Saw this over on the Miata forum and just had to respond. BTW, for those who don't already know, I had a 2001 Miata for aboout four months but traded it in on my S2000 because I got a great deal. I still love the Miata and always will and hope to have one again as they are fun cars and started this whole roadster revolution. The S2000 was my first choice however but I did not get one last year because I did not want to pay the ridiculous mark ups over MSRP that I encountered. It was just by chance that I happened upon the one I eneded up getting.

Now for the post:

The question was asked whether or not people would buy an S2000 after returning their Miata based on the Mazda buyback program for the incorrect power rating for the 2001 model.

Here is the message and my reply:

Personally, I'd take the appeasement goodies and keep the Miata; it's no slower than my mildly-modified '94, and has a better chassis. If you truly think it's too slow, either you bought it for the wrong reason (drag racing) or you haven't yet mastered how to keep your speed up on twisty roads.
FWIW, the S2000 is gutless below 6000 rpm, probably even slower than a Miata. I surely wouldn't make any decisions without test driving the Honda first. And there's still that extra $10k to find.

---
Lanny Chambers
the alignment page
'94C

This is so wrong and I am so sick of reading it. I had a 2001 Miata LS with the 6 speed sports suspension, and ABS. I loved it but I originally wanted the S2000. I had a chance to get a great deal on one and I took it. I still love Miatas and defend them but I must now also defend the S2000. Saying that it has no power under 6,000 RPM's is just ridiculous. I have no problems getting around town or passing other cars while keeping it out of VTEC. It is not a V8 with gobs of torque down low but it is no slouch either.

I appreciate the fact that there are great cars like the Miata and S2000 available to enthusiasts but please quit saying this crap about the S2000. Geez people, can't you just accept the fact that there are other cool cars besides the Miata? I mentioned this fact while I had my Miata after I finally drove an S2000. I love both cars. I hope to have a Miata again. I will not rag on either car. Both have their pros and cons. Please be fair and objective when talking about other cars OK.

Kirk




There are even more posts about our S2000 being "gutless" but I just can't bother. I have tried to be fair when talking about both cars because I am a car nut and I can appreciate what different cars offer. If that is what they want to think then fine. I'm sick of trying to defend the S2000. I know what it can and can't do and I am happy with it. I guess that is all that really matters. I think I will take off now and go drive a bit before I head to my local Miata meeting. Yes, I am still in the club and still their PR director. Kind of ironic huh?

Kirk

 

I hear this often, however, I simply ignore it. Over the weekend I was discussing the S2000 with someone who said "I heard it has no power under 6k". I said, yeah you are absolutely correct. Then I proceeded to take her for a quick ride. The immediate response was "Wow, that's some power!".

Anyone who says this probably has not driven the car. Even if you have and you still believe it has no power under 6k, chances are you realized it was not as bad as you first thought.

 

This as been around a few times. Don

 

I admire and understand your passion to defend against these silly charges and I have done it in the past. But I personally gave up caring what anyone thinks about it a long time ago. You would expect, however, that Miata folks wouldn't be talking out of their keesters like that. Almost without exception, every Miata owner I know and have met are totally cool folks and as far as I am concerned, the support and admiration goes both ways. The Miata opened the door for the S2000, I don't care what anyone says.

It's just silly to me that people can make statements and they have never ridden in, driven or probably even SAT in an S2000. I think that's true about society at large even. And now it has come to fruition with our Miata brehtren. Oh well!

 

Kirk, I wish I had gotten a few more Z's last night that I had felt up to going with you tonight! I hope you took the S2000 tonight so that you could put the rumors to rest with the ignorant and uninformed.

The statements that fly between people who are merely quoting someone else make me laugh (especially when they are quoting another idiot) much as similarly uninformed statements on other topics do. I have learned to roll my eyes and simply laugh at the ignorance (usually makes these self righteous people pretty angry, but so be it). Since I don't have the time or energy to reeducate the loudmouths of the world on topics they know nothing about, I guess I'll have to be satisfied with laughing at their stupidity...

And hey, on the topic of the S2000, they are missing out because they are too easily led to do their own hands-on research, and that's ok by me!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gregstevens
[B]
It's just silly to me that people can make statements and they have never ridden in, driven or probably even SAT in an S2000.

 

The best thing to do is laugh these things off. We all know the truth.

 

I guess I just take it too personally since I love cars in general, especially these two. It just pisses me off when Miata owners, of all people, bash the S2000. Oh well, there are Miata owners who know better and for those who don't, I'm not going to waste my time anymore.

BTW, after the Miata club meeting tonight, one guy hung around just to hear me rev up my engine.

Kirk - keeping the faith and fighting the ignorant

 

I've done exactly these kind of comparisions against an MX5 (Miata). I wanted to see how the S2000 will compare in perticular when reved bellow 6k. Things are pretty close but the S2000 is always pulling away. No matter how low the revs go or what gear you're in - it always pulls a little bit more than MX5 doing the same speed in the same gear. So, yes, S2000 is pretty 'guttles' bellow 6k ... it's only marginally better than MX5. Though, that low-end pull of S2000 is very comparale to a boxster (2.5L) so that sais a fair it for the S2000 as well as MX5.

btw, I'm sure that I'm saying the obvious, but over 6k there's simply no comparision ... one car is flying and the other seems stationary.

 

My friend has a miata with all the bolt on mods you can think of, and when he test drove my S, he went away a little sad. The miata has no where near the power of the S at any range and how can you complain about not having any power at low rpms, when if you wanted more power, you wouldn't be half-assing it below 6k rpm anyway. What kind of illogical thinking is that? At least the S isn't stygmatized as a gay guy's ("Not that there's anything wrong with that" Seinfeld car.