RE: Honda S2000 | PH Private Area
Discussion
cerb4.5lee said:
...plus if I wanted to grab one of these by the scruff of the neck, I'd imagine them to be miles better at that than the 370 is for sure. 
Properly set-up, yes, definitely - it's light, pointy and with the right geometry you can get a decent feel through the seat as the car 'takes an attitude' before deciding it wants to oversteer. Plus with the limited and linear torque it doesn't step-out in the dry unless you're rough.With the wrong geo pushing too hard becomes an exercise in quick reactions and frustration.
chirurgus said:
Only 2/3 of the torque of a Z4M beyond 6000rpm, so even more frustrating for Lee!
Gear ratios are our friend here (Exige and S2000) - 18.6mph per 1,000rpm in top for the S2000, c.25.2mph for the Z4M. (And I figure the Exige would be pretty similar to the S2000). So that should give ~90% of the wheel-torque of the Z4M.Still in love with mine. Ticking over 90k now and doing a pitiful less than 3k miles per year since covid and babies came into my life. I keep thinking of selling for something else but nothing ticks the boxes like the S2000 does. The aural sensations are what keep me coming back for more.
I will soon be starting a new role and as such the S2K will be getting some more love commuting down some A and B roads whilst the diesel family hack stays home.
I will soon be starting a new role and as such the S2K will be getting some more love commuting down some A and B roads whilst the diesel family hack stays home.
shuthan_b said:
AmyRichardson said:
trails said:
Very happy with the sentence ta, I've had mine for just shy of 9 years and it's been cheap as chips to run. Even with adding shiny stuff like Ohlins...contemporary MX5s are certainly cheaper, (not sure anyone is arguing that) but the S2000 is hardly an Aston or Ferrari in terms of either initial cost or maintenance.
I've no idea why people are so sensitive about the suggestion that an MX-5 is a legitimate alternative, I think it's a cult thing. That said, the 150hp - 240hp (well, 210hp, apparently!) was a meaningful divide in the '00s, so it's easy to understand how the NB was perceived as a less serious proposition. But that doesn't mean one is better or the other unworthy of comparison.Edited by AmyRichardson on Thursday 16th May 12:33
Edited by shuthan_b on Thursday 16th May 16:25
I've driven the S2000 quite a lot, both early and late models, and I'm a fan. I worked in the Honda network for a period, and have a soft spot for these cars. They are a great sports car.
In the grand scheme of things, they absolutely stand comparison to the MX5, Boxster and Z4. They are all similar, with the same purpose. However, now an S2000 is an aging car. The newest ones are what, fifteen years old now? The industry has moved on now. While an NA or NB MX5 was a lot less expensive and less powerful the an S2000 new, things have shifted somewhat. A 2.0 ND MX5 today is a very similar car to the S2000, only newer... rear wheel drive, normally aspirated engine, two seats, purpose built convertible. I can assure you that their purpose is very much the same.
The S2000 is only available as a used car, and one to buy very carefully. Selling these when they were new, a lot of them were binned by their owners who found the limits of a powerful RWD car at the same time as discovering they were out of their depth, and often in the ditch. Good luck in going through a 25 year history to find a clean one. Even as a Honda dealer, we were caught out a few times with bent cars that would never track straight again.
Catflap66 said:
shuthan_b said:
AmyRichardson said:
trails said:
Very happy with the sentence ta, I've had mine for just shy of 9 years and it's been cheap as chips to run. Even with adding shiny stuff like Ohlins...contemporary MX5s are certainly cheaper, (not sure anyone is arguing that) but the S2000 is hardly an Aston or Ferrari in terms of either initial cost or maintenance.
I've no idea why people are so sensitive about the suggestion that an MX-5 is a legitimate alternative, I think it's a cult thing. That said, the 150hp - 240hp (well, 210hp, apparently!) was a meaningful divide in the '00s, so it's easy to understand how the NB was perceived as a less serious proposition. But that doesn't mean one is better or the other unworthy of comparison.Edited by AmyRichardson on Thursday 16th May 12:33
Edited by shuthan_b on Thursday 16th May 16:25
I've driven the S2000 quite a lot, both early and late models, and I'm a fan. I worked in the Honda network for a period, and have a soft spot for these cars. They are a great sports car.
In the grand scheme of things, they absolutely stand comparison to the MX5, Boxster and Z4. They are all similar, with the same purpose. However, now an S2000 is an aging car. The newest ones are what, fifteen years old now? The industry has moved on now. While an NA or NB MX5 was a lot less expensive and less powerful the an S2000 new, things have shifted somewhat. A 2.0 ND MX5 today is a very similar car to the S2000, only newer... rear wheel drive, normally aspirated engine, two seats, purpose built convertible. I can assure you that their purpose is very much the same.
The S2000 is only available as a used car, and one to buy very carefully. Selling these when they were new, a lot of them were binned by their owners who found the limits of a powerful RWD car at the same time as discovering they were out of their depth, and often in the ditch. Good luck in going through a 25 year history to find a clean one. Even as a Honda dealer, we were caught out a few times with bent cars that would never track straight again.
Edited by shuthan_b on Friday 17th May 16:00
Edited by shuthan_b on Friday 17th May 16:34
grudas said:
trails said:
Looking as good as ever...have you gone peak JDM and got some red Recaros?
thanks! haha, no, actually trying to fit a wide set of bride zeig 4's in red. Which is proving to be a challenge.. 
I spent ages fitting some Buddy Club P1s, only to discover I couldn't get them close enough to the pedals to feel comfortable. Not a good ending that. The challenge is finding seats narrow enough to not rub on the door trim and still open the cubby hole...Good luck, and look forward to the photos
shuthan_b said:
I understand perfectly thanks, it’s great you have driven them years and years ago, the fact you are comparing a new MX-5 to a 20+ Year old S2000 speaks volumes, As an owner of an S2000, I can speak on my views and each comment in this topic I have posted I stand by. I work in the motor trade myself and the current MX-5 you speak off, I don’t really rate as it lacks the drama/theatre and there is a reason people hanker over the older cars than the new, they feel connected to the car and the drive is more fun. You may feel an MX-5 has finally caught up with the new generation, though I disagree but I feel they are an affordable decent car for those who want open top thrills, I wouldn’t have one in my garage. Having owned other performance cars, I feel I can defend and support an S2000 which is my clear favourite. As for your comment on people ditching their S2000s, well a good geo and tyres will do it good, I can also assure there are plenty of well looked after examples demanding good prices at the moment. Wouldn’t tarnish all with the same brush. Doesn’t matter about the age as these cars are doing insane mileages and used daily to this day, something you can’t say to the new cars that come out these days. Anyway, your views are different to mine, let’s leave it at that.
You're very clearly passionate about the S2000, I love them too! I haven't owned one, but I have driven one a few times - my brother's. When he got it I got jealous of the top down summer fun so I bought an MX5 NC 2.0. It had a better manifold, the bilstein suspension & LSD, it was nice! I felt that the driving position was better, and it probably gave 70% of the experience of the S2000. I'm sure a BBR Super 200 would be a much closer comparison.Edited by shuthan_b on Friday 17th May 16:00
Yes the S2000 is a step up, especially in the engine department but it's not an other worldly comparison.. The way you're 'defending' it is a bit OTT - no one's p#ssed on your car!
MervJnr said:
shuthan_b said:
I understand perfectly thanks, it’s great you have driven them years and years ago, the fact you are comparing a new MX-5 to a 20+ Year old S2000 speaks volumes, As an owner of an S2000, I can speak on my views and each comment in this topic I have posted I stand by. I work in the motor trade myself and the current MX-5 you speak off, I don’t really rate as it lacks the drama/theatre and there is a reason people hanker over the older cars than the new, they feel connected to the car and the drive is more fun. You may feel an MX-5 has finally caught up with the new generation, though I disagree but I feel they are an affordable decent car for those who want open top thrills, I wouldn’t have one in my garage. Having owned other performance cars, I feel I can defend and support an S2000 which is my clear favourite. As for your comment on people ditching their S2000s, well a good geo and tyres will do it good, I can also assure there are plenty of well looked after examples demanding good prices at the moment. Wouldn’t tarnish all with the same brush. Doesn’t matter about the age as these cars are doing insane mileages and used daily to this day, something you can’t say to the new cars that come out these days. Anyway, your views are different to mine, let’s leave it at that.
You're very clearly passionate about the S2000, I love them too! I haven't owned one, but I have driven one a few times - my brother's. When he got it I got jealous of the top down summer fun so I bought an MX5 NC 2.0. It had a better manifold, the bilstein suspension & LSD, it was nice! I felt that the driving position was better, and it probably gave 70% of the experience of the S2000. I'm sure a BBR Super 200 would be a much closer comparison.Edited by shuthan_b on Friday 17th May 16:00
Yes the S2000 is a step up, especially in the engine department but it's not an other worldly comparison.. The way you're 'defending' it is a bit OTT - no one's p#ssed on your car!
havoc said:
chirurgus said:
Only 2/3 of the torque of a Z4M beyond 6000rpm, so even more frustrating for Lee!
Gear ratios are our friend here (Exige and S2000) - 18.6mph per 1,000rpm in top for the S2000, c.25.2mph for the Z4M. (And I figure the Exige would be pretty similar to the S2000). So that should give ~90% of the wheel-torque of the Z4M.But quite a few owners have fitted a lower ratio diff to address that, although it probably means the Traction light would be flashing more!
If only there had been an S2000 Coupe I might have been sorely tempted but I've never had, and never wanted, a convertible of any sort.
I tried to like them. Had a DC2 and NSX, the S2K is just so flawed it's annoying. By the time you have put on various braces, changed dampers etc you may as well buy Elise, Boxster, Exige...It's a shame but Honda really missed the brief IMO. Still looks fresh, but more of a curiosity than a drivers car tbh.
I know lists are lists and everything is a matter of opinion but I found it interesting that the S2000 didn't get anywhere near the EVO Magazine 'Top 100 Drivers Cars of All Time' which was published in the car's hey day. Not all exotica and included the NSX and Integra Type R from the Honda perspective but has also got supposedly 'lesser' cars such as the MX-5 and 2 versions of MR2.
Fady said:
I know lists are lists and everything is a matter of opinion but I found it interesting that the S2000 didn't get anywhere near the EVO Magazine 'Top 100 Drivers Cars of All Time' which was published in the car's hey day.
Um, I think the S2000 not so long ago made Evo's 'dud' column. Verdict was great drivetrain, but far too many flaws: very rubbish early EPAS steering, poor perched on the car standard driving position, and unresolved handling.I've seen a few S2000s that look like they handle well, so perhaps the last point is setup/geo/tyre dependent. Would still like to try one myself
carlo996 said:
I tried to like them. Had a DC2 and NSX, the S2K is just so flawed it's annoying. By the time you have put on various braces, changed dampers etc you may as well buy Elise, Boxster, Exige...It's a shame but Honda really missed the brief IMO. Still looks fresh, but more of a curiosity than a drivers car tbh.
...and yet the Japanese car community is all about modification, about tweaking the car to your own tastes.I agree that a badly set-up one isn't that fun to drive hard*, but a well set-up one with front bracing (hardly a difficult or expensive mod) is a lot of fun, only upset by poor-quality roads at higher speeds (where the dampers do run out of answers), but there's a LOT of performance cars that can be levelled at.
Drop the caster right down and the steering loses some unnecessary weight and gains some feel - a free 'tweak' if you're getting the geometry checked. It'll never be a Boxster or Elise, but they're stand out cars in that regard, and the steering IS quick and precise - read any modern evo review and that's the only praise modern steering gets unless it's a 911.
Seats - given how cosy the cabin is, that's hardly a deal-breaker either. And no-one complains about the simiarly under-bolstered seats in the NB MX5 or the 986 Boxster.
Brakes - more than adequate for road work. Certainly better than the E46 M3's brakes, which evo** have just lauded as an icon, glossing over seat position, brakes, steering and gearchange because they love the chassis and engine.
...and there's nothing else with the car I'd change.
The S2000 suffered from having a very playful but also rather 'soft' car underneath it - the MX5, a VERY well resolved car (the Boxster) above it, and the legend that is the Elise off to the leftfield - possibly the toughest market seen since the DC2, GTi-6 and Clio 172 towered over the hot hatch market.
And no, I'll agree it's not a 5-star car, even with the tweaks mentioned above. But it really doesn't deserve the dismissal that many on here and in the press throw at it - it got a bad rep on day-1 due to dry-weather tyres and some aggressive geometry, and some people haven't seen any further than that. When in reality it got a lot of things right and most of the rest can be reasonably easily fixed.
* Note that evo have gone back to the maligned Mk1 Focus RS and said there are good ones and bad ones, but not the S2000. Double standards?!?
** evo moan about the slow steering and say swapping the steering rack out on the non-CS cars is a straightforward mod. f
k's sake - if swapping the steering rack out is "straightforward" on the M3, then bracing, dampers (optional) and geometry on the S2000 is bloody child's play. And you might even have change to put in some new seats...I spent years longing for one of these and promised myself this year I’d buy one for under £10k. I wanted to replace my Z4 which underwhelmed me, so set about looking at a few options, Porsche Boxster, Nissan 350Z HR and a Lotus Elise. Right off the bat, the Lotus could’ve shattered my back. It would be great on a track, but for every day driving, forget it. The 350Z had a soundtrack to die for, (I tested 2) but felt really heavy when pushed around the B roads. The Porsche Boxster drove really well. You can push it hard and it’s surefooted with brilliant handling. However, it’s not really dynamic. It can make any bad driver look good on the road, which is probably why there are so many about and the shopping trolley of the WAGs. I also had an issue with the fact that it’s the bottom end of the Porsche lineup. That may speak of snobbery, but it still costs astronomical Porsche money to maintain. So that brought me to the Honda.
I looked for about 4 months and drove about 5. I eventually found a nice one with a long time owner, good history and a private car specific number plate. With only the smallest bubble on the rear drivers side wing which revealed nothing underneath I drove it home.
These cars benefit from good tyres and proper alignment set up and if you’re in the VTEC zone, oil.
There’s a saying that you should never meet your hero, but here that’s not the case. These cars make you work for the rewards. It’s not an easy car to drive when you want to exploit that VTEC because there’s always a car in front. In traffic it’s a normal sports car in the vein of an MX5. There’s no hint of what’s lurking under the bonnet. But when the B road is clear drop it down into 3rd and plant your foot that’s when the monster appears. It sounds like a swarm of angry wasps. The suspension feels tight and the turn-in precise. You feel what the car is doing in the seat of your pants. The power displayed in numbers clearly shows you that if you’re not careful, you’ll either lose your licence or you’ll plough into a hedge (or both). Take a sweeping bend onto a motorway and you’re probably the fastest car by the time you join it.
It’s a very simple set up. No traction control, no driver aids of any sort. You drive it like you stole it then put it back in the garage and think, “How the f**k did that happen.
I looked for about 4 months and drove about 5. I eventually found a nice one with a long time owner, good history and a private car specific number plate. With only the smallest bubble on the rear drivers side wing which revealed nothing underneath I drove it home.
These cars benefit from good tyres and proper alignment set up and if you’re in the VTEC zone, oil.
There’s a saying that you should never meet your hero, but here that’s not the case. These cars make you work for the rewards. It’s not an easy car to drive when you want to exploit that VTEC because there’s always a car in front. In traffic it’s a normal sports car in the vein of an MX5. There’s no hint of what’s lurking under the bonnet. But when the B road is clear drop it down into 3rd and plant your foot that’s when the monster appears. It sounds like a swarm of angry wasps. The suspension feels tight and the turn-in precise. You feel what the car is doing in the seat of your pants. The power displayed in numbers clearly shows you that if you’re not careful, you’ll either lose your licence or you’ll plough into a hedge (or both). Take a sweeping bend onto a motorway and you’re probably the fastest car by the time you join it.
It’s a very simple set up. No traction control, no driver aids of any sort. You drive it like you stole it then put it back in the garage and think, “How the f**k did that happen.
havoc said:
...and yet the Japanese car community is all about modification, about tweaking the car to your own tastes.
I agree that a badly set-up one isn't that fun to drive hard*, but a well set-up one with front bracing (hardly a difficult or expensive mod) is a lot of fun, only upset by poor-quality roads at higher speeds (where the dampers do run out of answers), but there's a LOT of performance cars that can be levelled at.
Drop the caster right down and the steering loses some unnecessary weight and gains some feel - a free 'tweak' if you're getting the geometry checked. It'll never be a Boxster or Elise, but they're stand out cars in that regard, and the steering IS quick and precise - read any modern evo review and that's the only praise modern steering gets unless it's a 911.
Seats - given how cosy the cabin is, that's hardly a deal-breaker either. And no-one complains about the simiarly under-bolstered seats in the NB MX5 or the 986 Boxster.
Brakes - more than adequate for road work. Certainly better than the E46 M3's brakes, which evo** have just lauded as an icon, glossing over seat position, brakes, steering and gearchange because they love the chassis and engine.
...and there's nothing else with the car I'd change.
The S2000 suffered from having a very playful but also rather 'soft' car underneath it - the MX5, a VERY well resolved car (the Boxster) above it, and the legend that is the Elise off to the leftfield - possibly the toughest market seen since the DC2, GTi-6 and Clio 172 towered over the hot hatch market.
And no, I'll agree it's not a 5-star car, even with the tweaks mentioned above. But it really doesn't deserve the dismissal that many on here and in the press throw at it - it got a bad rep on day-1 due to dry-weather tyres and some aggressive geometry, and some people haven't seen any further than that. When in reality it got a lot of things right and most of the rest can be reasonably easily fixed.
* Note that evo have gone back to the maligned Mk1 Focus RS and said there are good ones and bad ones, but not the S2000. Double standards?!?
** evo moan about the slow steering and say swapping the steering rack out on the non-CS cars is a straightforward mod. fk's sake - if swapping the steering rack out is "straightforward" on the M3, then bracing, dampers (optional) and geometry on the S2000 is bloody child's play. And you might even have change to put in some new seats...
I was part of the Honda ‘thing’ for years. I’d take the NSX probably over all of them, but the DC2 had a lot of charm. Modified cars are so hit and miss. So many have fart cans and/or terrible Japanese dampers which make no sense in the UK. The S2K was a great idea, looks have aged well and it had a niche between Boxster and Elise which it failed to occupy ime. Maybe if Honda had spent a bit more time on the chassis and fitted higher quality dampers, maybe more of a Type R, it would have been more to my liking. Modern tyres have calmed a lot of the issues I am sure, but it never felt like it was something I could enjoy. Gearbox remains the best I have ever used in anything, an absolute joy. I agree that a badly set-up one isn't that fun to drive hard*, but a well set-up one with front bracing (hardly a difficult or expensive mod) is a lot of fun, only upset by poor-quality roads at higher speeds (where the dampers do run out of answers), but there's a LOT of performance cars that can be levelled at.
Drop the caster right down and the steering loses some unnecessary weight and gains some feel - a free 'tweak' if you're getting the geometry checked. It'll never be a Boxster or Elise, but they're stand out cars in that regard, and the steering IS quick and precise - read any modern evo review and that's the only praise modern steering gets unless it's a 911.
Seats - given how cosy the cabin is, that's hardly a deal-breaker either. And no-one complains about the simiarly under-bolstered seats in the NB MX5 or the 986 Boxster.
Brakes - more than adequate for road work. Certainly better than the E46 M3's brakes, which evo** have just lauded as an icon, glossing over seat position, brakes, steering and gearchange because they love the chassis and engine.
...and there's nothing else with the car I'd change.
The S2000 suffered from having a very playful but also rather 'soft' car underneath it - the MX5, a VERY well resolved car (the Boxster) above it, and the legend that is the Elise off to the leftfield - possibly the toughest market seen since the DC2, GTi-6 and Clio 172 towered over the hot hatch market.
And no, I'll agree it's not a 5-star car, even with the tweaks mentioned above. But it really doesn't deserve the dismissal that many on here and in the press throw at it - it got a bad rep on day-1 due to dry-weather tyres and some aggressive geometry, and some people haven't seen any further than that. When in reality it got a lot of things right and most of the rest can be reasonably easily fixed.
* Note that evo have gone back to the maligned Mk1 Focus RS and said there are good ones and bad ones, but not the S2000. Double standards?!?
** evo moan about the slow steering and say swapping the steering rack out on the non-CS cars is a straightforward mod. f
k's sake - if swapping the steering rack out is "straightforward" on the M3, then bracing, dampers (optional) and geometry on the S2000 is bloody child's play. And you might even have change to put in some new seats...I never got the MX5 either tbh, always felt a bit weak to me and at t he time I had the DC2 alongside it and would never take it unless the other half had nicked the Honda. Preferred the AP2 to the AP1, although it could have been the setup, neither are fast, but more torquey than the B18, which isn’t difficult!
Difficult to think what I’d actually buy in that segment. S2K too many annoying things attached to a fabulous powertrain. Boxster, stunningly capable, but a bit dull. MX5, gutless, again a bit dull. Elise, a bit basic, but great…couldn’t live with one all year. Z4M, harsh ride, lovely engine.
PS. Swapping a rack isn’t hard
havoc said:
...and yet the Japanese car community is all about modification, about tweaking the car to your own tastes.
I agree that a badly set-up one isn't that fun to drive hard*, but a well set-up one with front bracing (hardly a difficult or expensive mod) is a lot of fun, only upset by poor-quality roads at higher speeds (where the dampers do run out of answers), but there's a LOT of performance cars that can be levelled at.
Drop the caster right down and the steering loses some unnecessary weight and gains some feel - a free 'tweak' if you're getting the geometry checked. It'll never be a Boxster or Elise, but they're stand out cars in that regard, and the steering IS quick and precise - read any modern evo review and that's the only praise modern steering gets unless it's a 911.
Seats - given how cosy the cabin is, that's hardly a deal-breaker either. And no-one complains about the simiarly under-bolstered seats in the NB MX5 or the 986 Boxster.
Brakes - more than adequate for road work. Certainly better than the E46 M3's brakes, which evo** have just lauded as an icon, glossing over seat position, brakes, steering and gearchange because they love the chassis and engine.
...and there's nothing else with the car I'd change.
The S2000 suffered from having a very playful but also rather 'soft' car underneath it - the MX5, a VERY well resolved car (the Boxster) above it, and the legend that is the Elise off to the leftfield - possibly the toughest market seen since the DC2, GTi-6 and Clio 172 towered over the hot hatch market.
And no, I'll agree it's not a 5-star car, even with the tweaks mentioned above. But it really doesn't deserve the dismissal that many on here and in the press throw at it - it got a bad rep on day-1 due to dry-weather tyres and some aggressive geometry, and some people haven't seen any further than that. When in reality it got a lot of things right and most of the rest can be reasonably easily fixed.
* Note that evo have gone back to the maligned Mk1 Focus RS and said there are good ones and bad ones, but not the S2000. Double standards?!?
** evo moan about the slow steering and say swapping the steering rack out on the non-CS cars is a straightforward mod. fk's sake - if swapping the steering rack out is "straightforward" on the M3, then bracing, dampers (optional) and geometry on the S2000 is bloody child's play. And you might even have change to put in some new seats...
Good post that I agree that a badly set-up one isn't that fun to drive hard*, but a well set-up one with front bracing (hardly a difficult or expensive mod) is a lot of fun, only upset by poor-quality roads at higher speeds (where the dampers do run out of answers), but there's a LOT of performance cars that can be levelled at.
Drop the caster right down and the steering loses some unnecessary weight and gains some feel - a free 'tweak' if you're getting the geometry checked. It'll never be a Boxster or Elise, but they're stand out cars in that regard, and the steering IS quick and precise - read any modern evo review and that's the only praise modern steering gets unless it's a 911.
Seats - given how cosy the cabin is, that's hardly a deal-breaker either. And no-one complains about the simiarly under-bolstered seats in the NB MX5 or the 986 Boxster.
Brakes - more than adequate for road work. Certainly better than the E46 M3's brakes, which evo** have just lauded as an icon, glossing over seat position, brakes, steering and gearchange because they love the chassis and engine.
...and there's nothing else with the car I'd change.
The S2000 suffered from having a very playful but also rather 'soft' car underneath it - the MX5, a VERY well resolved car (the Boxster) above it, and the legend that is the Elise off to the leftfield - possibly the toughest market seen since the DC2, GTi-6 and Clio 172 towered over the hot hatch market.
And no, I'll agree it's not a 5-star car, even with the tweaks mentioned above. But it really doesn't deserve the dismissal that many on here and in the press throw at it - it got a bad rep on day-1 due to dry-weather tyres and some aggressive geometry, and some people haven't seen any further than that. When in reality it got a lot of things right and most of the rest can be reasonably easily fixed.
* Note that evo have gone back to the maligned Mk1 Focus RS and said there are good ones and bad ones, but not the S2000. Double standards?!?
** evo moan about the slow steering and say swapping the steering rack out on the non-CS cars is a straightforward mod. f
k's sake - if swapping the steering rack out is "straightforward" on the M3, then bracing, dampers (optional) and geometry on the S2000 is bloody child's play. And you might even have change to put in some new seats...
carlo996 said:
I was part of the Honda ‘thing’ for years. I’d take the NSX probably over all of them, but the DC2 had a lot of charm. Modified cars are so hit and miss. So many have fart cans and/or terrible Japanese dampers which make no sense in the UK. The S2K was a great idea, looks have aged well and it had a niche between Boxster and Elise which it failed to occupy ime. Maybe if Honda had spent a bit more time on the chassis and fitted higher quality dampers, maybe more of a Type R, it would have been more to my liking. Modern tyres have calmed a lot of the issues I am sure, but it never felt like it was something I could enjoy. Gearbox remains the best I have ever used in anything, an absolute joy.
I never got the MX5 either tbh, always felt a bit weak to me and at t he time I had the DC2 alongside it and would never take it unless the other half had nicked the Honda. Preferred the AP2 to the AP1, although it could have been the setup, neither are fast, but more torquey than the B18, which isn’t difficult!
Difficult to think what I’d actually buy in that segment. S2K too many annoying things attached to a fabulous powertrain. Boxster, stunningly capable, but a bit dull. MX5, gutless, again a bit dull. Elise, a bit basic, but great…couldn’t live with one all year. Z4M, harsh ride, lovely engine.
All very fair points. I never got the MX5 either tbh, always felt a bit weak to me and at t he time I had the DC2 alongside it and would never take it unless the other half had nicked the Honda. Preferred the AP2 to the AP1, although it could have been the setup, neither are fast, but more torquey than the B18, which isn’t difficult!
Difficult to think what I’d actually buy in that segment. S2K too many annoying things attached to a fabulous powertrain. Boxster, stunningly capable, but a bit dull. MX5, gutless, again a bit dull. Elise, a bit basic, but great…couldn’t live with one all year. Z4M, harsh ride, lovely engine.
Owned NSX, DC2 (x2) and S2000, and even lightly 'optimised' (I don't count bracing as a mod), the S2000 was the one I chose to get rid of (albeit that is tough company). That said, we're currently toying between a 987S and an S2000 (+ possibly a higher-power ND MX5, but I'm not sure that will feel comparable) for a weekend toy for Mrs H (plus me when I feel like a change) though - as you say, lot of great cars in that part of the market but each has a clear compromise.
Funny thing is the stock S2000 dampers in good condition are very good. Convertibles generally lack travel on the rear eg. mx5/s2000 due to the hood limiting travel. Honda purposefully fitted remote reservoir Sachs dampers on the back to overcome this.
carlo996 said:
I was part of the Honda ‘thing’ for years. I’d take the NSX probably over all of them, but the DC2 had a lot of charm. Modified cars are so hit and miss. So many have fart cans and/or terrible Japanese dampers which make no sense in the UK. The S2K was a great idea, looks have aged well and it had a niche between Boxster and Elise which it failed to occupy ime. Maybe if Honda had spent a bit more time on the chassis and fitted higher quality dampers, maybe more of a Type R, it would have been more to my liking. Modern tyres have calmed a lot of the issues I am sure, but it never felt like it was something I could enjoy. Gearbox remains the best I have ever used in anything, an absolute joy.
I never got the MX5 either tbh, always felt a bit weak to me and at t he time I had the DC2 alongside it and would never take it unless the other half had nicked the Honda. Preferred the AP2 to the AP1, although it could have been the setup, neither are fast, but more torquey than the B18, which isn’t difficult!
Difficult to think what I’d actually buy in that segment. S2K too many annoying things attached to a fabulous powertrain. Boxster, stunningly capable, but a bit dull. MX5, gutless, again a bit dull. Elise, a bit basic, but great…couldn’t live with one all year. Z4M, harsh ride, lovely engine.
PS. Swapping a rack isn’t hard
I never got the MX5 either tbh, always felt a bit weak to me and at t he time I had the DC2 alongside it and would never take it unless the other half had nicked the Honda. Preferred the AP2 to the AP1, although it could have been the setup, neither are fast, but more torquey than the B18, which isn’t difficult!
Difficult to think what I’d actually buy in that segment. S2K too many annoying things attached to a fabulous powertrain. Boxster, stunningly capable, but a bit dull. MX5, gutless, again a bit dull. Elise, a bit basic, but great…couldn’t live with one all year. Z4M, harsh ride, lovely engine.
PS. Swapping a rack isn’t hard
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