Feel's AP1 S2000 - Feel's So Good
07-01-2008, 11:10 PM
#1
Administrator ☂
Thread Starter
Feel's AP1 S2000 - Feel's So Good
Feel's AP1 S2000 - Feel's So Good
Mention the name FEEL'S in the U.S. and it'll likely conjure up images of L.J. Garcia's widebody EK hatchback. At the time, the FEEL'S kit was beyond what most had seen. The brand became somewhat of an overnight celebrity. As with anything that garners such praise and popularity, others attempted to feed off its notoriety with copycat looks and, before anyone knew it, Sentras and Corollas were adorned with FEEL'S-like bumpers, side skirts, and wings. As a result, the real FEEL'S got lost in translation as a plethora of knockoffs popped up abroad. FEEL'S was confused with "FEEL'Z" or some other moniker, either way getting lost in the mix. Genuine parts could only be spotted stateside within the garages of only the truest hardcore Honda heads. Such parts were considered absolute rarities.
Fact: FEEL'S, officially known as Honda Twincam, is just about the largest Honda-only tuning shop in Japan, past or present. The company was spawned as a performance parts dealer a couple of decades prior to its U.S. presence and has since progressed as the premier Honda-only tuner.
The pinnacle of Honda performance, FEEL'S, lies just outside Tokyo. Visit the headquarters and spotting the company's stunning red AP1 demo car won't be too difficult. Though the exterior lacks the flare other tuning shops often seek, its overall look gives off an air of subtle aggression and the FEEL'S logos adorned on the rear quarter panel and front fender immediately convey to onlookers that this is no ordinary S2000. No, this is not your run-of-the-mill S2K, this AP1 was built with a specific purpose: the Rev Speed Magazine S2000 Challenge. The challenge is a single-make race where tuning companies are invited to pit their model-specific prowesses against one another. Such races are regularly highlighted on Best Motoring and Option DVDs and are somewhat popular in Japan.
What's interesting about this particular single-make race is that fellow tuning shops Tracy Sports, JUN, and J's Racing each opted for the forced-induction route. FEEL'S, however, decided to go a different direction by foregoing the turbo and heading straight for the nitrous oxide. The popularity of nitrous has grown over the last couple years in Japan, particularly in the drifting scene, so FEEL'S decided to push the envelope and see how its own bottle-fed S2000 would fare against its force-induced counterparts.
FEEL'S utilizes its custom nitrous-equipped two-stage Super Nitro kit to inject laughing gas into the F20C engine that's been bored and stroked to 2.3 liters with their very own FEEL'S F23TC stroker kit. Bore is bumped to 87.25mm and stroke is lengthened from 84mm to 95mm. To help the engine breathe better, the FEEL'S crew looked to a different platform altogether, installing a gigantic 80mm Infiniti throttle body. Since Honda never offered a throttle body this large, the techs at FEEL'S were forced to create custom intake ducting to hold the K&N air filter in place. Exhaust flow is improved with a FEEL'S 4-into-1 stainless steel header teamed with a FEEL'S high-flow catalytic converter before exiting through a half titanium, 115mm single outlet exhaust, also from FEEL'S. The now stroked F23C sees additional engine protection from a custom baffled FEEL'S oil pan, which aids in avoiding excessive oil slosh when the S2K heads sideways. A FEEL'S aluminum two-row radiator replaces the stock unit, further improving cooling system efficiency.
Fuel storage and delivery are handled by a 10-liter fuel cell and collector tank. If you haven't noticed by now, FEEL'S offers practically every part imaginable for not only the S2000 but also most popular Honda racing applications.
But this is where the FEEL'S party ends. Engine management duties are controlled via a MoTeC M4 engine management system. With the MoTeC and all that nitrous, one would think that this car came straight out of The Fast and the Furious franchise but, sorry Hollywood fan boys, this S2000 is the real deal. To assist in getting all that nitrous-fed power to the ground, FEEL'S called upon ATS & Across for their carbon clutch and flywheel kit. An ATS & Across 1.5-way limited-slip differential was also installed, along with the company's Tempershot gears, resulting in a 4.4:1 final drive ratio. Redline ShockProof gear oil flows through the transmission and ensures shifts are as smooth as a hot knife going through butter. When it's all said and done, the engine setup nets 365 ps and 287 lb-ft of torque.
Giving this bright red AP1 its aggressive stance is a set of one-off FEEL'S dampers specifically designed for this S2000. These dampers feature Swift 20kg per millimeter front and rear springs. FEEL'S proves just how hardcore they are by strengthening the chassis rigidity by spot welding the subframe and all adjoining door panels. Perfectly offsetting the red exterior is a staggered set of 17-inch bronze Volk Racing CE28N wheels on 245/40R-17 and 255/40R-17 Yokohama Advan A048 tires. Nestled behind the RAYS-manufactured wheels is a FEEL'S front and rear brake kit, which includes FEEL'S rotors, calipers, and brake pads. Yes, they really do make anything and everything on their own. Call them a self-contained company, if you will.
The complete FEEL'S catalog of parts continues to the exterior of this one-off S2000 race car. The stock front bumper was removed and replaced with a FEEL'S front fascia, lip, and canards. Supplementary exterior pieces include a FEEL'S rear bumper, GT wing, hardtop, and carbon-fiber hood. The completely gutted interior offers only one FEEL'S bucket seat for the driver, mated to a low-position seat rail, and a four-point Takata harness to keep whoever that may be in place. Steering comes by way of a Nardi three-spoke wheel.
Honda Twincam's S2000 is a perfect example of why it just may be one of the last true Honda performance shops. The fact that they had enough balls to build the anti-turbo F23C engine snorting nothing but nitrous, and pitted themselves against a group of all boosted S2Ks, shows exactly why they're the true OG of all Japanese Honda tuners.
Bolts & washers
Propulsion:
2.3L F20C
FEEL'S F23TC rods
FEEL'S F23TC crankshaft
FEEL'S baffled oil pan
FEEL'S 4-into-1 header
FEEL'S catalytic converter
FEEL'S 80mm titanium exhaust
FEEL'S Super Nitro kit
K&N air filter
FEEL'S intake ducting
Infiniti 80mm throttle body
10-liter fuel cell
NKG spark plugs
FEEL'S two-row radiator
FEEL'S radiator cap
ATS & Across 1.5-way LSD
ATS & Across carbon clutch
ATS & Across 4.4:1 final drive
MoTeC M4 engine management
Stance:
FEEL'S adjustable dampers
Swift 20kg per millimeter springs
Resistance:
FEEL'S rotors
FEEL'S pads
FEEL'S calipers
FEEL'S steel braided lines
Rims & rubber:
17x7.5 Volk Racing CE28N (front)
17x8 Volk Racing CE28N (rear)
245/40-17 Yokohama Advan A048 (front)
255/40-17 Yokohama Advan A048 (rear)
Outside:
FEEL'S front bumper
FEEL'S front lip
FEEL'S front canards
FEEL'S carbon-fiber hood
FEEL'S rear bumper
FEEL'S GT wing
FEEL'S hardtop
Inside:
FEEL'S driver seat
FEEL'S low-position rails
Takata four-point harness
Nardi steering wheel
Photo Gallery: Feel's AP1 S2000 - Feel's So Good - Honda Tuning Magazine
Read More | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us
More...
Mention the name FEEL'S in the U.S. and it'll likely conjure up images of L.J. Garcia's widebody EK hatchback. At the time, the FEEL'S kit was beyond what most had seen. The brand became somewhat of an overnight celebrity. As with anything that garners such praise and popularity, others attempted to feed off its notoriety with copycat looks and, before anyone knew it, Sentras and Corollas were adorned with FEEL'S-like bumpers, side skirts, and wings. As a result, the real FEEL'S got lost in translation as a plethora of knockoffs popped up abroad. FEEL'S was confused with "FEEL'Z" or some other moniker, either way getting lost in the mix. Genuine parts could only be spotted stateside within the garages of only the truest hardcore Honda heads. Such parts were considered absolute rarities.Fact: FEEL'S, officially known as Honda Twincam, is just about the largest Honda-only tuning shop in Japan, past or present. The company was spawned as a performance parts dealer a couple of decades prior to its U.S. presence and has since progressed as the premier Honda-only tuner.
The pinnacle of Honda performance, FEEL'S, lies just outside Tokyo. Visit the headquarters and spotting the company's stunning red AP1 demo car won't be too difficult. Though the exterior lacks the flare other tuning shops often seek, its overall look gives off an air of subtle aggression and the FEEL'S logos adorned on the rear quarter panel and front fender immediately convey to onlookers that this is no ordinary S2000. No, this is not your run-of-the-mill S2K, this AP1 was built with a specific purpose: the Rev Speed Magazine S2000 Challenge. The challenge is a single-make race where tuning companies are invited to pit their model-specific prowesses against one another. Such races are regularly highlighted on Best Motoring and Option DVDs and are somewhat popular in Japan.
What's interesting about this particular single-make race is that fellow tuning shops Tracy Sports, JUN, and J's Racing each opted for the forced-induction route. FEEL'S, however, decided to go a different direction by foregoing the turbo and heading straight for the nitrous oxide. The popularity of nitrous has grown over the last couple years in Japan, particularly in the drifting scene, so FEEL'S decided to push the envelope and see how its own bottle-fed S2000 would fare against its force-induced counterparts.
FEEL'S utilizes its custom nitrous-equipped two-stage Super Nitro kit to inject laughing gas into the F20C engine that's been bored and stroked to 2.3 liters with their very own FEEL'S F23TC stroker kit. Bore is bumped to 87.25mm and stroke is lengthened from 84mm to 95mm. To help the engine breathe better, the FEEL'S crew looked to a different platform altogether, installing a gigantic 80mm Infiniti throttle body. Since Honda never offered a throttle body this large, the techs at FEEL'S were forced to create custom intake ducting to hold the K&N air filter in place. Exhaust flow is improved with a FEEL'S 4-into-1 stainless steel header teamed with a FEEL'S high-flow catalytic converter before exiting through a half titanium, 115mm single outlet exhaust, also from FEEL'S. The now stroked F23C sees additional engine protection from a custom baffled FEEL'S oil pan, which aids in avoiding excessive oil slosh when the S2K heads sideways. A FEEL'S aluminum two-row radiator replaces the stock unit, further improving cooling system efficiency.
Fuel storage and delivery are handled by a 10-liter fuel cell and collector tank. If you haven't noticed by now, FEEL'S offers practically every part imaginable for not only the S2000 but also most popular Honda racing applications.
But this is where the FEEL'S party ends. Engine management duties are controlled via a MoTeC M4 engine management system. With the MoTeC and all that nitrous, one would think that this car came straight out of The Fast and the Furious franchise but, sorry Hollywood fan boys, this S2000 is the real deal. To assist in getting all that nitrous-fed power to the ground, FEEL'S called upon ATS & Across for their carbon clutch and flywheel kit. An ATS & Across 1.5-way limited-slip differential was also installed, along with the company's Tempershot gears, resulting in a 4.4:1 final drive ratio. Redline ShockProof gear oil flows through the transmission and ensures shifts are as smooth as a hot knife going through butter. When it's all said and done, the engine setup nets 365 ps and 287 lb-ft of torque.
Giving this bright red AP1 its aggressive stance is a set of one-off FEEL'S dampers specifically designed for this S2000. These dampers feature Swift 20kg per millimeter front and rear springs. FEEL'S proves just how hardcore they are by strengthening the chassis rigidity by spot welding the subframe and all adjoining door panels. Perfectly offsetting the red exterior is a staggered set of 17-inch bronze Volk Racing CE28N wheels on 245/40R-17 and 255/40R-17 Yokohama Advan A048 tires. Nestled behind the RAYS-manufactured wheels is a FEEL'S front and rear brake kit, which includes FEEL'S rotors, calipers, and brake pads. Yes, they really do make anything and everything on their own. Call them a self-contained company, if you will.
The complete FEEL'S catalog of parts continues to the exterior of this one-off S2000 race car. The stock front bumper was removed and replaced with a FEEL'S front fascia, lip, and canards. Supplementary exterior pieces include a FEEL'S rear bumper, GT wing, hardtop, and carbon-fiber hood. The completely gutted interior offers only one FEEL'S bucket seat for the driver, mated to a low-position seat rail, and a four-point Takata harness to keep whoever that may be in place. Steering comes by way of a Nardi three-spoke wheel.
Honda Twincam's S2000 is a perfect example of why it just may be one of the last true Honda performance shops. The fact that they had enough balls to build the anti-turbo F23C engine snorting nothing but nitrous, and pitted themselves against a group of all boosted S2Ks, shows exactly why they're the true OG of all Japanese Honda tuners.
Bolts & washers
Propulsion:
2.3L F20C
FEEL'S F23TC rods
FEEL'S F23TC crankshaft
FEEL'S baffled oil pan
FEEL'S 4-into-1 header
FEEL'S catalytic converter
FEEL'S 80mm titanium exhaust
FEEL'S Super Nitro kit
K&N air filter
FEEL'S intake ducting
Infiniti 80mm throttle body
10-liter fuel cell
NKG spark plugs
FEEL'S two-row radiator
FEEL'S radiator cap
ATS & Across 1.5-way LSD
ATS & Across carbon clutch
ATS & Across 4.4:1 final drive
MoTeC M4 engine management
Stance:
FEEL'S adjustable dampers
Swift 20kg per millimeter springs
Resistance:
FEEL'S rotors
FEEL'S pads
FEEL'S calipers
FEEL'S steel braided lines
Rims & rubber:
17x7.5 Volk Racing CE28N (front)
17x8 Volk Racing CE28N (rear)
245/40-17 Yokohama Advan A048 (front)
255/40-17 Yokohama Advan A048 (rear)
Outside:
FEEL'S front bumper
FEEL'S front lip
FEEL'S front canards
FEEL'S carbon-fiber hood
FEEL'S rear bumper
FEEL'S GT wing
FEEL'S hardtop
Inside:
FEEL'S driver seat
FEEL'S low-position rails
Takata four-point harness
Nardi steering wheel
Photo Gallery: Feel's AP1 S2000 - Feel's So Good - Honda Tuning Magazine
Read More | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us
More...
