Bungle

Hey everyone!

I'm new to the forum and am glad to be here. It seems like a cool group.

I'm saving to buy an S2000 within 3-4 months. I'm actually on the fence about what to buy - other top contenders are a 350Z, Mustang GT and MR2 Spyder.

Obviously the people around here will recommend the S2000, and rightfully so - it's a great car, and I've personally been lusting after one since they came out and I was about 20.

I wanted to ask a few questions to help me make up my mind. Sorry if these have been asked a million times before... would appreciate just a thread link or two if these types of things have been covered.

A few things to mention first:

• I live in Texas.
• This car will be for highway commuting (only about 15 miles round trip daily) and weekend cruising.
• I'd like to find a car for about $18K or less. Around $15-16K would be ideal. I'm certainly not averse to spending more on a newer car with fewer miles and in better condition, but I don't want to spend anything extra on options - all I need is A/C.
• I want a manual transmission (do these cars even come with automatics?).
• I plan to take the car to occasional track days (1-3 times/year).
• I'd like to find a stock car since I don't really feel comfortable buying modded cars. I do plan to mod the car myself, though - nothing major.

So, with that in mind, my questions are:

• What are your thoughts on AP1 vs. AP2? Is one generally better than the other, or does it depend on your driving style and what you want out of the car's performance and handling? What are the major differences and considerations beyond the more well-known things (e.g. more mid-range torque with the 2.2L)?
• What are some of the best bang-for-the-buck performance modifications on an S2000? Are there any popular combinations (e.g. intake, exhaust and header) to recommend? What about for handling, chassis stiffness, etc.?
• What sorts of things can be done to lighten the car without affecting its resale value (obviously nothing too major - I'm talking things like removing the spare tire, etc.)?
• What are some of the larger power-adders (e.g. turbo, supercharger)? Is there anything in this league that's not crazy expensive (i.e. $3000 or less)?
• What ballpark of power/torque numbers can I expect from a basic set of mods (e.g. intake, exhaust, VTEC controller)? What about for a more serious set of mods (turbo, supercharger, etc.)? Obviously it greatly depends on the parts, but I just want a general sense of what kind of power can be built reliably without having to put down *serious* money.
• What kind of power can I make reliably before the clutch/transmission/internals start to become a weak point? Again, I don't aim to do anything extreme, I just want a general sense of what's reasonable.
• Are these cars expensive to maintain? What are some common problems that they have (if any)? Is there anything specific that I should check mechanically when buying one (other than the standard Lemon-busters type checkup)?
• What kind of 0-60 and 1/4-mile times are S2000s capable of? I've seen varying reports online, but the average seems to be about 5.8-sec. 0-60 and 13.8-sec. 1/4-mile.
• The S2000 obviously has a reputation for lacking torque. Is this something that's really a problem, and will affect the fun of the car, or does it just add special character?
• I've been watching cars.com to see what's on the market - any other recommendations aside from that and this forum?

Thanks in advance for any feedback! I'm really excited about owning one of these cars.

- Bungle

negcamber

1) With the budget you have you should easily be able to afford an AP2. The average American driver finds the AP2 easier to live with as a DD. But drive both yourself to decide which you prefer and fits your driving style. "Better" is subjective with the AP1 vs AP2 debate (so those debates are banned from the main forum). Driving style and capability play a big role. The average driver tends to be able to drive faster more easily in the AP2, however for the 1% of exceptional drivers the AP1 has been quicker in autox up until the CR came along.

Do some searching...there is a very detailed FAQ with all the differences between the years...and in the Introductions forum there have been a couple questions on this same topic in the last week.

When buying used you should always buy the newest lowest mileage car you can afford.

2) The best bang for the buck is turbo or SC. NA gains are minimal for a lot of money...the car was maxed from the factory. If you get an AP1, tuning with a VAFC or Greddy eManage Ultimate can give good gains, but the fuel maps on the AP2 are pretty aggressive stock so very minimal gains there.

If you are willing to get rid of the AP2's artificially low redline and spin up to 8500rpm, you can drop 0-60 and 1/4 mile times...you can do that with an AP1 ecu (add a shift beeper from Modifry to let you know when to shift), OR if you buy an MY06+ car then you can get a Hondata reflash (only MY06+ cars can be reflashed).

For suspension, buy a quality coilover set if you are going to track. Many of the track junkies like the KW v.3 coilovers. Adding coilovers to the AP2 makes a really big improvement and gives it the "raw" feeling of an AP1.

3) Spare tire and tool kit, hood sound deadening blanket, and racing seats are about the best. Depending on the seats, those together can save 50lb. The s2k isn't filled with heavy luxury or sound deadening.

4) Nothing $3k or less...other than nitrous. A full FI build will run $7-10k depending on the tuning needed.

5) NA: for all the bolt-ons plus tuning you might hit 225-230whp on an average dynojet (note every dyno is different...there are some high numbers out there from some infamous dynos). You may spend $3-4k on NA mods to get that 20whp.

For FI, sky is the limit. A mild set up can get 280-300whp easy...wild set up is 600-700whp.

6) You don't need to change anything if you stay NA. If you go FI you should upgrade the clutch and reinforce the diff. Otherwise the tranny is fine for high hp and the motor has forged internals...I've seen 600+whp on an all stock internal motor with 125k miles on the odo.

The diff is "weak" on the car even stock. It does not like a lot of wheel hop (kills the LSD) and it does not like a lot of shocks from hard launches without wheel spin.

7) It is a Honda. Check compression on any used s2k. Most common issue is over rev damage. Other than that...the tops wear out and split...the timing chain tensioner can start to go at random mileage (it's a $130 part and takes 10 min to install)...a very few AP2 trannies had an issue where it would pop out of gear...older AP1s are starting to get slow synchros (150k+ miles)...very early AP1s use oil more and have banjo bolts that squirt oil on the cyl walls which were not as good as those used after middle of MY02 (some rod bearing failures happened for those who ran in VTEC for hrs at a time).

8) That is entirely based on your skill. Without launch, you might see 5.8-6 sec 0-60 and 14.5-15 sec quarter. With launch you can expect 5sec 0-60 and 13.8-14 sec quarter. The fastest quarter is in the 13.6 range corrected to standard temp & altitude (was actually a 13.3 but temp was below freezing with very favorable density alt).

9) You get used to it. I came from an e36M3...and I called my car the torqueless wonder. Even though it sure felt slow, it easily kept up with my friends in their M3s.

10) Autotrader.com

Good luck!