The Engineer

Howdy Y'all,

I've been stealthily surfing the forums for about a year and a half now. I bought my 2004 S2000 in July of 2012 with 52,000 miles (garage queen), and it's just about everything I thought it could be - $16.5 grand could not buy more smiles and I gotta love the bulletproof reliability. I have to say this is a very strong forum with plenty of decent advice and great general information.

About me:
I'm a mechanical engineer at a major automobile manufacturer. I work in the middle of it all robots, assembly lines, robots, lasers, automated measurement system, hammers - the works. My goal when contributing to this forum is not to ever give 1 sentence answers, but rather logical, honest, well-though-out replies with supporting information to help you all accomplish your goals. I may be a new member, but I'm reasonably informed on mechanical topics, etc. - So as the kids say, I'm no n00b. I look forward to the give-and-take on this forum. Thanks!

My Question:
My S2000 is nearly bone-stock. I've got some MGP caliper covers which are largely aesthetic, but they do serve some minor heat sink purposes. They look and last better than painted calipers. Inside the calipers I'm running Hawk HPS pads - I'm pretty happy with them, but it's about time to switch to Yellowstuff. I've got a K&N FIPK, but with an oversized AFE custom filter (because the poor filtration of a K&N is bad for engines). I also have an AUT cooling plate, but that's a purely aesthetic mod to neaten up the engine bay. I'm a tall guy so I also have a BYS seat rail on the driver's side.

I want to free up a few more ponies and smooth out the powerband - I'm not looking for a 500+ hp, fart-can, rice-rocket. I want to keep it subtle and classy. The stock tune retards timing before 3k (which really shows in combination with the FPIK) and the VTEC ass-kick is great fun, but too abrupt for serious driving. I'm interested in adding a Berk HFC, a Tenabe Medallion Touring exhaust, and getting an AEM EMS V2 to go along with my K&N FPIK. Does anyone else have the same mod setup? Do you have before and after dyno graphs?

Yes, I know that the aforementioned mods are not the best value, and that adding a turbo will net more power for the money, but a turbo kit will kill this car a lot quicker - I'd be tempted to go turbo, but I'd be bold to run anything more than 6psi. I'm looking to lower VTEC, smooth out the torque curve, tune to 93 (vs. the OEM 91) octane, and if I gain 10-15 hp anywhere in the powerband, I'd be happy. In the future I plan to throw some DOT legal race tires on the car and join my local track-day club.

Thanks for your help. First post complete.

zdave87

I have never heard of a K&N filter being bad for an engine.

Moddiction

That would be a great setup to go with. Touring medallion is a very nice looking and found exhaust and very high quality. Berk hfc is also a great part to go with and the tune will definitely get you some solid gains.

Your goals of 10-15 shouldn't be a problem with a good tune in there.

Let me know if you need any quotes on those parts.

Welcome to the forum!

The Engineer

zdave87,
It's a hotly debated topic - K&N filters flow more air (less restriction) therefore provide more power, however if you look at a K&N filter held up to the light, you can see tiny holes in where the light shines straight through. So instead of trapping some tiny particles the K&N lets them through. I believe that these little particles over time are like sandpaper in an engine. For a racing event, I would use them, but for daily driving, where the engine has to last, I won't use them. Here is some evidence.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest3.htm

Bump! Anybody with these mods?

1nate7

I have a dyno plot in my gallery thread, click on the link in my sig and scroll down to the bottom of page one.

FYI, I hated HPS pads. I'd recommend going back to OEM, much better bite and pedal feel.

The Engineer

Thanks, 1nate7. I saw in the linked thread that you had the exhaust and the HFC, but did you have the tune when you did the dyno?

1nate7

It was tuned on the dyno. Dashed line is before, solid line is after. Biggest gain is in the mid range from lowered VTEC setting, currently set at 4900.

S2Krazy89

Agreed, or ferodos.

jdmsti23

I have an 04 s2 with 98k. Got it tuned and its finally running the way it should. Car runs amazing sounds way better and pulls much harder. Car has k&n intake, skunk2 headers, invida test pipe and invidia dual exhaust. Without the Aem series 2 car ran like shit way to lean with just headers and exhaust now it's all good, can't even tell it's on a standalone. It Put down 220whp just right for my daily.