The yellow car looked good...
The yellow car looked good for 104 laps and nearly four hours but a minor off-course error resulted in a roll onto its roof. The driver was not hurt but the car was finished for the race.
Last December Team honda Research (ThR) took two examples of honda's latest performance car, the S2000 CR, to the 25 hours of Thunderhill. we spent some time with team leaders Lee Niffenegger and Chad Gilsinger to learn more about the car, the team and their strategy for the race.
The effort's obvious focus was to highlight honda's venerable, S2000 sports car Club Racer edition. Entering its ninth year of production, the S2000 has long been rumored to be due for replacement. honda PR manager and ThR enduro driver Sage Marie was tight-lipped about the platform's production future but did say that S2000 fans should have nothing to worry about. According to Sage, the CR was created as "a nod to honda enthusiasts, sports car enthusiasts and to track enthusiasts." he says it's, more or less, a way to re-invigorate interest in the S2000.
After 25 hours of tight competition,...
After 25 hours of tight competition, Team Honda Research missed First Place by 1.5 seconds. That's 1.5 seconds...to say they were competitive would be a major understatement. They done good.
"It's a lightweight, edgier, track-ready version of the already high-performance S2000," Sage says. "It was something our customers asked for and we thought it was appropriate." So they built it.
Horsepower junkies breathed a collective yawn when official news of the CR became public late in 2007. Its 237 hp and 162 lb-ft output is identical to the base model. But that misses the S2000's purpose entirely. It's a nimble driver's car, built more like a dancer, less like a weightlifter. The CR package is all about handling.
One of the CR's major design goals was to keep it classed where S2000s currently compete. SCCA T3 and NASA Performance Touring-C rules were given due attention throughout product planning stages. The rules call for factory suspension in T3, with the exception of dampers.
The CR's standard equipment list does away with air conditioning, an audio system, even the soft top. Even the spare tire's replaced with a tire repair kit. Show up to an autocross minus the CR's standard aluminum hardtop and you'll find all you'll save is a paltry 100 pounds when compared to base S2000s. Suspension tuning is all new. Front and rear antisway bars, shocks and bushings are all firmer. Spring rates are 70 percent stiffer than base trim. The steering ratio has been quickened. The front spoiler and rear wing were wind tunnel designed in japan to reduce the car's overall lift by 80 percent up front and 70 percent less overall and 255/45-17 rear tires are up a size from the 245s used on the base model.
The two cars ThR raced at Thunderhill were remarkably stock. The team removed the passenger seat for obvious weight savings allowed under NASA's PTC rules. Custom valved, single adjustable h&R shocks were fitted with the stock CR springs. An Exedy clutch was installed for durability insurance and Goodridge brake lines, Cobalt pads and ATE brakes stepped up the braking capabilities needed for 25 hours of punishment.
The race started just after 11 a.m. Saturday morning. The team had barely settled into a groove when a minor "off" in the yellow car turned into a race-ending "gentle roll" onto its roof near the fourth hour. A drainage ditch in the runoff area was close enough to the racing surface to trip the car over, damaging it beyond reasonable race day repairs.