When I mentioned the phrase hard parker, Travis Sewell became audibly upset. This machine was built to put out big numbers all the while looking good in the process, though he cut me off and said, No, this thing still performs, I’m not really a hard parker. At first glance this beautiful black S2000 may check all of the boxes for that form-over-function crowd.
Travis first fell to the S2000 some time ago while serving as a car detailer; he states, I detailed on the side, and I cleaned a customer’s car. I only had it for a couple of hours and fell deeply in love with it. He went on the hunt for his very own roadster and came upon a low-mile, one-owner example quite a while later. This particular drop-top began its life in the possession of an older gentleman and incredibly only saw the light of day on perfect spring afternoons. Once the keys landed in Travis’ hand, it didn’t stay factory fresh for very long because he got to work towards it in onlyThat didn’t stop him from capping the car with a Seibon carbon-fiber hardtop and matching Downforce side diffusers, though travis admits that winter doesn’t hit Virginia Beach way too hard. To kill any unsightly wheel gap on his new ride, Travis prefered a set of Buddy Club N coilovers. With less than a season of wheel time, Travis grew bored of the bottled note that the ultra-efficient four-cylinder produced, so he installed and ordered a J’s Racing exhaust manifold and Invidia test pipe that exit through a T1R 70r Sparrow exhaust.
Travis wanted to build something worth looking at, as well as the stock rollers weren’t planning to cut it, although with the free-flowing exhaust, the S2000 could possibly be heard well before it was actually seen. Some CCW classics in an 18×9/10 staggered setup dwarf the car’s original rollers. Obtaining the aggressive-offset 18-inch wheels to match took a certain amount of coercing around the front fenders, and a number of pulling around the rear. That coupled with the almost 10-year-old stock black paint convinced Travis to put down a brand new layer of paint. Just before applying a coat of Crystal Black Pearl (away from the ’09 and newer Honda Civics) Travis installed a fresh OEM front lip, JDP Engineering rear diffuser, and APR carbon-fiber mirrors to fiton the black and carbon exterior.
When the power itch begins to flare up, it’s difficult to scratch. Luckily for Travis, his closest friend and roommate happened to operate a local tuning house named Ramey Built. When his shiny new Science of Speed Novi 1200 supercharger system arrived, his roommate had a bay and lift waiting for him. The new SOS system was installed, and Travis went a bit further, upgrading the pulley to some 3.4-inch option to push the system to 16 pounds of boost. Power is definitely not without fuel, and to get the juices flowing, a set of ID1000s was enlisted along with a Full-Blown fuel pump. Calling the shots is undoubtedly an AEM Series 2 EMS. Even before the tune, Travis knew he’d need help receiving the power to the ground, so he ditched the stock clutch and flywheel for an ACT Stage 3 clutch and 9-pound flywheel.
With some time on the rollers and his own tuning, Travis pulled over 440 hp on the wheels from the stock block F22. While there was more power to be made, Travis purposely scaled things back a bit to maintain that Honda reliability. He adds, It’s my only car, and I drive it such as this every day over 50 miles to function. People don’t believe me. Travis doesn’t have got a garage and tries his hardest to keep the car looking as clean as it appears in these photos. Other than finding somewhere to help keep his beauty, the next item on the list is 500 safe wheel horsepower. If this is precisely what the guy are capable of doing with his S2000 as a daily driver, we can’t wait to see it when it turns into a project!
