AndyS13 Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Basically while looking for a new road car I have narrowed it down to a honda s2000 or a supra tt, I know these cars vary quite a bit however my main concern is with handling. Has anyone driven both a supra tt and an s2000 to comment on how they compare in cornering grip, steering feel, braking ability and feel and the ease of control? From what ive heard the s2000 is a handling king and the supra is apparently a bit of a whale in the corners however I cant imagine a car with such a high skid pad rating, many gt500 wins and high praise from magazines not handling good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st3ven1 Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Obviously, this being a supra club and not a salon forum, you are going to get a slightly bias opinion. But truthfully, a supra with standard suspension, properly set up and in good condition will make an excellent handling car. What I have personally found is that many(not all) modified suspension set ups generally don't make the car as compliant in the bends and also struggle to put the power down as consistently. Tend to be lowered too much which leads to not enough movement in the suspension, which in turn doesn't put the power down as well. But in standard form the supra handles very progressively, so can be easily coaxed into over-steer if that's your thing. I found the S2000 to be a nice drive but in a league below the supra, didn't feel a settled in the corners. However being used to the extra weight of the supra probably contributed to this. Plus I felt like I had to wring its neck to get it to shift, always dropping down 2/3 gears to get going. *Please note: this is all in my rose tinted opinion of the supra. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraStar 3000 Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Obviously, this being a supra club and not a salon forum, you are going to get a slightly bias opinion. But truthfully, a supra with standard suspension, properly set up and in good condition will make an excellent handling car. What I have personally found is that many(not all) modified suspension set ups generally don't make the car as compliant in the bends and also struggle to put the power down as consistently. Tend to be lowered too much which leads to not enough movement in the suspension, which in turn doesn't put the power down as well. But in standard form the supra handles very progressively, so can be easily coaxed into over-steer if that's your thing. I found the S2000 to be a nice drive but in a league below the supra, didn't feel a settled in the corners. However being used to the extra weight of the supra probably contributed to this. Plus I felt like I had to wring its neck to get it to shift, always dropping down 2/3 gears to get going. *Please note: this is all in my rose tinted opinion of the supra. above, Great post! Have never driven the S2000 but its always been on my wish list. Great car and nice subtle looks. Hard choice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyS13 Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 (edited) Yeh well I owned a dc2 integra before my evo 8 and I liked the way the power came in when you were driving hard very fun although nowhere near the speed of the evo. Obviously the s2k isnt in the same league as far as power is concerned but I wouldn't imagine a supra could keep up on the twisty stuff due to its weight? Out of curiosity what does a jdm supra weigh ive got a figure of 1458kgs but this may be for the uk car? Edited December 9, 2011 by AndyS13 (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GINNO78 Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 (edited) I owned an S2000 for 2 years, Its a great Car fun in the sun all the way..... Its let down by very skittish handling!! It was deadly in the Wet and any sort of standing water on the motorway would unsettle the rear end as it was so light!! It really was a scary experience!! Feels very unstable at high motorway speeds which put me off the car! I even spent £600 having a professional Geometry setup at Centre Gravity and wider track put on the car to help the handling but it was still poor.....I was resorted to doing 50mph on the motorway in heavy rain as it would fishtail about all over the place!! I also had the best tyres on you could buy! Engine wise it sounds crazy in VTEC and pulls well but below VTEC it is completely gutless! Similar to my Friends 1.8 Mazda MX5 .....all in all a nice little car to pose in but if you do any amount of motorway commuting forget it!! Its a death trap! Just to compare you can wizz along the Motorway at xxx speeds in the wet over surface water and the Supra feels planted....no twitching no unsettled feel....this is probably due to the extra weight but the Supra is a dream to drive on motorways....and performance wise you cannot compare the two cars it is not fair and Honda would lose miserably Edited December 9, 2011 by GINNO78 (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyS13 Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 cheers for replys guys, ginno was ure s2k on stock suspension? So on the bends in the dry you would say the supra is better, does it feel as sharp to drive, obviously its a bit less nimble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GINNO78 Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 (edited) Hi The Supra is as sharp in the corners in the dry but a lot more stable also takes more to get the Supra to break traction in a corner....saying that My Supra is fully polybushed, Uprated TRD rollbars and Tein Super Street suspension, and im comparing it to a standard Honda S2K......so not fair....but saying that I still feel the S2000 would have stability issues even with uprated suspension due to its weight! In the Wet I could do about 20mph more around the large roundabout by me in the Supra than I could in the Honda before the backend would go Its always going to be less nimble due to the size difference but never the less the Supra is just as capable and even more stable and has more grip in Wet and Dry conditions I actually find my Supra as it is now with the uprated suspension extremely similar in the way it handles with the same sort of limits to my old BMW E46 M3 coupe, which is praise indeed Edited December 9, 2011 by GINNO78 (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4packet Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Driven my pals stock S2000 on the road and around the Nurburgring. S2000 has a sharper front end feel and response. Steering, gear change and pedal response all sharper/better. Feels more engaging. The downside is that the rear end feels a little light and married with the responsive front end makes it a nervous drive on the limit. Compared to the Supra (BPU) it feels very slow. Supra is probably a better car on 90% of roads and feels sharper than you would expect (J-spec Bilsteins not UK spec suspension), but the S2000 due to its size (significantly smaller then a Supra) will always feel more responsive. I like both cars, but they are very different. Suggest you try both or decide what attributes are more important to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGB Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 If I had to choose between the two it would come down to Road vs Track for me.. I would prefer the supra on the road but If I intended to do alot of trackdays It would be an S2k. I've driven and tweaked a couple for road and track now and I really can't fault the balance of a well setup S2k. I have driven some shoddy S2k's that were a bit unsure of themselves and that has always been due to incorrect tyres and/or bad alignment. Once they are propperly Geo'd with good tyres and healthy brakes not many cars "out of the box" can touch them on a track... Its a difficult call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 If you setup a Supra properly for the track it will more than hold its own. Anyone calling the Supra a boat has no idea what they are talking about, they make fantastic all round track cars. There has been video after video on here of Supras doing trackdays, and even professional videos, and they always hold their own. An S2k would need to be seriously tuned to even line up in the same race as a Supra. To get the most out of an S2K you will really need to be on your toes, the Supra is far more forgiving than other RWD cars I have driven. The MR2 is the first one that springs to mind, that is an absolute track weapon but if you even look at driving on the edge you will be going backwards (if you're lucky). If it's the track you are after and you are serious I would be more akin to looking at a well sorted MR2. If you want an all round car that is fantastic on just about any road surface when setup properly, yet comfortable, easy to drive, and stunning... it has to be the Supra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TuneR Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Some good posts above, i have both an '01 JDM S2000 (slightly modified) and a stock '97 TT VVTi Supra although the Supra is Tiptronic. From what i've observed so far: -the Supra doesn't feel as sharp in steering response -nothing will feel better then the S2000 gearchange imo (bar an F1 setup in a Ferrari, that was bril) -Supra also rolls more in the bends but then it is near 1500kg compared to the 1240 of the S -around a dry track the S2000 is great fun and has immense grip (haven't tried the Supra but tbh without mods i cant see it being as fun) -the back end of the S2000 is as was said above, it can be very scary in heavy rain but then i found new tyres helped mine -i never attempted to drive fast in the wet on public roads in the S and so far the Supe keeps choosing snow here when i try and plant the foot lol -braking is better in the S2000 vs mine but id say it'd be the other way around if you had the larger brake setup on the Supe -im not sure about when either lets go as i've never lost it fully, i was able to stop the S in a couple of occasions but they were not huge -power/torque is no contest lol -both are different cars, a GT cruiser vs a sports convertible and imo are worlds apart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyS13 Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 Some good posts this will be a road car for me i have a sorted s13 for track use It seems that the supra would suit my needs more going on whats said above although id still love a shot of an s2k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodilx6 Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Andy, i responded to your other post on suspension. Have you thought about testdriving a 100% stock RX-7? Sounds like it might me something you would feel for.. Absolutly perfect handling, low weight and so on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyS13 Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 Love rx7s just do not like rotay engines unfortunately so unless it had an ls v8 swapped in it wouldnt be great for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 The S2000 is a great handling car, Honda were brave enough not to build in oodles of understeer to make it nice and forgiving. They do let go suddenly, but that's a price you pay for the sharp turn in and excellent general responsiveness. The weight difference between a MKIV and the S2000 is something that cannot be forgotten, you are comparing apples with oranges. I would say the the S2000 is a bit of a rot box, you need to have a potential buy on a ramp and looked over by someone who can spot rot hidden under underseal and good body filler application. The engine is a gem. Only a fresh RX-7 or a member of the Lotus Exige "family type" is nicer handling out of the box. Supras handle very well for their size, weight and age, but therein lies their limitation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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