Honda S2000 - Would you?
Discussion
Great little motor.
Good
Quick, fun, really cheap to run (compared to porker and bmw.)
Engine is awesome, feels really naughty at 9k.
Gearbox is fantastic
Really rewarding when you have confidence to push. Rev matching and heel and toe is awesome as it's so revvy.
Comment about gearing is rubbish. 45ish in 1st, 62 in 2nd, 90 in 3rd - no different to most cars!!!
Facelift models still look fresh
Great open top experience
Fuel not bad. 26-30mpg. Try getting that moving on in a 987s....
Bad
Seats a little high, feel like your sat on it and not in.
Roofs do split, although jack in Swansea will replace for £300.
Can be bit snappy, but it's a stiff RWD sports car with no traction control......just drive within your capability
Insurance expensive
Basic interior, but solid and ageless
Early cars are now cheap so getting in wrong hands....
My S2000 and my ugly pig car....
Where it spent most its time:
Camping with it. And yes the big green tent and all our gear went in the boot!!
I say go for it. Great little car.
Good
Quick, fun, really cheap to run (compared to porker and bmw.)
Engine is awesome, feels really naughty at 9k.
Gearbox is fantastic
Really rewarding when you have confidence to push. Rev matching and heel and toe is awesome as it's so revvy.
Comment about gearing is rubbish. 45ish in 1st, 62 in 2nd, 90 in 3rd - no different to most cars!!!
Facelift models still look fresh
Great open top experience
Fuel not bad. 26-30mpg. Try getting that moving on in a 987s....
Bad
Seats a little high, feel like your sat on it and not in.
Roofs do split, although jack in Swansea will replace for £300.
Can be bit snappy, but it's a stiff RWD sports car with no traction control......just drive within your capability
Insurance expensive
Basic interior, but solid and ageless
Early cars are now cheap so getting in wrong hands....
My S2000 and my ugly pig car....
Where it spent most its time:
Camping with it. And yes the big green tent and all our gear went in the boot!!
I say go for it. Great little car.
My mate owned an early S2000 and I also had an extended test drive of one back in the day.
I liked the interior and quality feel of the car. The roof was impressive and never leaked. I like the aesthetics I believe they are pretty reliable (my mates never had anything other than regular servicing and tyres. Unfortunately that are the plus points
To get any thrill out of the engine, you need to take the revs up high in the range. Therefore, you are doing silly speeds - really not appropriate on roads IMO. Personally I have never pushed an S2000 too hard, but the tail seemed very happy in the wet even at comparatively low speeds (my mates was an early model so may not be the best example) His confidence to drive 'quickish' in any conditions was damaged due to the unpredictability it seemed to have. His was meticulously maintained with OEM tyres and was only about two years old when first in his ownership.
I remember taking him out in my car (VX220 at the time) and he was astonished at the levels of grip and cornering ability (I know the two cars are different beasts - but he stated he would never have taken his S2000 along the same road at the same pace - wet or dry) My driving ability is also s
t!
I would look elsewhere if you are after driving fun on the road.
Mike
I liked the interior and quality feel of the car. The roof was impressive and never leaked. I like the aesthetics I believe they are pretty reliable (my mates never had anything other than regular servicing and tyres. Unfortunately that are the plus points
To get any thrill out of the engine, you need to take the revs up high in the range. Therefore, you are doing silly speeds - really not appropriate on roads IMO. Personally I have never pushed an S2000 too hard, but the tail seemed very happy in the wet even at comparatively low speeds (my mates was an early model so may not be the best example) His confidence to drive 'quickish' in any conditions was damaged due to the unpredictability it seemed to have. His was meticulously maintained with OEM tyres and was only about two years old when first in his ownership.
I remember taking him out in my car (VX220 at the time) and he was astonished at the levels of grip and cornering ability (I know the two cars are different beasts - but he stated he would never have taken his S2000 along the same road at the same pace - wet or dry) My driving ability is also s
t!I would look elsewhere if you are after driving fun on the road.
Mike
Jaska said:
I personally love mine! My second car after a 90hp Fwd Leon. Started out looking at 5k examples, ended up spending more on a 55 plate. I'm 8 months or so into ownership and haven't stopped smiling whenever it's the weekend or a road opens up in front of me.
As for some downsides, you'll never feel comfortable in the rain at speed because of forums, you'll probably have a near miss, you definitely won't 'slowly get used to it' if you're anything like me either.
Also pretty awful in crawling traffic, and definitely do the mod so you can put the roof up and down while on the move.
Mine's fine in crawling traffic. What's the issue? Is it the engine bogging down with heat soak? Solve that with a cold air feed from the front bumper As for some downsides, you'll never feel comfortable in the rain at speed because of forums, you'll probably have a near miss, you definitely won't 'slowly get used to it' if you're anything like me either.
Also pretty awful in crawling traffic, and definitely do the mod so you can put the roof up and down while on the move.
(and the noise is worth the cost alone!)mike9009 said:
My mate owned an early S2000 and I also had an extended test drive of one back in the day.
I liked the interior and quality feel of the car. The roof was impressive and never leaked. I like the aesthetics I believe they are pretty reliable (my mates never had anything other than regular servicing and tyres. Unfortunately that are the plus points
To get any thrill out of the engine, you need to take the revs up high in the range. Therefore, you are doing silly speeds - really not appropriate on roads IMO. Personally I have never pushed an S2000 too hard, but the tail seemed very happy in the wet even at comparatively low speeds (my mates was an early model so may not be the best example) His confidence to drive 'quickish' in any conditions was damaged due to the unpredictability it seemed to have. His was meticulously maintained with OEM tyres and was only about two years old when first in his ownership.
I remember taking him out in my car (VX220 at the time) and he was astonished at the levels of grip and cornering ability (I know the two cars are different beasts - but he stated he would never have taken his S2000 along the same road at the same pace - wet or dry) My driving ability is also st!
I would look elsewhere if you are after driving fun on the road.
Mike
You hit the nail on the head when you said your driving ability is sI liked the interior and quality feel of the car. The roof was impressive and never leaked. I like the aesthetics I believe they are pretty reliable (my mates never had anything other than regular servicing and tyres. Unfortunately that are the plus points
To get any thrill out of the engine, you need to take the revs up high in the range. Therefore, you are doing silly speeds - really not appropriate on roads IMO. Personally I have never pushed an S2000 too hard, but the tail seemed very happy in the wet even at comparatively low speeds (my mates was an early model so may not be the best example) His confidence to drive 'quickish' in any conditions was damaged due to the unpredictability it seemed to have. His was meticulously maintained with OEM tyres and was only about two years old when first in his ownership.
I remember taking him out in my car (VX220 at the time) and he was astonished at the levels of grip and cornering ability (I know the two cars are different beasts - but he stated he would never have taken his S2000 along the same road at the same pace - wet or dry) My driving ability is also s
t!I would look elsewhere if you are after driving fun on the road.
Mike
t, an S2000 is not for st drivers, if you can peddle then they are superb fun.Maybe you are not the best person to be giving advice on driving, with you being s
t at it.Like the look of them and considered getting one, but a mate with a type R Civic put me off the vtec. Like others have said, needed to rev the nuts off of it. I bought a Z3M instead and love it.
The only way to tell is to go and drive one and if you like it, then it is the right thing to do. Your own opinion is the one that counts!
The only way to tell is to go and drive one and if you like it, then it is the right thing to do. Your own opinion is the one that counts!
mike9009 said:
Urban Sports said:
You hit the nail on the head when you said your driving ability is st, an S2000 is not for st drivers, if you can peddle then they are superb fun.
Maybe you are not the best person to be giving advice on driving, with you being st at it.
lol t, an S2000 is not for st drivers, if you can peddle then they are superb fun.Maybe you are not the best person to be giving advice on driving, with you being s
t at it.
M
russy01 said:
Great little motor.
Good
Quick, fun, really cheap to run (compared to porker and bmw.)
Engine is awesome, feels really naughty at 9k.
Gearbox is fantastic
Really rewarding when you have confidence to push. Rev matching and heel and toe is awesome as it's so revvy.
Comment about gearing is rubbish. 45ish in 1st, 62 in 2nd, 90 in 3rd - no different to most cars!!!
Facelift models still look fresh
Great open top experience
Fuel not bad. 26-30mpg. Try getting that moving on in a 987s....
Bad
Seats a little high, feel like your sat on it and not in.
Roofs do split, although jack in Swansea will replace for £300.
Can be bit snappy, but it's a stiff RWD sports car with no traction control......just drive within your capability
Insurance expensive
Basic interior, but solid and ageless
Early cars are now cheap so getting in wrong hands....
My S2000 and my ugly pig car....
Where it spent most its time:
Camping with it. And yes the big green tent and all our gear went in the boot!!
I say go for it. Great little car.
Nice mix of cars there, amazing how well a post 2004 S2000 has aged, lovely looking car.Good
Quick, fun, really cheap to run (compared to porker and bmw.)
Engine is awesome, feels really naughty at 9k.
Gearbox is fantastic
Really rewarding when you have confidence to push. Rev matching and heel and toe is awesome as it's so revvy.
Comment about gearing is rubbish. 45ish in 1st, 62 in 2nd, 90 in 3rd - no different to most cars!!!
Facelift models still look fresh
Great open top experience
Fuel not bad. 26-30mpg. Try getting that moving on in a 987s....
Bad
Seats a little high, feel like your sat on it and not in.
Roofs do split, although jack in Swansea will replace for £300.
Can be bit snappy, but it's a stiff RWD sports car with no traction control......just drive within your capability
Insurance expensive
Basic interior, but solid and ageless
Early cars are now cheap so getting in wrong hands....
My S2000 and my ugly pig car....
Where it spent most its time:
Camping with it. And yes the big green tent and all our gear went in the boot!!
I say go for it. Great little car.
Riknos said:
Mine's fine in crawling traffic. What's the issue? Is it the engine bogging down with heat soak? Solve that with a cold air feed from the front bumper (and the noise is worth the cost alone!)
I commute the M3 so have to deal with the 2-lanes-to-1 crawl at 4-5mph... Quite a long stretch where it doesn't seem to like that speed in 1st? (and the noise is worth the cost alone!)Means a fair amount of clutch dipping. would be very interested
to know if this is just me though! It's not a big deal, just obviously the car is much much better on the open road!
I owned mine for a year and would recommend one
Was good fun to drive and cheaper to buy and run than some of the alternatives like the Porsche and z4m
I used mine everyday and also did a lot of sprints and a couple of track days all it ever needed was servicing and brake pads.
As others have said you need to drive them hard and be reasonably competent to get the most out of them.
Was good fun to drive and cheaper to buy and run than some of the alternatives like the Porsche and z4m
I used mine everyday and also did a lot of sprints and a couple of track days all it ever needed was servicing and brake pads.
As others have said you need to drive them hard and be reasonably competent to get the most out of them.
Thanks for all the responses, I think I'll have to take one for a test drive and see how I get on with it. I've taken on board the point about not spending £10k on one, £8k is much more where I'd like to be but it's a bit of a struggle to find a later one without high mileage for that at the moment.
Al U said:
Thanks for all the responses, I think I'll have to take one for a test drive and see how I get on with it. I've taken on board the point about not spending £10k on one, £8k is much more where I'd like to be but it's a bit of a struggle to find a later one without high mileage for that at the moment.
Mine's 2004 and 52k miles - but it will be high mileage by the time I sell it. I think that may be the issue - people who own them keep them for years and put mileage on them, they don't seem to change hands often so finding a low mileage one might only be garage queens that are quite often in worse condition than high milers.
For example, of the 14k I've put on mine, about 12k of that is probably the motorway! So low stress miles
Pretty sure these S2000s are following me about, baiting me to buy one...
Didn't see any for a while, then had a peek to see how much they cost etc, and now I usually see a couple a day out on the road. Now this thread pops up
and you're basically all positive reviews
Awch well, Merry Christmas me!
Didn't see any for a while, then had a peek to see how much they cost etc, and now I usually see a couple a day out on the road. Now this thread pops up
and you're basically all positive reviews Awch well, Merry Christmas me!
Matt Clay said:
Is it true they have a rear diff?
No, that's a complete fallacy. mybrainhurts said:
Al U said:
Talk me in or out of it, if you will.
Aaargh...GET OUTNo Americanese here, if you please...
king thing. Had one for four years - running costs all logged in my profile. Never had any trouble with it, and if you have even the slightest clue about rear wheel drive you won't have issues with the back end either. If you try and drive it like a front wheel drive car and throw it into corners, you may come a cropper though!
I drove a Z4M convertible before buying the Honda - honestly, you need to rev both to get anywhere fast. I didn't gel with the Honda on my first test drive, but you "get it" after owning one for a while.
I drove a Z4M convertible before buying the Honda - honestly, you need to rev both to get anywhere fast. I didn't gel with the Honda on my first test drive, but you "get it" after owning one for a while.
mike9009 said:
I remember taking him out in my car (VX220 at the time) and he was astonished at the levels of grip and cornering ability (I know the two cars are different beasts - but he stated he would never have taken his S2000 along the same road at the same pace - wet or dry) My driving ability is also st!
I've owned both. The VX is amazing in the dry, but much scarier in the wet. Not a comfortable feeling being on a motorway in a downpour, for example. Build quality is also poles apart - the VX left me stranded more than once (radiator and started motor died at different times), which is ridiculous on a car that was three/four years old at the time.t!It was brilliant when it was working, but I wouldn't have another.
I spent a week with one and loved the thing. Personally I like the no frills interior and found it a comfortable place to sit. Driving style may need some changing to get the most from it, as these things need to be revved. Make a good noise though, especially with induction kit. Friend of mine just picked up a cracking '07 car, needing a headlight and repair to front bumper, for £2 400!
As it's your first RWD car, maybe book an airfield track day and get some experience of finding the limits in relative safety?
As it's your first RWD car, maybe book an airfield track day and get some experience of finding the limits in relative safety?
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