• A private event in Los Angeles hosted by Evasive Motorsports unwrapped its latest Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) contender amongst a fleet of cherished Honda standouts.
• The S2000RS hosts a heavily reworked, turbocharged 2.4-liter F20, a sequential trans, and a slew of other wild components from five years of Evasive Motorsports’ accrued seat time.
• Evasive Motorsports and Dai Yoshihara renew their partnership to tackle Pikes Peak with the no-holds-barred S2000RS.

Over the course of five years, a lot can change. Formula 1 has a brand new set of regulations, we ushered in a new president, Elon Musk bought Twitter, scientists injected human stem cells into monkey embryos because science, we survived a global pandemic, and I am one pant size bigger. All pretty significant things except the pants.

Our friends at Evasive Motorsports have been busy, too. The S2000 (EVS2-V4) that it had debuted at SEMA in 2018 has been put through the wringer as promised, proving that the Voltex Racing Circuit Version 2 aero wasn’t fitted just for show. The five years since its SEMA show debut have seen it evolve slowly and purposefully within its motorsport-derived cladding. Now, Evasive has a new reason to pull the curtain back on this S2000 once again.

THE 2023 UNVEILING

Its latest form, the Evasive Motorsports S2000 earned it the moniker “S2000RS” and deservingly so. This no-holds-barred Honda builds upon its accolade as the fastest S2000 in Global Time Attack in 2022 to become the California-based outfit’s latest Open Class entrant at Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

Industry partners, friends, and car enthusiasts alike gathered at Autoconduct to catch the first glimpse of Evasive’s RS. To mark the occasion appropriately, the space was peppered with Championship White examples of Honda’s highlights, from DC5 Integra Type Rs, NA1 NSXs, a new FL5 Civic Type R, and Evasive’s other S2000 project — the S2000R (more on this later, I promise).

IT’S EVOLUTION, BABY

What began as a 2004 “regular” S2000, was soon stripped, rebuilt, and honed using top components developed by the Evasive R&D division and in collaboration with Japan’s elite Honda tuning shops, including Voltex. The RS, compared to its 2018 form, now wears the Voltex Racing Circuit Version 3 aero, a higher-downforce splitter and wing combo, as well as a carbon fiber Mugen hardtop for smoother airflow.

The engine has evolved alongside the exterior, too. The F20 now boasts 2.4-liters of displacement, 12.5:1 compression, and an HKS GT6290 ball-bearing turbocharger which cumulatively nets an eye-watering 650 horsepower to the wheels. Given these loftier specifications, Evasive Motorsports has employed ENEOS Racing 0W-50 high-performance synthetic oil to provide superior performance at higher running temperatures while also protecting critical engine components.

Despite its achievement at Buttonwillow Raceway during Global Time Attack, Evasive Motorsports didn’t rest on its laurels. Knowing that Pikes Peak was a different beast altogether, the team added a Bosch ABS system, a higher-capacity Radium Engineering fuel cell, a new OS Giken trans and diff, paddle shifters with a Hollinger pneumatic shifter, and dozens of other tweaks to improve safety and reliability up the mountain.

AN ELITE CLUB

Evasive Motorsports has already made quite a name for itself with its hill climb accolades, successfully championing a Toyota 86 and Tesla Model 3 with Dai Yoshihara on two separate occasions. But one mission remains: complete the hill climb in under 10 minutes — a feat that Yoshihara feels is within reach.

“Even though I won my class in 2020 [in the Toyota 86], I had a downshifting issue and spun out which cost me five seconds or more. My time ended up being 10:05:006. My personal goal this year will be to go sub-10 minutes. The Tesla could never go this fast, so this is more like a revenge run with a different Japanese tuner car.” – Dai Yoshihara

Mike Chang, co-president of Evasive Motorsports, echoes Dai’s sub-10 goal but recognizes that the first priority at Pikes Peak is reaching the finish line. Should Dai and Evasive achieve both aims, it would be a big accomplishment for a Japanese marque against its European rivals. Yoshihara’s seat time in this S2000 from Global Time Attack, coupled with his most recent win in TC America, should only help build his confidence ahead of the June 25 run up the mountain.

If one thing is certain, it’s that Pikes Peak will be as unpredictable as ever. Fortunately, Yoshihara and Evasive Motorsports have a healthy bank of experience to lean on if the mountain’s mood changes.

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