The Honda S2000

[SledgehammerVette]

This car simply flat out rules! My older bro owns one (white/red) and it is an amazing car.

That sweet exhaust note when you hit past 6 grand, redline it at 9K, it is just a very sweet car!

The handling is subperb and the high rpms from 3rd gear on throws you back into your seat because of VTEC kicking in! If I was going to look at a $30K car and it had to be convertible this is the car I would take.

I have had some great experiences in this car from going over the same hill at 80MPH and passing what looked like a cop car (Caprice(sp?), this was at night) and he downshifted and floored it and then we turned off the road. It gets your blood moving when you get these kinds of scary things like cops going by you when you are doing 80 on a 40MPH road.

Highest speed we got it up to was about 120MPH before we came to the stop light. It is just simply a SWEET car!

[Bean Bandit]

Today I walked along the lake listening to some Hip-Hop (I'm listening to music often and quite loud) when I heard a car rev. It was a S2000 and I have to admit it sounds very nice when it pushes over 7000rpm

[LotusGT1]

The S2000 is a great car IMO. The nreliability is excellent (as all Honda's) and the engine is a masterpiece. It can kill almost every car in it's pricerange (Boxster, TT, Z3) and it looks stunning.

[johnny]

I love the S2000 unconditionally. However, if Honda did decide to up the S2K's displacement by 0.5 litres or more, I wouldn't mind. Hell there's always the Comptech S/C for people who need some more umph.

[Jay!]

Honda's engineering expertise lies in building extremely efficient, naturally-aspirated, lower-displacement engines, and in making them ultra-reliable. This is exactly what they've done with the engine in the S2000. You can say all you like that they should increase displacement, turbo- or supercharge, or try something new in general, but you can't say that the S2000's engine, which has the highest power to displacement ratio of any naturally-aspirated engine on Earth, isn't a spectacular piece of automotive engineering.

I'm sure there's a ton of cars that could beat an S2K in a drag race, but how many of those same cars could even try to keep up on a road course?

Also: Can any car challenge the S2000 for the title of Best Shifter Ever?

[JD@af]

I've heard the BMW M5 and Z8 use shifters that give the S2000's a run for its money.

[johnny]

True true. But those cars are monstrously expensive. At a base price of just $32,000, the stook is a steal. Not many cars can boast such a thing.

[Jay!]

Originally posted by johnny
...the stook is a steal...

I realize now that you mean "S" "too" "K," but when I first read it I though you misspelled "stool," like poop.

Needless to say, I was confused.

[johnny]

Yeah. Sorry for the confusion. But, yeah, now you know.

[three_gunn]

found ya johnny..hehe.:smoker2:

[johnny]

Hey there. Did you make your introduction in AF in general?

[gabedude]

I've heard alot of people complain about lack of low end tourque. I see the same problem in my Prelude. But to me, its not a problem. A 2.0 litre engine is not going to have alot of tourque in the low rpm range. Face it. If you want tourque, get a Camaro or a Corvette. If you want a great handling Japanese sports car that feels more like a race car, get an S2000.

[enzo@af]

lack of low end power doesn't mean much to me anyway....if you want to go fast, don't keep your RPMs in the 1000-3000 range...get 'em up near redline!

[johnny]

Amen, my brutha.

[JD@af]

I agree as well. I have driven the big torque monster V8's, and frankly, I'd prefer to go fast in a smaller displacement engine that builds and builds until near redline your engine is screaming from the power it's laying down. Some of the big displacement enthusiasts forget that many race cars are in fact engineered in the same school of thought as smaller dispalcement-engined street cars, with narrow, high rpm powerbands. You going to tell me they're doing it wrong? And let's not forget that low end torque also hinders a car's practicality as a daily driver in a variety of weather conditions, particularly in rear-wheel drive models, even with the aid of traction control (although admittedly this aids in vehicular stability and control).