There is no single word that adequately describes the exhilaration of driving the Corolla/S2000 love-child car on a racetrack. I would say it's like going to an energy drink convention and chugging endless samples of Rockstar, Red Bull, Monster, and No Fear, then cranking your iPod to full blast with acid break beats. But it's more intense than that. In front of you screams a 2.0-liter four-cylinder at 9400rpm, while a stiff rear differential roars from behind. In your left hand is a steering wheel with no play or vibration dampening between it and the front tires. In your right is a shifter connected to a close-ratio gearbox that begs for constant shifting. And at your feet are pedals you must work so furiously, that if people outside could see in, they'd swear you were driving Fred Flintstone's car. And all this is connected to four little 205-series street tires that are way too small for this much raw energy.
And that's no lie. For each 76-second lap, all four tires had traction at the same time for about six seconds, before fast approaching braking zones. But even with all that sliding around, the car was so well set up that it was eminently controllable. Sure, the Zen Master of Balance would be point out that wide R-compound tires could easily pull three or four seconds out of this short course, but the Zen Masters of Ginseng, Taurine, and Caffeine would love this car.
With the newer, more powerful 2.2-liter engine and more rubber, the Sportcar Motion S2000 seemed poised to dominate the track test. The car was built around a race motor and dialed in by Honda's top-notch chassis engineers. With weight distributed 50.7 percent in front and 49.3 percent at the rear, it could be argued that the S2000 is the real Zen Master of Balance. But alas there were already way too many of those in this article and this particular S2000 is certainly not one of them.
A short time before the car was brought out for testing, the racing suspension was replaced with stock shocks and more-show-than-go lowering springs. The car felt pretty good on the warm-up lap, but as speeds picked up, things got ugly as the car rolled farther and farther over. In high-speed corners, with all the compression travel taken up, the outside rear damper would slam into its bump stop over any minor bumps, sending the rear up and out. Losing traction is one thing, but this was like drifting just the rears over a speed bump at 90mph. Hopping your Impala down to the corner is all very well, but when you're doing it at near triple-digit speeds in someone else's convertible without proper roll-over protection, it's a little scary. With its power and grip, the S2000 could have beaten the bastard Corolla, but only if pushed to dangerous levels.
NirvanaSo is an F20C engine swap the key to driving nirvana for the AE86 Corolla GT-S? Yes, but only if you have the spiritual, mechanical and, crucially, financial fortitude to make it happen. The complete package is amazingly fast, but many parts will need to be upgraded to handle it. With proper race tires, the load the car will place on the suspension will be even greater, possibly enough to tear apart 20-year-old spot welds and stamped steel. So if you're not looking to turn your car into a dedicated, caged, trailered track car, the swap might be excessive. Besides, driving a slow car fast can be rewarding in itself, as the Zen Master would say.
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