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Matthew Lindsay takes a brief look at Top Fuel’s current carbon fiber clad Honda S2000 which appeared at the Osaka Auto Messe earlier this year.
While at Osaka Auto Salon earlier this year there was one car that really stood out, a carbon fiber clad S2000. The wide body, hardcore engine and serious brakes all spelt speed. The car looked fast even while standing still. Yes, the Top Fuel S2000 Type-RR Turbo Version 2 is fast. The car clocked a best lap time of 55.792sec on road legal tires at Tsukuba circuit earlier this year which well and truly puts it at the pointy end of the RWD, street tired racers. It’s a well crafted weapon designed for battle and carves up the road like a razor sharp samurai sword.
When Top Fuel embarked on the build they knew that in order for the car to
be successful the body would need to be transformed to have a highly impressive power to weight ratio and would require a comprehensive aerodynamic package on top of the usual ‘big brakes’ and ‘race suspension’. The result is a skillfully crafted wide bodied, carbon fiber creation packing an almighty driveline. The first thing you notice, once you’ve gotten over sea of carbon fiber and Power Neo graphics, is how wide the car is. That rear wing stretches 6ft 2in across the back! It’s not just the body that received the wide treatment. The factory rubber got the chop and Advan rose to the challenge of gripping the car to the tarmac with 18×10.5J TCII rims rolling on fat 265/38/18 Advan A048 tires.
A standard Honda S2000 isn’t exactly a heavy car at around 1250kg but after stripping the car down and rebuilding it with the space age material the scales now read 1000kg which is a substantial saving in anyone’s language and helps the car achieve lightning quick lap times. Just to give an idea of how light the carbon panels weigh, the front and rear fenders weight in at 1.2kg each, while the front bumper tips the scales at a massive 2.3kg! Lifting the feather light bonnet reveals more about the car’s speed – a truly angry, yet beautifully presented F20C engine greets you with the turbo’s intake gaping at you like a hungry mouth. Top Fuel took Honda’s standard 2000cc engine and completely rebuilt it. The quest for significantly more power was the engine’s capacity grow. A Top Fuel stroker kit consisting of a steel crank, H-section con rods and forged pistons now sees the engine weigh in at 2200cc. Not a huge increase but every extra cube helps to spin the HKS GT3240 turbo. Custom fuel lines and 1600cc injectors feed the beast while gases are blasted out a custom made titanium exhaust. An HKS F-Con V-Pro was given the job of keeping the engine in tune and the engine now turns out a healthy 630ps. Bolted to the back of the engine is a mix of parts from a number of other performance cars. An OS Giken triple plate clutch transmits power to the highly modified gearbox without a hint of slip. Instead of Honda’s usual six gears the box now carries five HKS sequential gears meant for an S15 Silvia. Spinning the wheels out the back is an RX-7 LSD equipped differential.
With all that forward thrust it’s a good thing the brakes received plenty of attention. At the steering end are Brembo F50 calipers clamping 340mm slotted rotors while at the back Brembo calipers grab slightly smaller 330mm rotors. Interestingly, the ABS system has been kept and now resides inside the cabin where it and the HKS lap counter keep the driver company. Looking a little further behind the wheels and brakes reveals Zeal Super Function R coilovers with remote dampers and a host of other adjustable parts to allow fine tuning of the suspension. Parts like Ikeya Formula roll center adjusters, pillow ball arms, camber and toe adjusters and alloy bushings front and rear can be found. Not that it’s easy to get a good look under there as the body only sits a few inches of the ground.
Although the bodywork looks menacing, it’s clear that air flow was of major importance. In order to keep on the track at high speeds the car would need ample downforce and a combination of undertray, rear diffuser and enormous spoilers ensure the car stays glued to the track. The car is an awesome example of Japanese performance but perhaps what is even more impressive is the fact that it only took Top Fuel four months to build. One thing is for sure, there’s nothing slow about this car.
er related PICS and source : http://www.7tune.com/?p=116
Matthew Lindsay takes a brief look at Top Fuel’s current carbon fiber clad Honda S2000 which appeared at the Osaka Auto Messe earlier this year.
While at Osaka Auto Salon earlier this year there was one car that really stood out, a carbon fiber clad S2000. The wide body, hardcore engine and serious brakes all spelt speed. The car looked fast even while standing still. Yes, the Top Fuel S2000 Type-RR Turbo Version 2 is fast. The car clocked a best lap time of 55.792sec on road legal tires at Tsukuba circuit earlier this year which well and truly puts it at the pointy end of the RWD, street tired racers. It’s a well crafted weapon designed for battle and carves up the road like a razor sharp samurai sword.
When Top Fuel embarked on the build they knew that in order for the car to
be successful the body would need to be transformed to have a highly impressive power to weight ratio and would require a comprehensive aerodynamic package on top of the usual ‘big brakes’ and ‘race suspension’. The result is a skillfully crafted wide bodied, carbon fiber creation packing an almighty driveline. The first thing you notice, once you’ve gotten over sea of carbon fiber and Power Neo graphics, is how wide the car is. That rear wing stretches 6ft 2in across the back! It’s not just the body that received the wide treatment. The factory rubber got the chop and Advan rose to the challenge of gripping the car to the tarmac with 18×10.5J TCII rims rolling on fat 265/38/18 Advan A048 tires.
A standard Honda S2000 isn’t exactly a heavy car at around 1250kg but after stripping the car down and rebuilding it with the space age material the scales now read 1000kg which is a substantial saving in anyone’s language and helps the car achieve lightning quick lap times. Just to give an idea of how light the carbon panels weigh, the front and rear fenders weight in at 1.2kg each, while the front bumper tips the scales at a massive 2.3kg! Lifting the feather light bonnet reveals more about the car’s speed – a truly angry, yet beautifully presented F20C engine greets you with the turbo’s intake gaping at you like a hungry mouth. Top Fuel took Honda’s standard 2000cc engine and completely rebuilt it. The quest for significantly more power was the engine’s capacity grow. A Top Fuel stroker kit consisting of a steel crank, H-section con rods and forged pistons now sees the engine weigh in at 2200cc. Not a huge increase but every extra cube helps to spin the HKS GT3240 turbo. Custom fuel lines and 1600cc injectors feed the beast while gases are blasted out a custom made titanium exhaust. An HKS F-Con V-Pro was given the job of keeping the engine in tune and the engine now turns out a healthy 630ps. Bolted to the back of the engine is a mix of parts from a number of other performance cars. An OS Giken triple plate clutch transmits power to the highly modified gearbox without a hint of slip. Instead of Honda’s usual six gears the box now carries five HKS sequential gears meant for an S15 Silvia. Spinning the wheels out the back is an RX-7 LSD equipped differential.
With all that forward thrust it’s a good thing the brakes received plenty of attention. At the steering end are Brembo F50 calipers clamping 340mm slotted rotors while at the back Brembo calipers grab slightly smaller 330mm rotors. Interestingly, the ABS system has been kept and now resides inside the cabin where it and the HKS lap counter keep the driver company. Looking a little further behind the wheels and brakes reveals Zeal Super Function R coilovers with remote dampers and a host of other adjustable parts to allow fine tuning of the suspension. Parts like Ikeya Formula roll center adjusters, pillow ball arms, camber and toe adjusters and alloy bushings front and rear can be found. Not that it’s easy to get a good look under there as the body only sits a few inches of the ground.
Although the bodywork looks menacing, it’s clear that air flow was of major importance. In order to keep on the track at high speeds the car would need ample downforce and a combination of undertray, rear diffuser and enormous spoilers ensure the car stays glued to the track. The car is an awesome example of Japanese performance but perhaps what is even more impressive is the fact that it only took Top Fuel four months to build. One thing is for sure, there’s nothing slow about this car.
er related PICS and source : http://www.7tune.com/?p=116
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