New Owner - 02 Sebring Silver
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From: Arkansas
New Owner - 02 Sebring Silver
Well, I have loved these cars since their inception and now I have found one to live in my garage. My name is TJ and I go to law school at the University of Arkansas. My last car was a VW GTI 337, and I had an assortment of American Muscle cars before that. I like to race my 125cc shifter kart and wakeboard in my spare time. Im looking forward to learning more about S2000s.
I am buying the car from a nice gentleman in St Louis. The car has 13000 miles and comes with an OEM hardtop installed by "the hardtopguy." It has Rick's S badges and headrests. Other than that, it is bone stock. I pick it up on Saturday and cannot wait.
Future mods: OEM red seats (if anyone wants to trade for my black ones, let me know), and 17 inch Gram Light 57pros. Im getting to old to spend alot of time modding my car, I just want to drive it, but I think these changes will make the S look nice.
I am buying the car from a nice gentleman in St Louis. The car has 13000 miles and comes with an OEM hardtop installed by "the hardtopguy." It has Rick's S badges and headrests. Other than that, it is bone stock. I pick it up on Saturday and cannot wait.
Future mods: OEM red seats (if anyone wants to trade for my black ones, let me know), and 17 inch Gram Light 57pros. Im getting to old to spend alot of time modding my car, I just want to drive it, but I think these changes will make the S look nice.
Joined: Jun 2002
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From: Central Massachusetts
TJF,
That's great! You'll find that your new S, as close as mostly any road car, has a kart feel to it. It was actually designed by the Honda folks to give folks an F1-type experience. Let us know your feeling when you get it!
FYI, hardtopguy is a stand-up sponsor here on our s2ki.com site. Also, Rick and the badges are quite familiar to folks around here. Best wishes!
That's great! You'll find that your new S, as close as mostly any road car, has a kart feel to it. It was actually designed by the Honda folks to give folks an F1-type experience. Let us know your feeling when you get it!
FYI, hardtopguy is a stand-up sponsor here on our s2ki.com site. Also, Rick and the badges are quite familiar to folks around here.
Best wishes!
Welcome aboard!!
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From: Arkansas
Well, I picked up the car in St Louis Saturday and have put 1000 miles on it in the interim.
My inital thoughts on S2000 ownership:
The good: The car is well put together, not quite the build quality of my last VW, but very close. The controls are so intuitive, that they might as well be extensions of your body. The steering is razor precise and the feedback is awesome. The shifter might be the best factory shifter in the world. The sound the engine makes, while not a beautiful noise, is still awesome in its own respect, especially as the revs get closer to 9k! The car has a nice, progressive trend to oversteer, and is easy to drive on throttle. Below 6k rpms, you can drive the car around like a civic and get civic mileage. The interior is comfy (Im only 5'9" and 140 lbs, so I have room to move around).
The not as good: The tranny whines and whirs like it has straight cut gears... is this normal???? I feel like the clutch doesnt start engaging until the last 1/2 of its travel, is mine worn or is this normal for a 14k mile car???? I get ALOT of lifter noise, especially pronounced in the 2 minutes I spent in the passenger seat. When I have the cruise control on, and then hit the brakes to disengage it, I hear a pronounced mechanical "click."
Im hoping all these things are normal for S2000's. If so, they wont bother me, I just want to make sure they are normal.
Conclusion: As close as one can get to Shifter Kart hndling in a full bodied road car. The HP isnt going to blow anyone away, but it is ample for me in a daily driver. All in all, this is the PERFECT pure-bred roadster and I am very happy to be a part of the S2000 experience.
My inital thoughts on S2000 ownership:
The good: The car is well put together, not quite the build quality of my last VW, but very close. The controls are so intuitive, that they might as well be extensions of your body. The steering is razor precise and the feedback is awesome. The shifter might be the best factory shifter in the world. The sound the engine makes, while not a beautiful noise, is still awesome in its own respect, especially as the revs get closer to 9k! The car has a nice, progressive trend to oversteer, and is easy to drive on throttle. Below 6k rpms, you can drive the car around like a civic and get civic mileage. The interior is comfy (Im only 5'9" and 140 lbs, so I have room to move around).
The not as good: The tranny whines and whirs like it has straight cut gears... is this normal???? I feel like the clutch doesnt start engaging until the last 1/2 of its travel, is mine worn or is this normal for a 14k mile car???? I get ALOT of lifter noise, especially pronounced in the 2 minutes I spent in the passenger seat. When I have the cruise control on, and then hit the brakes to disengage it, I hear a pronounced mechanical "click."
Im hoping all these things are normal for S2000's. If so, they wont bother me, I just want to make sure they are normal.
Conclusion: As close as one can get to Shifter Kart hndling in a full bodied road car. The HP isnt going to blow anyone away, but it is ample for me in a daily driver. All in all, this is the PERFECT pure-bred roadster and I am very happy to be a part of the S2000 experience.
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From: Arkansas
Originally Posted by mic_crispy,May 9 2006, 08:31 AM
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Joined: May 2005
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From: Orlando, FL
huh. just wondering. all my friends who have had jetta's, gti's, whatever, have all literally more less fallen apart. countless rattles, electrical problems, etc. but who knows!
one thing that is kinda weird about your review.. you praise the s2k at some things its actually not good at ("The steering is razor precise and the feedback is awesome") and diss the best thing(the sound)!!
i was always under the impression that our cars lacked steering response and was kinda "dull'?
anyway congrats on your new purchase! 13k miles on a used s2k is not alot at all! welcome.
one thing that is kinda weird about your review.. you praise the s2k at some things its actually not good at ("The steering is razor precise and the feedback is awesome") and diss the best thing(the sound)!!
i was always under the impression that our cars lacked steering response and was kinda "dull'?
anyway congrats on your new purchase! 13k miles on a used s2k is not alot at all! welcome.
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From: B4 London (UK) Now SF Bay
Originally Posted by TJF,May 1 2006, 02:35 PM
Well, I have loved these cars since their inception and now I have found one to live in my garage. My name is TJ and I go to law school at the University of Arkansas. My last car was a VW GTI 337, and I had an assortment of American Muscle cars before that. I like to race my 125cc shifter kart and wakeboard in my spare time. Im looking forward to learning more about S2000s.
I am buying the car from a nice gentleman in St Louis. The car has 13000 miles and comes with an OEM hardtop installed by "the hardtopguy." It has Rick's S badges and headrests. Other than that, it is bone stock. I pick it up on Saturday and cannot wait.
Future mods: OEM red seats (if anyone wants to trade for my black ones, let me know), and 17 inch Gram Light 57pros. Im getting to old to spend alot of time modding my car, I just want to drive it, but I think these changes will make the S look nice.
I am buying the car from a nice gentleman in St Louis. The car has 13000 miles and comes with an OEM hardtop installed by "the hardtopguy." It has Rick's S badges and headrests. Other than that, it is bone stock. I pick it up on Saturday and cannot wait.
Future mods: OEM red seats (if anyone wants to trade for my black ones, let me know), and 17 inch Gram Light 57pros. Im getting to old to spend alot of time modding my car, I just want to drive it, but I think these changes will make the S look nice.
j/k
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