2004 Honda S2000 - One-Off

Scott Healy's '04 S2000
Over 12 years ago, in 1998, a little magazine called Road & Track had their cover graced by Honda’s soon-to-be-released roadster, then dubbed the SSX. The tuning community waited with bated breath to see if the upcoming roadster was everything it was touted to be. And like the rest of the automotive world, Scott Healy of Denver, CO, was one of the many individuals perched on the edge of his seat with anticipation. I knew this would be my next car. I followed the rumors, articles, concept drawings, and spy shots over the next year and a half, patiently awaiting an official release date. In the fall of 1999, Scott finally had his chance, and quickly picked up a brand-new Silverstone AP1. He loved it. He drove the car for about a year, right up until Honda premiered a new color option: Spa Yellow. In Scott’s own words I HAD to have it! I traded in my Silverstone for the Spa and drove it for about three years, until the mod’ bug bit. Scott’s upgrade fever culminated in the spring of 2009 with a 12-psi Comptech supercharger setup that was plagued by a mysterious detonation problem. The motor felt like it was breaking up on the top end, the next few months were spent troubleshooting with no luck; after not driving my car all summer and spending all that time trying to get it running right, I was fed up and I’d had enough!

A Full Race intercooler fits perfectly behind the AP2 front bumper.

Most people would envy Scott for what he did next. I decided to buy another S2000 and start from scratch. Three weeks later I found an ’04 Rio Yellow Pearl S2000 in Vegas. I immediately flew out, and drove the car back. Scott had a firm plan in place for his new car, and over the next few months started selling off pieces from the AP1 while amassing parts for his new AP2. The first thing Scott did was swap his custom audio setup from his second S2000 into his third. He’d already purchased a set of BBS LMs wrapped in Dunlop Star Spec rubber, a Bilstein PSS9 coilover setup, and a Wilwood brake setup for his AP1, but since the AP2 was the new love, it received the royal treatment instead.

Scott didn’t want the same old parts everyone had, so instead of a standard seat swap, Scott went that extra step. I hadn’t seen a full CR interior swap done before. It took me about three months to get every single piece, but I think it was worth it. Next on Scott’s wish list were front, side, and rear diffusers, but nothing on the market really caught his attention. He contacted the guys at Downforce for some assistance. I liked the Downforce diffusers for the most part, but they didn’t make them in carbon-Kevlar, which is what I wanted. After some convincing, they finally agreed to make custom Kevlar versions for me. As far as I know, they’re the only ones in existence. To match Scott’s new one-off diffusers, a carbon-Kevlar console and matching engine accents came courtesy of Password:JDM. The deuces headlights and taillights received a custom touch with paint-matched trim rings, another first in the community according to Scott.

By summertime, Scott’s S2K was all show & no go, so to get the build up to speed, he opted for a ProStreet turbo kit by way of Full-Race that included a GT35R turbocharger and complete intercooler setup. However, not all went according to plan, and he was soon left battling the same headaches he dealt with previously. The O2 sensor for my Innovate air/fuel gauge was bad when we installed it, so I ordered up a new O2 sensor and swapped them out. With the new sensor installed, I noticed my car was all of a sudden running lean. We started adding some fuel, and the more we added, the worse it got, all the while reading lean. After a few days of road tuning and troubleshooting, the issue was traced right back to a faulty reading on the air/fuel sensor. Needless to say, Scott was relieved. We could never get the AP1 right since we were running it so rich. If it hadn’t been for the faulty A/F gauge, I would never have bought the AP2. To keep his turbo setup running strong, Scott picked up a T1R 70mm exhaust and matching test pipe to keep the exhaust under control, and had an intake setup featuring a Blox velocity stack and Blitz filter custom made to his specifications. A Koyo radiator with dual FAL fans keep the core temps optimal, and a Hondata K-Pro system running off of a modified RSX ECU keeps the AP2’s power under control. Scott has some serious tuning time scheduled for the S2000 in the very near future. Beyond getting the power output over that of his AP1, all he’s looking forward to is enjoying some seat time with his Rio Yellow roadster and to make sure this one doesn’t go up for sale.