My Rio Yellow Pearl S2000
Discussion
Naddy786 said:
Top choice of car and colour! 
Obviously a bit biased as my old 2004 S2000 was also in this colour.
It's the only colour to have Obviously a bit biased as my old 2004 S2000 was also in this colour. 
.Urban Sports said:
Beautiful car!
Thanks very much! As we previously discussed, I know you're tempted to own one in this colour yourself 
.ambuletz said:
Beautiful looking S2000. I love it in bright colours. Prefer it with the black soft top myself, as it contrasts better with the paint.
Many seem to share the same opinion 
- though don't underestimate the hardtop - especially in the colder months. Great insulator and sound proofing! It stays on typically between Nov and Mar/Apr. Otherwise its soft top time
._________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Another little update - the car enjoyed its 63k service in September, once again at Chiswick Honda, despite it having covered a fraction over 40k... and its just passed its MOT today - once again with flying colours & zero advisories
The car is simply a pleasure to own and drive!
.Great colour OP, really loving it, and you don't see many of these around!
And funnily enough she also hates my S2000, she finds it too raw compared to the MX5 we used to have... Oh well, I should have bought a nice Rio Yellow pearl like yours!
britsportscars said:
Looks awesome! I nearly bought a Yellow GT but my GF said she'd disown me. I've got a Nurby blue one instead! ...In fact she hates my S2000 anyway, so I should have just bought the yellow
That comment is very close to home... I bought an S2000 GT a couple of weeks ago, and even though I prefer the more vibrant colours (yellow and red really do it for me), I ended up with the more conventional moonrock grey following pressure from the wife...And funnily enough she also hates my S2000, she finds it too raw compared to the MX5 we used to have... Oh well, I should have bought a nice Rio Yellow pearl like yours!
oooOLLIooo said:
Great colour OP, really loving it, and you don't see many of these around!
And funnily enough she also hates my S2000, she finds it too raw compared to the MX5 we used to have... Oh well, I should have bought a nice Rio Yellow pearl like yours!
I wanted a yellow one but my wife also said she would disown me, I got a red then black, still think yellow is the most striking!britsportscars said:
Looks awesome! I nearly bought a Yellow GT but my GF said she'd disown me. I've got a Nurby blue one instead! ...In fact she hates my S2000 anyway, so I should have just bought the yellow
That comment is very close to home... I bought an S2000 GT a couple of weeks ago, and even though I prefer the more vibrant colours (yellow and red really do it for me), I ended up with the more conventional moonrock grey following pressure from the wife...And funnily enough she also hates my S2000, she finds it too raw compared to the MX5 we used to have... Oh well, I should have bought a nice Rio Yellow pearl like yours!
Thanks Gaz!
..guys! ...priorities!! 
A little update since the last - with the car sitting on 44.7k miles, the car was treated to it's next scheduled service, the 72k, in July. It went in to Chiswick Honda once again but it was probably the worst customer service I'd experienced to date
.
Yesterday I visited Tom at TGM Sport Racing for a clutch replacement. Quite a surspring task given the car has only covered 45k miles. However the typical symptoms were beginning to show. With a long road trip on the horizon, I didn't want to take any chances, and given I'm going to keep and enjoy the car for several years to come, I saw the opportunity to have the clutch replaced as investment. The pedal had become ultra stiff, this had always been the case, and I suspect the first owner covered most of his miles within the congested London area, always in traffic... and maybe even riding the clutch now and then...
.
Really glad I took the decision to have the work done, the clutch itself was on its last legs - literally!
I'll let the images do the talking:
Here is the new clutch just bolted in. I went for the genuine OEM kit from Honda:
Really glad I had the work completed today - one less thing to worry about and for once it was perfect timing - there was literally nothing left on the outgoing clutch! It goes without saying that the team at TGM worked quickly and efficiently - Tom's knowledge and experience is first class
.
The clutch pedal is now suuuuper light and super smooth - quite unbelievable! The new bite point will take some getting used to but I hope it all leads to many more enjoyable miles.
Finally, a quick photo I managed to take of the S2000 sitting alongside a rather mint looking family member:
britsportscars said:
Looks awesome! I nearly bought a Yellow GT but my GF said she'd disown me.!
oooOLLIooo said:
That comment is very close to home... I bought an S2000 GT a couple of weeks ago, and even though I prefer the more vibrant colours (yellow and red really do it for me), I ended up with the more conventional moonrock grey following pressure from the wife...
Urban Sports said:
I wanted a yellow one but my wife also said she would disown me, I got a red then black, still think yellow is the most striking!
..guys! ...priorities!! A little update since the last - with the car sitting on 44.7k miles, the car was treated to it's next scheduled service, the 72k, in July. It went in to Chiswick Honda once again but it was probably the worst customer service I'd experienced to date
. Yesterday I visited Tom at TGM Sport Racing for a clutch replacement. Quite a surspring task given the car has only covered 45k miles. However the typical symptoms were beginning to show. With a long road trip on the horizon, I didn't want to take any chances, and given I'm going to keep and enjoy the car for several years to come, I saw the opportunity to have the clutch replaced as investment
. The pedal had become ultra stiff, this had always been the case, and I suspect the first owner covered most of his miles within the congested London area, always in traffic... and maybe even riding the clutch now and then....Really glad I took the decision to have the work done, the clutch itself was on its last legs - literally!
I'll let the images do the talking:
Here is the new clutch just bolted in. I went for the genuine OEM kit from Honda:
Really glad I had the work completed today - one less thing to worry about and for once it was perfect timing - there was literally nothing left on the outgoing clutch! It goes without saying that the team at TGM worked quickly and efficiently - Tom's knowledge and experience is first class
.The clutch pedal is now suuuuper light and super smooth - quite unbelievable! The new bite point will take some getting used to but I hope it all leads to many more enjoyable miles
.Finally, a quick photo I managed to take of the S2000 sitting alongside a rather mint looking family member:
Another update - I decided to buy new discs and pads, front and rear and although he pads that came off [OEM Honda set] weren't even that badly worn [see below], I desired a fresh change all round and proceeded to have replacements installed.
One of the main reasons for getting the new clutch and brakes installed was to lessen any worries ahead of a roadtrip.
Well, that roadtrip has now taken place and I'm really glad to say both new components performed really well!
The roadtrip consisted of, essentially, a tour of France...The general order of destinations are as follows:
Calais > Reims > Dijon > Lyon > Grenoble > Route Napoléon > Grasse > Juan-Les-Pin/Antibes/Nice > Monaco > Millau > Vierzon > Rouen > Calais.
We spent 10 days away and 7 of those on the road. 2 nights worth of stop-over to get down to the South coast and 2 nights again to come up North and hit Dover. Granted, some people reach the Riviera within a day's worth of driving but we felt like taking a more relaxed approach, enabling us to enjoy the towns/hotels we'd picked for stopping over at
.
We still aimed to cover between 420km and 500km each day on the road in order to make sufficient progress - and we felt our estimates were spot on when you factor in leaving a hotel at around 1000hrs, having lunch somewhere for around 1hr, ad-hoc exploring and photo spots, wanting to reach your next destination by 1800hrs for dinner, etc. Given it was my first time driving on the other side of the road, that was enough km per day! That said, our first day saw us cover 690km and the final day slog to Calais saw us hit 725km - which was pushing it
.
On to some photos from the trip:
The car was really, really, impressive throughout and inspired confidence whilst taking the awesome French roads, be it long sweeping corners or those more 'technical' and involving such as those found on Route Napoléon (N85) or Grande Corniche (the higher coastal road of the three, into Monaco). There was a tiny scare when on the first stages of the N85 I could smell the clutch quite heavily and got a little worried. A 30-45min stopover at a cafe let it cool and the 'issue' never returned. Perhaps it was the first time the brand new clutch was being asked to work hard! . I think I was being overly paranoid...
Stopovers like the one above were always pretty pleasing; the car would almost certainly draw admiring looks and comments from locals
. Some were really interested in the car, wanting to know what it's capable of, how it's set up. Some had no idea what it was whilst others knew exactly what it was, but had simply never seen one before! We even got asked if it was ok for photos to be taken of the car! 
. The thumbs up on the roads, the nods of acknowledgement - all very surprising and yet very pleasing - serving as a reminder that we were in a pretty special car! 
.
And the obligatory bug shot....
This is what 2,054 miles of French insects look like when splattered across the bumper of an S2000!
Highly recommended!
One of the main reasons for getting the new clutch and brakes installed was to lessen any worries ahead of a roadtrip.
Well, that roadtrip has now taken place and I'm really glad to say both new components performed really well!
The roadtrip consisted of, essentially, a tour of France...The general order of destinations are as follows:
Calais > Reims > Dijon > Lyon > Grenoble > Route Napoléon > Grasse > Juan-Les-Pin/Antibes/Nice > Monaco > Millau > Vierzon > Rouen > Calais.
We spent 10 days away and 7 of those on the road. 2 nights worth of stop-over to get down to the South coast and 2 nights again to come up North and hit Dover. Granted, some people reach the Riviera within a day's worth of driving but we felt like taking a more relaxed approach, enabling us to enjoy the towns/hotels we'd picked for stopping over at
.We still aimed to cover between 420km and 500km each day on the road in order to make sufficient progress - and we felt our estimates were spot on when you factor in leaving a hotel at around 1000hrs, having lunch somewhere for around 1hr, ad-hoc exploring and photo spots, wanting to reach your next destination by 1800hrs for dinner, etc. Given it was my first time driving on the other side of the road, that was enough km per day! That said, our first day saw us cover 690km and the final day slog to Calais saw us hit 725km - which was pushing it
.On to some photos from the trip:
The car was really, really, impressive throughout and inspired confidence whilst taking the awesome French roads, be it long sweeping corners or those more 'technical' and involving such as those found on Route Napoléon (N85)
or Grande Corniche (the higher coastal road of the three, into Monaco). There was a tiny scare when on the first stages of the N85 I could smell the clutch quite heavily and got a little worried. A 30-45min stopover at a cafe let it cool and the 'issue' never returned. Perhaps it was the first time the brand new clutch was being asked to work hard! . I think I was being overly paranoid...Stopovers like the one above were always pretty pleasing; the car would almost certainly draw admiring looks and comments from locals
. Some were really interested in the car, wanting to know what it's capable of, how it's set up. Some had no idea what it was whilst others knew exactly what it was, but had simply never seen one before! We even got asked if it was ok for photos to be taken of the car! . The thumbs up on the roads, the nods of acknowledgement - all very surprising and yet very pleasing - serving as a reminder that we were in a pretty special car! .And the obligatory bug shot....
This is what 2,054 miles of French insects look like when splattered across the bumper of an S2000!
Highly recommended!
Cool road-trip, and some nice photos too!
Did something similar the first year with the NSX, did virtually the same route down, except didn't do the same return journey (still to do Millau), we headed up to Beaune for a couple of days instead. Some great roads down there and a nice part of Europe...well worth the journey, IMHO.
Did something similar the first year with the NSX, did virtually the same route down, except didn't do the same return journey (still to do Millau), we headed up to Beaune for a couple of days instead. Some great roads down there and a nice part of Europe...well worth the journey, IMHO.
Thanks for the comments. I am in total agreement, the S2000's lines and shape have really dated well, the car still looks very 'current' .
I was just going through the roadtrip photos I found some that may be of interest to a car forum - I probably don't need to state the following were seen in Monaco....
Yep, that's a Daytona at Millau!
The S2000 shared the same underground car park....
.I was just going through the roadtrip photos I found some that may be of interest to a car forum - I probably don't need to state the following were seen in Monaco....
Yep, that's a Daytona at Millau!
The S2000 shared the same underground car park....
Back to the Honda...
Yesterday the S2000 was treated to a set of Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 on all 4 corners.
They replaced the trusty set of Bridgestone RE050MZ which I've kept on the car since owning it. Given the positive reviews from pretty much everyone on the Goodyear tyres, I'm looking forward to getting to grips with them.
The hardtop also went on - I don't think we have much of a summer left now! As many say, it really does transform the look of the car....
Finally, the S2000 was also joined by a new 'stablemate' - the wife took delivery of her new car yesterday....
It's quite big in comparison, though will serve as a trusty practical car I'm sure.
Yesterday the S2000 was treated to a set of Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 on all 4 corners
.They replaced the trusty set of Bridgestone RE050MZ which I've kept on the car since owning it. Given the positive reviews from pretty much everyone on the Goodyear tyres, I'm looking forward to getting to grips with them
.The hardtop also went on - I don't think we have much of a summer left now! As many say, it really does transform the look of the car....
Finally, the S2000 was also joined by a new 'stablemate' - the wife took delivery of her new car yesterday....
It's quite big in comparison, though will serve as a trusty practical car I'm sure
.I just love that colour, makes my silverstone one seem so boring!
I'm curious to know how you get on with the goodyears. I've also got them and have mixed feelings. They are very comfortable and have loads of grip (even in the wet). You need to push very hard to break traction on these! However the sidewalls are a lot more flexible than on the bridgestones and you can tell when driving. The car just moves around a bit more on the tyres and that really doesn't help the steering feel (which isn't the best anyway on S2000's!). Mine also seem to develop some flatspots when standing for a day or two, takes a few wobbly miles before it's normal again.
I'm curious to know how you get on with the goodyears. I've also got them and have mixed feelings. They are very comfortable and have loads of grip (even in the wet). You need to push very hard to break traction on these! However the sidewalls are a lot more flexible than on the bridgestones and you can tell when driving. The car just moves around a bit more on the tyres and that really doesn't help the steering feel (which isn't the best anyway on S2000's!). Mine also seem to develop some flatspots when standing for a day or two, takes a few wobbly miles before it's normal again.
Jurgen said:
I just love that colour, makes my silverstone one seem so boring!
I'm curious to know how you get on with the goodyears. I've also got them and have mixed feelings. They are very comfortable and have loads of grip (even in the wet). You need to push very hard to break traction on these! However the sidewalls are a lot more flexible than on the bridgestones and you can tell when driving. The car just moves around a bit more on the tyres and that really doesn't help the steering feel (which isn't the best anyway on S2000's!). Mine also seem to develop some flatspots when standing for a day or two, takes a few wobbly miles before it's normal again.
Jurgen - did you get the Asym2 normal version or the XL version? (Extra Load). I'm curious to know how you get on with the goodyears. I've also got them and have mixed feelings. They are very comfortable and have loads of grip (even in the wet). You need to push very hard to break traction on these! However the sidewalls are a lot more flexible than on the bridgestones and you can tell when driving. The car just moves around a bit more on the tyres and that really doesn't help the steering feel (which isn't the best anyway on S2000's!). Mine also seem to develop some flatspots when standing for a day or two, takes a few wobbly miles before it's normal again.
There is only about £1 difference between the two, but the XL version is designed for heavier cars so has a stiffer sidewall - I went for the XL and the sidewalls are very stiff.
Same question to you I guess Chet?
Also - I totally agree about the S2000 dating really well. The facelift one does anyway, I think the pre-facelift has dated quite badly, it's too angular looking with those bumpers.
Yes mine are also the XL ones. I'm not saying they're bad tyres, far from it! But when they're cold the turn-in and feel are great, once the tyres are properly warmed up (and especially in hot weather) they start to feel a bit soft (especially around the steering center position and on quick direction changes). If you wiggle the wheel left to right on a straight road quickly you can feel it takes moment for the tyres to settle again. They do grip incredibly well though!
The standard tyres on the pre-facelift (SO2's) and the ones on the facelift models (RE050 MZ's) have very stiff and straight sidewalls. Even more so then the standard versions of these tyres (the RE050A's are quite different). In my opinion the S2000 really needs tyres like that to perform the best, but I suppose it also depends on how you use the car.
Mine is a pre-facelift one on the later 17" wheels and recently fitted with some low-mileage dampers and eibach springs. I agree it looks a lot more dated, but the wheels help a lot. Quick piccy of mine :-)
The standard tyres on the pre-facelift (SO2's) and the ones on the facelift models (RE050 MZ's) have very stiff and straight sidewalls. Even more so then the standard versions of these tyres (the RE050A's are quite different). In my opinion the S2000 really needs tyres like that to perform the best, but I suppose it also depends on how you use the car.
Mine is a pre-facelift one on the later 17" wheels and recently fitted with some low-mileage dampers and eibach springs. I agree it looks a lot more dated, but the wheels help a lot. Quick piccy of mine :-)
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