If you normally travel with friends or carry bags/cargo with you often, the S2k is probably NOT a good choice. The 'S' is great as a daily driver, but not when you need cargo/passenger space.

I agree in choosing the Scooby over the EVO.

 

As Chris_in_SD said, 2% of the owners account for 90% of the complaints. In these forums it's very easy to think that a car has all sorts of problems based on a quick glance at the threads. People don't post "Hey, my car is great and reliable" they post problems they're having. The #1 issue is the clutch which is fine for day to day (as I and many others are at 23k+ with no problems). The clutch issues are easy to explain:

- lots of power
- AWD
- drag racing culture
- drag launch requires 5k+ clutch drop or slip
- young drivers

The AWD provides tenacious grip. Slip the clutch too much and you'll easily fry it. Do this repeatedly and I can definitely see a clutch wearing out inside of 10k.

Add onto this the fact that this is the first manual for many of the drivers or they never learned to drive manual correctly. You might think that driving a manual is pretty simple (as do I), but I received responses from some owners that slip the clutch until full boost (3.5k rpms) all the time, at every stop light. Yes, the car does feel faster but at the expense of the clutch.

The biggest factor is our drag racing culture. Many of the owners are dragging on a weekly/daily basis. An AWD launch in the EVO is certainly harder on the clutch and drivetrain than any other production vehicle I can think of. Even the STi has an easier time due to it's shorter 1st gear and larger well of torque.

If you followed the EVO back when it was released, the tuners were hitting low 12's, high 11's on stock clutch. These are guys that are very experienced with AWD, manual cars and none of them were having any serious issues. Even recently, EVOM had a poll which asked how many owners with 300+whp are on the original clutch?...78% were still on the stock clutch. Just for reference, stock is ~230whp.
http://forums.evolutionm.net/showthread.ph...ighlight=300whp

My theory is that the clutch issue is driver related. Drive normally and it will last. If you're in to drag racings expect to upgrade. No car is bullet proof especially when you're dealing with AWD and the amount of power the EVO is capable of. Even the S2000 has problems with repeated 6k rpm clutch bombs.

Sorry for the rant...I'm done.

 

Most Evo drivers I know who've had to change their clutch have beeen because of excessive runs on the track or spirited launching on the streets. Funny how a majority of the clutch replacements that I know of come from the younger kids....don't know if that means the older gen are better drivers or just more conservative.

 

 

I have had no problems with my Evo ... i have almost 13k miles... somewhat abused miles, but still no problems.... dragstrip=12 runs (roughly), auto-x starts - 7-8, track days - 3 full track days..... my clutch still works great.....

I also had/have an S2000 (3 of them) so they are great too...... no problems with either street S2000 for the 35k miles i put on them....

get the S2000...it has cruise.... or retrofit an Evo with cruise.?

 

Alright, I test drove both cars today and have decided on the S2k. I am not interested in the STi one bit. As far as winter is concerned, that is what my '99 Contour is for. I've done the whole 4G63 turbo thing so now it is time to try something new.

 

Even tho I am not an owner to either cars, here is my perspective if I were to decide on which car to get:

If I wanted to buy new, then I would have to wait for the Evo MR because owning a "regular" evo just isn't good enough when you have the MR that's on its way. As for a new s2k, you don't have any trim, so you don't have to worry about any other stock s2k's being faster or better then yours. This makes it an easy choice for me, the s2k.

If I were to buy used, I would choose the s2k also because of generally lower prices (depending on year, but I want a 02), and Honda reliability > Mitsubishi. I have a Mirage to whip around, and problems come out of a lot of different places.

 

s2k! congrats now go find yourself an s2k

 

Will do There is a very nice spa yellow '01 with 22k on it that is in perfect condition that I will deffinately be talking to the dealership about to see how flexible they are on pricing. If that one doesn't pan out, I will probably just wait until spring since it is already so close to winter I really don't want to buy a car then have to store it right away.

 

If you wait until the weather gets better, convertible prices hold or go up. You're better off picking one up while it's getting closer to winter. Also, make sure you get a screaming deal on an '01. Remember the '05 model year is right around the corner. Play it up that it's a 4-yr old car (even if you and I both know it kicks ass...).