LENSPEED

By Gerald Yuen

It has been quite a while since I last posted updates on the FD2R. That could work both ways… either that I’m not learning anything new from the car, or I’m busy wringing every drop of performance out of the K20A.

But it would be ridiculous to harp on the former, because the manner in which it delivers driving pleasure on an emotional level the past two years still engages me as a driver. We’ve made a couple of tweaks along the way. Most obvious change would be to swap the stock suspension for a set of aftermarket coilovers from APi Racing (tuned to the softest setting). I was against this idea initially, but it would be utterly selfish for me to make my family withstand a harsh ride during dinner outings. And my dad uses the car 80% of the time for work, so that works out to be a no-brainer.

The softer ride gives it more fluidity when darting through bumps and cambers, and I could keep it on the boil more regularly without the fear of the rear hopping wide, and this translates to more traction as the dampers labour to gather more grip. Initial turn in does not feel as sharp as before, with the front leaning more towards understeer on part throttle. But once you give it more angle, the stiff rear (although less jarring than the OEM setup) can still hold ground effectively.

It wasn’t easy switching from proven OEM setup to one that has yet to demonstrate its worth. But to be honest, I’m very satisfied with this swap. The OEM suspension is way too stiff on our pockmarked tarmac (the rear dampers are 300% stiffer than the regular FD2). Now, there’s more reason to utilise the K20A’s top end rush without the fear of losing traction over irregularities.