The S2000’s that are backed by Ballade Sports are, no doubt, among some of the best looking in the paddock. The Southern California tuning shop has consistently chosen quality parts to adorn their shop and customer cars with. Carving a niche out for themselves by shadowing a very Japanese style of automotive tuning, they’ve proven time and time again that often times less is more. It should come at no surprise then, that they’re also among the best performing; their flagship S2000 is a perfect example of this.
The Berlina Black roadster is clad in a full Spoon aero kit featuring the S-TAI front and rear bumpers. Bronze Volk CE-28’s sit at each of it’s corners, poorly hiding a set of Spoon front calipers. The Voltex swan neck wing rounds out the small, but powerful list of visible modifications. Keeping the list short in this case has some very aesthetically pleasing results. However, it’s not the exterior of this car that makes it stand out among others…
While it’s presence on and off grid is hard to dismiss, it’s on track that this car shows it’s true colors.
Hiding underneath the vented bonnet lay not the original F-series motor, but a refreshed K24 from the car’s front wheel drive counterpart. The F20/22 from the factory is an incredible motor; some of Honda’s finest engineering. However, it’s that same precision that hinders the ability to upgrade the F series without diving into a complex build. On the other hand, the K series takes to slight modifications well, and shows much improvement with simple bolt-ons. Couple that with the price difference and availability over the F and you have yourself a recipe for cost effective performance. The only problem is getting it to fit – luckily Ballade has you covered. They manufacture this very swap kit that makes the transition all that much easier.
With internals left stock, the K24 puts out about 210whp, and was good for consistent 1’58.2/3 minute lap times around Buttonwillow raceway during the last VTEC Club event.
Enjoy the gallery:
An AIM MXS Strada relays the driver vital information on track.
