Titch's MX5 replacement...

Yeah, the MX5 is definitely friendly in comparison, the S2000 is like driving on a knife edge in comparison! I imagine a Lotus is pretty similar, but it makes for an exciting drive.

In all honesty I don't think I'm a good enough driver to deal with a car which is tricky at the limit. I want something I can chuck about freely without visiting the scenery backwards!

That looked like a Canoeing riot to drive. What the hell was in the mk3?..

Did Cadwell. Car was phenomenal. Went 2s quicker than the Mazda straight out the box, on a red hot day not really suited to going fast. Managed to keep up with a guy I know with a mk3 MX5 with a 2.5l engine (running a little over 200bhp) who i've always considered to be quick, so I was over the moon about that. Was one hell of a learning curve from the Mazda though, rather than turning in and going flat, it was a constant game of oversteer correction through the bend. Although it didn't feel particularly snappy, despite the reputation - perhaps down to the way it's modified? The brakes were out of this world - I was braking at the same point coming up to Park (the 90 right at the end of the back straight) at the same point I was in the MX5 - about 150yds - and I know I could've been later, despite carrying considerably more speed down the straight.






And here's a couple of videos. I thought the windblocker was a good place to mount the camera. I was wrong.




Then I got a mate who I consider to be pretty decent with a camera to get me some photos of it...










Cadwell killed my rear tyres (as it turns out, I think that's why it was so tail happy), so I bought a new pair of 245 AD08Rs, I had considered going up to 255s, but given these two alone cost me more than a full set cost me on the Mazda, I thought better of it.




Stuck it on the dyno. Found out it's a little down on book power, but very slightly up on book torque.




Did Blyton. Car was once again unreal. Again, considerably quicker than the Mazda (down into the 14s) Only a handful of cars passed me all day, one being a stunning E36 M3 race car.





And I discovered what's known as the 'S2000 smoke screen', turns out it's to do with oil pooling on the baffles inside the cam cover through certain bends, which is then sucked through the PCV setup and into the inlet. Scary as hell to see, but seemingly harmless. There's a method of drilling said baffle to allow the oil to drain, so i'll do that at some point, and sort a catch can setup, too.



Vid, obivously:




And with a clear track, at the end of the day:



Drove the car home, all was fine, got it out the next day and took it for a quick drive, and noticed it felt like the ABS was constantly engaging, so thought i'd better check it out...


Oh, that'll be it then...



New blank discs, and a new set of DS2500s ordered and en route.


Also noticed the battery was leaking, so ordered a new genuine Honda one, and got that fitted.



Gave under the battery tray a quick once over with some Kurust and some paint i'd had mixed up, just to get rid of the surface rust the battery acid had created, and to tidy it up a little.




Done. New Honda battery fitted. Just need to re-teach it the idle and then give it a rag to reset the ECU parameters. That'll have to wait until the new brakes are here and fitted, however.