Franko Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Has anyone had any experience with these cars? Me and my Mrs are looking to go down to one car as we dont need 2, she has been going on about a soft top (typical Woman). Anyone know how they feel compared to a Supra? I love my supra but she cant get used to it and i dont really trust her in it tbh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edd_t Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 lovly cars, have driven my mates 2005 model quite a few times. its very quick on acceleration and you think its gonna keep accelerating for ever! doesnt give you the 'oh sh!t' factor though like when tubbies kick in. handling is lovly, you can place it anywhere you want on the road. prefer the supra, but if you need to do this for the wife too, then id say its a better car for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caseys Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 A guy at work has had 3 and raves about them, but he's said not to get the pre 2002 because they changed the suspension layout because of a design flaw but never admitted it. Also I think that they're the most powerful NA engine regarding displacement to power given aren't they? One of the only convertables I'd buy actually. Blue ones look absolutely lovely. To quote my friend from instant message he just sent me when asking: 2002 they changed the setup and, without admitting to anything by way of a design fault, it was widely reported that they cured the previous rubbish handling. I bought mine in 2002 as the first revised model. Since then they have not made any major modifications that I am aware of. It remains to this day a little tail happy in the wet, but that is part of the fun ! So as far as I am aware, go for a 2002 or later model. Not aware of any reports of anything since then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraGirlie Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Supra aerotop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOW Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Supra aerotop Subtle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franko Posted June 11, 2009 Author Share Posted June 11, 2009 Has anyone had any experience with these cars? Me and my Mrs are looking to go down to one car as we dont need 2, she has been going on about a soft top (typical Woman). Anyone know how they feel compared to a Supra? I love my supra but she cant get used to it and i dont really trust her in it tbh. Hence why i didnt go down that route before Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamc Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 My missus has been going on in the same manner, so we test drove a S2000. Goes very well, but I found the very small and cramped when the roof was up. We also went and took an SLK for drive and we were blown away by it. SLK is ontop for me!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt H Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Best roadster in its class in my opinion. Also more expensive that the equivelent Mazdas etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 You need to rev the Bejesus out of them to get anywhere, and the handling on early ones is better suited to the track than a wet road with a need to press on. Great chassis, fabulous engine, good drivetrain, but no torque at all worth speaking of. Tuning is vastly expensive and gives an even anrrower power band. Most turbo / supercharger kits don't address the real issues, like too high a CR, wrong cam profiles and a proper mappable ecu for boosted engines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraGirlie Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Hence why i didnt go down that route before Lol fair enough I'd choose a 350z over an s2000, I hate the vtec thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimojameso Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Nice cars, wouldn't let your missus out in the rain in one tho. Can be bit of a handful in the wet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spidermonkey Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 older ones are a bit twitchy in the wet, i would love one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pistonbroke Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 I part ex-d an s2000 for my current supra. The bit about there being a problem with the early models suspension is BS. They toned it down in later models to make the car more user friendly, but there was certainly nothing wrong with it. If you check the S2KUK forums, you'll see that pretty much all the members agree that the earlier setup is better for enthusiastic driving. As for the S2000, they are brilliant cars. I know it's frowned upon, but changing the stock airbox (or even just taking the lid off the stock one) gives you one of the loudest induction roars I've ever heard. The handling is very, very involved. You really need to pay attention and be on your toes. Some people will call it twitchy, I say it's more exciting. It's the best compromise car for being brilliant on the track, and excellent on the road. It really is a jekyll (sp) and Hyde car. Under 6000rpm, the car is sedate and quiet, one you hit that magic mark though, the car transforms instantly into a manic track machine. The gearbox is brilliant, bit notchy when cold, but once warmed up, it's slick, smooth, and perfectly geared. Sure the car could do with a bit more oomph, but I would imagine that if honda had gone with anymore power out the factory, there would be salvage yards all over the country full of totalled S2000's. If you feel you need more power though, there are plenty of tried and tested supercharger kits available for them, one member of the club has over 600 HP with his Vortech kit. CONS - The car is not as indestrucitble as many owners will make out, engine failures are not uncommon, and they tend to come to the end of their lives at around the 100k mark. The suspension bushes seize, and are very very expensive to sort out. The geometry on them needs to be checked and adjusted every couple of years (or more depending on driving conditions), ignoring the geo will see you smashing armcos on a regular basis. Seized bushes will prevent you from adjusting the geo, and then you're in for a major payout to get it sorted, ask any sellers if they have had the bushes copperlipped, if not walk away. For some reason, the S2000 can suffer from rust quite badly. It seems better to go for an import where the car has come from a country where salt on the roads is not an issue, and will not have any rust at all. I bought a late 2001 UK car with 60k on the clock, and the rear arches under the plastic strip that covers the lip of the wheel arch were hiding a load of rust patches that I had to sort. They suffer with a leak into the boot which is not visable on initial inspection, the carpets won't even be wet. under the tool kit, the car has a plastic liner which stops the carpet getting wet, lifting this will potentially reveal a sea of rust where the boot floor is slowly rotting away from the inside. Mine started leaking when I bought the car so I caught it early and sorted it. There is a vent behind the rear bumper that has a rubber seal that perishes, sealing this with sealent sorts the problem. If you need any specific help with s2000 shopping, I'd be more than happy to help. Edit - got a bit carried away there, to answer your question about comparison to a supra. A stock Supra is much easier to drive than an s2000. The s2000 is group 20 insurance for a reason. It may seem like a nippier mx5 on the test drive, but they are comparitively light cars with 240bhp, they will punish the inexperienced just when you least expect it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 You need to rev the Bejesus out of them to get anywhere, and the handling on early ones is better suited to the track than a wet road with a need to press on. Great chassis, fabulous engine, good drivetrain, but no torque at all worth speaking of. I found much the same on the one I had for a few days...I found you had to thrash it to get anywhere, and not very sure footed, not as much as I would have expected.. That said it went back with scrubbing on rear sidewalls so it did take a fair amount of abuse. As a daily runner I don't think I could cope with its 'needy' attitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abz Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Pistonbroke is your man! I just wanted to confirm, my friend had a 2007 which he now traded in for a new shape Civic Type R (need the rear seats). His one was in silver, looked gorgous esp when the red interior! Drive wise it was brilliant, gearbox and engine are one of the best which I have driven! Even compared to the porsche boxter! The handling so extremely good including the grip! Nowhere near as tail happy as the Supra! Get one, because with the roof down you will not get more smile per miles! Oh an I think his one was getting around 28mph when driving it sensibley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Get a decent set of tyres on them and they come alive, my best mate has a MY00 JDM import and it can be VERY twitchy. Great handling and certainly is nippy! Supra TT will decimate it in terms of acceleration, you need to be sitting at the happy number of 6k (ish) to really pull good power from the S2K, but when it goes, it does it quite nicely. As pistonbroke said - lid off the current airbox: what a roar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamc Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 As Chris said, a handful in the wet... A mate at work has one and really struggled last winter, even crashed it on a pavement in the icy conditions. Very poor service from the Redhill Honda dealer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian W Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Had a run against one in my Integra the other week, dead even so a little disappointing power wise. Looks the business and sounded pretty tasty as well though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snake Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 my mates had a few of them, but to me it sounds like the engine is screaming its nuts off to get the power out of it. [That's hondas for you]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Had a run against one in my Integra the other week, dead even so a little disappointing power wise. Looks the business and sounded pretty tasty as well though Is it a DC-2 or DC-5 you have? If it's a 2, it'll waste you above 80 but you'll stay easy level til then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian W Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 DC2 mate. Decat, cat back and Spoon ECU. Couldn't gain up over 100 leptons or so which he was a little disappointed with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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