JCCs2K's Berlina Black AP2
01-02-2016, 10:09 PM
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JCCs2K's Berlina Black AP2
Finally I am getting around to putting together a timeline for my s2000, after over a year and a half of ownership now. I travel a lot for work, and usually would only be home Friday through Sundays. However, for the past 2 years I have been working in Japan and only get to come home every 5 weeks and only get to spend a week at a time with my car when I am back. Naturally, I miss the car every time I am away. So what else to do while on the road but to daydream of what more I can do to the car? Well the last several months have been especially tough, and so I've gone a bit overboard on the new parts. Let's just say it's always nice coming back home to a bunch of boxes full of new parts for the car.
Here are the current list of mods and pictures of the car as it currently sits.
Suspension:
HKS Hipermax IV SP
Wheels/Tires:
Advan RSII 17x10 +50
Hankook Ventus RS3 255/40/17
Misc:
OEM AP2 lip
Bride Vios III Sport-C
Pictures added: 2/13/2016 Pictures
I've always had the itch for modifying cars, starting out with a b18c swapped 96 civic coupe over 10 years ago, and upgrading to a 350z in 2008. In 2011 I thought I was over the car enthusiast scene and traded in the Z for a Nissan Juke. Figured I wanted something with 4 seats. Well, 2 years ago I started getting the itch again and this 2005 Berlina Black popped up on craigslist. Completely stock with a little over 51k miles on it owned by a middle aged gentlemen, its first and only owner. Of course I had to jump on it.
Here is a picture from the day that I picked it up. Told myself I would keep this thing preserved in its stock form.
Of course the whole "keep it stock" thing was not going to stick, so the first thing I did was get it lowered. I did the research and contemplated different setups, and decided on Koni yellows with Swift Spec-R springs. I wanted something tried and true, and I didn't think I would need adjust-ability, since comfort was still number one. I loved the ride and the ride height was perfect. I would later regret the decision to get suspension altogther as this provided the catalyst to the never ending addiction for new parts. I had not taken the car to the track yet to get a taste for what the stock suspension could do, but yet here I was impatient and doing things to the car already.
Here is the car after getting the konis/swift spec-r installed, along with the OEM AP2 lip.
Well, the wheels were now sunken in so of course I needed spacers. 15mm front and 20mm in the rear. Fenders were rolled, bumper tab trimmed to go along with it.
Sometime around this time last year I decided that I wanted a hardtop. At the time I still was still trying to tell myself that I shouldn't be dumping money into the car, so I settled on an Amuse style FRP hardtop since OEMs were hard to find. While in Japan, I call up Justin at Rockstar Garage, and he was awesome enough to get the top prepped and painted ready for my return. I drove to RSG and 45 minutes later the hardtop was on the car. The quality and fitment was great. I'm not the world's biggest fan of replicas, so the quality was a nice surprise for me.
At this point I was content for awhile. So here are some pictures at this stage.
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/11222505@N06/, on Flickr
Time goes by, and the replica hardtop starts chewing away at me. I knew at this point that I needed to be honest with myself and give the car what it truly deserves. Finally found an OEM hardtop on craigslist and the guy was nice enough to hold it for me until my next trip home. Also found a buyer for my replica amuse hardtop. Meanwhile I of course was browsing s2ki everyday and the Advan RSII 17x10s caught my attention. So I message Eddie at Gruppe-S, and put down a deposit for a set. I knew for this next trip I had a lot to accomplish. I got back from Japan, sold the hardtop the first day, got the OEM hardtop put on the next day, and picked up the Advans the day after. Now the car is finally shaping up. Can't beat the look of the OEM hardtop in my book! Unfortunately, while fitment obviously was good, I for the life of me to this day can't get rid of the wind noise at the bottom rear of each window.
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/11222505@N06/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/11222505@N06/, on Flickr
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/11222505@N06/, on Flickr
Now I was pretty happy with the looks of the car. But the one thing I always hated about the car were the seats. I couldn't drive longer than 20 minutes before my lower back would start to hurt. There seemed to be too much lumbar support for me. Did some browsing, and finally settled on the Bride Vios III Sport-C's. Messaged Eddie again and had him order me a pair of the seats, along with the rails from Bride. The seats took awhile to get in, but I was still working in Japan so I could stand the wait. Finally installed the seats. Doh, the center console rubs the passenger seat badly. Took the seat back out and realized I had shifted the seat way too far towards the center. Got it mounted correctly and now there is only a slight rub but nothing too bad. The seats feel like a dream! Super comfortable. Getting in and out still requires alot of effort and I still can't seem to get the hang of it quite yet, but the effort is well worth it.
Seatbelt extender is from 4extender, mounted directly to the Bride rail. The extender is a bit short, so I may have to look at a longer one so that it does not dig into my hip and be a pain in the ass(literally) for me to get into the seat.
Now while the koni/swift spec-r combo worked, I felt that the spring rates were a bit soft for the amount of drop that they gave me. I was only able to get -2.6 deg camber in front, so the 255/40/17 RS3's were too close to the fender for comfort at the height the swifts gave me. Meanwhile, I was reading about how great the HKS Hipermax IV. I was scared about the 16kg/mm spring rates, but I kept hearing about how great the valving was on the new hipermax iv's. I did not want the GT's as the spring rates were so close to the specR's. Decided to just go for the SP's and jumped on a black friday deal.
I was completely blown away by how nice the ride was with these just from the drive home from the shop. They had set these to 5 click (out of 30) from full stiff. The HKS recommended rebound setting was 15 clicks. Even at 5 clicks, the ride was not as horrendous as I had imagined it would be at all. In fact, it was almost smoother in a sense than my previous koni/swift specR set up. I always knew the damping on the konis just weren't quite right, and with the Hipermax's I was not tensing up everytime I saw a bump or dip ahead. Now I have the rebound settings to the recommended 15 clicks, and the ride is even smoother. However, I may go a little stiffer. If anyone is in the OC area and is interested in getting a feel for what the hipermax's feel like, please let me know. I would be happy to give you a ride. Keep in mind that I have not ridden in the almighty Ohlin DFV's so maybe I don't know what I'm missing out on =P.
The pics below are of the car only a couple days after the coilovers were installed at the HKS recommended ride preset ride height. The front looks a little bit high to me, but the pictures at the beginning of the post are of the car a week after the installation and the front looks like it has settled down a bit. Hopefully it continues to come down just a bit and if so, the ride height would be perfect.
And here's the "daily"(if and when I'm home). Fun little car to drive with the AWD.
And this takes us up through today. I hope to have an update for this thread every trip back home. Hope you all enjoy!
Here are the current list of mods and pictures of the car as it currently sits.
Suspension:
HKS Hipermax IV SP
Wheels/Tires:
Advan RSII 17x10 +50
Hankook Ventus RS3 255/40/17
Misc:
OEM AP2 lip
Bride Vios III Sport-C
Pictures added: 2/13/2016 Pictures
I've always had the itch for modifying cars, starting out with a b18c swapped 96 civic coupe over 10 years ago, and upgrading to a 350z in 2008. In 2011 I thought I was over the car enthusiast scene and traded in the Z for a Nissan Juke. Figured I wanted something with 4 seats. Well, 2 years ago I started getting the itch again and this 2005 Berlina Black popped up on craigslist. Completely stock with a little over 51k miles on it owned by a middle aged gentlemen, its first and only owner. Of course I had to jump on it.
Here is a picture from the day that I picked it up. Told myself I would keep this thing preserved in its stock form.
Of course the whole "keep it stock" thing was not going to stick, so the first thing I did was get it lowered. I did the research and contemplated different setups, and decided on Koni yellows with Swift Spec-R springs. I wanted something tried and true, and I didn't think I would need adjust-ability, since comfort was still number one. I loved the ride and the ride height was perfect. I would later regret the decision to get suspension altogther as this provided the catalyst to the never ending addiction for new parts. I had not taken the car to the track yet to get a taste for what the stock suspension could do, but yet here I was impatient and doing things to the car already.
Here is the car after getting the konis/swift spec-r installed, along with the OEM AP2 lip.
Well, the wheels were now sunken in so of course I needed spacers. 15mm front and 20mm in the rear. Fenders were rolled, bumper tab trimmed to go along with it.
Sometime around this time last year I decided that I wanted a hardtop. At the time I still was still trying to tell myself that I shouldn't be dumping money into the car, so I settled on an Amuse style FRP hardtop since OEMs were hard to find. While in Japan, I call up Justin at Rockstar Garage, and he was awesome enough to get the top prepped and painted ready for my return. I drove to RSG and 45 minutes later the hardtop was on the car. The quality and fitment was great. I'm not the world's biggest fan of replicas, so the quality was a nice surprise for me.
At this point I was content for awhile. So here are some pictures at this stage.
Time goes by, and the replica hardtop starts chewing away at me. I knew at this point that I needed to be honest with myself and give the car what it truly deserves. Finally found an OEM hardtop on craigslist and the guy was nice enough to hold it for me until my next trip home. Also found a buyer for my replica amuse hardtop. Meanwhile I of course was browsing s2ki everyday and the Advan RSII 17x10s caught my attention. So I message Eddie at Gruppe-S, and put down a deposit for a set. I knew for this next trip I had a lot to accomplish. I got back from Japan, sold the hardtop the first day, got the OEM hardtop put on the next day, and picked up the Advans the day after. Now the car is finally shaping up. Can't beat the look of the OEM hardtop in my book! Unfortunately, while fitment obviously was good, I for the life of me to this day can't get rid of the wind noise at the bottom rear of each window.
Now I was pretty happy with the looks of the car. But the one thing I always hated about the car were the seats. I couldn't drive longer than 20 minutes before my lower back would start to hurt. There seemed to be too much lumbar support for me. Did some browsing, and finally settled on the Bride Vios III Sport-C's. Messaged Eddie again and had him order me a pair of the seats, along with the rails from Bride. The seats took awhile to get in, but I was still working in Japan so I could stand the wait. Finally installed the seats. Doh, the center console rubs the passenger seat badly. Took the seat back out and realized I had shifted the seat way too far towards the center. Got it mounted correctly and now there is only a slight rub but nothing too bad. The seats feel like a dream! Super comfortable. Getting in and out still requires alot of effort and I still can't seem to get the hang of it quite yet, but the effort is well worth it.
Seatbelt extender is from 4extender, mounted directly to the Bride rail. The extender is a bit short, so I may have to look at a longer one so that it does not dig into my hip and be a pain in the ass(literally) for me to get into the seat.
Now while the koni/swift spec-r combo worked, I felt that the spring rates were a bit soft for the amount of drop that they gave me. I was only able to get -2.6 deg camber in front, so the 255/40/17 RS3's were too close to the fender for comfort at the height the swifts gave me. Meanwhile, I was reading about how great the HKS Hipermax IV. I was scared about the 16kg/mm spring rates, but I kept hearing about how great the valving was on the new hipermax iv's. I did not want the GT's as the spring rates were so close to the specR's. Decided to just go for the SP's and jumped on a black friday deal.
I was completely blown away by how nice the ride was with these just from the drive home from the shop. They had set these to 5 click (out of 30) from full stiff. The HKS recommended rebound setting was 15 clicks. Even at 5 clicks, the ride was not as horrendous as I had imagined it would be at all. In fact, it was almost smoother in a sense than my previous koni/swift specR set up. I always knew the damping on the konis just weren't quite right, and with the Hipermax's I was not tensing up everytime I saw a bump or dip ahead. Now I have the rebound settings to the recommended 15 clicks, and the ride is even smoother. However, I may go a little stiffer. If anyone is in the OC area and is interested in getting a feel for what the hipermax's feel like, please let me know. I would be happy to give you a ride. Keep in mind that I have not ridden in the almighty Ohlin DFV's so maybe I don't know what I'm missing out on =P.
The pics below are of the car only a couple days after the coilovers were installed at the HKS recommended ride preset ride height. The front looks a little bit high to me, but the pictures at the beginning of the post are of the car a week after the installation and the front looks like it has settled down a bit. Hopefully it continues to come down just a bit and if so, the ride height would be perfect.
And here's the "daily"(if and when I'm home). Fun little car to drive with the AWD.
And this takes us up through today. I hope to have an update for this thread every trip back home. Hope you all enjoy!
01-02-2016, 11:00 PM
#2
Nice write up 
The car looks better with the OEM top!
As far as the fenders, I'm running DF fenders for the same spec CE's as you're getting. I would say that you can get away with a roll and possibly a slight pull and have the fronts fit, you will have to run camber though. I am at -2 in the front and have plenty of clearance, about half an inch or so. So I'd suggest putting them on for peace of mind.
I'm excited to see everything get mounted up!
The car looks better with the OEM top!As far as the fenders, I'm running DF fenders for the same spec CE's as you're getting. I would say that you can get away with a roll and possibly a slight pull and have the fronts fit, you will have to run camber though. I am at -2 in the front and have plenty of clearance, about half an inch or so. So I'd suggest putting them on for peace of mind.
I'm excited to see everything get mounted up!
01-03-2016, 06:57 AM
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Nice write up The car looks better with the OEM top!
As far as the fenders, I'm running DF fenders for the same spec CE's as you're getting. I would say that you can get away with a roll and possibly a slight pull and have the fronts fit, you will have to run camber though. I am at -2 in the front and have plenty of clearance, about half an inch or so. So I'd suggest putting them on for peace of mind.
I'm excited to see everything get mounted up!
The car looks better with the OEM top!As far as the fenders, I'm running DF fenders for the same spec CE's as you're getting. I would say that you can get away with a roll and possibly a slight pull and have the fronts fit, you will have to run camber though. I am at -2 in the front and have plenty of clearance, about half an inch or so. So I'd suggest putting them on for peace of mind.
I'm excited to see everything get mounted up!
01-03-2016, 07:04 AM
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Threw the car cover on and off to the airport I go :/. Next trip home will be 2/5. Been eyeing the HKS Super Sound Master exhaust on Amazon.co.jp. Gonna look into the logistics of getting it over here if I buy in Japan.=P
01-04-2016, 05:44 PM
#7
I know a guy who does that stuff, PM me if you're interested.
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01-12-2016, 09:22 PM
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02-13-2016, 04:50 PM
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Back home again. Picked up a Tamon Design spoiler, but no paint yet. I did however get to fix the ride height a little. The out of the box height of the Hipermax IV SP's left the passenger front a 1/4" higher. Lowered it a tiny bit and I think I'm happy with how the car sits right now. Here are some new pictures.
