S2000man01

iTrader: (1)

I've noticed a lot of people often times come across somewhat.... "uneducated" when it comes to the matters of the S2000. This is a 7th gen civic site, so it's certainly not a fault of anyone who posts as such. I would expect the average user here would know a lot more about civics than the S2000.

However, I thought I'd post this for people who do want to know more about the S2000. If you don't care, then don't read it, and move on to other threads.

-The first car ever made by honda was actually a rear wheel drive roadster, known as the S500. After that was the S600, S800, and the now known S2000. Design of the S2000 was started in 1995 by Shigeru Uehara.
-Every car honda makes today is at least an LEV (low emissions vehicle) including the S2000.
-The S2000 received 5 stars on all crash testing, including front, side, and front offset crashes. The S2000 is actually safer in a rollover and front/side collision than most sedans. The S2000 is the only roadster that has been tested by the NHTSA/IIS for such collisions, with the exception of the Miata which scored 4 stars and 3 stars on the same tests.
-The Bridgestone Potenza S-02 tires that come on the car were designed and made specifically by Honda and Bridgestone to match the car's suspension, weight, and handling characteristics exactly. It remains the most expensive and best tire for track performance Bridgestone offers today.
-The convertible top engine weighs only 13 pounds. The lightest of any convertible top engine in production.
-The S2000 has a top down heating mode, which allows vents to blow on the legs, middle, and upper torso of the driver/passenger. (i myself have driven the S2000 top down in 50 degree weather and remained quite comfortable)
-The S2000's exhaust has almost exactly the amount of backpressure required to perfectly balance scavaging and removal of fumes. Hence the reason adding a better flowing exhaust to an otherwise stock engine actually HURTS performance.
-The S2000 is completely hand built in Tochigi, Japan. Only one engineer is allowed to work on an engine from start to finish.
-The engine sits completely behind the front axle, contributing to it's 50/50 weight distribution. The engine itself is no bigger dimension-wise than the B16A found in the 99-00 civic Si. The engine/transmission weigh a mere 326 pounds.
-The high X-bone frame of the S2000 gives the frame more torsional rigidity than your average sedan. The frame of other roadsters, such as the miata, SLK, and Z3, have less torsional rigidity than your average sedan.
-Honda's technical prowess shown in the S2000 is no shock, considering the company is the world's largest engine manufacturer, churning out over 10 million engines a year.
-The engine features many things found on no other honda engine. A few of these things are: fiber-reinforced metal cylinder liners, aluminum ladder-type main bearing supports, lightweight forged aluminum pistons, forged crankshaft, Carburized forged steel rods, lightweight metal injection-molded, sintered steel rocker arms, low friction roller-bearing cam followers, two-stage cam-drive with silent chain and auto-tensioner, hollow camshafts that double function as a path for lubricating the valve train, and are ported/polished at the factory. (the nsx is also ported/polished at the factory)
-The pistons are skirtless "slipper" pistons, which means they have no sides to them once you get past the compression rings. This is to reduce side load on the cylinder walls and decrease friction.
-Like most race cars, the cast-aluminum oil pan bolts to both the engine and transmission, increasing rigidity to the entire drivetrain.
-The engine uses sensors in each cylinder located at top dead center, one on each cam shaft, and another from the crankshaft to determine when to fire the coils igniting the spark plugs.
-There are 4 short intake runners which match the intake port angle, providing a direct shot for air into each cylinder for the intake charge.
-The S2000's shifter moves a mere 35 millimeters from gear to gear. The shortest of any production vehicle. Shift effort is also a mere 39 Newtons, compared to an average of 65 for most competitor's sports cars. The previous record holder in these categories was the mazda miata.
-The S2000 frame is more rigid than the NSX, RSX, and integra, which is amazing considering all the other cars are a closed top design.
-The chassis uses a backbone frame, a design pioneered originally by Lotus engineer Colin Chapman. The S2000 is a little harder getting in/out of for a reason. The frame, rails, and even door sills are designed for rigidity and handling... not comfort.
-The suspension is tuned to prevent squatting in the rear, allowing for greater compact patch on the tires when cornering. It was also designed to prevent unsprung weight in slalom like corners, keep a neutral and low balance, and reduce body vibration which prevents the tires from "bouncing" under heavy cornering.
-The S2000's recorded fastest 1/4 mile in stock form was 13.66.
-The S2000 currently competes in B-Stock in auto-x and has dominated this class since its inception in 2000.
-The highest recorded G's on a skidpad for a modified production car is the Spoon S2000, which set the bar at 1.2g's.
-The S2000 in stock form is capable of stopping 60-0 in 110 feet, with it's slalom speed at 70.3mph, and it's skidpad at .94g's.

There's so much more I could go into, such as details about how Honda designed so many things just for the S2000, including it's ABS brakes, power steering, oil pump, AC unit, etc, just to reduce weight and make the car more efficient. Tons more can be said about the suspension and frame, all which contribute to the car's handling.

Hopefully this will be intersting reading for somebody.

CivicsRdBest

Interesting, I already knew about 25% of that. I still want one. I want the 2.2 L in it.

S2000man01

iTrader: (1)

i dont like the 2.2L. Basically it's a trade off. you get a little more low end torque, but end up losing out on accerlation a bit. In the original S2000, you could get to 62mph with 2nd gear. The new one makes you shift to 3rd at 55mph. Kinda crappy if you're racing 0-60 in a race.

ex_03

At last years autoshow in detroit the first place I went to was the honda setup and when I seen s2000 I was druling, the block everything about the motor just screemed horsepower that car is just awsome. Then I went to the lamborgini,farrari,and all the others that cost more then my life and I realized that honda made cars are just a damn good choice no matter how much you make, but especially if you dont make alot and want to mod it over time,I did alot research before buying one and found that (at least to me) all the companys making after market high proformance parts start with hondas and then go down the list of car makers.

I remember seeing an episode of importtuner and they were showing the fact that these companies that make all the goodies we like are only now starting to cover more domestics, but that the foriegn market was still stronger than ever.
great post buy the way lots info I was not aware of!!!

xtreme26

good info now i feel like buying a s2000 i want to know more about the s2000

Akutenshi

iTrader: (4)

nice write-up. makes me fukn want an s2 even more now. thanx

diskreet

iTrader: (1)

Thats a gearing issue not an engine issue.

S2000man01

iTrader: (1)

true. but since the gearing remained the same, and was not changed to compensate for the lower redline, it kinda sucks.

Zzyzx

Slight correction.... The S2000 is being bumped to A-Stock for the 2005 season... where they will directly compete against the C4 corvette that curently dominates the class. It should make for an interesting year as there are a lot of corvette diehards in that class... but The S2000 Has several years worth of Stock development in B-Stock and should be able to give the C4's one hell of a run for their Moneys... I can't wait for the Finals in Topeka to see who comes out on top... Corvettes or Hondas!


Also... One of the most Painfull things I've ever seen is an S2000 Launching at a Pro Solo.... Think Redline then Dump the clutch..... Ouch!! I talked to one of the guys running. He said that since they were running hoosiers If they didnt get the rear tires to spin on the launch they would end up either spinning the clutch against the fly wheel and frying a clutch or they'd brake a half shaft. apparently its not uncommon for a ProSolo raced S2000 (B-Stock at the time) to brake 2-3 Half shafts in a season. Not a cheep sport. ProSolo by the way is an Autocross with a Drag style type launch at the start.. and you run against some one else in an Identically Mirrored Track. Very fun.

Zzyzx

Another issue with the New S2000... they softened up the suspension and made it more Idiot proof.... great from an average joe sellability stand point (i.e., Grandpa isnt going to be able to spin it as easily).. not so good from an Inthusiasts.

nookiemonster

Beat me to it, I was about to say something, but saw that you posted, so I knew the autocross wizard would catch that

jackal903

iTrader: (3)

no wonder s2k is that expensive!

nookiemonster

Buy a used one for just 22-23K...

ThaitaniumGK

Nicce write-up... I read some stuff that i found very useful since I'm maybe lookin to purchase one of these bad boys in the upcoming months...w00t

I FuSe I

That's really interesting stuff. I hadn't known about most of it.

QBoi

iTrader: (3)

Thanks!

nindoo

iTrader: (1)

"-The suspension is tuned to prevent squatting in the rear, allowing for greater compact patch on the tires when cornering. It was also designed to prevent unsprung weight in slalom like corners, keep a neutral and low balance, and reduce body vibration which prevents the tires from "bouncing" under heavy cornering."

So whne you upshift and punch the throttle the car stays stable?

I heard the Enzo has something that when you upshift the rear shockcs stiffen up to reduce that sqatting in the rear you speak of.


I have one question for you. Is it hard to wokr on the s2000 yourself I mean simple things like regular maintenace. Oil change, transmission oil change, flush radiator fluid, brakes?

If all engine parts are so high quality and all, this should be one of the most long lasting sport cars well?

S2000man01

iTrader: (1)

I know they had talked about moving the S2k into A-stock to compete with the C4, etc. Glad to see they finally did it after 4 years of dominating B-stock! Raises the bar for the auto-x S2k'ers.

As for launching, I launch between 4000-6000rpm. But i imagine a modified S2k or something using sticky tires like hoosiers definitely has a harder time getting them to break loose!

S2000man01

iTrader: (1)

thanks for the comments. from others too.

yeah it's a civic site, but hey, the S2k is part of honda's family. lol

S2000man01

iTrader: (1)

yes, the car is set up to prevent the squatting that occurs under heavy acceleration and cornering.

as for working on it, it's been easy enough for me. changing oil, fluids, though i haven't done tranny fluid. and brakes we've even done right at auto-x events, swapping brake pads.

as for quality, i'd assume it would at least be as reliable as every other honda. they designed the car to be able to withstand being driven hard, and hitting 9000rpm daily.

Cocky

iTrader: (6)

speaking of s200's.. is it possible to do a swap into a 7thgen with an s2000 engine?

nindoo

iTrader: (1)

I guess anything is possible for the right amount of money. Only thing though is that the 7thgen has such a short front. The s2000 front is hella long.

Cocky

iTrader: (6)

i wanna cut my car, extend it and drop a Supra engine in..buhahahaha

scatman

iTrader: (22)

good write up

02boostlessCIV

nice info, damn you, now i want an s2000, lol

UTICivic

iTrader: (3)

I dont fit in one Im to tall.

S2000man01

iTrader: (1)

lol i'd enjoy seeing that put a mustang cobra to shame.

nindoo

iTrader: (1)

Actaully for an s2000 you get a lot of car for the money you pay. You can't compare it to a 350z or RX-8 in terms of quality and attention to detail in terms of engineering.

S2000man01

iTrader: (1)

that's what a lot of people don't understand. they b*tch and say "oh well it's not worth 30k, and you can get so much better a car for that, blah blah".

but take all the engineering and features i mentioned, plus compare it to other roadsters.

if you're shopping for a car, and you're trying to decide between an STi and an S2k, wtf are you thinking? 2 completely different cars with 2 completely different purposes.

BUT... compare the S2k with other roadsters, and NOTHING touches it in terms of bang for your buck.

Day_Tripper

I know if you dad says fill it up real quick and come straight home if you come back 45 minutes later he will never let you take it out again...