Does Polybushing A Car Ruin It? Honda S2000 Handling Upgrades (S2000 Build Part Two) 

As a long time owner of a 2002 AP1, which was used for track and street, all of the suspension mods you have done are great. The snap oversteer can be eliminated with a heavier front swaybar (Eibach) and using the stock rear. Going square really helped, though you might have to roll the front fenders, if the car is lowered more than 25mm. Corner balancing, as you have done, if an excellent choice. I would also suggest increasing the camber on the front and setting the rear toe-in to about 3-6mm. This, combined with the square setup, allows the car to rotate with confidence. BTW, Wedsport makes excellent wheels for the S2000. They are made in Japan and are used for the Japanese Touring Car race series. Looking forward to seeing the next episode.

I am a time traveller. I am watching this video at the start of February after you said I should be watching at the end.

If you are feeling the car down on power compared to previous drives take a look at your knock sensor just below the intake manifold. It's brittle plastic and can detach from the block. In that case the ECU will pull timing and run a safer setting making slightly less power

I'm glad you got 17's on it. 18's or bigger on a Honder is sacrilegious

Doing your own valve adjustments is pretty straightforward and easy to learn tbh. Lot of tutorials and easy way to save money. 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

No, polybusching a car does not ruin it. Got full Powerflex polybushings in my VW Corrado for over 8 years now, and its just as comfy as with the stock bushings, and my Saab 900 (and Saab 900ng) has some polybushings in it. Even the reaction arm motor mount on my Saab 9-5 Estate has a yellow powerflex bushing in it. You just do not want to put immensely hard bushings in it, if the mechanical setup requires some give in the bushings. The purple powerflex is really nicely judged imo. But yea, I'm a fan. :P

I quite enjoyed the surprise cameo by Elton John, thank you.

The S2000 is an amazing roadster. It's an MX-5 on steroids ☺

I'm just impressed that you can reel off all this information while driving. I particularly enjoy the videos on your own cars. Thanks.

My 996.2 C2 Cab was on the same ramp in Center Gravity that afternoon! Next to the lovely and rare 993 C2S which was on an all day session! Mine took rather longer than your S2K and it was 21:30 before Chris was satisfied with the new Bilstein and Suspension arm set up (which he was correcting) and allowed me back on the road! I cannot speak highly enough of the CG team, their absolute dedication to their craft just has to be seen to be believed. I’m still in awe and look forward to going back there after Lockdown! 👍🏻

Yes. Polybush is the biggest scam ever. Feels tighter in the first months then plastic cracks and it's shit. Oem bushes all the way or just go solid.

This is actually my most anticipated project on YT right now

Nice vid, enjoyed mine. Your roof straps are knackered, can tell because the roof is sitting high when you have it down, get your self some velcro straps and wrap them around the worn and offending items (when roof is up) and it will sit more flush.

It drastically changed the character of my Impreza. NVH is off the chart

Hi James, The Ohlins come with 10k front and 8k rear springs. If you watch all the Best Motoring videos when they detail the suspension specs, you will invariably see that the spring rates are either stiffer on the rear than the front or the same. So as a start, I would suggest you run the 10s on the back and the 8s on the front instead and see what you think to the ride and handling that way round. It will make the car rotate more, which is what these cars like. I actually went with 10k all round for my Ohlins on my car, as I am running a square set-up on mine (245/40s) using a set of OEM facelift 1 rears with the centres bored out to suit. Also FYI, it is possible to get adjuster extensions for the rears, so you don't have to remove the boot liners to adjust the damping - with these in place, you can do it simply by opening the boot. I have tagged you on Instagram so you can see what I mean :). I would also add that de-catting these gives them a reasonable increase, as they usually run a a little bit rich as standard with the cats. You can see my video runs on my YT channel, where it went from 218bhp to 225bhp (182 to 189 @ wheels). Obviously that is proper English horses as opposed to the exaggerated American ones ;). My engine is stock apart from de-cat and UK exhaust mod. My dyno guy said he'd never seen a standard one produce more than 225 calculated flywheel (Dyno-Dynamics heart-breaker ;) ).

My experience with a Focus is that the front wishbones polybushes were superb. Engine mount polybushes... horrible!

poly bushing powerful fwd cars works quite well, if you get the right ones.

I love the quantity of quality uploads recently. Especially the ones featuring your own cars.

Oil clogged VTEC solenoid?

Polly bush is always better than worn oem ones, not necessarily better than new oem though. Works for some points but not all.

Even as a VTEC noob I could hear how flat it was in that first Dyno run clip

Changing to 17" rims with wider tyres made a huge difference for me, I got a set of the facelift alloys and the difference in grip level is immense From the previous owner's 205/225 budget tyres to 215/245 Uniroyals, it's night and day.

I love the original 16 inch AP1 5 star wheels. The Honda S2000 ROCKS 👌

unlike the Miata (especially NA and NB), where suspension components need replacement around 60K miles, the S2000's suspension longevity is surprisingly good. It goes to show the level of quality and reliability Honda built s2000 to. After-all, it was Honda's 50th Anniversary present to itself, so no expense was spared.

Janes I seriously have to thank you, you make some very challenging mornings less mental health crisis-y

I poly bushed my ARB and gear linkage on an old Hyundai coupe. Transformed the car. It was just so much better on the corners. The gear linkage bushes were hands down the best modification I did to that car. Fitted them myself (it was an easy job) and stopped the gear changes feeling like they were guided by a H gate made of pillow.

I see James has found Deidre Barlow’s sunglasses. Ken will be relieved.

4:30 road salt really will do a number on a car

how have you not got more subscribers, you're my top auto channel

I fitted polybushes to my Integra DC2 and hated them. They squeaked, they crashed, they cracked, they wore out. I replaced them with OEM rubber bushes and it was much better.

I like it when a reviewer pops on his mum's sunglasses half way through a review.

Excellent timing! I have partially 'Polybushed' my Focus ST MK3.5 (front WB rear bushes, rear engine mount and both front & rear anti roll bar bushes) and am considering finishing off the rear suspension points next year (got other mods to complete this year but will be buying the polyflex bushes as you did this year). I also had fears that I might over harshen the ride by doing this as (like you) I want a regular use road car that won't need it's bushes changing again in it's lifetime. Thanks for presenting your reassuring viewpoint on this - good news all round! Oh forgot to say I am glad you are happy with your modifications too. Nothing worse than feeling like you have wasted money when trying to improve a thing.

Great video as always . Keep up the good work.

Hey mate Stephen here, you might want to check the oil filter is secure... is a common fault that it becomes loose. You can get a clip to secure it.

Poly bushes made absolutely no difference in my SW20 MR2 but it is nice having the peace of mind knowing I'll probably never have to replace them

6:29 WHAT ARE THOSE?!

The only wheels i would ever consider for my Ap1 are Ap2V1

I've got ohlins on my s2000 and I'm very happy with them! standard spring rates too, I've heard people say that it can be better but I can't say that I'm looking to do anything else with it suspension wise. Drives really well. I'm also on 18s. Compared to 17s with semi slicks(ad08) and stiff sidewall the 18s with ps4 tyres is as comfy.

Good plug for Centre Gravity. Many of my Porsche owner friends have used them and sing their praises

HA!!! The brake stopper kit is exactly what I built for my 1994 Mazda MX-6, V6, 5M. There was a distressing problem of the car not really stopping when pushed hard to do so. No one at the dealer could offer any reason why, so, under warranty and blindly, they replaced the master cylinder twice, changed fluid, changed pads...all to no avail. I suspected that the brake booster was flexing under pressure and, with someone pushing hard on the pedal, saw exactly that happening. So using angle aluminum (aluminium, to translate), I made just such a rig as seen in the brake stopper to reduce the sixteenth-inch of booster movement. I may have helped a bit but needed one more section in there to complete the brace but never got to it, I think Winter intervened and the following May I had moved on to a different car. But seeing this is great, in verifies my conclusion. At the time with the Mazda, I also had an Alfa GTV-6, whose brakes were rock-solid and whose booster didn't move a millimeter when pushed.

Can’t wait to see this again in person in better weather

Owned a 05 S2000 GT for 6 years. Deffo need to have those valve adjustment checks on service, real quick job but a big impact. Also check the VTEC solenoid if it doesn’t head for the red. One of the best cars I owned, even brought it to Spain with me when I moved here. Great fun on the Spanish mountain roads.

The car i always wished i’d had but always chose something else for some reason...

I've had my PB's on my FN2 for about 7 years now and they've had up fine. A bit of creaking a few months in, only when it rained, but nothing since. Still feels nice and tight.

Totally agree with the 4X Wheel alignment !! Just finished a Boxster S build with replacement gearbox and all four corner suspension replacement including bushes. I can confirm after the Hunter 4X alignment the car handles like a Go-Kart :)

Can't wait for sunshine and the weather to warm up to drive my MX5 NC 2.0 Sport. It's snowing right now. All the best, Rob in Switzerland.

Judging by the underside it’s your typical English owned car - washed with a bucket and sponge 🧽 on a Sunday looking all shiny while the underside remains caked in winter salt and rots away!

Stock s2k’s dyno 200whp all day. Are you taking into account drivetrain loss? Coming from a 15 year s2000 owner who has modified mine to 220whp and spent quite a lot to get there the na mods were worth it for midrange, feel and drama they provide to the driving experience. Its not all about big numbers. I did cams, 70mm exhaust, intake, bored intake manifold, header, bigger throttle body, supertech springs and retainers, 4.4 final drive with reduced secondary gear, full spherical bushings, bbk, ohlins, thicker front sway bar, 17x9 wheels all around with 255 tires and a bunch more supporting mods. The responsiveness and overall feel of the car is incredible. More racecar feel and very direct. The power mods added 20whp up top but more importantly adds a lot to the midrange and now the screaming 9k engine is incredible. You’re on the right track, just can’t wait to see how you’re going to enjoy it when you are all done.

Looking forward to the next one !

I fitted a mx5 front sway bar to the rear of my 2001 s2000 , vast improvement ,rear now feels more planted when hooning round the country lanes !

Once you said that the car wasn't as powerful as it used to be, instantly I thought about carbon build up in the cylinder head being the culprit as the flow efficiency of the intake and exhaust ports can make a big difference on an engine's horsepower figure.

Fits Yoko tyres as he wants to keep the build Japanese.......on to Italian wheels 😅

Funny enough my 2003 S2000 has 87k miles and my 2000 S2000 has 318k miles on it. I did hard rubber bushings/mounts all around (Mugen/Hardrace) except my Compliance bushings which are Poly with high temp grease and the Teflon tape trick, sway bar bushings are Poly which is fine, and the front UCA bushings are Delrin center offset bushings for more camber. With some exhaust system upgrades and coilovers on my 2000 it weighs a good bit less than my low milage one BUT they both make within 10 Horsepower to the wheels.

Hello from the US! I love following your journey. I recently bought a 2005 AP2 that I am in love with. Can’t wait to see how yours responds to the mods you make. Great video!

Love the mods. Fantastic mate! I'll buy some polybushes soon. Mugen compliance bushes will be added also.

Now those wheels I very much like, especially in silver

Awesome! I have to get my R8GT to those guys to check my geometry. Just to make sure it's delivering the best performance. Might see where it is with the ride height adjustment and see if it can drop by a few mm too while I'm there 😅

Is it just me who wants all of the cars ever?

I'm not certain on those tires but the OEM AP2/Facelift Bridgestone was meant for a 7.5" width wheel in 215 which is normally a 225. Those might also run large from the looks of them but now the standard option for staggered wheels for AP2/facelift cars is 225/45R17 Front and 255/40R17 rear unless your suspension is lowered which then you may need 245 rears instead for clearance if you do not want to modify your fenders

I think your doing the right thing with this build.

Great video I can't wait for the next update. That yellow looks just great.

Excellent Honda.

You are right about getting geo done being a must. Had the geo done on my old fn2 and it was night a day difference.

Very keen to see this progress James, very keen indeed.

Well done I am really enjoying this build series your content is getting better and better.

I'm too afraid to modify mine, I can't wait to see what you do though :) Low mileage so want to keep it as it is.

When you quote the power at 200hp, was it 200hp as measured at the rear wheel? Or are you estimating the drivetrain loss and adding to the rwhp figure. 'Cause if it IS 200hp AT the rear wheel you can assume the crank horsepower is perhaps 220-230 depending on how lossy the drivetrain is. 200wrhp + 15% dt loss + honda lying by 7 hp + 3hp loss from ring wear etc.= 240 easily enough.

Been waiting for an update on the s2000 for ages as I’m planning a very similar build myself. I changed from the oem 16’S to oem 17’s recently running 225 fronts and 245 rears. I noticed a big improvement to rear end stability. I’ve now fitted 15mm hubcentric spacers to the rear and have to say it’s made a HUGE difference more so than the wheels. I’ve also installed a facelift rear ARB and with the wheels and spacers I have much more confidence. Highly recommend it.

Can’t fault the boys at Centre Gravity. My act feels so much better after being aligned by someone who cares and checks, checks and checks again.

Link to the aluminum brace thing please?

~240hp from Honda is a flywheel figure. I’m impressed that it was 200atw given that you feel it’s down on power from when you bought it!

What I've found with polybushing various cars is than an increase in NVH is really dependent on where they are installed. On suspension parts etc they rarely induce any extra NVH but can be really bad if installed anywhere in the drivetrain - engine mounts, diff mounts etc so better to go for oem rubber there if not a track car.

The one day of the year the sun came out, it chose the s2000 day. It all makes sense now.

Nice progress. 200 ish brake is a bit dissapointing. Get that sorted ASAP as you'll have mx5s overtaking you with that power. 😂. You have close set up to mine. If you like the gear shift, get an engine torque damper. Makes it EVEN better. Prop rifle bolt feeling and a much more direct drive train. Inexpensive, easy DIY install and great improvement,like the brake stopper. Can't argue with that. I also highly recommend dixcel type z pads. The price is high but they work well cold and brutal when hot. They also last forever so actually more economical than any other pads out there. If you don't want an aftermarket exhaust do the 'UK MOD' and let that vtec sing.

I like the spirit of "Trying to keep the car as authentically Japanese as possible" Put some proper JDM wheels on it. Not to mention I dont find those OZ flattter the car much. Love the content!

Had one span me into railings as coming from 26 mph to accelerating up to national speed sign. Oil slick on road took a mini out also as accident crew was with me. Haha. I love this car went for a boxster after much better on cornering. 03 plate I would have another that 9000 rev and me and motorbikes big smiles. I liked the minimal cockpit those seats kept me safe on my spin stepped out like a racing driver no drama. Enjoy I only had it for a week sad. 😊

Why not just go the most typical route? 17" CE28Ns or TE37s, Bride fiberglass seats (Recaro SPA if you don't mind paying), Ohlins, AP Racing 4pot front, 2pot rear with floating rotors, Cusco brace stuff, T1R exhaust (J's Racing or Amuse stuff including manifold if you want to pay more), Hondata. You still can do them with good value if you can find used ones in good condition. You can also delete radio and speakers because they are absolutely useless on S2000, probably save 15-20kg on dead weight. You can also lose some serious weight by ditching the motors for convertible top but it would be detrimental for dailying.

important to also get a compression and leak down test while you have the valve cover off for the valve adjustment.

210 would be a figure to be happy with, had two s2000s and went in a dyno day (hub dyno) and standard cars were getting about 208bhp. Massively overstated figure from honda

can we have an update please?

Great car. Hasn’t aged at all. Looks as good today is it did at launch. Very interesting video, particularly bushing. It seems to divide opinion greatly. Thanks.

toightt likaaaa tigerr hahah great honda s2000 sir, iam taking some notes from this to do some tasty upgrades on mine, the bracing does make a big difference i bet.. stay safe sir, this is the update i wait for

It’s a precision Honda for goodness sakes. It won’t be losing 40 or even 20hp due to valve clearances. It would also sound absolutely horrific if the clearances were that badly out. Start with the basics. Ignition timing & confirming you are actually getting full throttle would be a start!. I quite agree that the claimed factory ~240hp is somewhat optimistic however. From experience your Honda bushes will be past their best despite any appearances. They soften up way before they become any kind of MOT issue. With polybushing it depends on the application. Some Honda bushings are very trick- the trailing arms on a DC2 for example- designed specifically to adjust passive rear toe- a poly equivalent can’t do this! For me it’s OEM or hardened rubber on a Honda. Poly for any bits with no real articulation are fine such as drop links

Glad to hear about the bushes, had half of my s2000’s changed for the purple power flex ones a few years back and plan to get the remainder done hopefully this year :)

Jay em Abrams over here with the lens flares 😂

looking forward to getting some feedback on the ohlins. i'm close to pulling the trigger on a set. i polybushed mine, did the brakes and all the rusted bolts...but then I cut corners on the coilovers and bought tein flex z. I think they would be better on track than road....but i use it on the road only since lockdown.......and they are horrendous. The back end either bottoms out or bounces over bumps. I have a good neutral geo, 255/18s all round and not crazy low. Love the channel.

They're well known to make 200whp dyno dependant, Honda quotes 240bhp. Btw in my experience discs don't add much. pads and oil will.

Good to know on the poly bushes.

Oh, I bring up an S2K yesterday and you go showboating in it today,,, wow.... Just kidding!!! I'm still drunk. Love ya man!!!

Exciting stuff 👏

It's slightly over 200hp to the wheels but 237 hp at the crank as horsepower is measured by manufacturers. 👍

17x9 +40 will fit oem fenders.

Can do the valves your self with a feeler gauge and manual. It is really simple to do if you are mechanically minded.

Simple answer YES

I don't understand why you didn't have someone fix up the underside of the car, now they were working on it anyways. It could do with a makeover imho. That said: I have so much love for this project. Imho you're doing all the right things to this car. Not as in: You're choosing the right products, as i don't know anything about that. But i love the direction, and the aim. I hope it ends up every bit as good as it sounds like it should :)

I had my valve clearance checked and adjusted at honda for £100 which I thought was quite reasonable for a main dealer.

You should do a full rust free cleaning to the subframe of the car.

Love these cars but the insurance and the fact its likely be absolutely ragged always put me off. If they made a new one I'd definitely look to get one

Get spoon rigid collar, it's looks like very good upgrade

437 on ramp .. jeez has it been kept underwater in a salt marsh? 7.13 ahh that’s better! Other cosmetics .. maybe some shampoo and new glasses 🤭