5 Reasons Why the S2000 is the Best All-Around Sports Car
If you want a car that can do it all, look no further than the S2000.
1. Incredible Balance
Lots of cars do one thing well. Muscle cars have lots of power and go fast in a straight line. Others handle well but are low on power. Some cars even scream performance when you look at them, yet they don't deliver on a track. But the S2000 is incredibly balanced. Toss it around a corner, and you might get some mild understeer, but not enough to entice you to let off the gas. It feels light and has excellent braking, giving you the confidence to drive the car at it's upper limits.
2. Fantastic Steering
Steering is an often overlooked component by consumers today, but it's an incredibly important one. A car with great handling but poor steering feel can ruin your drive and kill your confidence. If nothing else, there's a steep learning curve inherent in a lot of otherwise great cars because of poor steering. But the S2000 has downright excellent steering. It's incredibly quick and precise, allowing the driver to navigate left and right transitions with satisfying ease.
3. World's Best Gearbox
The S2000's transmission blesses its driver with quick, precise shifts and short, positive throws. It's also what many folks consider to be the best manual gearbox on the planet for those very reasons. In a day and age when everyone is going automatic, the S2000 provides a much more pure and authentic sports car experience. And much of that comes from it's proper and fantastic manual transmission.
4. Usable Power
A true test of any sports car is whether or not you can actually "use" the power it produces. Many cars simply produce more power than their chassis (and oftentimes driver) can handle. Not so with the S2000, which is quite easy to drive at the limit. It has enough low-end grunt to make it usable on the street, yet will also happily spin to the redline and make sweet music. There's enough power at 3,000 rpm, however, so that you don't have to constantly shift gears in traffic.
5. Value
Even new, the S2000 was a pretty darn affordable car considering its performance. With a base price of just over $32,000, it undercut the Porsche Boxster S by an astounding $20,000 when new. Today, you can find a good one for between $14,000 and $24,000. Considering Honda's reputation for high resale values, those are relative bargains. Especially when you consider the cost of anything with similar performance.