o_O S2000 | Mk I — Stage II

[andrewhake]

Not a major update but just some nice photos and things.



The car looks so good from the rear with the way the ASM bumper sits and exposes more of what is under the car.



Doesn't look bad from the front either.



The car is over 120,000 miles with plenty more to come.







Brake bleeding is something I would always do at a friends shop, but decided to do a gravity bleed at home. Very simple process and I have to say I am impressed with the results. Using the two person method, the results were always a bit hit or miss, never quite as good as the feel of the pedal now, even when just bleeding the two front calipers. Really doesn't take any extra time (about 8 minutes or so per bleeder depending on the caliper) and easy to do other maintenance items while you wait.



Stopped for fuel and the sun decided to hit the ZE40s just perfectly.

Snap-on Techangle torque wrenches

Decided to step up my tool game recently and started off with some nice Snap-on tech angle torque wrenches. Got the 3/8" version to start with the 1/4" and 1/2" on the way. The ability to have presets sold me on these as well as all the other bells and whistles. Mainly I just enjoy watching car production factory videos and I was always jealous of the fancy torque wrenches they are always using so decided to get some of my own. I should be able to set a preset for every major component on the car.

[andrewhake]

Just an update with some photos and things. No major changes to the car recently have just been enjoying it.



Sonic Tools S9 toolbox

Got a proper toolbox awhile back from Sonic Tools USA. LOVE THIS THING. Sonic makes some amazing tools and toolboxes, and they make custom inserts for various tool sets to fill the toolboxes, so everything is perfectly organized. I built out my toolbox with full sets of 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 sockets, wrenches (and space for the wrenches I already have, screwdrivers, hammers and chisels and files, every type of pliers I will ever need, and space for more.

















This thing is fun to take photos of.





Had the chance to help out on a video shoot for Formula D driver Matt Field who is a bay area local. Shot all the slo-mo shots on a RED Epic and gimbal, and did some audio as well.





I never get tired of looking at this trunk..



More parking..





The day before the solar eclipse I decided to go up to the Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton to see if I could get some eclipse glasses. They were all out but I made sure to enjoy the drive and the view.



























More parking.






More fuel.



Annnnnd a puncture. I always manage to puncture the right left tire for some reason. I punctured the outside shoulder, and the tire started to lose air and eventually had no pressure at all and the inside sidewall failed. I didn't realize i had a puncture until the inner sidewall started to fail. Amazingly I didn't damage the wheel at all so no big deal.





Of course this means it is CE28N time!









Some toolbox decoration.

[andrewhake]

Powerhouse Amuse Euro-S exhaust



Another Amuse Euro-S exhaust was put up for sale on s2ki in the exact spec I prefer, so decided to go ahead and buy. Same exhaust that I already have, but as I have mentioned in this thread it suffered a resonator failure. When I ran it initially it was making contact with the exhaust tunnel which was later fixed. Hoping I can get more use out of this one and am going to make a non-resonated version out of the other one I have.

It looks like they did some better reinforcement around the resonator supports so we'll see how it goes. If it happens again I will provide info back to them and see what can be done to improve it. I love this exhaust so much I will keep trying until it can be made perfect.

It's just so beautiful.

[andrewhake]

The fires in Sonoma county has caused a pretty serious amount of smoke to drift all throughout the bay area, I decided to make my way up into the mountains to get away from it for awhile and take some photos.



The amount of smoke is unbelievable. The sun is completely diffused by it.



I took a photo of the car in this exact same spot awhile back when there was nice fog cover during the sunset. Still makes for a great photo when it is smoke.. (the air at this area was actually pretty clear)



There is actually a little cliff side near this area of the road that I have always wanted to climb up and get a photo and I happened to park in just the right spot. I didn't free climb a cliff, around the back there is a steep little trail that goes up to the top. Only mildly treacherous.



Hung out for a bit after doing some driving waiting to see if any interesting cars came by.



A 911 Targa 4S appeared, and I didn't have high hopes, but luckily for me it was a local that actually knew how to drive.



As the sun dipped down toward the horizon and below the smoke, it turned this crazy diffused shade of read. I spend 2-3hrs enjoying the relatively empty mountains during the day then made my way home.

[andrewhake]

No major updates just some photos and things here and there.















Changed the diff oil after putting a few thousand miles on the original oil to clean up everything after running everything in.







Instagarm sponsored posts got me with this one. Really nice prints of tracks around the world. Picked up a few of my favorites.









I saw that Sonic made a really nice small and light floor jack that is perfect for taking to the track. Only ways 23lbs (compared to 50lbs for my larger Arcan floor jack). It has a little bit lower max height but the min height is lower and is perfect for my uses having to take everything down on a cart. And just that much less weight and space when taking stuff to the track.

[initiald3s]

Have you tracked on the Spoon calipers yet? Just wondering how they hold up to heat at tracks like Laguna Seca. I was on Pmu CR pads and pedal feel was pretty inconsistent and then cracked my rotor even with brake ducts.

[andrewhake]

Have you tracked on the Spoon calipers yet? Just wondering how they hold up to heat at tracks like Laguna Seca. I was on Pmu CR pads and pedal feel was pretty inconsistent and then cracked my rotor even with brake ducts.

Yeah I have run at Sonoma a few times with the Spoon calipers and feel was much more consistent for me. I was on the Winmax W5 there. For tracks that are really brutal on brakes I would definitely recommend Winmax W5 over the Pmu CR.

Avoiding cracked rotors really just comes to how they are cooled down, and they are defnitely more prone to crack on really cool days where they cool off more quickly. I switched over to 2-piece rotors pretty quickly because i had no interested in dealing with cracked rotors.

[initiald3s]

Have you tracked on the Spoon calipers yet? Just wondering how they hold up to heat at tracks like Laguna Seca. I was on Pmu CR pads and pedal feel was pretty inconsistent and then cracked my rotor even with brake ducts.

Yeah I have run at Sonoma a few times with the Spoon calipers and feel was much more consistent for me. I was on the Winmax W5 there. For tracks that are really brutal on brakes I would definitely recommend Winmax W5 over the Pmu CR.

Avoiding cracked rotors really just comes to how they are cooled down, and they are defnitely more prone to crack on really cool days where they cool off more quickly. I switched over to 2-piece rotors pretty quickly because i had no interested in dealing with cracked rotors.

Yeah I have a set of Endless ME20 that I will be testing after next week at Thunderhill. It will be interesting to see the difference between the pads. I rode with my friend with Winmax W5 pads and they had a lot more initial bite and lasted the entire session. I had Pmu R999 on my RSX with brembos and liked them a lot though.

[andrewhake]

Amuse Euro-S exhaust installed, again...

A few new photos of the car.





Decided to put the red floor mats in as well.





I found that Sonic Tools also makes a really nice service cart so I got one to use as my main cart for working on the car, much better wheels than my previous one and it also has drawers just like my Sonic toolbox so I can transfer the inserts over when I need specific tools. It also has a lot more space for everything.



Also recently got the Amuse Euro-S installed. I actually got a EVS test pipe and high flow data and had them both modified to provide proper clearance for the Amuse exhaust, and had Son from Trackspec Autosports make a jig as well so additional can be made if needed. They were basically just both cut near the exhaust mounting side, then modified to provide more clearance near the front of the exhaust and the exhaust tunnel.









It's amazing how quiet this thing is compared to the EVS 70mm. I am currently testing it out with the HFC and it is just a bit louder than OEM exhaust. With the header and intake and hood, the sound is very well balanced across the car. I will probably run it like this for awhile but I definitely like the extra raunchiness that a test pipe provides. Definitely nice to have both.

I will be keeping the EVS 70mm as well, but so glad to finally have the Amuse back on the car.

[TsukubaCody]

Andrew, are there any changes you'd make to your current steering wheel setup or are you satisfied with all of it?

[andrewhake]

Andrew, are there any changes you'd make to your current steering wheel setup or are you satisfied with all of it?

No I absolutely love it. A steering wheel so nice I bought it twice.

[JamesD89]

Any updates on that gorgeous diffuser?

[andrewhake]

Any updates on that gorgeous diffuser?

I have been holding off on installing the diffuser on this car because I think it may fit my plans for another S2000 a little better.

[andrewhake]

PCI fixed passenger seat mount for 06+

PCI updated their 06+ passenger seat mounts to a once piece base plate and have a fixed version available. The "fixed" version is still adjustable it just doesn't have sliders which makes it very light and allows you to get the seat as low as possible. Since I don't really care about adjusting the passenger seat position with a bucket seat I plan on swapping this one in to save a little more weight and to simplify things a bit more.



I also got the latest 06+ driver's side mount which I will post up soon. PCI also recently designed some new side mounts for use with sliders that are made to better accommodate the Recaro Pole Position and help get it even lower.

[andrewhake]

Powerhouse Amuse Euro-S 70mm exhaust

When I found out Amuse would make me a 70mm version of my favorite S2000 exhaust I was very happy to say the least. I contacted them direct through a vendor in Japan and was told they now have a 70mm piping option for the Euro-S. I placed an order immediately and got the exhaust from Amuse in less than a month. The turn around time is usually 3-4 months so pretty amazing to see it arrive at my doorstep so soon.

Had I known this 70mm version was available I probably wouldn't have gotten a second 60mm version (as I recently posted) but it is what it is and I am now the proud owner of 3 different Amuse exhausts haha.

Looking forward to seeing how this will fit with my current modified testpipe and HFC and I plan on having a 60 to 70mm transition test pipe made with the same jig if everything fits up as expected. The 60mm version definitely sounds great with a HFC and test pipe but the extra volume and snarls and power you can get with a 70mm exhaust are hard to resist. I plan on keeping all of the different exhausts I have at the moment. Who doesn't love options.