RGNHD

I'm looking to see what would be the best road course setup for the S2000. I attended my first Road Course event last weekend and I was extremely impressed with how the car handled on stock suspension. SO impressed that I am no longer really wanting to put my Brand new Skunk2 ProC coilovers. I'd like to lower the car a little bit but I'd rather lower it to help suspension geometry rather than for looks. Is there really any other suspension setup better than stock for road course racing? Input on specific setups would be much appreciated.

My car is also a 2001 so the suspension is one of the stiffer models stock.

toplessPolak

Spend some more time driving the car the way it is, you'll come to realize, it's very capable stock.

User 121020

As said above, seat time is more important initially than modifications. With enough practice, there will come a time when you think, "I'd really like it if the car would do _______ instead of _______." That's when you should start looking into modifications. How far you go with modifications is dependent on your goals.

The "best racing suspension" is going to be whatever setup gives you the most confidence and provides the necessary adjustments to suit your needs. Seat time, research and patient modification will give you the foundation to build the best suspension for you. Buying and modifying before you understand what you need to change to generate the desired effect will likely cause frustration and could actually make your car slower if you don't know which way to make adjustments. You don't just buy adjustable dampers and set them to "fast". There is a learning curve associated with anything adjustable.

Anyone could come in here and say, "I've got brand XXX with YY kg/mm springs and I really like it." But that doesn't really provide you with the feedback that it's the best, let alone actually better than the stock suspension you're currently driving on.

Below is a common order of tracking modifications. Of course you could make modifications in a different order, but again, giving yourself too much adjustability too soon could be counterproductive. Just my 2 cents.

brake fluid
brake pads
front camber kit
adjustable front anti-roll bar to tune balance
wider front wheels/tires
safety hardware
stiffer springs
quality dampers

People will usually mix in power modifications and weight reduction throughout that series, but it just depends on how serious they are and whether they start building the car for a specific time trial class.

RGNHD

I'm going to be keeping the car stock for a long time as I do want to continue to get seat time as it is and improve my driving. However over time as I really learn the car and hone my skills I'll want to modify the car to perform the best it possibly can. The last thing I want to do however is ruin the way it handles which with most coilovers I have heard is the case.

I'm simply looking for first hand experience with certain setups that overtime I can reference to, to better tune my setup. Right now the next thing I will be modifying is brakes and tires. I can tell my tires were not providing near enough grip that I could have had with a proper tire setup. (Previous owner put streched tires on as he was going to lower it with coilovers so I'm running 215's up front and 225's in the rear. This greatly decreased my grip through the corners.

B serious

Good call on not installing those skunk2's. Although overall setup is more important than equipment brand, they are going to be a step down in terms of quality and consistency from stock.

There are a few popular brands that one would see on a race track that would actually improve the dynamics of a S2000 and allow an experienced enough driver to dial in a setup, as well as improve/retain the car's road manners and track behavior. From least to most expensive (we are talking about street/track blend suspensions):

-Bilstein PSS9
-Tein Monosport
-Öhlins R&T
-KW V3
-KW CS

All of them do different things in different ways. I think that currently, öhlins probably has the most cutting edge product that's the best blend of street and track ability.

thomsbrain

Most folks would agree that lowering the S2000 actuals hurts geometry. Hence the wide array of parts attempting to correct the geometry problems of lowered S2000s. Skunk2 would definitely be a downgrade from stock. Being lower and stiffer don't automatically make the car faster.

For the "best" racing suspension, you'll be looking at triple or quad-adjustable Penske, Ohlins or Moton dampers. Figure $5000+ for the shocks alone.

So you can see that "best" really needs to be defined by your budget. If you aren't prepared to spend $1500+ on shocks, just stick with stock.

Apex1.0

Already great feedback here. I would add that when you can articulate and/or specify exactly what handling behavior you intend to modify you are ready to consider changes.

You have already identified a desire for more peak grip, start there. As you grip and speed increases, you will begin to see the faults of the OEM setup.

A word of caution, the stock suspension is very good all things considered. As you attack the "issues" you see with the factory setup, changes may produce unintended consequences.

B serious

OP is SO over it, though.

Apex1.0

SO right...