New Formula Red S2000
Discussion
OK, time to get a blog on the go for my Honda. No doubt it'll be a slow one, at least until the car it's replacing, my 106 Rallye is out of the way.
I've had the 106 for two and a half years, it's been all round France, Germany, Italy and Monaco in my ownership, so as I'm sad to have to sell it, it's only being replaced by what I always called my 'realistic dream car'
Rallye in Cheddar Gorge by Rallye James, on Flickr
So enough of the Peugeot, now for the S2000. The car is a year 2000, pre facelift AP1 in the best colour - New Formula Red
It's slightly higher mileage than some, but for a 12 year old car at 107k, with all the service book complete I'm perfectly happy with it. With my 15k a year mileage there's no point me spending extra and racking up the miles on a low miler.
It's got the standard AP1 wheels, which I used to hate, they're really growing on me. They could probably do with a refurb at some point, but that's not a priority.
Optional extras specced from new are the front lip, boot spoiler, side strakes (quite rare, a £400 option!
) and GT padded headrests (which are quite nice!). It's also got some black meshes for the front grills, which look OEM. The Honda badges have been removed from the sides, which looks nicer IMO.
It's had brand new discs and pads last month, a new plastic rear screen last year and the geo setup last February. So all in all I'm pretty pleased
Initial thoughts: I can't stop putting the roof down. The heater is fantastic and has a special roof down mode, which even in the sub zero temperatures at the moment is keeping me warm. VTEC is good fun, though the car has a real Jekyll and Hyde personality. It's so easy to potter about at 2-3k rpm with plenty of poke, going easy on the fuel, but drop it down a gear (and the gearbox is superb) and as soon as you hit 6k, the note changes and it takes off like a rocket. 70-110mph is too easy and then I realise I need to be a bit more sensible. Rear visibility is shocking with the roof up, and parking even with the roof down is only made slightly easier with the spoiler sticking up enough for me to see it. The front is very long too, which isn't easy to judge from inside. The interior looks like brand new, with the exception of the gearstick surround, which had a chromey silver covering which is flaking off. It's got a nice Alpine stereo hidden behind the cover (which seems to be from a facelift model - it's silver rather than black) and has the modifications necessary for the dash controls to work
A few small niggles have presented themselves in the last few days. One of the HID bulbs isn't staying lit, which looks like it might be moisture on the ballast. This was the reason for me being pulled over within 30 hours of owning the car! A dry out with an airline and seal up might be all it takes, but that's being taken care of over the weekend. The radio reception is awful. I'm going to get an amplifier for the lead to see if it will sort the issue. Likewise, the speakers are in a bad way. One of the comps seems to be broken and the tweeters look cheap and naff. I'll replace the whole lot with some Focals next month, as I consider the audio to be quite important. I also noticed a tiny bit of rust on the rear arch, so will get this sorted as soon as possible to stop any spreading, and I'll get a full coat of waxoyl on the underside at the same time.
So, to do list:
Register my plate
Remove front plate and holder
Remove fake carbon fibre rear plate holder
Replace speakers
Fix aerial issue
Fix dodgy light bulb
Change sidelight and number plate bulbs for LEDs
Roof motor mod (clipping the speed sensor wire so that the roof can be lowered on the move and without the handbrake on, handy for in slow traffic)
Spray gearstick surround gloss black
Refurb wheels
...and anything else that I remember
Eventually I'd like to lower it and get some genuine Enkei wheels, but this is some way off and I'm more than happy with it standard.
Pics:
S2000 by Rallye James, on Flickr
S2000 by Rallye James, on Flickr
S2000 by Rallye James, on Flickr
To prove the roof does actually work..!
S2000 by Rallye James, on Flickr
And looking dirty next to the Rallye
S2000 by Rallye James, on Flickr
Apologies for lack of tyre shine, I ordered some off Ebay yesterday!
I've had the 106 for two and a half years, it's been all round France, Germany, Italy and Monaco in my ownership, so as I'm sad to have to sell it, it's only being replaced by what I always called my 'realistic dream car'
Rallye in Cheddar Gorge by Rallye James, on Flickr
So enough of the Peugeot, now for the S2000. The car is a year 2000, pre facelift AP1 in the best colour - New Formula Red
It's slightly higher mileage than some, but for a 12 year old car at 107k, with all the service book complete I'm perfectly happy with it. With my 15k a year mileage there's no point me spending extra and racking up the miles on a low miler.
It's got the standard AP1 wheels, which I used to hate, they're really growing on me. They could probably do with a refurb at some point, but that's not a priority.
Optional extras specced from new are the front lip, boot spoiler, side strakes (quite rare, a £400 option!
) and GT padded headrests (which are quite nice!). It's also got some black meshes for the front grills, which look OEM. The Honda badges have been removed from the sides, which looks nicer IMO.It's had brand new discs and pads last month, a new plastic rear screen last year and the geo setup last February. So all in all I'm pretty pleased
Initial thoughts: I can't stop putting the roof down. The heater is fantastic and has a special roof down mode, which even in the sub zero temperatures at the moment is keeping me warm. VTEC is good fun, though the car has a real Jekyll and Hyde personality. It's so easy to potter about at 2-3k rpm with plenty of poke, going easy on the fuel, but drop it down a gear (and the gearbox is superb) and as soon as you hit 6k, the note changes and it takes off like a rocket. 70-110mph is too easy and then I realise I need to be a bit more sensible. Rear visibility is shocking with the roof up, and parking even with the roof down is only made slightly easier with the spoiler sticking up enough for me to see it. The front is very long too, which isn't easy to judge from inside. The interior looks like brand new, with the exception of the gearstick surround, which had a chromey silver covering which is flaking off. It's got a nice Alpine stereo hidden behind the cover (which seems to be from a facelift model - it's silver rather than black) and has the modifications necessary for the dash controls to work
A few small niggles have presented themselves in the last few days. One of the HID bulbs isn't staying lit, which looks like it might be moisture on the ballast. This was the reason for me being pulled over within 30 hours of owning the car! A dry out with an airline and seal up might be all it takes, but that's being taken care of over the weekend. The radio reception is awful. I'm going to get an amplifier for the lead to see if it will sort the issue. Likewise, the speakers are in a bad way. One of the comps seems to be broken and the tweeters look cheap and naff. I'll replace the whole lot with some Focals next month, as I consider the audio to be quite important. I also noticed a tiny bit of rust on the rear arch, so will get this sorted as soon as possible to stop any spreading, and I'll get a full coat of waxoyl on the underside at the same time.
So, to do list:
Register my plate
Remove front plate and holder
Remove fake carbon fibre rear plate holder
Replace speakers
Fix aerial issue
Fix dodgy light bulb
Change sidelight and number plate bulbs for LEDs
Roof motor mod (clipping the speed sensor wire so that the roof can be lowered on the move and without the handbrake on, handy for in slow traffic)
Spray gearstick surround gloss black
Refurb wheels
...and anything else that I remember
Eventually I'd like to lower it and get some genuine Enkei wheels, but this is some way off and I'm more than happy with it standard.
Pics:
S2000 by Rallye James, on Flickr
S2000 by Rallye James, on Flickr
S2000 by Rallye James, on Flickr
To prove the roof does actually work..!
S2000 by Rallye James, on Flickr
And looking dirty next to the Rallye
S2000 by Rallye James, on Flickr
Apologies for lack of tyre shine, I ordered some off Ebay yesterday!
Edited by topalwaysdown on Sunday 22 April 08:55
how do you find it compared to the rallye? Worlds apart I'll bet!That's my old car (or reg), owned July 2002 to July 2008.
EDIT: Here's what looked like on OZ 18" Superleggeras - http://www.pistonheads.com/pics/members/25940-car....
EDIT: Also pictured with a HKS exhaust.
EDIT: Here's what looked like on OZ 18" Superleggeras - http://www.pistonheads.com/pics/members/25940-car....
EDIT: Also pictured with a HKS exhaust.
Edited by Chris Type R on Thursday 9th February 16:53
Lovely pair of cars. A 106 was my first car, very love/hate but that rallye looks superb.
The most shocking part of that write up.... Police do actually pull people for missing a light? It seems they've given up around here. Had a car coming the other way last night on a windy B road with BOTH offswide lights (dipped and sidelights) out - madness.
Great looking S2000, as said, I don't ever recall seeing a red one.
The most shocking part of that write up.... Police do actually pull people for missing a light? It seems they've given up around here. Had a car coming the other way last night on a windy B road with BOTH offswide lights (dipped and sidelights) out - madness.
Great looking S2000, as said, I don't ever recall seeing a red one.
I had a New Formula Red S2000 back in 2006 - it was the pre-facelift, bog standard, original and raw as you like version. And it was superb.
One of its best attributes, as you say, was its ability to stow the roof away in an instant, whack the heater upto full - which was uber toasty - and enjoy roof off VTEC heaven whatever the weather.
Enjoy!
One of its best attributes, as you say, was its ability to stow the roof away in an instant, whack the heater upto full - which was uber toasty - and enjoy roof off VTEC heaven whatever the weather.
Enjoy!
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff