Blued Hood: J's Racing

Car was finally ready on my last day of ICT.

After the gradual deterioration of the J's Racing Type S carbon fibre bonnet (it was starting to look nasty really fast!), i decided to get it sprayed body colour (Laguna Blue Pearl).

And rather than to get it done at the same place that sprayed my rims, I figured it was too risky with a bonnet (I didnt want to worry over body colour matching and the sometimes unpredictable effects of baked paint on cfrp) so I managed to get a slot with Ah Loong (who operates above Lamborghini dealer, Eurosports) during my ICT.

At the same time, the chrome 'H' emblems (front and rear) have enjoyed a matte-black treatment to match the Type S 'S2000' matte black emblems along the flanks, as well as the black MY09 rims.

Taking a Deep Breath : Honda S2000 (AP1) J's Racing Carbon Fibre Air-intake

this just in, a J's Racing Tsuchinko carbon fibre air intake for the S2K. Essentially, a 'snorkel' draws air in from the front of the car into the shielded conical air filter; the gourd-shaped chamber after that keeps air in 'reserve', which helps improve throttle response at stationary/low speeds.



another angle:



The car is breathing a lot better but Im sure it'll improve a lot more with exhaust/manifold mods...:)

Apart from looking good, it sounds great now and the induction roar when VTEC kicks in is a lot more pronounced.

The F20C engine is certainly revving a lot cleaner and happier; 9000rpm never came quicker!

HOWEVER... bear in mind the bonnet WILL NEED to be CUT to accommodate the snorkel, fine if you're running an after-market carbon bonnet, but a bit 'heart-pain' if you're running the stock aluminium bonnet.

for a point of reference to what's new, check out this 'BEFORE' shot:



more gratuitous carbon fibre bits... !



for those who asked, here's a shot of the cut made to the c/f bonnet on the underside... note that only the fibreglass skeleton is cut, not the c/f weave itself:



another angle:

Subaru Impreza WRX STi S204: Feeding on lots of Scooby Snacks

OUT of the box, this HAS to be one of the more potent Scoobys' available, and is rivalled only by the Spec C in terms of desirability (in my eyes at any rate).





320bhp/6400rpm and 432Nm/4400rpm sound good eh? The extras help too: 2 x Recaro dry carbon race seats at a rumoured SGD$8,000 a piece! (reclinable, no less!), 18inch forged alloy rims wrapped in sticky Pirelli Corsa rubbers and a bespoke bodykit form the sticky syrup topping on this yummy dessert.

Moving off, it doesn't feel as torquey as one of those 'green', Euro-friendly 2.5-litre STis', but the moment the needle crosses 4000rpm, hang on to the steering wheel as the full fury of the 1994cc flat-four is unleashed, and charges unabated all the way to its 8000+rpm redline!

The steering has been sharpened up over its 2.5 brethren, but there's still a little vagueness about the straightahead, and it's not as darty as the Evo IX GSR.

Take a listen to the drive-by. Am i the only one who thinks it sounds uncannily like one of Honda's loco VTEC engines?

What i can't get my head around is the marketing strategy for the S204. Pay an extra SGD$1,000 on top of the $160,000 price for each unit sold? I guess that's why only three units have been released into the wild so far.

But considering the mere 600 units produced worldwide, this could already be 3 too many! :)

MotorImage Enterprises has just 30 of these beauties to apportion between its various regional showrooms.