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Building a sports-car in the post-millennium world also meant teetering in the realm of features versus Spartan-ism. While the racer purist craves a lightweight, agile, stripped down model, the general public won't buy a car that doesn't have safety features, stereo, leather upholstery, cup-holders, motorized drop-top, and heated seats. Heated seats may be an exaggeration, but the point is that the sale of vehicles has to appeal to the enthusiast masses, not just the enthusiast niche.
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| Inside Stillway: CE28N, Brembo Brakes, Saito Cage, Stillway GT wing. |
That said Honda did a few things right on the S2K. First off is the placement of the motor. While most shock towers on FR cars are somewhere mid-point of the valve cover and back, on the S2K they are prominently forward of the engine, making it leverage less weight over the front tires; less under-steer prone. They also place the gas-tank above the rear axle, again to more centralize the weight. But weight placement doesn't make up for the 2765 lbs (tank full) of mass that the vehicle takes up.
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| J's Racing Carbon intake ducting. Toda 2.2L kit with Type A2 Cams, Seto also port matched the intake. |
Understanding the limitations of such a heavy chassis, the aforementioned Seto of Stillway, a performance shop situated in Himeji, Japan, combated weight with the addition of torque. He turned to Toda for their 2.2L, 12.2:1 compression bore/stroke kit. Conventional wisdom is that Hondas need to rev to make power, but Seto aimed to make it a rocket at lower RPMs by using Toda's Type A2 Cams. With a maximum of 13mm IN and 12mm EX of lift, it is characteristic of this cam to peak out on power mid-way through the rev-band. In fact the rev was set-up to max out at 8,000 RPM, an unheard of low rev point in the Honda world. Seto claims 27 kilogram meter, which converts to about 195 pound feet of torque, up 42 from 153 stock; impressive for a 4-cylinder NA. My seat-of-the-pants dyno is only 70% accurate, but I can verify the addition of torque when riding shot-gun through Himeiji's windy roads.
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| Stillway S2000: Cusco strut bar (not their traditional blue), Stillway oil catch can. |
Other engine goodies include a J's racing carbon intake, a SARD high-flow fuel pump matched with injectors. Tree-huggers will be happy to know this S2000 is equipped with a SARD high-flow catalytic converter which not only emits fewer pollutants than the stocker, but also restricts less power. To add longevity to the (now low revving) engine a Trust oil cooler was added to the 2000, and also a Stillway radiator with Samco hoses.
