When you shave nearly 2 seconds off a car's 0-60 time, we notice. When you convert a normally rear-wheel-drive car to all-wheel drive, we notice. When you let us drive a sporty little roadster that you've built to be fast and fun to maneuver, we put your car in the magazine. Southern California super-tuner HPI Racing, known for building crazy-fast, great-handling cars since 1986, built up this S2000 as a prototype for the racing season. We'd always heard how cool the HPI staff was, but their generosity of spirit and selflessness really came through when they offered us first-dibs on a test-drive. It was such a great offer, we couldn't say no. So we said, Yes, please. And they said, "OK, here. We said you could drive it. C'mon, take it. And stop staring at us like that. It's creepy. Go. Get away. Go. Go!"
So we took the HPI S2000. And we were so excited.
We were excited not simply because it was an S2000, but because the HPI engineers have done some amazing things with this car. Let's face it. The S2000 is a sports car lover's dream as is from the factory, right? With features like the six-speed manual tranny, rear-wheel drive, a 2.0L engine that's lighter and smaller that the 2.2L Prelude powerplant, subtle styling, and little touches like an "engine start" button that's straight out of a race car, the S2000 is enough to make you promise your first-born to a little man who spins gold from straw. But to sweeten the deal, the guys at HPI did an excellent job of gilding the H-lily, and we were eager to try her out.
Since only half of our staff (the Emp and Cap'n Rich) has ever gotten any seat time in an S2000, there was quite a fight over those keys. Rich demanded as the Feature Editor that he should get the first crack at the HPI S2000. Jonathan's argument was that as the closest thing we've got to a Tech Editor, his needs should win out. The Emp was otherwise occupied with his army men, building forts out of used toothpicks and gum. As the lone female on the editorial staff, I chose to brandish my only weapon in the struggle for driving privileges, the time-worn, yet oh-so-effective "Ladies First." I won. I got the keys.
The best way to approach this car to get the full effect of the HPI body kit is low to the ground. That low stance is impressive from a normal position; with your head down at wheel level, it's downright breath-taking. The body kit fits seamlessly onto the car, extending the already ground-tempting side skirts to a mind-blowing height that defies measurement.
Out back, the wing adds racing- inspired looks and boosts the roadster's aerodynamics. That body kit has also done wonders for the mild front half of the car. Ever-so-slightly flared fenders give the impression of a sneer, while that front spoiler could do double-duty as a snowplow if the situation presented itself. David Kouche gets the credit for all the bodywork, including spraying the whole body in Outlaw Black paint and applying the clean and simple graphics. Atta boy, Dave. External beauty can go a long way in determining how the driver feels behind the wheel. Otherwise, why would car manufacturers even bother with external styling?
Speaking of how it feels to be behind the wheel of this mini sports car, let's talk about the interior. Sliding into the cockpit of the S2000, I couldn't help myself from giggling out loud. If the stock S2000 interior was built with Formula 1 undertones, HP's interior is an all carbon-fiber version of a race car. Gauge faces, the shift knob, the entire dash, there's even door inserts accented with carbon fiber. The car feels cool; like a toy I would never be able to afford. Just sitting in it, I felt like a post-'80s Barbie doll: still dressed in pink, but prepared to do whatever it is the big dogs do when they get together. The interior styling appears thanks to a kit HPI sells, so you, too, can dress up the interior of your very own S2000, if that's something in your reality or your future.
The company is known for prepping cars that can really hold their own in road-race situations. The experts at HPI took care of the requisite wheel and tire replacement by choosing a set of their very own Type R5 wheels and mated them to four of Yokohama's A032R tires. The Yoks were selected for their excellent road-racing characteristics. And since suspension is such an important part of making a car race-worthy, HPI used only its own components in the setup, which consists of racing coilovers, struts, and antiroll bars. The company's fiber race brakes halt the roadster at a split-second's notice.
"But what about the performance mods!" you're saying. OK, OK, let's talk about the performance mods. Even though the S2000 is a remarkably performing car on its own, a company with the hi-po glow like HPI can't help but beef a car up with its own performance parts. And boy, did they ever. The stock header and exhaust were out. In their places went the A950 exhaust header and the A940 tuned pipe exhaust, which improve both sound and high-end airflow. The S2000 also benefits from an A905 39-tooth limited-slip diff as well as an A885 racing clutch, both from HPI and both added to ensure that this car outperforms its competition in any race situation it encounters.
You and I both know that the S2000 comes as a rear-wheel-drive car. It's the only Honda with an H on the hood that you can get with rear-wheel drive. To many, this raises the car to a higher level; to some, it is a foreign concept; to HPI, it wasn't good enough. They wanted all-wheel drive, and so they gave this S2000 all-wheel drive. Impossible? Nah. Amazing? Yeah. The car has a triple-belt four-wheel-drive transmission. I don't even know what that means, and I know it's cool.
So what does all this do for the car in terms of numbers? Well, as you can see from the sidebar on the stock S2000 that we've included in this story, those performance mods sliced 1.7 seconds off its 0-60 time.
You're not going to believe how fast they did the buildup. Maybe it's a testament to that old cooking-school mantra: Always have all of your ingredients measured out and in front of you before you start. Maybe they had an endless stream of people working on the car in assembly-line fashion. We don't know how they did it, frankly. But they claim that they built the car in four hours with no problems encountered. You read correctly: four hours. I can't even get ready to go to the grocery store in less than five. I've had showers that lasted longer than four hours. Matt's burps consistently make it into the six-hour range. But a whole car buildup? Wow.
How do you know you can't? Have you ever tried it? Maybe it's time for you to put your heine on the line here and actually try such a buildup yourself. Are you too busy? Yeah, right. That PlayStation isn't going to play itself, is it? Think the whole process is too expensive, time consuming, and involved? Come on! You'll never know unless you try. Wiggle on over to HPI's Web presence: www.hpiracing.com. They have products available for a variety of applications.