Converted to an S2000

Original write-up by unison21, an STi owner who bought an S2K in less than a week!

I made this post on the STI forums and I just wanted to see the perspective from the other side.

unison21's new ride

I was at Buttonwillow this weekend with a friend who drives an S2000 (I think he’s here on S2ki). During one of his sessions, he decided to allow me to drive his car for a few laps. His car is a stock s2000 with only tein springs (stock struts, etc). He was using the same size tires and brand as I do on my 2008 STI, Nitto NT05 255/40/r17.

To compare, my 2008 STI has these mods:
RCE springs
Whiteline 22mm front and rear sway bars (set to full stiff)
Whiteline Steering rack bushings
DAMD flat bottom steering wheel
Bunch of other bushings: rear subframe, tranny x member, group-n transmission mount, whiteline anti-lift kit
Front camber bolts
TIC Holy shift kit
Cobb AP Stage 1
Hawk HP plus pads w/ ATE Superblue fluid
17×9 5zigen fn01rc w/ nitto nt05

Every suspension mod I’ve done to my car was in ways to improve the feel of the car and the handling without having to go all out with a coilover setup. After driving my friend’s s2000 for 2 laps around Buttonwillow, all I can say is, that car does what you think it should do.

The STI in comparison, feels so disconnected from everything. When you turn the steering wheel in the STI on the track, there is a sort of lag in terms of when the car starts to respond. At high speeds, the STI can sometimes be unpredictable. I make up alot of my driving inefficiencies with the STI’s AWD which sort of masks mistakes in that it tends to keep you on the road.

unison21's STi

When I drove the S2000, the moment I did something that was incorrect in terms of giving too much steering input or too much throttle, the car responded by starting to slide/oversteer, yet I was able to correct it immediately by feathering the throttle or counter steering a bit. I felt that I knew exactly what was going at all times, and I was able to control the car. It reminded me a bit of what it was like to drive a go-kart. I can only imagine what the S2000 can do with a few more mods.

The STI is a horsepower beast and that I cannot dispute. But when it comes to being connected to the car, I think that’s where the STI is lacking. The boaty feeling I got from my car was magnified after I went back to driving my own car. I know I’d be able to probably alleviate some of that problem if I went with a full coilover setup, but I feel like I’d be putting a band aid on the issue.

unison21' STi on track

I love the utility of my STI. Being able to haul 5 adults when I go out, being able to attach my mountain bike to the top of my car, and taking weekend trips to mammoth for snowboarding without having to worry about the snow giving me any issues is something I love my STI for. However for the track, I’d prefer to be driving an s2000.

I don’t know what I’m going to do at this point. I know that I want to pick up a used s2000 for the track. If I can convince my wife to get an Outback for her next car (takes care of the Mammoth issue) or an SUV, I might not need my STI anymore. If I can keep the STI and buy an S2000, that would be ideal, but my garage only holds two cars and money also would be tight.

unison21's new addition

What you’ve just read was the thoughts of unison21 five days ago. Guess what happened since then… He bought an S2000 and his next words describes it all! Welcome to the family!

A happy ending here. I picked up an ’00 Silverstone AP1 with 83k miles on it this weekend! Its been parked out in the sun all of its life so the rear plastic window is completely useless (time to shop for a hard top), the front bumper is completely faded from a previous repaint gone wrong (more reason for a body kit), and the driver side seat has a tear in the leather (gonna get a race seat)… Its never been modded previously and everything checked out with a clear title.

Paid $7800 so i’m extremely happy.

My wife said she might learn how to drive stick so I can keep both the STI and the S2000. We’ll see how that goes.

S2000 Forums-> STI owner looking to convert to an S2000

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.