Honda S2000

[russy01]

I started this thread 2.5years ago just before buying my S2000 - I was craving S2000 talk as I could hardly sleep I was so excited!!!

Anyway after a fantastic 2years and 22,000 miles my beloved S2000 has gone up for sale this week and a brand new M135i will be on the drive next week (need something a bit more practical)

I can happily say that the S2000 is easily the best car I have owned. Its taken everything in its stride and been solid - its also cost me very little (as far as sports cars go!)

I fully recommend the S2000 to anybody, its a fantastic motor.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/h...

[russy01]

krunchkin said:

russy01 said:

I started this thread 2.5years ago just before buying my S2000 - I was craving S2000 talk as I could hardly sleep I was so excited!!!

Anyway after a fantastic 2years and 22,000 miles my beloved S2000 has gone up for sale this week and a brand new M135i will be on the drive next week (need something a bit more practical)

I can happily say that the S2000 is easily the best car I have owned. Its taken everything in its stride and been solid - its also cost me very little (as far as sports cars go!)

I fully recommend the S2000 to anybody, its a fantastic motor.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/h...

someone should snap that up off you. Lovely looking well cared for model at a good price.

Exactly! It's priced well as quite frankly I don't want to be paying insurance etc on both cars come next week. Plus I'd feel like I was cheating on the S2000 if I had another lady on the drive aswell!!

[russy01]

As some of you have seen a page earlier my S2000 is currently for sell and I have taken the plunge on a M135i which arrived last week!

Anyway all this talk of S2000 made me go and take the S2000 out last night (storing it at the parents as its tricky having 3 cars on our drive).

Anyway considering I have run this S2000 for the last 2.5years and 22000 miles it felt completely alien just 1 week in with the M135i. Here are some of the good and bad points compared to the new motor.

Positives for the S2000

Steering feels better, more weight and quicker rack.
Thinner more comfortable steering wheel.
Easier to read dash (speedo etc).
Roof comes off!!!!
Louder - not a fair comparison as the M135i isnt a sports car as such. But the M135i is very muted in comparison.
Gearbox is still a treat.
Feels naughty taking it round to 9k
Looks pretty being the typical 2 seater sports car shape.

Positives for the M135i

Sheer Grunt - its to be expected with so much more power and torque, but the M135i is a lot quicker in every gear.
Much comfier - feels like your sat in the car where the S2000 feels like you are sat on it.
Much more stable - again type of car makes the difference. But the S2000 felt quite skittish in comparison
Gearbox - this is bitter sweet as the gearbox is completely different being the 8spd auto, but its still very good at its job
Whilst the car has 8 ratios and only a 7k redline I thought it would be bang, bang, bang through the gears. However I am surprised and happy that 4th feels just like 3rd in the S2000 - it feels like it wants to go on forever and feels naughty as you get towards the redline.
Accurate steering - whilst the wheel might be a bit chunky and the feel a bit numb its certainly pointy and accurate.

So overall they are two completely different cars, however I am happy with the change. There will be times where I miss the roof down, but times change and an 2 seater doesn't fit the bill for now. For now I can sit in comfort with my fancy stereo on and when I feel like it press sport and travel in warp speed - I just hope the novelty doesn't wear off too soon.

Here are a couple pictures.

Whipping around Dartmoor on Friday -





With its little brother

[russy01]

Gaz. said:

Which set of keys would you grab first if you were keeping both?

I wonder if mine has had modified seat rails as I feel like I wear the S2000 rather than sit on it (I felt like that in a Golf GTI)

At the moment I would grab the BMW for any journey. Although the same question in 6months would be interesting.

I have always found you feel propped up in the S, compared to other sports cars which wrap around you - so maybe you have got different rails - or you're just a very small man

[russy01]

krunchkin said:

russy01 said:

Gaz. said:

Which set of keys would you grab first if you were keeping both?

I wonder if mine has had modified seat rails as I feel like I wear the S2000 rather than sit on it (I felt like that in a Golf GTI)

At the moment I would grab the BMW for any journey. Although the same question in 6months would be interesting.

I have always found you feel propped up in the S, compared to other sports cars which wrap around you - so maybe you have got different rails - or you're just a very small man

is that S of yours still not sold? I'm surprised. I've told a mate at work he should snap it up!

I've been waiting for the V5 to come back before it can leave me. As soon as its back I'm sure it will be gona fairly quick.

[russy01]

havoc said:

Ref S2000 driving position - 5'10" and felt it was pretty good. Similar to the NSX in that your head is further-above the window-line than in a lot of modern cars...but note the visibility benefits (both are really easy cars to place on the road AND to park, without any sensors!), and note that in neither car does the driving position feel wrong (pedals/wheel/stick placement). For me, anyway...


S2000/M135i - interesting - thought that would be a real driver's car, but your comparison highlights the things that to me make an involving car (steering, gearbox, ability to rev, 'willing' chassis rather than tons of grip) sound more present in the S2000...
...are modern cars really ALL becoming THAT sanitised???

The S2000 has gone!!!! I watched my car leave me on Sunday, it was a sad moment. Great couple years motoring.

Back to our comparison. I have thought more about this (and driven many more miles) and I think I might be being a little harsh on the M135i. Whilst I agree with your points above of it being a bit "sanitised", I think my points are a bit exaggerated as I have been comparing it to a well sorted 2 seater sports car - which is always going to feel more involving etc. So bearing this in mind and ignoring the numb steering it performs well above similar cars in its class in the driving aspects. It may lose involvement to the S2000 in terms of the changing gears and rev matching, but it gains involvement in other areas. e.g It has so much more power than the S2000 you have to be much more careful with feeding the power in as its happy to spin the wheels up in a few gears - which makes things quite exciting in the wet!

At the end of last week I went out in two other hot hatches which specced up are only 10-20% less expensive. This is when the M135i showed its true colours - against these cars it felt on another level in pretty much all aspects. But to be fair they all felt big and numb compared to an S2000 or a smaller hot hatch of yesteryear! So yes I think you are right, cars are becoming much more sanitised - but manufacturers are businesses and have to cater for the majority.

Anyway back to S2000 talk!

[russy01]

krunchkin said:

what did you let go for, out of interest?

£7800.

[russy01]

krunchkin said:

I'm really not sure these are the kind of evenings to be learning how to push an s2000 to the limits, no matter how good a driver you think you are.

I don't want to be a spoil sport and sound like your father, But I slightly agree with Krunchkin. I did 35k in my S2000 in 2years and still the S2000 surprised me on occasion. Just as you think you had tamed it and had it under control it would step out in the most awesome fashion and teach you who was boss again!!

Good little car, but certainly a 7/10ths car for the road.

[russy01]

JRM said:

torqueofthedevil said:

Been out in it tonight - quality motor

Edited by torqueofthedevil on Friday 6th December 06:12

Congrats on a great purchase.

Regarding your question on Indys, don't discount Honda main dealers they are very good, and I've never felt they were expensive. I think I had 3 years of servicing in one period and it was £180 a go

Join s2kuk forum for a 10% discount card off at some dealers. My local honoured it and saved me a fair bit of cash. Check the garage support the card before you book, but only show the card when you go to pay. They have been known to jack the price up in advance to counter the discount!

[russy01]

Riknos said:

russy01 said:

krunchkin said:

I'm really not sure these are the kind of evenings to be learning how to push an s2000 to the limits, no matter how good a driver you think you are.

I don't want to be a spoil sport and sound like your father, But I slightly agree with Krunchkin. I did 35k in my S2000 in 2years and still the S2000 surprised me on occasion. Just as you think you had tamed it and had it under control it would step out in the most awesome fashion and teach you who was boss again!!

Good little car, but certainly a 7/10ths car for the road.

I agree with this.

I'm learning that on the greasy roads we have at this time of year, it's easy to get the back end to lose traction, even just accelerating from 3k in 2nd around a slight bend I managed to get the back end to squirm, and I was only using about 50% throttle. This is on decent, new-ish tyres with alignment sorted etc!

Its tricky, my M135i will wheelspin on demand as its got so much more grunt and silly summer tyres (in the wet it will spin 3rd and 4th at about 50mph). But its so predictable and easy to control you end up doing it for fun.
My S2000 however always feels like the back wants to be out infront unless you are nailing it and the back is squat down - Ive always said the rear end needs to be stiffer on the 2005 cars. Being a bit softer it tends to roll a bit at the back when you change direction - and from the drivers seat this feels like the back is wanting to come loose.

[russy01]

Gaz. said:

Are there any common faults that can increase the likelihood of oversteer?

Incompetent drivers , cheap tyres and no TC.

Lots of talk about geometry. But from my experience id say the s2000 is a lot of peoples first RWD cars, so you get a lot of hot heads coming from understeery hot hatches trying to drive the S flat out.

A well set up S2000 on decent tyres doesn't really oversteer any more than any other car in its class.

[russy01]

Gaz. said:

russy01 said:

Incompetent drivers , cheap tyres and no TC.

Lots of talk about geometry. But from my experience id say the s2000 is a lot of peoples first RWD cars, so you get a lot of hot heads coming from understeery hot hatches trying to drive the S flat out.

A well set up S2000 on decent tyres doesn't really oversteer any more than any other car in its class.

I was referring to faults rather than traits Russ. ie can the diff act up, can an ARB break etc...

Sorry.

As far as I am aware there are no issues as such.

[russy01]

havoc said:

You may find the cockpit a bit snug then, legroom-wise. See how you get on...

Depends how short your torso is too, but you might find yourself feeling like you are sat ON the S2000, as opposed to in it! If I were to get another one Id invest in some lower seat rails - as its really noticeable getting back in an S2000 when you've been in other sports cars.