The natural progression that I've noticed is S2000 -> Evo/STi -> ISF -> GTR -> Gallardo

Just take the next step!

 

Clean is300? 6Cyl Rwd. Not as roomy as some previous cars mentioned but I like to consider it closest to the feel of an s2000 out of all the other choices. Toyota reliability is nice too.

 

C5Z06, 335, 135i, Z4 M coupe, E46 M3. Evo and STi interiors suck bad, insurance is sky high.

 

lolwtflist

 

I don't know how to put this. The s2k is the only sports car you can own now. You've had one, and you'll always compare all other sports cars to it. There are faster ones. There are nicer ones. It became aparent to me after about 2 years of driving around a 400hp evo x that the s2k was still the sports car for me. ^ This guy above me is on his 4th one!!!

Just get something fun for you and your friends with lots of space. Not another pseudo sports car. Look at older 4runners. You can take those camping, fit lots of stuff, do some fun 4x4 off road action, and you'll get decent gas milage with the right driving habbits. Think for a second about what you want your vehicle to do for you.

i'm just saying, what does "fun car" really mean to you? How often can you push the limits of performance in a sports car without being in danger of getting popped by the local PD who just so happen to be on high alert and are also extremely ticket happy when it comes to young guys in sports cars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCc4d...eature=related

xterras are fun and capable also. very cheap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oy51...eature=related

 

Yes, it's hard to find a clean one. First off, there aren't as many Evos out there as STIs, and a lot of them have been modded poorly and abused/beat on. But clean ones are out there, it's not as hard (yet) as, say, finding an unmolested CRX or EM1 Si. No real quirks to speak of, other than the insanely large turning radius. Mine's stock, and haven't had a single hiccup in 75K miles. I average 20mpg. Comparatively I average 24mpg in my AP1 with the same driving patterns.

reliable: yes
affordable powerful: yes
practical: yes
acceptable gas mileage: not really
fun handling: yes

4/5...not bad

 

judging by your sig., i think you are better off keeping your car especially if you know you want another s2000 in the future. it's going to be such a big hassle/headache to return your car back to stock with the amount of mods you did and then going through the time to sell all those parts. you probably won't have the time to do all that with school and stuff. I'm saying this because i'm in the same situation as you. I don't really have time to enjoy my car because of the constant stress of college/graduate school also and I can't find myself coming up with the time to return the car back to stock, then sell the parts, and then go through the process of buying the right car. But then again, i like the s2000 too much to let it go

 

The mitsu is far from reliable, the STi is reliable. Both net you shitty gas mileage if going with the earlier models. The newer ones aren't that much better either. The interior of both will make you cringe when coming from the S.

I've driven my old roomates ~420/380 STi, and while the power was neat, it was about 1/10ths as fun to drive. What do early gen 335's go for nowadays? Truth be told, minus the impractible nature of a roadster, you're never going to get another car that offers the fun, sportiness, dynamic power, mpg's and quality interior like the S. Almost any car from the post 2000's, is going to be a step down in every quality you named essential except being able to haul stuff/people in your price bracket.

 

Am I the only one who doesn't consider an Evo/Sti as an ''upgrade'' from the S?

 

Completely disagree. Google "STi cracked ringland." People were blowing stock EJ25s left and right thanks to Subaru's crappy tune.

On the other hand, it's pretty well known that the 4G63 is bulletproof. The 4B11 is proving to be a reliable motor as well. My own Evo hasn't had a single issue in 75K miles. I don't even know what the CEL looks like because I haven't seen it yet.