2nd Gear Restriction?

[beshobasha]

Some random guy told me to take off the "restriction" in 2nd gear. Anyone know what he's talking about or have any clues on this issue? Also, besides a new EMS, is there anything else limiting the S2000's hp?

[repiv]

Too bad you didn't get more details on this. I've heard of no "restriction" on 2nd gear. Maybe they were referring to the clutch delay valve on AP2s. This is just a valve that prevents clutch dumping so as to save on the driveline components but at the expense of the clutch.
There's not a lot left to do to increase hp without extreme measures. All an EMS is going to do is to fine tune the fuel map, perhaps tweak the timing a bit. I consider buying an EMS (changing computers) to be an extreme measure if that's all you plan to get. Your most hp gain will be F.I.
I think you've been listening to the wrong people or you just misinterpret what they say.

[Red's Dad]

Hey Repiv : Got The Fit Yet ?? Or Should This Be The Beginning Of A New Thread ?

[repiv]

Hey Repiv : Got The Fit Yet ?? Or Should This Be The Beginning Of A New Thread ?

Hehe, or you could PM me. :p Yup, the Fit is with us now. Putting a few little odds and ends on it to make it more like "home". It's Zainoed and on the roll now that the old car is sold.

[beshobasha]

That's strange. The guy said he owned an S2000 himself and he had already done that; said it made him much faster. Well I'll take your word over his anyways repiv... thanks for the input.

[repiv]

That's strange. The guy said he owned an S2000 himself and he had already done that; said it made him much faster. Well I'll take your word over his anyways repiv... thanks for the input.

I will stand corrected if he can provide details like dynos, time slips, etc. "Butt dynos", personal impressions or races with cars he raced before, doesn't count. An EMS plus installation plus tuning will run you a couple of grand. That's a lot of money for about 20 or so hp gain. You start adding in things like injectors, header, intake, exhaust, then it becomes even more money for what you gain. An EMS alone won't do a lot more than a VAFC for a few hundred bucks.
If he's talking about the clutch delay valve, this mod adds zero hp.

[beshobasha]

that's interesting. So what would you recomend the best gain for the money? besides sc or turbos

[JonBoy]

A good driver. ;)

[repiv]

that's interesting. So what would you recomend the best gain for the money? besides sc or turbos

If you are not inclined towards a blower (either belt driven or exhaust driven), then your choices will be minimal gains for the buck spent. Consider that a s/c will gain you about 100 hp at the wheels for about 5 grand, that equates to about 50 bucks per hp. Anything else you do won't even get you close to 100 hp. Some say you can get maybe 40 hp from Individual Throttle Bodies, but those must be supported by injectors, AEM EMS, modifications to various other bits and pieces, fairly extensive tuning (or just plain dumb luck tuning). By the time you're done, you've probably spent nearly as much as a blower and you haven't even gotten to 1/2 of what a blower will get you.
VAFC might get you 10 to 15 hp but there are inherent negatives to this as well. Read up on this and you'll see what I'm talking about. Intakes don't do much except prevent you from losing power from heat. They don't really gain you anything. All except for the single cat back exhausts won't do much either except maybe tailor you sound to your liking. Then you'll see manufacturers claim you'll get 10 hp from this and 10 hp from that. Keep in mind that if you put the 2 mods on the same car, you won't get 20 hp. It just doesn't work that way. Then you hear of people talking about stroker kits and cams. Again, these aren't cheap to get to the final running stage and the gains are still high buck for the hp.
Do some more reading and you'll see that this engine eludes hp gains in any simple manner.
Personally, I have a Vortech supercharger on an AP1 with an AP2 tranny and 4.44 FD rear end. I can't even begin to justify the cost of all of this.
Like JonBoy says, you can spend thousands on your car, only to have an expert driver kill you on a road course. Drag Race? Again, someone who knows how to launch this car will beat you every time even if you have more hp. Don't drag race from a dig? Again, meet up with some gain who can do a rolling clutch dump and he's got you. Learn how to drive this car and take advantage of the positives already built in. If you can't, then perhaps you bought the wrong car.

[bimdub]

Repiv is correct! I ran a lot of "bigger" muscle back in the early 90's with an 83 Maxima (RWD) it had a 2.4 liter single cam six from the legendary 240zx and a four speed auto.....I learned to drive in this car...and rolling at 15-20 I would slip into neutral and rev to 6K and then when the go was given...drop that trusty and mind you very stout transmission into L1.....way barking the tires and giving me a noticeable jump on my competition! I cought more than one LX mustang off gaurd this way....even though they still had the cube advantage...and far more power and torque....I was able to make them play catch up! and from light to light......well its over pretty quick! I also am very good at doing this with a manual....NOT in my S! but in my little BMW....matter of getting the tires to just spin up a wee bit more than a chirp...and then I back off just enough to hook 'em......gone like a rocket! of course timing is very important!