The OEM hardtop is nice enough. Weighs nothing and improves visibility, the stereo, and MPG. I have a bike and the thrill of the top down is completely gone now.

6/9/2012 12:08:05 AM

Quote :

"my first one was an immaculate, garage-kept car, and by 3-4 years old and prob 40k miles, it had holes in the top."

woot, 80k 10 years old and i have no holes!

but they're coming

6/9/2012 10:11:25 AM

Of course I say that and immediately notice two pinhole sized holes

Here's hoping liquid vinyl repair works.

6/9/2012 9:58:30 PM

I'd kinda like to find a theft recovery S2k where the interior is already gutted, wheels stolen, seats gone, top stolen etc...then put a set of race buckets and a roll bar in it, add a set of R-comps, and drive it like I'm the one who stole it.

6/9/2012 10:06:42 PM

I've got a Miata ill let you do that with for next to nothing

Speaking of which, I need to sell the damn hardtop on that thing

[Edited on June 9, 2012 at 10:14 PM. Reason : ]

6/9/2012 10:13:33 PM

send me a PM

6/9/2012 10:18:42 PM

Sent. Let me know what you want to know

6/9/2012 10:25:23 PM

Oh fuck you, Duke

6/9/2012 10:28:19 PM

haha

for those following at home:

after I said "send me a PM", I rx'd a message from him saying something like "here's your PM". I replied with a mega-gross gay bukkake picture.

After that, I suppose that bottom had been reached, so to speak, so we talked about the car.

6/10/2012 12:13:49 AM

^ BACK OFF. I've got a $100 on that miata.

6/10/2012 12:49:06 AM

S2000s sound annoying, are woefully underpowered, cramped inside and don't have a trunk to speak of. Also, they're convertibles. On the plus side, ... at least they... um...

Ok, who hates me now (that didn't before)? Maybe I'm just emotional I don't own anything that revs to 8k.

[Edited on June 10, 2012 at 10:04 AM. Reason : S2k bro!]

6/10/2012 10:03:19 AM

I don't think they sound annoying, at least when they're at WOT and in the top 1/3 of the tach where they belong. I also don't find them underpowered, even though my stock S2k was by far the least powerful of the 5 dedicated sports/performance cars I've owned. You have to wring its neck all the time, but I find the power to be very adequate, just not a hp thrill ride like my Z06 is or my turbo Miata was.

They are a cast iron bitch to get in and out of, and do have pretty tight quarters inside. I think they're as bad or maybe even worse in some ways than a Miata, which is significantly smaller. Fortunately, I'm only about 5'8" and fit just fine once I'm in there. You do sit waaay down in them, like a tub. It's aggravating to rest your arm on top of the door, because it's too high...and it's easy to block off the door speaker with your left leg (and the stock stereo is borderline useless anyway).

The trunk is fairly useless. If you ditch your spare, you can fit a full-size suitcase in it, though, along with a duffel and maybe a few smaller odds and ends.

The convertible piece is a negative in my book, too. They're fucking loud, becoming deafening once you push significantly into the triple digits (i saw 170 indicated in my force fed one, haha; it sounded like it was about to blow the roof off. Like, seriously, I was afraid I was gonna have a catastrophic failure of the top, which I really didn't want at that speed, so I backed out of it...not that it had much left, anyway).


They're great little super-fun cars, and dirt cheap and reliable to own/operate. I would not pay the money that many of the nicer ones go for, but a decent example at the $8-9k price point is a lot of sports car for the money.

6/10/2012 1:11:09 PM

^ Agreed. I just bought a 2002 s2000 with 32k miles for $13k. The final decision was that it was the most fun I could have for the price given its reliability and mileage.

I dont think anyone is really serious when they say it's truly fast, or truly powerful. It's a fun car to own and drive. I'm 5'11/175 and I fit into the car fine. I much prefer the seating position in the car compared to, say, a 350z. The Nissan makes you feel like youre sitting on the floor of something with a wall of black, flat car all around you. I actually thought the s2000 made you sit a little too high for what it is.

At the end of the day, it's reliable, affordable and fun (fun doesnt have to mean truly fast, go karts are fun). You can buy a clean one for about the same price as a ~99 boxster s. While the boxster s has more functional speed (read: torque), it's also more expensive to maintain, has a worst interior (IMO) and will depreciate more.

The problem with the s2000 isnt so much the performance as it is the hysterical fanboys who think it's the spawn of a NSX and elise.

[Edited on June 10, 2012 at 4:21 PM. Reason : derp]

6/10/2012 4:21:22 PM

^^^ Well I'm not a fan of 911's at all (or most Porsches / German cars since the mid-90's, for that matter...I do love me some E30/E36 M3 action heh), and hopefully you don't hate those of us who are of different opinions there

I don't find the sound annoying (I quite love it actually) and the power is perfectly good for what I do with mine. I wish it was a coupe and not a convertible, but eh, I like the character of the car enough to get past the downsides of it being a convertible. And I have to admit, I do enjoy top down motoring.

I've known you hated S2000's before I ever got one, never bothered me much, everyone's entitled to their opinion. Has there ever been any Japanese car you liked, out of curiosity? '93 RX-7, GTR, anything like that?

6/10/2012 9:04:22 PM

Quote :

"I actually thought the s2000 made you sit a little too high for what it is. "

I thought this as well. In fact it was glaringly obvious when I got into my S2000 after driving a Cayman and 911. I sat much lower in those cars, which someone still having good sightlines.

Quote :

"S2000s sound annoying"

While it doesn't have the sonorous exhaust note of a flat six it is one of the best sounding I4s made. In fact at the last HPDE I attended I had a few Porsche owners actually compliment the sound of my exhaust (aftermarket Invidia system). I'll admit below 4500 rpm the sound is so so but above that and especially when on the big cam it howls pretty good

6/11/2012 8:20:24 AM

Japanese cars... I think Evo 8/9s are good to drive, I like the NSX. In all honestly there's quite a few that I'm OK with, but very few that I'd want to own. I think the S2k is a fantastic car, along w/the Hype R, the prev. gen Civic Si, Miata, 300zx tt, MR-2, 240SX and I'm a big fan of older turbo small Japanese cars like the 323gtx, Corolla GTS. I just don't know what the hell happened to all the Japanese manufacturers that they lost their soul... I absolutely hate the GTR and do not think that's what sports cars should be about (electronics, awd + weight).

Though I meant what I said in this thread, I really posted it sort of tongue in cheek.

6/11/2012 9:17:15 AM

Nice M3?

6/11/2012 9:52:13 AM

Quote :

"I just don't know what the hell happened to all the Japanese manufacturers that they lost their soul."

the truth!

6/11/2012 10:01:04 AM

hyundai/kia stole it with everything else they stole in the 2000s.

6/11/2012 10:12:25 AM

Eh, Kia/Hyundai apparently left behind "good handling" and "smooth shifters" though.

6/11/2012 12:53:27 PM

Quote :

"I just don't know what the hell happened to all the Japanese manufacturers that they lost their soul... I absolutely hate the GTR and do not think that's what sports cars should be about (electronics, awd + weight). "

I couldn't agree more. Well said.

6/11/2012 1:08:30 PM

yeah... the LFA is perfect but the price/performance is what makes it laughable

If that thing was sold for gtr money it would be the perfect car.

even with a couple more lbs to save cost.

6/11/2012 1:19:50 PM

Quote :

"I just don't know what the hell happened to all the Japanese manufacturers that they lost their soul... I absolutely hate the GTR and do not think that's what sports cars should be about (electronics, awd + weight)."

Agreed

I've gone from a Honda fanatic to basically despising everything new they do in a few years. The Hondas I own are 9, 12, and 15 years old, and the 9 year old is a bike. I don't think I'd purchase any of the cars they made after 2006 or so, maybe even earlier.

Even though I'm not a fan of where they've gone with modern German cars, I feel like they've stayed a hell of a lot closer to their roots than Honda has.

6/11/2012 2:38:39 PM

Quote :

"do not think that's what sports cars should be about (electronics, awd + weight)"

what do you think about ferraris and lambos? heck, even the porsches (and your beloved evo) now have that, minus the weight part.

could you not put the GTR's weight aside for the awesome performance you get out of it? aren't the current ~530hp GTRs outlapping Z06s (600 lbs lighter) now?

6/11/2012 4:02:11 PM

^no they're not out lapping Z06s. They also don't out accelerate Z06s (once you factor out the launch they're behind in every measureable acceleration test)

Quote :

"what do you think about ferraris and lambos? heck, even the porsches (and your beloved evo) now have that, minus the weight part."

Most of us are disappointed in the direction Ferrari/Lambo has taken, but it's inconsequential since we can't afford them anyway. Porsche at least caters to both crowds. Do you see anyone else introducing manual 7 speed transmissions? You can still buy their cars without any electronic gizmos. However I've heard rumors that the next GT3 will be PDK only and if that is true it is disappointing.

6/11/2012 4:23:52 PM