Alex

Ironically, this is why I keep craving the slower-burn content that I can enjoy at my own pace. I felt this *a lot* with the Zen 5 release... I want to read and digest specific sections at my own pace and not be force-fed graphs and gaming drama or whatnot over and over 10 minutes at a time. The days of forming your own conclusion from information are basically over, which is... a time.

Really sad to see this day come, but it somehow felt inevitable. I still have strong nostalgia for eagerly awaiting their reviews on new product launches and jumping straight to the overclocking section... End of the Road: An AnandTech Farewell WWW.ANANDTECH.COM

Couldn't edit them, so just reposting it here with better hosted images: ==##== Over a year since my last post, and a lot has been done... I just haven't updated this page So because I am rather particular about making things exactly how I want them I have a lot of small things I've done in the past year to improve my S2000. There's still so much more to do, partly because its a 20 year old car but also partly because what I want to do with this car is slowly changing over time. Right now I am focusing on trying to solve any potential future issues, and over-building it to last my lifetime. So getting ahead of big ticket items before they become even bigger right down to replacing literal bolts because I don't like the look of the slight corrosion on it. I also am rather particular about keeping a record of these things, so here's what's been done to my S2000 in the past 12 months: Just before putting my car away, I got a stubby antenna - at first I was a bit apprehensive about changing something away from OEM but after putting it on I realised how much better it looks. Ideally I'd have no antenna there... but I am not going to go through with that effort, so this is better than nothing. I tried out a titanium counter-sunk knob, it's alright but I just find it's too low and too heavy. I feel like I am one of the few that prefer a lighter shift knob because I feel that it can translate the 'feeling' of the gearbox much better. The S2000 gearbox, like many Honda gearboxes, is excellent, precise and feels like it's made out of glass. It will let you know when it's not up to temp, or when you aren't shifting correctly all by becoming more difficult to engage gears. With a weighted knob, I find that feeling is harder to gauge. I applied some PPF to the headlights to slow down them cracking, but I'm going to find a more permanent replacement for them. They're not OEM, and bother me a bit. Over the winter I purchased some more parts, several different Spoon braces (gotta find some places to put more Spoon parts on the car!), a new Koyorad, and tons of small, miscellaneous replacement OEM parts. I also planned on putting another bucket seat into the car - so I cleared out the passenger seat in preparation of housing these parts and to make the install easier. 107385km before it goes into hibernation... Radiator arrived! And added it to the growing list of replacement parts gather in the car... New Recaro Pole Position seat fitted; Next was something I've wanted to replace for awhile, but being rather picky there was only one exhaust I had in mind: Fujitsubo Legalis R. Basically OEM+ with no drone, it should be perfect. Time to fit stuff up! Exhaust, radiator and bracing: After bleeding the radiator I let it sit overnight to see if I'd have any slow leaks (it was winter after all - and I couldn't really drive it). Turns out I did... I found the culprit; a combination of an aging hose, and clamp. Secured it with a worm clamp from Home Depot and we seem to be good to go! Spring rolling around, time for the first real test drive. Was a bit nervous as I had changed so much all at once, usually not a great idea. Off we go then! Oh... Well, damn, my rear brakes cooked themselves after around 30km or so. They got so hot they popped the centre cap off... I spent a good 15-20 minutes searching but wasn't able to retrieve it Sadly, it also seemed like my hodge-bodge solution didn't hold and I got drips of hot coolant all inside the engine bay and splash guard. Later turned out I didn't tighten it enough and the hose wasn't on properly, fixing both of those resolved this from happening again. First thing's first, I had to replace the rear calipers as they were seized. Got this done by my mechanic as I didn't have the parts and wanted to make sure it's done right. Parked near another banana car: New calipers on, and painted black to blend in a bit. One day I'll get a BBK to replace them with floating rotors... but that day is not today. In the mean-time, some of the more dress-up-like parts I ordered arrived. An LHT battery bracket, brake brace (actually does good for firmer braking), and titanium dress-up bolts. OCD, but I love their finish. During this time I also got all the mounts and bushings replaced. So engine, trans, diff mounts. LCA, UCA, etc. It wasn't cheap, but it totally transformed the way the car feels, and it feels so much more rigid now. I went with OEM+ stiffened rubber for all of it. Don't have pics of them all, but here's the diff mounts: Also went to the odd S2000 meet here or there around May-June: One of the numerous time's I washed my car, cleaned the engine bay as well to try get rid of any of the residue coolant splatters in there: I used a fabric ceramic coating on the roof as well: Next, I did a rather nice QoL mod. I installed the SOS hood dampers, I was a bit hesitant at first but after doing it - I really enjoy not having to prop up the hood when working on the car. Makes things just a little easier. And now on to the present, end of July 2024. I found something rather annoying... the previous owner had clearly poorly repaired chipped paint on the boot lid. They had put a wrap over exposed metal to cover chips... and it's started to rust. Just came back from a respray shop I trust in the area and it's going in on the 12th August to get the boot lid and spoiler resprayed, and potentially blended. Hopefully the rust isn't worse than it appears.

I updated my build log with like 12 months of content. Money pit car has had a lot of changes. Here it is:

edited

I wonder if/how this will affect max clocks, performance, etc. Looking forward to the test results.

Time to upgrade from my 420!

lol I dont have time to cable manage the back of my pc, just so long as it closes - we're good

oof

Just got these installed; COMPLETE BUSHING KIT - Q0969 | HARDRACE GLOBAL WWW.HARDRACE.COM COMPLETE BUSHING KIT - Q0969 - For AP2 Use Harden Rubber Equipped 26 PCS/SET + HARDEN ENGINE MOUNT + TRANSMISSION MOUNT - 6612-S | HARDRACE GLOBAL WWW.HARDRACE.COM HARDEN ENGINE MOUNT + TRANSMISSION MOUNT - 6612-S - Street Version 4 PCS/SET + APDIFF S2000 Differential Mount Kit – Hasport Performance HASPORTPERFORMANCE.COM Hasport replacement rear differential mount kit for the 2000-2009 Honda S2000 (AP1 & AP2). These replacement rear differential... What a world of difference this has made. The car feels so much more alive... it vibrates like a go-kart at idle too which honestly I love. edit - The shiny diff mounts:

Making me feel nostalgic about hosting servers during class in Highschool or the multitude of Quake 3 online tournies I used to play.... Honestly, online gaming has been dead to me for ages now. The only online gaming I play is co-op with friends that's PvE (eg: D4, Minecraft, etc), the odd RTS (seems like theres way less cheating there) or racing (iRacing, AC, etc). - otherwise I just focus on story-driven games. My time is too short to be playing with kids shouting into $4 alibaba headsets the latest meme words.

Has that fender been repainted? That's a lot of orange peel...

It takes around 1 hour max to change them if you take your time and make sure everything done properly (torqued to spec, copper grease on the hubs, check the PSI, clean them with a rinseless solution, etc). Plus then you get the excuse to have a change of wheels and a different look. Also, first wash of the season: (this is actually before) Glad I coated it last year, but the softtop is starting to show its age (nearly 20 years soon). Don't want to think about the cost of replacing it I've owned this car the longest so far at 3.5 years compared to 3 for my Palio (white) and 2 for my Accord (silver), which is neat. Also, I feel like my cars from here on out will always be brightly or interestingly coloured. The yellow is still really neat, and I don't foresee it getting 'old'.

Just get good I've driven in sub 0c temps with 'semi-slicks' - it's fun

The only surprise is that they didn't expect a halo product to quickly die down in interest? It has for all of their previous halo products.

Their ZMT is good, but even that I found it's just better to go with Watercool's version as it's much more pliable and doesn't harden over time.

Corsair is quickly taking over the entry-level WC business, and I feel like the higher-end stuff is becoming less niche with a select few companies establishing themselves more and more in that space. Those that already go with Watercool, Optimum, etc., the 'bougie' stuff, wouldn't likely go back in a hurry to EK. And the entry-level anything business is always super competitive and has even less brand loyalty. EK has been losing customers from both, and if this is how they handle things internally - I don't see them ever correcting either path. They have long been charging premium prices for mid-range products, and while we all hoped they'd right their ways... I don't think it's going to happen.

I'm planning on getting some RE71RS after these, AD08Rs just arent worth the cost/performance. They look mega neat, and I got them for free so can't complain.

Lol and my AD08Rs are going to actually get too old versus wear down on tread. I guess I'm just much gentler on tyres

Cries in 162ft-lb

Nice, intake pipe looks a bit... blue? How many stages are there btw?

Why runflats? They generally ride horribly and cost $$$

Costco loading area was quiet, so took some pics.... Not sure if I have added this here, but got the rear calipers replaced and brake fluid flushed because the RR caliper failed on my and started to slightly catch fire. Lost a centre cap in the process, and they're back ordered until June (Thanks Titan7....) Other than that, the new exhaust is really nice and barely louder than stock until you got WOT above ~6k RPM. And I *really* need to get those bushings/mounts replaced because its getting tough to be smooth between gearshifts with the flobbery diff/engine/trans mounts.

Feels a bit like "Hey don't forget this sci-fi is still coming out" while Dune 2 is dominating the box office

Lol very accurate, the car kinda sucks with the top up. I've done top down in the snow before, it's fun honestly.