UCP

Hello all, my name is Jason, and I am considering an S2000 for my next car.

I'm 26 years old, an I've never had what I would consider a NICE car. My first car was an 88 fiero, four cylinder, automatic. I'm used to the small two seater, but that car was truely a poor exapmle of driving excitement.

My second car was a 1993 caprice sedan that I literally destroyed learning about audio. That was a fun time in my life, and I learned a lot, but that poor car gave it's life for that knowledge. I drove that poor thing to the crusher myself.

My current car is a 1995 caprice wagon. Yes, with woodgrain. Great vehicle, lots of room, lots of power, lots of laughs. I will not get rid of this car when I get my next car as it will be my winter beater and all around utilitarian transportation. I know how to do just about everything on that car and can fix anything that ails it.

That said, I'm ready to move on. I decided two summers ago that I wanted a fun car. I spend a summer building cars withmy friends. I helped swap turbo drivetrains into 2 NA fc rx7s. The more exciting of which was a 300 rwhp machine. Although I've never owned a manual, I can drive them decently, and this car felt RIGHT, the gears were where I wanted them to be, the clutch let out exactly where I wanted it to. The coilovers made the car respond great. That car was fairly heavily modified, it was not track star, but it certainly had potential.

I was considering buying an old fc and building it up, but realisticly, that's a lot of time and money to lose track of at this point in my life. I've mentally put the axe in my FC bug, I really don't want to start from zero anymore.

I've had friend with S2000s and I've always liked the way they look, just plain factory they look good to me. Up until today I'd never driven one. More on that in a minute.

I like the idea of the car, I would love to take proper driving lessons at mid Ohio and do some light track driving. Serious track driving is far out of my means at this point in my life.

I'm looking to buy a car within the next year. I'm not in a huge hurry and I'd rather find the right car later than any car right now.

I'm going to stop this one right here to give a slight break and let me focus on my first impression and concerns in the following post.

UCP

Today I test drove an 05 with 53k on the clock. The car had some damage, nothing substantial, but I felt they all added up to make the near 18k tag not worth it, and like I said, I'm not looking to buy immediately.

First impressions, I fit. I fit like a glove. It felt like the seat was molded for a person if my stature. The shifter was at my right hand, the pedals had plenty of room for my feet, and the wheel was comfortable to hold.

The salesman told me to pit it in reverse to see if I could because it was "a little tricky." I kind of shrugged my brow at that one, slid the shifter over and pressed down on the knob, bam, reverse, much like my friends GTI. I guess I passed that test, huh?

Once I got acclimated to the car, which really, it was figuring out that it was far easier to drive than I had anticipated I was on my way. I love the heavy steering (remember, I'm coming from a boat here), nice and neutral in the middle, but with the slightest input I just... Goes that direction. I didn't honestly push the car handling wise, but I really wasn't familiar with the area, and I can't think of anything handling wise that struck me as unexpected. That felt great.

The things that did get me were the short gearing (the differential ratio in my wagon is 2.56, lol), The soft feeling shifter, and the soft feeling drivetrain overall.

I guess I'd expected something more like the turboII gearbox that gave a solid, affirming clunk when you rowed through the gears. The drivetrain, once again I'm comparing to that modified RX7. That car had urethane mounts on the engine and transmission, so that is likely infair as well. The short gearing... I realize that likely has to do with making the available torque usable (no offense, it's all relative), I'm just not used to being over 3k going 75 mph.

The interior is nothing amazing, don't get me wrong, it is way better than what I have currently, and I do get that this isn't a luxury car.

All in all, I liked the car and only having driven it once, on mostly straight roads far away from an area I know I'd say it's a great car. I think I need to maybe find a forum member around Cincinnati that would be willing to take me for a
ride on some country roads.

I think this first impression was more of a culture shock than anything, what I'm used to and what Im leaning toward really are nothing alike. They both have four wheels, RWD, and run on gasoline. That's really the only similarities.

Is there a way to maybe firm up that shifter and make it feel a bit more... Solid and firm? Also, I would imagine you have harder engine mounts available, so that would likely stiffen up the drivetrain.

I think my next steps are to drive them a few more times or ten. I need to get used to the idea that my engine won't grenade above 4500 rpms lol.

If anyone has any advice, stories from when they first drove an S2000, or whatnot I'd love to hear it. Just wanted to introduce myself. I'll likely be the friendly thorn in your sides for years to come, lol.

Did anyone else have a similar first impression of the gearbox? Am I out of my mind?

I'm also going to test drive a Z4, although I'm not exactly holding my breath. The reviews I've read just don't put me in it mentally, but hey, a little test drive can't hurt!

Thanks guys, I'll be stuck to the search button.

UCP

Also, my apologies for the horrid spelling mistakes, I'm using my phone, I'll do my best to not make a habit of it.

1point3_to_2point2

damn 40 PPD
buy an s2k its a great car i love every minute of it
s2000 gearbox is fantasmical!!

datdude1119

Damn you typed all of that on your phone!?

UCP

I generally got no impression that gearbox itself wasn't great, more-so just the shifter itself... it just had an almost rubbery quality to it.

Eh, I need to log some more time behind the wheel I think.

And yes, all of that was typed on my uber-yuppie phone.

I've already read about some drivetrain mount options, nothing yet on the shifter.

This seems to be a nice forum, lots of information!

Thanks all!

shadow36

LOL. Try driving a stock FC, and then see what you think afterwards.

UCP

I have, The NA tranny is garbage as far as I ever experienced, the TII transmissions generally felt better, but I've only messed with two of those.

None of those transmissions themselves were modified internally.

I'm not saying the S2k has a crappy transmission, I'm saying I preferred the TII shifter because it didn't have that elastic feel, and it just in general felt more solid. Then I inquired if anyone knew of a way to change the feel of the shifter. I don't know if that's possible, I would imagine it is, but cost may be prohibitive.

AaronCompNetSys

Sounds like your experience might be a fluke to me. There is no way to change the shift feel of the S2k lever, partially because it is one of the best in the industry. Try some more, you won't be disappointed. The S2K trans is slightly difficult to get used to, and you need to understand more how it works than any other transmission to appreciate its beauty.

My guide to S2K buying:
Step one: try one yourself.
Step two: ride with an experienced member.
Step three: pick out the one you want, have it checked by an experienced mechanic as well as an experienced S2K driver to ensure it truly "feels right"
Step four: buy
Step five: mod!

I'm sure I'll meet you some time soon

charliec225

I had many of the same thoughts...these are my takes on them...

This took some getting used to for me. Even compared to other Honda's I've owned, the gearing in my AP2 is short. I've owned mine for a little over two months, and I still look a little nervously at the tachometer when I'm at highway speeds. The reality though is these cars were meant to operate at these RPMs. I wouldn't hold the engine speed at 8000rpm for 30 minutes just for the hell of it, but highway driving at 4500rpm is no problem.

I wasn't sure if this was going to be an issue down the road, but I ended up really loving it. The S2000 is a drivers car, and part of that is the minimalist approach it takes to...everything...really. I was climbing around in some cars at a Honda dealership recently while my car was getting serviced and I realized that the interiors (the Honda Fit for example) were way more crowded and junked up with stuff I didn't need. I just want to drive. I want a good seat, a good wheel, good pedals and the most basic functions. This is exactly what the S2000 delivers.

Yes. It's not that exciting in a straight line, but even staying within posted speed limits, it's way more engaging in the turns. You're able to appreciate the steering and the chassis and it makes the entire package make sense.

I knew as soon as I drove one, this was the car I wanted. My wife thought I was nuts but she saw the huge smile on my face so she supported it. She's definitely gotten used to it and loves it as much as I do now. I would drive it a few more times, and if the impracticality isn't an issue and you feel like the driving dynamics are what you're looking for...it's a great car.

Good luck in your search!