The art of turning an opinion into a huge conversation or argument
This is a subject that I’ve always wanted to share. However it goes beyond S2KI and to all motor-heads out there. I will try and describe how an opinion can turn into a conversation and sometimes even into a misleading argument… or not. All these years as a member of S2KI I have come across into a variety and numerous topics, which describe personal experience and opinion by our members; this also includes me. It is a common game of the mind to exaggerate when a story is heard or read. The story passes to the next person or group with a new touch and description.
One of the most popular subjects discussed is when a member has to decide a set of aftermarket wheels, i.e. from 16” into 17” or 18” wheels; in some cases even 19” on the rear axis. There is a great availability in the market; however in the case of the Honda S2000 it is a different cup of tea when it comes to wheels due to the different wheels’ offsets. Many drivers express their opinion to keep the OEM wheels on, or to get a set of aftermarket wheels with the same offset, or even to go bigger and wider. Which reminds me that we even have an official crazy offsets thread in the S2000 Gallery.
But this is the part when our mind plays the game of exaggeration with us. The fear of messing with the car’s behavior came along. “Don’t go wider all around the S, you will alter the stability of your car”, or “Go wider but keep a ratio between the front and rear wheels offsets, otherwise your S2000 will become unstable”. This is just a sample and we have an endless list of opinions. But how many of them are correct? How many of them are false? Are they based on personal experience or just from what is read and heard? Whose mind is playing games? However, Honda gave us a little bit of help back in 2004 with the introduction of the AP2 S2000. The wheels from 16” turned into 17”; different wheels’ size, offsets and tire width were introduced. The overall setup all around was different, and Honda proved that few things will not get worst if you have the knowledge of how to implement them in the S2000.
Let’s continue now and bring up the story of the differential driveshaft spacers. I bet this will be very interesting since many owners all these years are (still?) confused over this issue. Different opinions bring up a nice conversation and sometimes a bit of an argument. The question is simple, but the answer is more complicated than ever. It was few years ago when couple of Japanese S2000 tuners introduced the driveshaft spacers to increase the life of the differential on lowered AP1 S2000 models. However, it was fortunate that Honda fixed this issue for AP2 models; due to the different part number on few parts? Was this an actual fact? Was it just a rumor or not? Was it from personal experience maybe, or from a technical point of view? The Japanese tuners have now those driveshaft spacers available for both AP1 and AP2 models. Whose mind is playing games this time? It was negcamber, who finally gave us a great feedback over this subject. This time, personal experience came along and cleared things up to show us the way with photos as well.
The quest for knowledge takes us into many different places around the globe through the Internet; however it is real life experience which brings a better understanding and opinion. It is no coincidence that there are many people out there with practical experience and also engineering degrees. We thank them for sharing their knowledge with us. So, don’t let your mind play this game of exaggeration by making something small into something so big that will bring the fear of the doubt.
Sit back, read carefully and learn more every day. That’s what I do every day in my life.
If you don’t ask, you will never learn.
NOTE: S2KI welcomes the opinions of its members on the S2000 and on all topics related to the S. Should you feel the creative urge to pen a few words then by all means do so and PM Energetic, Aashish2 or Onehots2k OR send us links to what you would like us to write about and we will feature you (or your community) on the S2KI Home Page.