Another favorite mod was the Nagisa fender brace. It created the most noticeable change in the chassis stiffness and responsiveness and I’m pretty sure they eliminated the roof latch rattle too. The Kangaroo windshield washer fluid bag that came with the brace is always a crowd favorite.
The Beatrush rear brace calmed the rear of the chassis down making the car more controllable at the limit.
The Hondata KPro was another big ‘feel’ improvement mod. In naturally aspirated form, the tune enabled by the KPro only bumped the peak horsepower by about 10hp. But the change in VTEC changeover point making the torque jump more linear was a big improvement in drivability along with all-around improved throttle response. And the datalogging feature let me capture info that allowed me to show all of you some cool stuff.
The final piece to the ‘OEM +’ puzzle was my custom turbo setup. I did double the stock torque up to 6k rpms on 91 oct pump gas with the torque mostly all-in by 3500rpm. The response of the turbo setup was as fast as I wanted and easy to modulate; thank you Garrett for ball-bearing turbos. And it still carried the power out to 8500rpm while being basically stock quiet, smell-friendly with the EPA-approved cat, and recirculated BOV avoiding the boy-racer vent to atmosphere noises, so mission mostly accomplished. One of my favorite noises was the subtle intake noise with the turbo spooling, just letting you know the turbo was coming online to start the party.
It’s been a fun thirteen years of modifying and learning on this car. I’ve got the recipe down for how I like a car to ‘feel’ and I hope to replicate that on the next vehicle. Hopefully, that won’t take me thirteen years to complete.
12 comments
Must not of liked it much if you sold it right away after over a decade of building. Simple, fast builds with lots of time to play and selling it completely wore out is the goal isn’t it?
I loved it. I was driving it a couple times a week to work. I let about a dozen guys drive it, a few with racing licenses, and they all loved it. I gave a ride to a couple co-workers who are ex-McLaren engineers and they loved it. So when I told everyone I was selling it, they were shocked. Until I told them what was coming next, then they all said, “okay, that makes sense.” I didn’t plan to sell it so soon at all; I had five oil filters and two oil changes worth of Motul 300V in my garage. But the perfect buyer came along. It’s just how the timing worked out. It’ll probably be about a year before everyone finds out what’s next.
Congrats on the sale!! Thanks for the years of thoughtful, no compromise modification. We’ve all learned a lot from it.
I’m going to guess Boxster Spyder.
Way back, I was at Autoclub track testing the ram air NACA duct and vented hood. I was doing somewhere around 130-135mph on the main straight and Kojima was behind me in one of his Dog Car race cars. At that point, I was like…. I really wish I had a solid roof.
Khiem my friend, congrats on finishing it!!! Seems like a raving success and looking forward to the next project!
Wow, bittersweet day to read this project has wrapped and moved to its next owner. I bought my 05 AP2 13 years ago and always aspired for the science and need based approach you took at addressing various aspects (or some may say weaknesses) of the platform. Congrats to the new owner, I’m entirely jealous not knowing the car would have been offered for sale!
Excited to see what you take on next, based on your hardtop comment I would posit a cayman gt4 with gt3rs capabilities and stock road manners. Can’t wait to see what you pursue next.
I’ve always said, the only way to do better than the S2000 is to go mid-engine with the engine behind the driver. There’s no getting around the physics of placing the engine as close to the center of the car as possible to reduce the rotational inertia if one wants to make a car that rotates quickly. That’s all I’ll say with regards to the next car.
Can’t wait for the next project car!
I wonder it’s the Boxster for OEM+ or a capable Exige but with OEM+ characteristics 😀
Many thanks for all the detailed sharing
I’m speechless. Simply didn’t see this coming.
Looking forward to what is next!
No combination of words can adequately capture the sensation of driving this S2000. It’s exceptional balance, remarkable maneuverability and ever present torque imbue an indescribable sense of fun and thrill. This car is even more fun than my heavily modified 992 Turbo S, as it’s way more approachable to tear up the canyons or B roads. Because the gears are so short, you FEEL like you are going so fast, and then you look down and realize you’re only going 90, but you did indeed get there quick.
I face a truly daunting task in attempting to augment the perfection of what Khiem did with this car, because I can’t leave anything alone ever. Modifying the fuel tables for the new exhaust and perhaps water/meth seem to be the only viable improvements that I can think to make. I am very apprehensive about doing anything to this car, as I don’t want to disrupt it’s OEM like equilibrium and balance. Any change I make may actually make the car feel worse, and that’s a very real concern, because it’s just THAT good.
I want to thank you for taking the time to document everything that you did with this vehicle as a teaching tool for those who would seek to build the prefect s2000.
Thank you again Khiem
— Steve
Hello, Khiem Dinh. I have an offer for you, can I contact you by email?