilover suspension lowered a little would hurt handling.

Here is the full article I am talking about:

http://www.sportcompactcarweb....s2000/

Here is another Quote:

"During testing, our car wasn't impossible to drive, it simply lost grip at the rear during hard transitions or during quick turn-in sooner than it should have. On the street that translates into danger if you blast through an on ramp too hard."

 

So they are making these claims after driving one car? I see that they say they have experienced this with every lowered S2000 they have driven, but they don't say HOW many they have driven or what thye suspension set ups were on that/those car(s).

**Example** I have found that Corvettes have a major problem with oversteer when driven over 20 MPH. This has been true with EVERY Corvette I have ever driven. (A grand total of ONE.)

 

holy hell am i the only one that read that he owned EIGHT rx-7!? are you mad? lol

 

Looks like that article is for a very early S2K, since they mention that Comptech claims there was no shock alternative to the stock ones. The stock suspension was significantly changed beginning with the 02 model, but I am not sure about the rear toe settings. The 2000/2001 had different sway bars, shock valving, and I believe different spring rates. But, as someone mentioned, just change the toe settings if that's the case.

So, it may also depend on which year S2K you are planning to buy.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Curiouz_G &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">holy hell am i the only one that read that he owned EIGHT rx-7!? are you mad? lol</TD></TR></TABLE>

haha yes I was mad, my first car was an RX-7 and the next few after that. Have done every thing from a 1st gen with a webber 4bbl to a 2nd gen with a bridge port 13brew. I eventually got sick of the unreliability. If you leave them stock they are suprisingly reliable, once you monkey with them all that goes down the tube. I want some thing I can drive more than I work on it

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Vitt1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Looks like that article is for a very early S2K, since they mention that Comptech claims there was no shock alternative to the stock ones. The stock suspension was significantly changed beginning with the 02 model, but I am not sure about the rear toe settings. The 2000/2001 had different sway bars, shock valving, and I believe different spring rates. But, as someone mentioned, just change the toe settings if that's the case.

So, it may also depend on which year S2K you are planning to buy.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ok this makes a little more sense finnaly a good response lol Yes I have heard that in 02 they changed things around so that the car was more prone to understeer .......hmm

 

my handling got better when I installed the eibach pros and got an alignment

 

Just lowering the car does not make the car ill handling. I have swift springs and have found that I am faster with them on track and auto-X.. Unfortunately if you lower your car you will no longer be in A-stock ( stupid rule, you can run any tire but you can't lower the car.)

 

lol Are you some kind of moron? Cutting the springs is NOT the way to go for any kind of driving. Yes the stock springs were engineered to have even spring rates and they were thoroughly tested by honda's R&D team but cutting them changes the spring rate, the only way I could see cut springs having the same spring rate is if each spring was cut with a blade that had the same exact sharpness, cut on the same exact angle, and cut at the same speed. Chances of that happening are slim because most ricers who cut or get their springs cut use the same blade on all four springs and the blade gets more dull the more you cut.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Francesco &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">best bet is to drive the car like it was stolen with a stock suspension. once you know what it can do, then fool around with coilovers and sway bars.</TD></TR></TABLE>


I agree with this ^^^ . I went on a Delaware Valley drive with other members of S2KI on some really whindy roads. I know exactly what I'll need. Coilovers a must, but I won't put anything on until I get swaybars and other suspension mods that go along with the coilovers.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dirt_06 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just lowering the car does not make the car ill handling. I have swift springs and have found that I am faster with them on track and auto-X.. Unfortunately if you lower your car you will no longer be in A-stock ( stupid rule, you can run any tire but you can't lower the car.) </TD></TR></TABLE>

Maybe because it's not stock????

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EK4civichatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Maybe because it's not stock???? </TD></TR></TABLE>

I guess you don't get what I'm saying. In A-Stock you can run Race tires, Any swaybar, Any shocks, any springs ( Must be stock height), Aftermarket exhaust, all kinds of bracing. That doesn't seem to be stock in any book.

But if you do any of the following you will get moved out even if you only did one of the mods: lower the car, Intake, lightening the car in any way( seibon hood is heavier than stock S2000 hood but still illegal)

I say Tires are the most critical things to change but there is almost no regulation for that sort of mod.

All I'm saying is that some of these rules need to be redone and mods should be weighed according to performance.

 

The shocks cannot be shortened, the springs must be stock (that means the ones that come from the factory i.e. no changes in spring rates), you can only change the front sway bar, a Cat-back exhaust , and no braces others than stock.

Read the SCCA rulebook first before posting.