Honda S2000

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Discussion

russy01

Original Poster:

4,712 posts

187 months

Saturday 30th March 2013
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RenOHH said:
The sad thing about that insurance quote is it has my mum and my girlfriend on it as named drivers. I'm 24, 6.5 years with a full licence and I have 3 years NCB; yet its still st loads to insure! With me as the only driver it's somewhere around £1300.

9k in 3rd was quite a rush, I think it was 85-90? That was quite naughty. I asked the dealer if it was okay before I did it wink
Don't worry about it, I have my parents and OH on the policy, makes a substantial difference. I'm 25 now and looking to pay £600ish to renew in June.

Yup your right. Rough speeds are - 1st is about 45, 2nd is 60, 3rd is 90 and 4th is 110-115.


Riknos

4,700 posts

210 months

Monday 1st April 2013
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At 26, with 9 years driving experience, 8 years NCB and my parents as named driver, I can't get the insurance lower than £750, so your quotes are pretty good!

TommyBuoy

1,269 posts

173 months

Tuesday 2nd April 2013
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Insurance is the killer (as well as tax on later cars).

26 - 8 years driving, 6 year ncb. limited business use also and it's a shade over £800 with just me on the policy.

Definately worth checking out SKY insurance (not the TV guys) - they've been the cheapest for me 2 years now.

anonymous-user

60 months

Sunday 14th July 2013
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Not many GTs at the moment (in the price range I'm looking at) compared to 4 weeks ago. I am now in a position to buy, but there are none around!

I went to a dealer this morning and the car was in a state that I would not expect a dealer to offer a car in. Very disappointed to walk away from a car that was fundamentally decent, but required some work which the dealer should address IMO instead of just reducing it. The paint has been ruined by a previous owner who has dabbed a touch up pen over all the stone chips (even the small ones) with the wrong colour pen. Small and shallow chips that I would accept on a 7 year old car have been turned into enormous blobs of paint frown The front bumper, drivers door and boot all need paint (bumper needs a full respray).

Riknos

4,700 posts

210 months

Tuesday 16th July 2013
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RenOHH said:
Not many GTs at the moment (in the price range I'm looking at) compared to 4 weeks ago. I am now in a position to buy, but there are none around!

I went to a dealer this morning and the car was in a state that I would not expect a dealer to offer a car in. Very disappointed to walk away from a car that was fundamentally decent, but required some work which the dealer should address IMO instead of just reducing it. The paint has been ruined by a previous owner who has dabbed a touch up pen over all the stone chips (even the small ones) with the wrong colour pen. Small and shallow chips that I would accept on a 7 year old car have been turned into enormous blobs of paint frown The front bumper, drivers door and boot all need paint (bumper needs a full respray).
Yeah I would run away from that dealer!

The paint is thin on Hondas, and with the S2000 design expect every car to have a peppered front bumper, unless it's had a spray. The doors and boot etc shouldn't need it!

I'm on my 3rd convertible now, and never had a hard top, never needed one... No garage and daily driver too.

Kozy

3,169 posts

224 months

Tuesday 16th July 2013
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Riknos said:
I'm on my 3rd convertible now, and never had a hard top, never needed one... No garage and daily driver too.
Nobody needs a hardtop, but it IS nice in the winter.

russy01

Original Poster:

4,712 posts

187 months

Tuesday 16th July 2013
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Hardly ever use my top. I think its a waste of time.

1 - It rattles and creaks which drives me nuts
2 - Its a 2 man job, several times when alone and the suns popped out I haven't been able to take it off.
3 - Its big. If its not on your car it takes up a fair amount of space.

I wanted one and made sure I got one when buying my car, however I have owned my S2000 for about 800days and I have probably had the hard top on for 10 of them at a push.

FamousAfroJay

70 posts

141 months

Tuesday 16th July 2013
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Hi all,

I had a lovely test drive in an 04 S2000 in Bournemouth today and in the sun it was the best car i have ever driven. I had the car out for over an hour by myself and the dealer was cool with it. I did stick some petrol in there as a thanks. I intend to buy the car when im back from holiday in September.

Things i loved,

The pointability of the steering and well set up suspension. Perfect balance of comfort/stiffness
The VTEC...YO
70mph and very little buffeting with the roof down.
How quiet the wind noise is with the roof up.
The looks from other motorists. Even got thumbs up from a bunch of Porsche drivers smile
Its size on the road making it very easy to thread at speed
Traction in 1st and 2nd
Gear change
Dash layout
stereo

Things i wasnt to keen on.

Small boot.
Kangerooed and stalled a couple of times in stop start traffic. Probably more due to me not quite getting the hang of the clutch early on but the idle was on a bit of a hunt.

All in all tho, a perfect car for what i want and one i can see myself keeping for a couple of years.

Bring on September

russy01

Original Poster:

4,712 posts

187 months

Tuesday 16th July 2013
quotequote all
Don't worry about the boot. You can remove part of the floor which holds the tools (and dump them in the spare wheel) which frees up a huge space in the boot.

I can't find a good picture, but look at this one - http://greatcarsgreatprices.files.wordpress.com/20...
However it goes deeper than this pic shows.

We get all this in the boot fairly easily!






SonicHedgeHog

2,562 posts

188 months

Thursday 18th July 2013
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russy01 said:
We get all this in the boot fairly easily!

You put your misses in the boot? I think that was unnecessary.

JFReturns

3,710 posts

177 months

Thursday 18th July 2013
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Mine used to be a bit juddery in traffic sometimes. Also, the hardtop was a massive waste of space - rattly, difficult to remove, hard to store. I only ever used mine when I needed the space in the garage and the squeeks drove me mad.

havoc

30,784 posts

241 months

Thursday 18th July 2013
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Hardtop squeaks/rattles due to either worn striker-plates or dry seals.

As a heath-robinson fix I fitted some card between the hook-shaft and the striker plate, which did the job, but the approved fix is to replace the striker plates (not expensive).

Mine stayed on from Dec to Feb, typically - yes I missed out on a few nice winter morning runs with the roof down, but the much better rear viz and the quieter cabin (esp. in the rain) more than made up for that. It also meant the hard-top didn't get iced-up at all...

If I had another S2000, I'd probably look for a GT - certainly if it was to be a daily/regular driver.

davidsc

325 posts

158 months

Friday 19th July 2013
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I have little bits of clear tube on the hook latches and it completely stopped all rattles.

The only rattle I have is the seats/seatbelt arrangement!!

mikiesb

89 posts

158 months

Monday 22nd July 2013
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I am a big honda fan - had vti's and ATR and really wanted the s2000 and had the money to do it.. but couldn't justify it at the time and went with ATR instead.

Black with red leather - stunning !, or the dark navy blue and the

dash is very "knight rider" - engine note almost as good as a tvr !

Great car, under-rated, not practical for everyday use imo.

There was suspension revision on the later models I think about 05/06 that made it "step out less" and handle better, but you still need to know how to drive the car - very powerful rear wheel drive car - and when I drove I was careful "nailing it" round bends - eased the power in and out.

Insurance is high because a lot these cars have been in accidents due to driver error/over confidence.

Never owned one but borrowed one for four days.. would have one but small boot and only 2 seater and drinks petrol... have something more practical for now..

russy01

Original Poster:

4,712 posts

187 months

Monday 22nd July 2013
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mikiesb said:
I am a big honda fan - had vti's and ATR and really wanted the s2000 and had the money to do it.. but couldn't justify it at the time and went with ATR instead.

Black with red leather - stunning !, or the dark navy blue and the

dash is very "knight rider" - engine note almost as good as a tvr !

Great car, under-rated, not practical for everyday use imo.

There was suspension revision on the later models I think about 05/06 that made it "step out less" and handle better, but you still need to know how to drive the car - very powerful rear wheel drive car - and when I drove I was careful "nailing it" round bends - eased the power in and out.

Insurance is high because a lot these cars have been in accidents due to driver error/over confidence.

Never owned one but borrowed one for four days.. would have one but small boot and only 2 seater and drinks petrol... have something more practical for now..
Agree with what you say.

Although for the type of car I'd say fuel consumption is very good - compare it to a 350z.

I use mine daily and quite honestly I think it's fairly good day to day - but again in sports car terms.

Just bean'd it back from the gym with the roof down - awesome car. It sounds fantastic! Don't think you can ever get bored of that hard edged sound at 8-8500 rpm.

Everytime I decide to look for a new car I go for a good drive in the s2000 and fall back in love for a few more weeks!!

mikiesb

89 posts

158 months

Monday 22nd July 2013
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good 2 c some honest feedback from a s2000 owner - thanks .

I was considering the nissan 350z tbh as recently went out in a chipped up nissan gt-r 550bhp beast and it felt safe as house's whilst being nailed by my friend - 911's m3's all stepped a side on our trip up north from london and we had great admiring looks - that car is the nuts and I only have felt as much power/and as safe (sure footed etc) as that in a lambo murch.

not a fan of rwd tbh nowadays what with unpredictable weather conditions here in the uk - but the s2000 is a car that a true enthusiast knows about - it's nice not to own a tt or m3 as they are more common.

now i am family man mr sensible hat is on !

krunchkin

2,209 posts

147 months

Monday 22nd July 2013
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Sad thing is that when you get a non-modified one out on a track against some proper fast cars - M3s, Nobles, TVRs etc - it feels really weedy. frown

russy01

Original Poster:

4,712 posts

187 months

Monday 22nd July 2013
quotequote all
mikiesb said:
good 2 c some honest feedback from a s2000 owner - thanks .

I was considering the nissan 350z tbh as recently went out in a chipped up nissan gt-r 550bhp beast and it felt safe as house's whilst being nailed by my friend - 911's m3's all stepped a side on our trip up north from london and we had great admiring looks - that car is the nuts and I only have felt as much power/and as safe (sure footed etc) as that in a lambo murch.

not a fan of rwd tbh nowadays what with unpredictable weather conditions here in the uk - but the s2000 is a car that a true enthusiast knows about - it's nice not to own a tt or m3 as they are more common.

now i am family man mr sensible hat is on !
I was set on a 350z, I drove 3 examples trying to find the right one. I then got offered a test drive in a S2000 - that was it. An S2000 was on the drive and I have never looked back. I have driven a 350z whilst owning the S2000 and it felt like a boat in comparison - much more GT and much less exciting (all IMO).

S2000 can be hardwork and you will have chaps in FWD hatches push you a long from time to time as they can just push and push. BUT how fast do you want to go? I agree that 4WD is the way forward if you just want to get places as fast as you can all the time, but I want my driving to improve and be rewarded for it - I don't want the car doing all the hard work.

Great car, but you have to understand them and you have to want one. Otherwise you'll end up joining the knobs who complain about it having no torque or something.

russy01

Original Poster:

4,712 posts

187 months

Monday 22nd July 2013
quotequote all
krunchkin said:
Sad thing is that when you get a non-modified one out on a track against some proper fast cars - M3s, Nobles, TVRs etc - it feels really weedy. frown
Erm why would you expect otherwise. Of course it's going to feel weedy compared to cars 100hp more!!

Compare it to a 350z, RX8, Z4 3.0i or a Boxster and it will feel at home!

krunchkin

2,209 posts

147 months

Monday 22nd July 2013
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yeh I know. Just had it brought home to me on Track Day on saturday. Its a fast car and a fun car, but at the end of the day its just a whizzy 4 pot. frown