A quick background on what I drive now...
I'm currently driving a 1996 240sx (167k miles), it is a daily driver and a weekend track toy. As far as mods go, the engine is stock, it runs on RT615s, it has coilovers, some Hawk HP+ pads, a Personal steering wheel with an NRG quick release and a Sparco seat. As you can see it's a pretty lightly modded car, just enough to have a blast on track.

What I'm looking for...
The 240 is getting quite old, as much as I'm partial to it and as much as I've tried to keep it in great condition, I'm looking for something newer, lower mileage and also sporty so I don't have to mod the crap out of it to have fun. i'm looking to spend around $15,000.

So this brings my questions on the S...
1. How is getting on track with the stock convertible roll bar? Any issues?
2. I've heard the stock S2K suspension is great, what's your take on it for track duty?
3. Stock seats, how are they for track duty?
4. Stock steering wheel, how is it?
5. Anything else I might need to consider for a dual duty car?

I know the questions are pretty subjective, I'm not a hardcore spend-my-whole-paycheck on the car kinda guy but I'm also pretty discerning when it comes to cars, if that helps. I will probably mod it depending on what I think the car needs, but I kinda just wanted to get a feel for the car as a dual duty car out of the box. Thanks in advance for all of your insight and responses, feel free to raise anything I might've missed!

 

oh geez, you could of wikipedia or googled this...the s2000 is a track monster from the factory. that answers 1-5.

 

Ha ha ha... thanks for the insightful reply.

 

i think you need a roll bar to pass inspection for any road racing. for the "broom" test i think

 

insightful and accurate - it's a track monster right out the box

 

Hopefully I can help you out a little bit:

1.Depending on how tall you are, you may need a "NASA" or whatever other organization you race with, approved roll bar. A bolt-in roll bar that would be approved in most races is the Hard-Dog Roll-Bar, which is about $500 for the basic roll bar, $750 with all the options (IIRC). I'm 5'10" and I don't pass the broom-stick test.

2. It really depends on your skill. Either way, I think that if you take out a stock S2000 out for the very first time, it takes at LEAST 1 track day to really even get a feel for the way the car responds to your driving. I'd say try the stock suspension, then upgrade if you think that you've maxed out your potential with it (or you have a itch to mod it, suspension, wheels, tires, and brake pads will keep your pocket empty for awhile.

3.It depends on how big you are, overall, I'm VERY skinny, and I slide around alot. If you plan on getting aftermarket seats, you probably should buy it at the same time you buy your harnesses' and seats and rails. The center console area is shapped oddly and you wont have much room to reach your hand in for stock seat belts.

4.Steering wheel is up to you. Taking it out, also takes out your airbag. If your gonna go as a weekend track car, I would say take it out (if your running harnesses' as well).

5.I think 1 thing that I did that I regret is getting side tracked with other aspects of the car. If I could go back, I would have bought my JRZ's first, instead of buying them after owning the car for 4 years now. I ran the KWv3's and they are a great street coilover, but I think for the price, the JRZ Race Singles are GREAT for both street and track. It doesn't get much better then JRZ, and even the Race Singles are similar in the sense that their valving is among the best (I can run 14k-20k w/o revalving). I'm getting my JRZ Doubles in tomorrow. If you have the extra funds after you get the car, I would say look into JRZ vs. Moton vs. Penske (I thought about getting Penske Doubles since their cheaper, but my friend/H1 Champion advised me JRZ is overall less headache and easier to deal with then the other ones. Moton doesn't give very much of a discount no matter where you go. Penske might be a cheaper option.

6. (This is my own message to you). I have been building a track car and after doing this for awhile on this chassis, as well as being the tech advisor for N1 Concepts for the S2000. If you have ANY questions, just let me know and I'll see if I can help you. I can steer you in the right direction of what parts are good and what parts just don't respond well to the car. I will tell you upfront I don't know everything about the S2000. I do, however, know what exactly is in my car and how we plan on becoming the #1 RWD Modified Class in Redline Time Attack. We may only bring the J's/N1 S2000 to 1 race this season though.

 

duty

 

do you do HPDE or TT? some HPDE will let you get on track without roll bar, most TT will not.

as mentioned above, pretty much the only option you have for a bolt-in roll bar is the HardDog or you can get a custom built.

but once you have a roll bar, it's a very good idea to have a harness so you don't hit your head on the roll bar. that also means you need racing seats to go with the harness. and along with harness, it's also a advised that you get a Head Neck Restraint system so your head don't fly off. don't slack off when it comes to safety equipments. your life is worth more than $3k

some track will not let you run with the soft top up also, so you'll have to pick up a hard top if you don't want to track with the top down.

my s2k is about 80/20 track/street, i just don't have the opportunity to drive my car on the street much as i commute to work with my wife. i love driving the s2k on the street except getting in and out off race seat is a nuisance.

 

Is there a S2000 rollbar/cage thread?

 

Thanks alot for the replies guys. I don't TT, just HPDEs and open lapping days. Right now I'm comparing a Miata NC vs S2000, seems like the S2000 is more track friendly out of the box. I'm not a big modding guy, I only mod if I feel like I've grown out of something, so it sounds like a stock S2000 will provide more of that growth room than a NC Miata.

 

Elda / Hard Dog roll bar
http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php...highlight=Elda

lots of reference for track setup here, including roll bar
http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=520674

 

The S2000 is probably the best car available stock from the factory under $35K for tracking. If you can't afford an Elise, Corvette, or Porsche 911 like most of us it's the next best thing. It was made for track days, and has been really cheap to maintain. I just do normal maintenance, brake pads, and tires. Tires are the most expensive part of it. The stock roll bar passes tech in NASA events around here. They just require you to use arm restraints if you have your top down. I guess that could be different for different areas/tracks. My car is completly stock, and still a blast at the track. The amount of grip is really amazing, and it could be improved further with an aftermarket suspension, and soft compound competition slicks.

You do have to make some sacrifices if you use it as a daily. IMO it sucks to get in and out of. Staying in VTEC is fun on the track, but you shouldn't have to sound like ricer to get power out of it in the city. I really wish it had an inline 6, or a V6 (like maybe from the TL), but that would throw off the weight distribution, they'd have to change the look of the car to get it right, and it would decrease the gas mileage.

 

s2k is a beast from factory no doubt... let see as for daily, mine is stiff as **** sumtimes it pisses me off so much, its got really no room inside, gas milage is kinda wack considering its a 4 banger... and tires gets eaten up faster than a dirty *****!!! but with all that said... i love my s2k to death and would not give it up yet!!

 

What is this?

 

i thick s2 is not a track car because the rearend is really week i replaced mine about 2 times !!!!!!

 

last i recall people break **** on the track all the time, and the diff for the s2k is fine if you're gentle on it. obviously its prone to breakage if you're beating the **** out of it.

 

that's a Cusco bar, more for style and not really for function.

 

the diff is will break but only if you launch. there's no need for launching or power shifting when racing on road course.

the only thing that hold the s2k back from being a purpose built track car is being a convertible. Honda should have made a coupe version.

 

with Mugen HT lines, i woulda bought one brand new on a minimum wage job pre-ordered.

 

you are the weakest link.