When I flew over to Hawaii from Japan a few weeks ago I really didn’t know what to expect. It’s place I’ve actually ventured to quite a few times in the past, but on those occasions cars weren’t really the focus, and I assumed the only ones I’d really see on the streets would be rentals driven by tourists on their tropical adventures. On other words, never would I have though that the small island of Oahu would be hiding so many automotive treasures. It was at the Offset Kings show that I had my first encounter with a certain yellow machine I had heard many people talk about during my first days on the island – a rare Honda S2000 CR owned and driven by Sara Choii.
Sara’s affliction with the Honda brand started years ago when she picked up an Civic EK Coupe – although that ended up being quickly sold and replaced by one of her favourite Hondas of all time: the CR-X. In Sara’s eyes there’s only one other car that ticks all the right boxes for her, and that’s the S2000. So when the chance presented itself to get into a Candy Apple Red AP2, she jumped at it.
The dream was short-lived though, and that particular car came to a tragic end on a wet night that Sara would rather forget about. A black S2000 replaced it and became a car she enjoyed for a while, until one of her friends put her onto a 2008 S2000 Club Racer (CR) – a special edition AP2 of which only 1400 examples were made. A quick trade later and Sara was the proud owner of the car you see here.
Sara has literally only started giving attention to her new S2000, and despite just few modifications thus far, it’s a car that has already made quite a name for itself in Hawaii. So after seeing it at the show, I knew I should meet up with Sara in some impossibly-Hawaiian location and do her yellow roadster justice. After deciding to head away from busy Honolulu and its surrounding areas, we jumped on what can only be described as some ridiculously scenic roads that cross the island, and headed westward towards Kailua – a quieter beach town which would provide an amazing backdrop for the shoot.
If you’ve read my stories before you’ll probably already know that when it comes to car modification I’m someone who believes in simple and basic touches. This is precisely where Sara has nailed it.
The CR aero additions provide a real boost to the S2000’s exterior, while height adjustable Function & Form Type II coilover suspension and SPC camber ball joints take care of the slammed look that Sara craved, along with the required handling to cope with riding so low. In stock form the CR actually came with some trick upgrades including stiffer sway bars, a slightly quicker steering ratio (13.8:1 vs 14.9:1) and additional chassis strengthening braces. So consider it very well specced in that department.
Sitting literally an inch off the ground the massive CR front bumper spoiler does a lot for the S2000’s outward appearance. It makes it look angrier, more focused, and is a true track-oriented addition that is there to boost front end downforce at high speed.
The CR-spec rear spoiler is there to keep the rear end planted through those fast turns too – not to mention make it instantly recognisable as one of the most sought after S2000s ever produced.
A Few Details Are All That Were Needed
For now the interior remains mostly stock, although Sara has made a couple of minor upgrades – a JDM 2-DIN navi conversion included.
The other is a Spoon Sports shift knob, a small detail that I’m sure true Honda otaku will appreciate.
Of course, any decent sports car requires the right sort of footwear for it be driven the way the designers and engineers intended, and Sara’s kicks certainly seem to fit the bill rather well.
One thing that differentiates the CR from a regular S2000 is that it doesn’t actually have a power folding roof. The omission not only helps shave weight, but it allows for a twin-humped cover which gives a real visual boost to the roadster. Of course, while Hawaii does enjoy some pretty epic weather all year round, it actually does rain quite often and unexpectedly, so Sara normally rides around with the OEM hardtop the car came equipped with.
As the VPRCHK license plate suggests, Sara’s S2000 is looked after by Vision in Progress Racing (VPR). On the exterior side of things, the guys were responsible for fitting the carbon fibre under skirts, which were originally designed for a Mazda RX-7.
Sitting there on the Kailua beach boat ramp the S2000 looked so menacing. It was also like a people magnet, and it was hard to shoot around a constant stream of people wandering up to take a closer look.
Sara opted to step away from the factory-spec twin-exit exhaust set up and run with a more JDM-oriented angled single silencer. To that end an Invidia N1 titanium system does the job nicely.
After all, you can’t have a car that looks this good not making all the right noises too, right?
Since she purchased the car Sara has only had the chance to upgrade the exhaust, but there are quite a few aftermarket items currently being shipped to Hawaii which will be fitted in the next few months. Included in the parts haul is an AEM V2 cold air intake – something that will not only boost performance, but also spice up the engine bay.
The upgrade plans extend to turbocharging as well – a guaranteed way to provide Sara with all the horsepower that she craves. It’s definitely going to be cool to see how the car evolves over the next while.
Obviously, the focus thus far has been on getting the S2000 to look and sit just right, so along with the aforementioned adjustable coilovers and a massive drop in ride height, wheel choice was of utmost importance.
Wheels Can Make Or Break
Prior to fitting the wheels that grace all four corners of the CR now, Sara already been through a few different sets of rims in varying styles. But she’s very happy with how the newly-released SSR GTV01 wheels look – and for good reason too.
As you might have guessed, it wasn’t a straight fit though. With an aggressive stance on the agenda, the guys at VPR had to pull and roll the front and rear fenders to accept the flush fitting wheel and tyre combo.
The look, however, has definitely been achieved. The GTV01’s flat Black finish is spot-on and matches in nicely with the other black accents around the car.
At 18×9.5-inch with a +45 offset, they’re suitable sized too. Federal SS595 rubber is fitted and stretched quite aggressively to allow for that little bit of tuck into the fenders.
On the roads of Oahu the S2000 sticks out like a sore thumb – but in the best possible of sense.
As if it wasn’t low enough already, the sheer size of most of the US-sized vehicles on the road (mostly pickups and big SUVs) only emphasise the way the Honda sits.
It’s obvious Sara is someone that knows what she likes and isn’t afraid to go out there and get what makes her happy. A few simple touches have turned an already unique car into something even more special, and with the list of upgrades soon to become very long, her S2000 will certainly cement itself as one of the most important cars in the region.
Hawaii certainly did not disappoint, and I’m sure you’ll be happy to hear that along with this yellow AP2 there were quite a few other cars I ended up featuring. Keep an eye out for those…
Dino Dalle Carbonare
Instagram: speedhunters_dino
dino@speedhunters.com
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
Yeeeeeeah Boi!
Man the CR Spec is sweet! Love that rear cover. Nice to see the girls doin' it proper.
Sara you rock, I would kill to have my car featured on speedhunters. It's not everyday a chick shows up doing something awesome!
So that's how you shoot cars in Hawaii.... Nice one, Dino!
Jealous of Car...Jealous of Location...Jealous of Whoever is dating Sara.... Cool
Great pics!
Life's a Beach, Dino..great pics like always!
Let's not ruin a regular S2000, let's find a limited production model, pay more for it, and ruin that one.
I just don't know any more...
Always been a big S2000 fan, and this one is no different. Nicely done, nothing too over the top. Though if it were my personal car, I'd have gone for some different wheels. Not that there's anything wrong with the SSRs, I just feel S2000s suit something like CE28Ns more. Personal taste and all.
Nice photography too, Dino. The driving shots in particular turned out really well.
@Jake Laird
Wow. Didn't expect the 808 to have something like this. This car would stand out anywhere but especially so on an island
@Jake Laird
“SPEEDHUNTERS: A gal and her S2000 CR http://bit.ly/1nQgWaM http://twitter.com/SPEEDHUNTERS/status/474370193796247554/photo/1” girls car obv
They actually only ever built 699 S2000 CR's!!
Simple enough for me, I love it.
Ugly imo yuck
No pic of the Sara? WHAT?
Unfortunately, after seeing the Mugen-kitted S2000 last month in "Operative Word: Low", my bar for S2000's was raised too a nearly unreachable level.
Great pics Dino! Just need a picture of Sara now lol
Too bad there's no legal places to push it to its limits in oahu:(
So that is what the S stands for
- Sarah 2000
kbender Yeah that's what I was thinking! Someone HAS to build one out there!
RacingPast Yep haha:)
Botchi Thanks! That would be the girl driving the car haha
LouisSoon We tend to focus on the cars
Hotcakes Thanks man!
Big Pooky LOL
ra64freddy! It sure is! First shoot I've ever done barefoot haha
brianelmore181 Thanks!
TokyoCarGuy I guess? LOL thanks!
more pics of sara please...
This car is poorly done.
@jdmposer Please clarify
Really nice car. Not a huge fan of the "slammed" look myself but overall it looks really good. And with cars like this Hawaii really needs a race track.
I do agree that I wouldn't have done this to a limited run version. There are plenty of S2K's out there to modify so why pick a version they only made 1400 off. Leave limited run cars for the collectors and do what you want with the regular models.
You won't get more pics of Sarah, guys. We might get multiple pics of Fredric and his fabulous haircut posing as a SH model so Larry Chen can have his #'mcm, but girls are not allowed in here because of some prudes who pretend to come here only for the cars, whilst their hard drives are full of... This is some A class bs right here. No one is asking for naughty pictures, but a better picture of the owner who seems to be main hero of this post would not hurt anyone, even the prudes.
Talking about A class bs, what happened with the engine upgrades on the Skyline? It has been ages since you showcased some Tomei stuff and some other bits from Northern Europe. Updates or I call it A class bs.
P.S. BTW I love this S2K. Good job.
speedhunters_dino LouisSoon
Booooooo~
I love her Cr. I'm a female owner of a Laguna Blue ap2 and sara choii is the s2 queen of all girl s2 owners. Can't wait to see what she does next
This S2K is nicceee.
What's with the bullshit HDR effect on all the photo's? HDR is for amateurs and hacks and makes these photo's look like shitty Playstation renders. It's a shame to see on SpeedHunters.
What nice locations. Lucky lucky lucky. Btw any more shots of the two bmws in the 3 or 4 image?
Ugh, rear camber on a RWD car. Why do it?
That rear wing is not going to be enough to "keep the rear end planted" if you don't even have a full rear contact patch. It's like ruining a plate of good food and then putting a sprig of parsley onto it to "improve the taste." Don't even try to pass this off as performance car, it's just another victim to the chassis-destroying, speed bump-avoiding and tire killing craze of stance.
That front bumper color is off ... Sad.
Yes more to come...
CR's are highly sought after in the racing community, it hurts to see this one stripped of all the hard work Honda's engineers put into making this car the highly competitive piece that it is. I really wish she would of just put the CR bits on a normal S2000.
@daz my guess is it's actually a result of using a circular polarizing filter to cut reflections in the car's surfaces. It has the effect of looking like HDR when the normal reflections on the hood etc are removed.
2xthefun ''stripped of all the hard work'' You need to relax, brother. What's up with all the drama queens in here? SH has grown exponentially and it is attracting more and more politically correct self-proclaimed experts that used to write entire essays in forums about engine oils and filters for their stock Acuras.
She paid for it and she can do whatever she wants with it. She can paint it pink and throw it off a cliff if she wants to. Her money, her decision.
@TROLLS ROYCE 2xthefun your post length is longer then mine, and in your previous post you are creepily begging for pics of the girl. Your name is Trolls Royce... well I think that's all the time you get from me. Opinions on the internet... they happen.
2xthefun Who is begging? You need to find the sentence where I beg for anything. Man up and mention facts as they happen or as they are stated. Your name is 2xthefun. That sounds really weird and creepy to me.
2xthefun Do you go by the same username at craigslist? Not creepy at all..
The yellow looks fantastic on the S2000 at first glance I thought it was from a video game lol
@TROLLS ROYCE 2xthefun "This is some A class bs right here. No one is asking for naughty pictures, but a better picture of the owner who seems to be main hero of this post would not hurt anyone"
Is that your opening line with women? Tell them to stop being a prude and it's not like you want to see them naked. Just send a couple of pics your way???
My craigslist name is 3xthefun
@TROLLS ROYCE TELL IT LIKE IT IS!!!
@PP2S : I know on my Aspen White STi all the parts yellow/fade in different ways. Perhaps that's what's going on here as well given that it isn't a brand new vehicle. Mine is only 6 years old and the various bits are different shades of white based on if it's on plastic or metal and the position on the car.
Delicious. Hot girl + hot car. Best combo.
@daz i'm with you... i'm kind of sad to see dinos shots like this... y u push shadows soo much?!
No roll-over protection? Most tracks would require more than there is here. Funny that it's a "club racer" that would be disallowed from club racing.
@TROLLS ROYCE What if she didnt want to be photographed.
this.guy.said If that's the case, then we shall respect this choice.
@PP2S pearls are sometimes difficult to paint and photograph so all panels look the same because the pearl will fall in a different direction on the hood vs the door
Steve Hayward I understand the need, but feel it was taken too far. Turns a photo into a screencap from a video game. I would rather see the reflections than over-shopped photos.
I just don't see how this car is feature worthy. A drop, some wheels and a catback, man someone really put a ton of blood sweat and tears onto this baby! Oh yeah, don't forget the Spoon shift knob that totally warrants a matching window banner! If this car wasn't driven by a cute girl would we even know it exists?
D1RGE EXE Steve Hayward you can't please everyone, I'm on a lot of photography forums and chat groups and whenever some sun gets thrown into the pic if you don't use a Polarizing filter people are quick to call you on it. The focus should be on the object, not the reflection bouncing off of it.
Durattack Man, don't be one of those. A hater. Regardless of the what or what
they didn't do it's still a very nice S2000. Hot car + hot chick + hot
location + hot photography = Totally worthy of a feature.
2xthefun Oh god. One of you guys!
As much as i like this S2K the only thing i don't agree with and don't understand at all is the one exhaust tip on a car that has two exhaust tip cutouts. Can someone please explain this to me? It's not good design and makes zero sense.
The only excuse i can think of is that the people that do this don't have the money to buy a dual exhaust set up.
Mechne this car is not set up for performance, I highly doubt weight savings was on their mind. I'm thinking more along the lines of... they do whatever the hell they like?
Phontsolo Durattack You can call someone a hater for anything now a days, stop hating on his opinion. See I just did it.
TheCrudMan Hawaii doesn't have a track anymore...
Durattack I agree. As an S2000 owner, I say this is a very mild car. I don't think it would've gotten featured if it were driven by a dude or if it were located in the American midwest.
But great photography though!
@PP2S In her defense, pearl yellow is a very difficult color to match from plastic to steel. It doesn't even come 100% matched from the factory.
Then only thing done on this car is that it's lowered.
Geeees So much hate for pics of a Nice car driven by a nice lookin' Girl...If ppl keep complaining All we will get in future are pics of Blokes & their Cars like me...
Let me count the mods:
Coilovers (Function cand Form coilovers, one of the cheapest coilovers available for this car)
Wheels & Tires (Arguably the best part of the car)
Ball Joints (SPC's, not bad)
Exhaust (Invidia N1 Single, one of the cheapest and riciest exhausts you can buy for this car)
Intake (AEM V2, one of the cheapest and most common intakes you can buy for this car)
Shift Knob (Spoon Shift Knob, one of the cheapest and most common knobs available for this car)
Stickers
Total cost of parts? Under 2100 bucks. So you're saying if I spend 2100 bucks on my S2000 CR I might get featured?
On top of all that, a poorly-repainted front bumper and lip, a curbed right rocker panel.....
What's the REAL reason this car is featured? There are WAY nicer stanced S2000's on that island, and there are WAY nicer (read: more complete, authentic JDM, every detail improved, etc.) S2000's in Hawaii too. Google Bouford's ASM S2000.
The reason this car is featured is it's owned by a really attractive woman.
Go home Speedhunters, you're drunk.
I know I'm going to be called a hater, you guys are going to light me up saying everything is subjective, whatever, but I frequent this website because it represents the top 2% of cool shit in the automotive world these days, and this honestly doesn't fall in that category. Sorry.
Photos are excellent though, Dino. Your work is always top-notch!
I agree. So much better cars to choose from. Looks like they're just trying to get their dicks wet cus a girl drives it. Such a shame.
Well said bro
As an S2000 owner myself, it really kills me to see one slammed to the point that it is essentially isn't drivable at that ride height and spring rates. But the color and wheel choice works very well in this case.
Very different from my own car, and very different intended uses, but looks good to me.
That said. Start featuring more dedicated touge cars please. There are many excellent S2000s out there in that category (wink wink)
Superb photos Dino. It's sad to see a lot of haters around here. Yes, the car is simple, it doesn't tick all the boxes of an ultimate JDM flavor. But you know what? Each car is unique on its own, even the car your granny drives. Heck, you can even feature a car being driven by drug dealers. People get so mesmerized by car culture that they forgot what it means to have the one that makes you happy, not what society's definition of 'feature-worthy'.
I'd like to defend Dino here for choosing this car. Indeed, the owner is a girl, and from the shots, she looks hot. But how many girls around the world went to great lengths to modify their car, needless to say, know what they want? Very few. Even if it is just minor modifications, the fact that it is made to tell the story of the person, rather than just the car makes this feature-worthy.
There had been tons of featured cars that are dedicated for racing, show, touge. Why not feature cars that are driven by people who work 9-5 jobs that are not related with cars? Make it a daily driven and feature their life story. It's harder to please the crowd these days, throw in tons of nice parts and boom, they expect to be featured the next morning.
I think it's the overall aesthetic of the car making it feature worthy. It's a street driven car so no need to add power, this ones just for looks and I think it looks good. It has also made the rounds on the show circuit. Hard to get your car featured ifnobody knows it exists.
@Ed Hear hear.
mmmmmmmm By your own summation of the parts, you're looking at about $3200, not $2100. Sure it's not a huge pile of money, but at least do your accounting right.
As others have said, the car looks great, and it was a good story.
mmmmmmmm You hardly see the girl, which is a good thing in my opinion. Sometimes I think this comes down to being known in your community. I'm positive Dino didn't get flown to Hawaii for this girl. He's probably going there for a specific event and when asking around on local cars to check out maybe someone said this car. Now perhaps he was referred to this car because it's a female who drives it. Look at the background of some of the images, you see more modified cars clearly Dino had his choice, and from the looks of it this was the best to choose from at the time under the circumstances.
I think this feature and the comments section shows what the readers of speedhunters are really looking for sadly. Apparently they want girls... the day this turns into a digital superstreet I'm out.
2xthefun Mechne I'm a graphic designer so i see something like this as bad design. I know weight saving is important but on a road only car? Is it really that important? Having that one whole open just doesn't make sense to me. However, yes, she can do what ever she wants. I was just wondering why someone would do it. That's all.
Mechne No, i was actually questioning why someone would install a single exhaust on a car with two exhaust outlets. As a designer these things bother me. :o)
2xthefun Phontsolo Durattack I'm also going to hater on your hater while still hating on his hate from yesterday. Hater. ;o)
This car looks great, is owned by a hot chick and Speed Hunters took some great photos. What else do you guys want? Seriously.
Steve Hayward mmmmmmmm
Ah, I forgot to count the wheels, you got me haha
mmmmmmmm Looks pretty damn cool to me. What's it missing that it doesn't get in your 2%?
@Ed Exactly.
Phontsolo mmmmmmmm look at the photos in detail, if it's a show car it doesn't even look like they cleaned it before they took the photos ... so if I were to suggest a first step I would probably say a wash and vacuum. The devil is in the details.
Phontsolo 2xthefun Mechne Symmetry does not always equal good design, some artists focus mainly on asymmetric work. I highly doubt that was her goal though.
mmmmmmmm 100K+ S2000s made. 2000 Club racers. Pretty sure that fits your 2% theory.
@Bkishaan mmmmmmmm Everything special about owning a club racer this owner ruined. So you really can't say it's noteworthy to show off a club racer that would utterly fail at club racing.
mmmmmmmm she is not even hot, typical Asian chick with a flat face and flat azz
Ok, here is the deal... she bought the car because her "pigeon dik" boyfriend wanted it but he is broke so he convinced his girlfriend to buy the car, then he convinced her to put all these blah parts on it.. and bame there you have it!
My new wallpapaer
mmmmmmmm your forgetting the jdm double din dash. if your pretty enough you'd probably get a discount on labor on the install as well =P. im drunk. i love this car
FnF coilovers...why would you put that garbage onto the car?
The stock setup is leagues ahead in design and performance.
@Ben ??
the right amount of camber on a RWD car will keep the tyres planted on corner exit under acceleration
Haha look how the right front fender is rolled...
Kailua is not on the "West Side" its on the "East Side"!!!
ummmm lowered Stock CR on rims? While its kinda clean (bumper and lip looks to be a different shade to the rest of the car, painter didnt even take the time to tape off the vents, tow cap different color, dent on rocker panel) Im more interested in that white bimmer following her.
Come on SpeedHunter
andrewhake thanks man!
because girls car lol its clean but hardly worth a feature.
Expired tags, expired safety sticker, stopper on driver license for non-payment (went to collections), and likely lacks insurance because of the aforementioned. There's nothing more attractive than a person who has their financial priorities straight. Always invest in an AEM intake before paying tags like every other law-abiding citizen.
Excellent pictures though, Dino.
"A few simple touches have turned an already unique car into something even more special..."
Is "special" a more PC way of saying "ruined" nowadays?
Anthraxxx That riced out s2k isn't worthy of a feature. Now your City Turbo on the other hand....
Why so much hate? Nice car. And great wallpapers!!