My S2000 Review: opportunity screams

I've been working for a while on this review of my 2002 S2000, including comparing it to the Miatas I've owned in the past. Hope you enjoy! Comments, critique, writing advice, and flames welcome... so long as you read it ;-)

https://revsgarage.wordpress.com/2018/06/13/average-joe-car-review-honda-s2000-opportunity-screams/

Here's a bit of it...

"Spoiler alert: I like this car… but I don’t love it. “Love” is a word I reserve for cars that stir my soul, like the track-prepped early 80’s 911 Targa I drove on a country road one perfect spring day. That moved me in a way this clinical roadster probably never will. But I do genuinely like this car. It’s an excellent sports car in every way, and were it not for the memory of that sonorous air-cooled 911, it might be called perfect..."

Hi Rev - great review, and thanks for sharing the personal journey you've gone through as well.  All my best!  

Nice review.  A few years back, a buddy of mine opted for one of these over a Corvette, when he was sports car shopping.  He felt it was better bang for the buck.

Excellent review.

Now if they had just made it look like a small Ferrari......still, it is better than most Japanese styling, but it makes you yearn for the days of the 2000GT and the 240Z.

Dirtydog said:

Nice review.  A few years back, a buddy of mine opted for one of these over a Corvette, when he was sports car shopping.  He felt it was better bang for the buck.

Interior looks a LOT better after 16 years, too! I test drove a friend's C5 Z06 from the same era. Very competent car, but it was hard to get past the cheap rackety interior - that part just didn't age as well as the s2k's.

wspohn said:

Excellent review.

Now if they had just made it look like a small Ferrari......still, it is better than most Japanese styling, but it makes you yearn for th days of the 2000GT and the 240Z.

Aesthetically speaking, EVERYTHING made after the turn of the century makes me yearn for the likes of a 2000GT. On looks alone, there's no comparison b/w curvy 60's beauties (2000GT, 330P4, Alfa 33 Stradale, e-type) and anything made in the last 20 years.

I bought a 2003 AP1 in the spring of 2013.  It was already set up for autocross, with a Gendron Monster front sway bar and a set of KoniSport single-adjustable shocks.  I bought a 10 year old car with 45k on it and we've put another 40k on it in 4 years!  

It's not a great car for travel.  It's cramped and noisy and very little storage space. When my wife and I go out of town for events, we have a hitch-haul storage box that fits in my Curt hitch.  That said, we did the 2016 and 2017 SCCA "Targa Southeast" events.  We did 1,400 miles in 3 days for the first one and almost 2,000 miles in 4 days for the 2nd one.  Most of the accumulated mileage is from driving to events.

That said, no one should be buying one of these for travel comfort.  Where this car is magical is when it's driven in anger.  Autocross, track days, time trials, etc.  The harder you drive it the more fun it is.  It will punish you for being careless or indecisive, and ours has scars to prove it.  It will force you to be focused and decisive.   No one should be allowed to buy one of these if you're not willing to drive it like you stole it.

djsilver said:

Where this car is magical is when it's driven in anger.  Autocross, track days, time trials, etc.  The harder you drive it the more fun it is.  It will punish you for being careless or indecisive, and ours has scars to prove it.  It will force you to be focused and decisive.   No one should be allowed to buy one of these if you're not willing to drive it like you stole it.

Very well said, and why I feel bad for the PO of my own car. Owned it for 16 years and never experienced that thrill. I am not making that error ;-)

Related note: this is a poster-child car for not texting and driving. Not that I'd ever do that in any car, but in this car, my phone never leaves my pocket. I don't even have the radio working at the moment (I have to enter the code, but couldn't care less; VTEC is my sound track). It's 100% focus in this car, and that's the very best part of it.

Very nice write up. One suggestion: you mention that the LFA, GT3 and 458 are other cars that can rev this high but cost orders of magnitude more, and that for mere mortals, the S2000 is the only way to experience an engine that just keeps revving. I think that it's worth mentioning the RX-8, which also revs up to 9000, and is usually less than half the cost of an S2000.

I was thinking about getting an S2000 at one point, but the prices have been getting too high around my area.

I bought a 2004 brand new. Sold a z28 and I also opted for the s2k over a c5. Absolutely loved the car and only gave it up to get my 911. I swore I would never sell it but the 911 was too much to resist. A couple of things not mentioned that bugged me. The top would only operate with the emergency brake on. Also the boot to cover the top when down was so bad I put it in the garage and didn't use it ever. One minor thing I really like is the windshield is at a nice angle compared to all these cars with the windshield laid so far back it feels threatening. My brother had a 99 Miata and I feel the s2k was better in every way. 

I dug the review- I'm really into putting an F20 into my next MG Midget/Sprite- I've been a little worried about losing some of the soul factor. I'm interested in your opinion on the engine as a swap candidate in an older car. I previously did a swap of a blacktop 20v 4age into an MG Midget, and it was frantically, ridiculously fun. I was hoping the F20 would amplify that a bit without being much heavier, if at all.

Nicely written review!  I had an ap2 and enjoyed it greatly. It was my year-round daily driver here, but definitely the most fun out on the track. I agreed there was a certain sterile modernity to it, maybe not the most soulful car. That said, I definitely miss it and I don't think anything made these days is particularly soulful, other than perhaps some real exotica.  I have considered a Boxster or Cayman, and I think one of those would perhaps be a more soulful driver's experience.  There's nothing like the smells and sounds of older cars like air-cooled 911 though.

mainlandboy said:

Very nice write up. One suggestion: you mention that the LFA, GT3 and 458 are other cars that can rev this high but cost orders of magnitude more, and that for mere mortals, the S2000 is the only way to experience an engine that just keeps revving. I think that it's worth mentioning the RX-8, which also revs up to 9000, and is usually less than half the cost of an S2000.

I was thinking about getting an S2000 at one point, but the prices have been getting too high around my area.

Good point! Missed the rotories.

Have had a 2002 s2 for some years now and plan to hang onto it despite other folks saying they would like to be the new owner.  Its pretty much a weekend ride but have taken several 12 hour trips in it (and I am not a small guy). No - its not a highway barge with a barko lounger - instead its engaging and will reliably get me there and back (unlike my earlier Porsche experiences). Had a 04 C5 for awhile before the s2000 arrived.  YMMV  - I'll take the s2000.

Teh E36 M3 said:

I dug the review- I'm really into putting an F20 into my next MG Midget/Sprite- I've been a little worried about losing some of the soul factor. I'm interested in your opinion on the engine as a swap candidate in an older car. I previously did a swap of a blacktop 20v 4age into an MG Midget, and it was frantically, ridiculously fun. I was hoping the F20 would amplify that a bit without being much heavier, if at all.

I think a K20 swap would make a dynamite package in a light MG. My closest experience to what you're suggesting would be riding in a friend's K-Miata track car. It uses a K24 IIRC and total weight was only about 1900#. It made for a mean beast of a car, and is very fast. It has, however, suffered a number of failures due, as best I can tell, to the vibrations caused by such high power at high revs. Things tend to shake themselves apart on track. So I wouldn't worry about it having soul - it will be exciting. But I would carefully research what needs to be done to the rest of the car to make it capable of handling the power and vibration. Just my two-cents. I'm definitely not an expert on these swaps.

My first (and possibly only) aftermarket part showed up on my porch today: a Back Yard lowered seat rail. It will get me 20mm lower - not much, but exactly what I need to be able to see the full tach which is currently hidden behind the top rim of the completely non-adjustable steering wheel. They really didn't give us much adjustment in this car! As a guy with a tall torso, it's a challenging fit. This ought to help fix that issue, and make for an overall more comfortable seating position. Can't wait to get it installed! Fortunately, most of the work is done with the seat out of the car, meaning I can do it in my air-conditioned living room!

Note the instructions in Japanese only. Thank God for YouTube videos! Fortunately, this mod has been well documented. 

What's after this for the car? I may pick up another stock AP1 exhaust - they're cheap - and try the UK exhaust mod many people do, welding crossover pipes that bypass ⅔ of the muffler. I'd still have my stock unit to switch back to. Who knows... need some kind of project to drive away the boredom ;-)

"Spoiler alert: I like this car… but I don’t love it. “Love” is a word I reserve for cars that stir my soul, like the track-prepped early 80’s 911 Targa I drove on a country road one perfect spring day. That moved me in a way this clinical roadster probably never will. But I do genuinely like this car. It’s an excellent sports car in every way, and were it not for the memory of that sonorous air-cooled 911, it might be called perfect..."

Ha! That reminds me of my love life! I had a girlfriend that ruined my next few relationships but gave me an awesome wife. She was really hot and really fun and for many years I couldn't find anyone who could compare. If we hadn't dated I would have settled many sad years ago.

Back now to cars...

In reply to TheRev :

The K-RWD swaps blow up because apart from dry sump, the oil control schemes of converting a FWD engine to RWD are band-aids. Excellent engines, and I had contemplated swapping a K24 into my S2000 at one point before learning more about it.