RE: You Know You Want To: Honda S2000

[BBS-LM]

Always liked the S2000, not to sure I would buy one for £4K, more like 6K - 7K would get you a clean one, still a bargain for RWD.

[Hoonfest]

I had one of these for a couple of years (2003 model) and really liked it, never crashed it, always sensible around the corners before booting it on the straights. One thing I would say is you really need to keep the revs above 6k if you want to be getting anywhere quick otherwise they feel a bit gutless. This can become a bit tiring, it also means you can get caught out by a few hot hatches / diesels and look a bit embarrassed. I guess what I'm trying to say is, it needs more torque :-)

Great car though and I think they look fantastic.

Edited by Hoonfest on Thursday 13th September 14:08

[braddo]

pSyCoSiS said:

I respect these cars, but WTF is so special about them that they're SO expensive to insure?!

It's a Honda, not a Ferrari, so why the high premiums compared to other high performance cars?

Read the thread, the answers are therein.

[excel monkey]

Hoonfest said:

I guess what I trying to say is, it needs more torque :-)

The Yanks got a longer stroke 2.2 engine, didn't they? Consensus was that the new engine had more downsides (more weight, less revvy) than upsides (more torque).

Edited by excel monkey on Thursday 13th September 14:10

[topalwaysdown]

Maybe I'm just lucky but the insurance is sensible for me.

As a 27 year old my renewal on my 106 Rallye was £400, as a 28 year old my renewal on the S2000 is £500.

[Hoonfest]

excel monkey said:

The Yanks got a longer stroke 2.2 engine, didn't they?

Could be, not too sure to be honest. I guess it's just the nature of the VTEC engine.

[marsdalebear]

Benjaminbopper said:

To help with the insurance questions, the reason is partly due to the rear suspension links - they can be problematic later in life and it's a massive job (c.£2k) to fix and so many people have claimed this through their insurance. I found this out through speaking with Honda directly as I was a little relucatant to beleive it myself!

That just shows the level of understanding of the S2k in Honda dealerships!Total bks.

[src1971]

Gorbyrev said:

Somewhere in the back of my memory is a stat that says over 1,000,000 V-TEC engines made and not a single warranty claim.

I made a claim on my Accord Type R a few years back.

[M@verick]

marsdalebear said:

Yes they are, usually fast and furious wannabes that try to drive them like they stole them.

NO. they arent.

I completely understand the vitriol with which owners defend the earlier S2000's handling, as I once was one. However to suggest that the on-limit, or wet weather handling is anything other than snappy and unpredictable is Im afraid, tosh. Lets be honest here - the handling has been called out by experienced drivers, testers, car shows, the reaction of insurers and ultimately the manufacturer who attempted to address this with minor suspension revisions on the '02 model and latterly with the introduction of traction control. So this its absolutely not simply *just* over enthusiastic drivers reaching the limit of their abilities - i am sure that is a factor which adds to the problem and therefore this number is contained within all those crash numbers but its simply not the main reason.

Whilst i was a member of S2ki and owned mine I witnessed several accidents, and heard reports of many more. Quite a few involved board members who were regular track day goers, advanced drivers, and one i believe who raced at amateur level.

I had a couple of moments in mine, and i would love to say that I was a legendary wheel man and held it in a mile long perfect drift with a "dab of oppo" but it just isnt that sort of car. Im not a race driver but i have driven my share of interesting metal, of FWD, RWD, and 4WD ilks. When my S2000 broke traction (it was an 02 model on the correct tyres) even at low speeds (circa 30 - 40pmh) it was far from easy to recover, as it broke with little warning and surprising speed - which means you need extremley fast and accurate correction, without any time to prepare it.

On dry days and at driven at 6 10ths or so, it was a great car. However in unclement weather or above 6 10ths it was like trying to have sex with a tiger on wet rocks. The problem being that in my experience this is a car which reaches the end of the envelope quite quickly. In many other cars, I run out of balls before i run out of ability - the early S2000 fostered the opposite situation for many that drove it, myself included. On the S2ki board there were many (myself included) who started off with the "the handling is fine as long as you respect the car" etc comments and then latterly sometimes shortly, other times years subsequently - they had a moment or a crash that "came from nowhere" and reformed their opinion.

Now im not slating the car. It has a simply *brilliant* engine, the gearbox is still by far the best i have yet encountered (including my 911 by quite some margin), and despite what many said - i loved the interior and cockpit feel. Looks wise I think its telling that the car still cuts it today a decade after it was new, and whats not to like about top down VTEC motoring. ..

.. but the "the handling is good, its all these idiot drivers" remarks simply arent true. The handling let the 02 S2000 down im afraid, which is what ultimately killed it off for me - but i had it 4 years before i had had enough

R.

[src1971]

havoc said:

IMHO the ideal roadster would be a hybrid MX-5 and S2000 - the aggression and powertrain of the S2000 with the poise, feedback and 'entry-level rwd' handling of the Mk1/2 MX-5.

I agree. I have a MX5 for the track and my mate has an S2000 for the track. A hybrid would be awesome.

[Killer2005]

I bought my 2002 Ap1 back in may ( I'm sure some people may have noticed) and I love it.

I wouldnt say the handling is snappy, I won't pretend I haven't had any moments but it certainly never snapped out on me. As long as you don't drive it on the limit all the time it's fine.

Insurance was about £1k, I'm 30 with 3 years NCB, ive been running it on v-power and going through about £120 per month of fuel, apart from that I've only needed it servicing.

[VladD]

src1971 said:

havoc said:

IMHO the ideal roadster would be a hybrid MX-5 and S2000 - the aggression and powertrain of the S2000 with the poise, feedback and 'entry-level rwd' handling of the Mk1/2 MX-5.

I agree. I have a MX5 for the track and my mate has an S2000 for the track. A hybrid would be awesome.

So how difficult would it be to get an S2000 engine into a Mk1 MX5 engine bay?

[HorneyMX5]

There's a guy building an MX2000 on nutxz but I can't find the thread.

I prefer these with the coupe top.







Nick

[excel monkey]

HorneyMX5 said:

I prefer these with the coupe top.

Very cool. Looks much more serious and agressive.

[keith2.2]

I bought one 3 years ago having decided I HAD to have the F20c in my life.

At no point have I regretted it.

I didn't regret it when, 6 weeks after buying it, I got flashed and a subsequent ban (lesson learned..)

I didn't regret it when I took it in for a new clutch and geo, to find I needed the whole chassis polybushing (the bushes seize meaning geo can't be altered) - a £3k bill for polybushing, gearbox and clutch followed.

A key point missed by the article:
Has the car had geo done recently, or been polybushed? If neither of these are the case, there's a good chance the geo will be "out", and the only fix is c.£1200 to have the bushes burned out and replaced.

A proper geo setup on these cars is fabulous. I had a relatively aggressive fast-road setup done on mine and I honestly never realised it could corner that quickly. I was so excitsd that I stopped halfway home and sent a message to the guy who did it "...she's an absolute HOOLIGAN!!"

I made the mistake of taking the car off the road "for the winter" 13 mths ago...It'll be back in a few weeks - I miss it too much.

and finally...

"it's a shame they didn't do a coupe" - get one with a removable hard top...best of both worlds!

Other cars will come and go, but I don't see a time when I'll want / need to get rid of the S2K.

[rallycross]

I had an early UK S2000 the handling is not great, the interior is not a nice place to spend long journeys, noisy on the motorway. Great engine and gearbox.

You'd expect to be able to drive it sideways with 240 bhp but they dont like holding a slide, but that is not what causes them to crash - its the drivers not the car. I never felt it was tricky to drive compared to other powerful rwd cars just not as much fun as it should be. Shame they never made a Type R version had the potential to be a great car.

The engine blew up on my one at 6 yrs old, genuine 69k miles, FSH from Honda, had correct oil level in it, but it blew a conrod out the side of the block in 2nd gear. 2nd hand engines are not cheap on these as people use them in Escort mk2 rally cars and the like.

[RichyBoy]

I want another real bad, its the triple price insurance that puts me off. When I changed from a s2000 to a CSL I thought they made some sort of mistake with the insurance because it was a lot cheaper.

[toon10]

I went to take a test drive in one, pushed the seat back and couldn't comfortably fit in it so didn't actually drive it. I was gutted as I had my heart set on one after owning my accord. If they did a coupe version id probably have a couple if inches surgically removed from my legs and signed up.

[Ten Four]

Steering is fine.
Only bad once you break traction - then it becomes snappy. That said, it rarely ever occurs with mine because I've got proper tyres. (Mine is a 1999 model)

Problem here is drivers who aren't good enough...

Can't believe the slate going on here... Anyone ever watched best motoring videos?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx_TecmQHoM

[Greg 172]

src1971 said:

Gorbyrev said:

Somewhere in the back of my memory is a stat that says over 1,000,000 V-TEC engines made and not a single warranty claim.

I made a claim on my Accord Type R a few years back.

I think it's one of those slightly mis-quoted/mis-understood stats. I believe there's been no failures of the actual VTEC system, but that doesn't mean that other parts of the engines go pop for other reason. But it does make for an easy boast for Honda.