Insane 500 HP S2000 Sets 1:47 Lap at Buttonwillow Raceway Park
When you get into the world of time attack cars you find the cars with wings and aero that are all go, not show.
Rhett Panter of Powerneedy Motorsports is no stranger to S2KI, and neither is his S2000. Rhett is a longtime member of the forums and is known for his turbocharged Honda and its evolving aero setup. We follow him over on Instagram and they post some good updates on how different aspects of the aero setup are coming along. Including out favorite, that rear diffusor. When they dropped a video about their trip to the 2018 Global Time Attack Super Lap Battle at Buttonwillow Raceway, we had to take a look.
This is the first time he’s taken the car out with the full flat-bottom and diffuser. “The car felt amazing, it felt great,” Panter explained. After a little mishap with the radiator cap, they get out for the first timed session and push hard. The S2000 lays down a 1:47 lap, but on the cool down lap something terrible happens. “All of a sudden it sounds like someone’s dropped a box of rocks in the transmission,” he said. The transmission was shot. The car has gone all season on the tranny and rear end, which are both stock. They worked through the night to put a transmission in and, not knowing if the new tranny would hold up, they decided to put on their new set of tires as well.
“It’s day two, everybody is hunting for time,” Panter explained. They had one last chance to break that 1:47 from Day 1, but as he pointed out, “the car feels loose, it feels wrong.” As he was going down the front straight he heard a loud “ka-bam!” and “all of a sudden had seven gears of neutral.” The rear differential let go, likely because of the sticky tires and hard laps. Check out the carnage on this post from his Instagram.
At the end of the video he posted a video of that 1:47 lap, and it is good! Check it out here. Join us in the forums and share your track-day stories as well.
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