quick intro: coming from the evo community, have always had an interest in the S2K. i've had quite a bit of fun in my evo 9 but with buying a new house recently and all the expense of it, i find that i haven't been able to track the car as much as i wanted. and it's a shame, really - the only way i feel i'm really enjoying the car is on track. to have fun on the road requires ludicrous speed, to the point where going off would likely be catastrophic.

so i'm looking for a car that i don't have to go absolutely insane speeds to enjoy myself. i have it boiled down to the AP1 or the E30 M3. "one of the most throttle adjustable cars" is the quote that really sticks out in my mind about the E30. i also know that the S2K is up there too when it comes to getting some yaw angles.

so i'd like to hear your thoughts. i want the car to be fun to drive, easy to slide around, easy to catch, but also a platform to build some good car control skill. i mention that because i hear the S2K is prone to snap oversteer, so i wonder whether that is virtue or vice.

btw, 13.8k for the '03 S2K @ 80k miles. does that sound like a reasonable price in the given market? KBB says 14.1k for excellent condition, 13.1k for good condition.

 

I love the e30 M3 and all, but they just seem way overpriced to me.

 

I got my MY00 @ 65k for 12k but I guess thats just because the one your looking at is a MY03. I was also looking for an e30 m3 when I was looking for a new car, but like aCab said there overpriced.

 

yeah, the price/value/maintenance quotient is what's holding me back. it's an interesting niche with low supply and a purist community bonkers about their car. well maintained E30s command pretty strong prices.

the M3 i'm looking at has 150k on the chassis, rebuilt motor properly broken in on a dyno dynamics dyno putting out 159.x whp, less than 20k on the dampers, adjustable f and r roll bars, street+snow+hoosier A6+V710s, a set of track pads with the street pads. $11.5k, seems like a decent value but with a 20 year old BMW there's going to be lots of on going maintenance. hence my attraction to a MUCH younger car (a honda at that) which will probably need a valve adjustment, then just fluids and filters for a good long while.

 

As much as I love my S2000, I would go with the M3. There are plenty of good S2000s out there. In fact, I would hold out for one with a little less on the odometer. The E30 M3, on the other hand, is comparatively rare, and would be incredible to drive and own. It sounds like the E30 you're looking at already has a good auto cross set up and it seems to be maintained by someone who cares. An M3 like that does not come around to often, but there are still several S2000s out there in good condition if you want to pick up one later. An S2000 that has been well maintained will provided thousands of trouble free miles. One that hasn't been well maintained could provide a blown diff and broken transmission.

The good news is that you really don't have a bad choice here. Have fun no matter which one you pick.
-James

 

jimmy, i think you're absolutely right. there are worse things in life than having to choose between an s2k and an e30 m3. the good thing is that an s2k will always be a honda, meaning that even beat down examples in 2-3 years should still be a fantastically reliable car.

barrett jackson recently rated the E30 M3 as a collectable car with a rating of C, meaning that it no longer depreciates (so i hear). thanks for the advice as far as holding out on the purchase. by the KBB numbers it seems i have an ok deal at best on the S2K; in context of the current economy, i think i could do a little better (probably 10k miles less for the same price). but i have only started to shop the S2K, so any suggestions are welcome.

 

S2000. Of course it's kind of biased for me because you posted in this forum, but I just think it has so much more to offer.

 

could you be more specific? i don't have much meaningful experience in either car. i have read about every magazine review i could find as well as reviews on both in the motorsports sections of a couple of forums. but that's no substitute for actual seat time.

 

Why must you always copy me when it comes to car selection!!!! No serious ken, get the s2k. The sound of 9k with the top down is intoxicating. When you stop by well hit the back roads as usual.

 

all the way down to car color, to include interior. i mean, that is bad.