Mate has an MX5 he fitted the supercharger kit to himself, 260bhp I think, quite a weapon and looks just like all the others, till he gives it the beans.

 

Going from an S2000 to an MX5 would be a retrograde step no matter how much you soup up the MX. A couple of issues with the MX: the sides are lower so you feel you sit on top of it, the suspension is very much inferior. I would hang on to the S until there is a BEV sportscar - the MG Cybersteer looks the deal and appears to have a tempting spec. Hopefully there would be others soon - a Honda BEV S2000 replacement? I'd buy that. Will it happen? I should think so. And soon.

 

Honda making a BEV S2000 replacement? You'll be pushing daisies before they ever do that and sell it here. The S660 was the closest they've come and by the time that made it through customs etc the prices were nudging mid 20s which was just insane. If you want an affordable, light, chuckable, useable and uncomplicated RWD roadster there's only one left if you want something that's not 10+ years old and Mazda have that bag sewn right up. A few thousand spent at BBR turn it into an absolute B road weapon but would it be 'special' in the way that something like an Evora / TVR / Cobra are special - NO. But then i don't think an S2000 competes there either.

That said, unless you live in the far North or Wales /Yorkshire or can make it over to the continent for your shenanigans - there are so little uncongested roads left that aren't either potholed or littered with 'safety' cameras - your use case for fast / special is fast evaporating. Would i want to take a stock S2000 to a track as my cherished thing / daily driver - NO. Some moron in a modern hatch will crash into it or you'll run out of talent and throw it into the scenery.

That was my end issue with the S2000, in the space available and as a stock motor, i'd run out of places to wind it up safely and then all you were left with was the shortcomings. The days of taking it for a roasting in 2nd and 3rd gear around Milton Keynes / emptying a tank of petrol in < 150 miles - long gone. 10 years / almost 80k miles of utter fun, plus a social scene that complimented it! Brilliant engine, fantastic gearbox BUT so so build quality, average fuel consumption ( even at previous prices), expensive insurance / road tax and suspension that didn't like sub quality UK tarmac plus a propensity to rust from the inside out (typical Honda).

If you still find yours a special thing and you can forgive the other issues because it's not your main car / you have places to use it then cool - hopefully you can keep it and continue to enjoy it but for me, there are other things out there to own that are as good as if not better or, just different.

You're a long time dead. Vive la différence!

 

I disagree. The MX5 original had great steering feel, weighed less than an S2 and was an uber simple car. It's enemy was a flat engine, no character. And rust now.

Adding a turbo will give it the grunt the chassis warrants imo

BEV has zero place in sports cars. Yes they can be straight line heroes for the traffic light GP twinkies but they don't buy sports cars, they buy a Tesla model X or one of those Porsche busses. I would rather self harm personally

Any BEV is simply too heavy for me, the enemy of fun. Anyone who tells me they enjoy throwing their 1800kg GTR or Tesla down the road is not talking my lingo, the 5 would be much more fun, more involving

BEV for the daily, ICE for the weekend.

But everyone has a different view.

I cannot ever see me buying a BEV performance car, it's like having an island in the Bahamas you never go to. All BEVs are quick enough as daily drivers. You don't need a 1/4 mile record on the school run

 

I've got to agree, BEVs just don't give the same immersive engagement as a petrol car with a raucous noise and far lower weight. And whilst an MX-5 is a cracking value fun car and can even approach a decent power to weight ratio with forced induction (bearing in mind mind I've done the supercharger things and now want NA), it barely registers on the 'special' scale.

 

A Sagaris would be special but then at that price you'd be mental to buy one over a Cayman GT4. If it was one car it'd be the Porsche, if it was two cars i'd have the Sagaris. If i didn't give a fig about mpg it'd be a C6 or C7 Corvette.

Given the price of the above, it's not a decision I need bother my head with

When you are into the 40k plus category, you expect the damned thing to work when YOU want it to and not vice versa and for an only car, that rules out a whole lot of otherwise interesting stuff. Special doesn't have to mean stupidly expensive. When you nudge into the 65k plus area you're into the bottom end of the Mclaren stuff and that i think counts as special. I have an idea Mikey went that route and i don't recall him crying about it.

How much are you prepared to throw at having something special .....

Edit: Relatively speaking, i hadn't realised AMG GT were as 'cheap' as they now are!

Right now i'd merrily take a punt on a Ducati Diavel for the summer - that'd properly tick all my special boxes.

 

Haha! That made me chuckle. Same here. In reality, roughly £30k max if I keep the S2000 and £40k max if I sell (I'd like to be left with either the S or some savings after buying it!). I'd guess I could get circa £15k for my S2000, but it'd have to be the right buyer, cos everyone wants 'original' these days. So, some of those options you suggested are stretching it a bit!

What I've found so far is that there is the occasional decent NA Evora for sub £30k and S for £30-40k (400s etc are too expensive). But there aren't that many around, maybe a new one for sale each week. Plenty (ie they're common!) of decent 987 Boxster Ss & Cayman Ss for £20-25k, plus some 981 non Ss. I think a good 987S is a great value thing if it tickles me when I drive it, and I could even keep the S2000! Doubt I'd keep a Boxster and a S2000 though, too close to each other in terms of what's I'd use them for. Decent Elise 111Rs seem to be £20-25k. Caterhams of the sort of power/weight I'm looking could be £15k-35k! Very variable.

 

You could pick up one of those mental BL Mini conversions with a 1L bike engine in - they go like proverbial stink. It'd certainly be an event to drive it. Or a Honda Jazz with a K20 lump in it - that'd also be a laugh.

Or throw it all at the BGW club and get a MK4 Supra - if you treated it nicely, the value is only going one way.

Again but special .....

VX220 Turbo can be had for a bargain if you know what you're doing.

The challenge / problem is that 30k buys you something more expensive than the S2000 but not necessarily better or special enough to make the change worth it, at least IMHO.

Sure you could buy an Aston or an F-Type but when it goes wrong ( and it will ) you'll be left with a big hole in your pocket without a decent 3rd party warranty.

 

F Type is pretty, but big and a bit over capable for fun on the road (a mate has one). I love the Vantage but size and running costs have pushed it off the list. Discussed both already in the thread (although the thread's getting long, so I don't blame you for not reading it all!)

Yeh, the S2000 out competes its price, so it's a tricky one! I've booked a 987s test drive on Sun, so that'll fill in some more unknowns...

 

It's a small pond you are fishing in

I really like the SC S2 so I'm stuck. I don't really fish anymore, not bovvered. I don't like Porsche, owned one BM and ****ing hated it (it sounded nice mind) and Porsche have a similar rep, flaky but good ergo

I'm the same with bikes, got an XSR700 which is a wheelie monster, suits me, it's light and fun.. I do casually look but everything is heavier, not as good at wheelies etc. A cb1000r has double the power ffs. A sports bike 3x. That's teleporter Accel.
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If I moved it would be kit or Lotus. Nothing else. You could run a very nice 7 alongside the S2 and with your spanner skills no issues imo

Lotti a bit pricey at the mo

Porsche/McLaren/Aston will pull your pants down I reckon. The Porsche place in Nottm is a carbon copy of BM. Cheese central. Unless you buy old enough to DIY factor it in

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