Archon

Hi All,

I'm not the one who posted the original long debate with these two cars. Ironically I was in the same boat and was kind of weird to see someone else who was on the fence with the RX-7 and S2K like myself. The RX-7 is a way better performance car than the S2K, period...I know. However my RX-7 slowly started to fall apart, both my door handles began to stick (driver side actually broke!), the leather looked very old despite care, the compartment door from the driver box broke, the radio knob started to get very loose, the reverse gear developed a grind, etc. the list goes on. Mechanically it ran Great but I knew that in a short time the Turbos will need to be cleaned, every 15K miles demanded a full service ($500, almost yearly for me), Oil changes every 1500 miles to be safe, rear suspension bearings will need replacing soon, warm-up and cool down times, etc. On top of that my mileage ran between 10-11 MPG. The closest mechanic that is capable to work on a twin-turbo rotary was 40 miles away! Finally, I decided to get something new, I always wanted a S2K but when they first came out the price was a dot-com 10-15K above sticker, it was a new model that could have problems and it had a plastic rear window. ENTER 02' Suzuka Blue. Now in it's third year, new refinements and better time to buy. I called around looking for Red to replace my Red RX-7, one dealer called me back about a '02 Yellow, no dice I said looking for Red. He called a few days ago and said we have the new Suzuka Blue, you should check it out. I did and the car was stunning, the interior was a bit much but it really matched the exterior very well. After much haggling the dealer let it go for MSRP, they threw out the 10K mark up on the sticker! The deal was made and I drove away with a brand new S2K. After a few days here is my insight for those interested in a true first hand account with these two cars. They both handle very well but the RX-7 has more power at all RPMS. The S2000 is made way better and will be in the long run a lot more dependable and easier to maintain. Both are great cars but I can't continue to support a money pit. Just having the S2000 I will save about $2000 a year (based on today's gas prices) from maintenance, gas and insurance. I know that in 5 years the S2000 will run even better than ever and the rest of the car won't start to systematically erode away.

I am kind of missing the RX-7, I used to kill new Corvettes and 911's with that car but with every press of the gas I feared a turbo hose will pop off or something will happen to over heat the car, etc. The S2000 is however new and way cool on the coolness scale and pretty fast too, just not super car fast.

Some questions for you owners.

Anything special I need to be aware of with my '02? I know the break-in procedure but is there anything else I should know about? Also how many miles (estimate) are you getting on the S-02s? And how many miles (estimate) before I need to replace the F/R brake pads?

Thanks and see ya around town.

Archon

charlie

welcome try here it should help you out a bit

https://www.s2ki.com/faqs/index.php

s2ktaxi

Was your RX-7 stock? If you are blowing away Vettes and 911's I would suspect not. In which case, then it's probably not an apples to apples comparison.

Nevertheless, the feeling and sound of the 9000 rpm with the top down will have to do for now...

Bruinlax

Archon - was that you on gough street i saw a couple weeks ago - we waved - i don't know of any other sf Suzukas

xBryan

Hey Bruinlax,

I believe that was me. I really like your clear corners - I've been looking into doing that to mine. Also sounded like you had a nice sound system installed.

Welcome Archon. I love the Suzuka Blue also (I just bought mine too).

cthree

It's not a supercar for $32K and it hasn't got twin turbos to help get it there either. A nice turbo setup will pump out 300+ to the rear wheels if you feel the need for extreme speed.

Welcome!

bumper

Archon,

Which dealership did you buy your car from?

thanks,

Utah S2K

C3....."Managing Director"....... What happend to "Hanging Judge"? What a difference a year makes. Hope to see EVERYONE at the Dec, 17th Christmas Party (Serious Door Prize Action).

Utah

DMENACE021

Hey Archon I was the one that posted that thread of the RX7 and the S2000. I have had my S2000 for about 4 days now. Like you said the torque and power of the S2000 does not compare to the FD3, but like you said its new, doesnt chug gas, and its a Honda which means reliability! I can tell you one thing, I miss my RX7 but I dont regret getting the S2000, its a blast!

I to have a question for all S2000 owners. In the break in period is there a certain speed you cant climb over as well as you dont hit VTEC for 600 miles?

s2ktaxi

The official recommendation is as per the manual - no hard acceleration for the first 600 miles. However, keep in mind that the factory honda engineers say that the engine probably takes about 7500-10000 miles to fully break in.

Try to keep you factory oil in for at least 3000 miles. 7500 is the recommendation from the factory engineers (literally - from Tochigi in Japan).