There's a couple polls on another forum about the best handling car under $35k. So far its pretty much neck and neck between the EVO and the S2K, with the RX-8 and STI a decent amount behind.

I am wondering if anyone here has driven both, and can give their oppinion? Remember this should be devoid of anything except handling.. i.e. an EVO may beat an S2K around the track, but keep in mind it has 60hp advantage. Try to keep it as objective as possible

 

The S2000 weights about 400 lbs less. That's a BIG advantage, despite the large amount of tire a stock evo comes with. It's very subjective too. It's very easy to drive the Evo at or near its handling limits. The Evo makes any driver feel like a hero. The S2000 on the other hand is very difficult to drive at or near the limit. But when driven well, it's a very rewarding experience.

Andrew

 

A few internet idiots posting to a poll doesn't really matter much.... S2000 guys will say S2000, Evo guys will say Evo.

I have owned 4 S2000's and also had a daily driven Evo for 2.5 years....

I have no clue which one "handled" better..... They both have very quick steering and a fairly stiff ride. Evo weighs 3250 vs 2750 of the S2000.... The Evo was faster around the track for sure, despite the extra weight.

I guess look at the skid pad & slalom results in a magazine if you want just handling...?

 

I think the awd system makes up for the poorer handling of the evo but, the car wouldnt keep up if it were RWD.. So the S2k is more of a natural good handling car..

 

Have you ever driven an Evo to make that statement?
Take the car for what it is, lets try not to make advantages or
disadvantages of what the car is capable of.

How is if the Evo is Rwd it wouldn't keep up? It's currently Awd
and it's already has an advantage. If the Evo was Rwd it rip an
S2 a new one due to lesser power train loss.


Simple stock to stock, just check every magazine out there. The
Evo has an slight advantage over the S2 in the handling department.

 

I wouldn't trust a magazine. I would trust someone with serious seat time behind an S2k, and a lot of seat time behnd the EVO.. Does such a person exist?

 

Well, in stock class auto-xing the evo can not compete with the S2000... for what ever that's worth. You can't dispute this.

 

I've own 00 and an 04 S2. Now I'm currently driving 05 Evo.
While both cars have different characteristic in handling, I
can say the Evo has an slight advantage.

While I don't live by what the magazines have to write about, but
I can not deny that all magazine shows the Evo having the advantage.
How you going to deny that?

 

Only way to find out is to have the same driver drive both and see what the times are. You know anyone?

 

I don't really think you can get an appreciation for the performance of a car with out timing equipment. At the last auto-x event I was at, I competed mainly against an Evo and an STI driver. Both were good. After I barely beat them in the wet on Saturday and put a hurting on their asses in the dry on Sunday the driver of the STI who also owns an S2000 said to me that his STI feels faster but his S2000 puts down better times. He said he thought it was the torque that made him feel the STI was faster.

Now, an auto-x event really puts an emphasis on "handling" over brute power and straight line performance. Track driving starts to give an edge to the car that can pull out of the turns harder.