My history with the S2000
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From: Carlisle, PA
My history with the S2000
This past weekend I purchased my third s2000, and over the last couple months I've realized why I have been destined to fall in love with this car this much. This is my (long) story of my history with the S badge....
I'll admit that My first encounter with the s2000 came at the age of 16 at the hands of Johnny Tran and Suki in the first two fast and Furious movies but during 2005 my cousin purchased a Silverstone AP1 and I fell in love. He stored it at my grandmother's house for the winter and I would drool over it, not even knowing hardly anything about cars or Hondas at the time.
Fast forward to 2005, my Mitsubishi Eclipse had just blown up and for my graduation gift my parents had put money down on a Milano Red 97' GSR Integra at our local Acura dealership. This was my first Honda product and from then on I was hooked. I remember during the paperwork I spied a glowing New Formula Red AP2 sitting in the show room. I approached the car and sat in it, not even realizing the future history I would have in falling in love with the car. My father approached me and said "You want one of these don't you?" with a smile on my face I responded with a "Hell yes"
Me and the GSR going to prom
a Year or so would go by and in 2006 I found my self again at the local Acura dealership trading the GSR in and purchasing my first brand new car, a Vivid Blue pearl RSX Type-S. At the dealership my father and I browsed at a Seabring Silver Ap1, I dreamed of owning the car but fear of insurance rates, and unsure of how the feeling of having only two seats and the RWD+PA winters would be I pursued my love of the 06 RSX.
This car would be introduce me to some of my closest friends to this day, as I started hanging around the local car shop Innovative Motorworks (then a stereo shop known as Sound Innovations) It would also be a learning tool for most I know today about cars, engines and racing and how things work. I quickly became friends with the owners son and their family. There it sat in the show room as a display vehicle for some of their stereo work, Bill's 2004 Grand Prix white Ap2. Sitting with only 4000 miles on it just glowing and begging to be driven. Derek, the owners son and I would take me out in my first ride in it and I was immediately hooked. The top down atmosphere, the stares from people and the roaring growl of hearing the engine and exhaust freely with the top down.
In 2006 Derek had introduced me to Eric a local guy he had become friends with and whom is still one of my closest best friends. At the time he was driving a JDM front black Integra Type-R and after a couple months of me knowing him he was looking into getting an S. Vividly I recall the night he rolled up to the shop in it for the first time, a mint Berlina Black on black ap2 that he had purchased in Philly. I begged him to let me take it for a drive before we all headed out to dinner (note: this would continue the history of me driving and abusing his vehicles since I would always do pulls in the R) I told my girlfriend at the time to get in and we would go for a drive up the road. With the top down we drove up to a parking lot to turn around and I had my first RWD experience of whipping the car in a 180* spin and just recall the smile and jovial laugh that came from me as we headed back to the shop, I vowed from that day that I would own one.
The following years would continue with me dreaming of owning one, even going down to the Honda dealer to test drive one, meeting more friends with S2000's (including the S I know own.) 2009 came around and after 3 years of owning the RSX I decided it was time to pursue the dream. I started browsing autotrader and noting ones for sale to go look at. Being a hardcore all motor guy from owning the cammed RSX and being surrounded by them as well as liking the look more, I decided to stick with the AP2. Being young I didn't realize the importance of keeping the stock parts for my RSX and as I went to different places with a modded RSX, I was dissapointed with the results of my possible trade in. After a bunch of failed searches including two trips to Philly two days in a row, I decided to go to my last choice, which was also the closest. I drove down to my local Honda dealer 10 minutes from my house to look at a 2006 Rio Yellow Pearl AP2.
The end of the RSX
The beginning of the S2000
Yellow was ultimately my last choice in color and after I purchased the RYP, Bill actually sold his GPW. But a good deal for the car and trade on the RSX I was happy. But once the car was pulled out into the sunlight and the pearl radiated off the Yellow paint in the sun, I fell in love. The next couple months the car would be the highlight of my day, sometimes ignoring even my friends and just going on drives on back roads for the entire day. I would meet more friends with S2000's from the area which would lead to even more good memories. During this time I would purchase some of my favorite parts, such as my beloved and all time favorite wheels Enkei RPF1's.
As the RSX tough me all kinds of things about cars, the S continued to be a learning tool such as learning how to replace rotors and brake pads as well as learning how to bleed brakes
Cruising around with my friend Yambor in West Virginia
I even convinced my close friend and roomate John to purchase one.
I'll admit that My first encounter with the s2000 came at the age of 16 at the hands of Johnny Tran and Suki in the first two fast and Furious movies but during 2005 my cousin purchased a Silverstone AP1 and I fell in love. He stored it at my grandmother's house for the winter and I would drool over it, not even knowing hardly anything about cars or Hondas at the time.
Fast forward to 2005, my Mitsubishi Eclipse had just blown up and for my graduation gift my parents had put money down on a Milano Red 97' GSR Integra at our local Acura dealership. This was my first Honda product and from then on I was hooked. I remember during the paperwork I spied a glowing New Formula Red AP2 sitting in the show room. I approached the car and sat in it, not even realizing the future history I would have in falling in love with the car. My father approached me and said "You want one of these don't you?" with a smile on my face I responded with a "Hell yes"
Me and the GSR going to prom
a Year or so would go by and in 2006 I found my self again at the local Acura dealership trading the GSR in and purchasing my first brand new car, a Vivid Blue pearl RSX Type-S. At the dealership my father and I browsed at a Seabring Silver Ap1, I dreamed of owning the car but fear of insurance rates, and unsure of how the feeling of having only two seats and the RWD+PA winters would be I pursued my love of the 06 RSX.
This car would be introduce me to some of my closest friends to this day, as I started hanging around the local car shop Innovative Motorworks (then a stereo shop known as Sound Innovations) It would also be a learning tool for most I know today about cars, engines and racing and how things work. I quickly became friends with the owners son and their family. There it sat in the show room as a display vehicle for some of their stereo work, Bill's 2004 Grand Prix white Ap2. Sitting with only 4000 miles on it just glowing and begging to be driven. Derek, the owners son and I would take me out in my first ride in it and I was immediately hooked. The top down atmosphere, the stares from people and the roaring growl of hearing the engine and exhaust freely with the top down.
In 2006 Derek had introduced me to Eric a local guy he had become friends with and whom is still one of my closest best friends. At the time he was driving a JDM front black Integra Type-R and after a couple months of me knowing him he was looking into getting an S. Vividly I recall the night he rolled up to the shop in it for the first time, a mint Berlina Black on black ap2 that he had purchased in Philly. I begged him to let me take it for a drive before we all headed out to dinner (note: this would continue the history of me driving and abusing his vehicles since I would always do pulls in the R
) I told my girlfriend at the time to get in and we would go for a drive up the road. With the top down we drove up to a parking lot to turn around and I had my first RWD experience of whipping the car in a 180* spin and just recall the smile and jovial laugh that came from me as we headed back to the shop, I vowed from that day that I would own one. The following years would continue with me dreaming of owning one, even going down to the Honda dealer to test drive one, meeting more friends with S2000's (including the S I know own.) 2009 came around and after 3 years of owning the RSX I decided it was time to pursue the dream. I started browsing autotrader and noting ones for sale to go look at. Being a hardcore all motor guy from owning the cammed RSX and being surrounded by them as well as liking the look more, I decided to stick with the AP2. Being young I didn't realize the importance of keeping the stock parts for my RSX and as I went to different places with a modded RSX, I was dissapointed with the results of my possible trade in. After a bunch of failed searches including two trips to Philly two days in a row, I decided to go to my last choice, which was also the closest. I drove down to my local Honda dealer 10 minutes from my house to look at a 2006 Rio Yellow Pearl AP2.
The end of the RSX
The beginning of the S2000
Yellow was ultimately my last choice in color and after I purchased the RYP, Bill actually sold his GPW. But a good deal for the car and trade on the RSX I was happy. But once the car was pulled out into the sunlight and the pearl radiated off the Yellow paint in the sun, I fell in love. The next couple months the car would be the highlight of my day, sometimes ignoring even my friends and just going on drives on back roads for the entire day. I would meet more friends with S2000's from the area which would lead to even more good memories. During this time I would purchase some of my favorite parts, such as my beloved and all time favorite wheels Enkei RPF1's.
As the RSX tough me all kinds of things about cars, the S continued to be a learning tool such as learning how to replace rotors and brake pads as well as learning how to bleed brakes
Cruising around with my friend Yambor in West Virginia
I even convinced my close friend and roomate John to purchase one.
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Joined: Oct 2008
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From: Carlisle, PA
Through out 2009-2011, I would continue to further fall in love with everything about the car, I would show the car at shows along with Eric, meets and continue to drag race it (PA has a lot of drag strips and it was my passion in the RSX)
And everything was going well until october of 2011. A Friend of mine and I ventured into town to get something for a friends bachelor part that evening. our town converted the two lane roads of the city into one lanes. Maybe it was the early morning sleep deprived night I had but as a truck waved me out to cross the two lanes of traffic, I slowly came down the slope avoiding of the parking lot to avoid scrapping the front of the bumper when I noticed out of the corner of my eye an impala fly into the turning lane and slam right into my car.
More importantly neither my self or my good friend Danny were hurt, as well as the other drivers. And that was that. The car was done, totaled. The same day as the accident I was browsing the local car forum when I noticed a for sale thread. Low miles, decent price, and more importantly the Grand prix white accompanied by the red interior just screamed Honda perfection to me. The Insurance allowed me to take all of my after market parts off the car as long as I replaced them with stock parts ( lesson learned from the RSX) Without even knowing the status of the car being totaled or not, I PMed the guy and made the first steps to looking at the car. A month later being deprived of my joy a made the purchase of my second S2000. A 2007 GPW with red and black interior, equppiped with a KNN Intake system, GReddy exhuast, test pipe, flashpro and buddy club suspension.
And everything was going well until october of 2011. A Friend of mine and I ventured into town to get something for a friends bachelor part that evening. our town converted the two lane roads of the city into one lanes. Maybe it was the early morning sleep deprived night I had but as a truck waved me out to cross the two lanes of traffic, I slowly came down the slope avoiding of the parking lot to avoid scrapping the front of the bumper when I noticed out of the corner of my eye an impala fly into the turning lane and slam right into my car.
More importantly neither my self or my good friend Danny were hurt, as well as the other drivers. And that was that. The car was done, totaled. The same day as the accident I was browsing the local car forum when I noticed a for sale thread. Low miles, decent price, and more importantly the Grand prix white accompanied by the red interior just screamed Honda perfection to me. The Insurance allowed me to take all of my after market parts off the car as long as I replaced them with stock parts ( lesson learned from the RSX) Without even knowing the status of the car being totaled or not, I PMed the guy and made the first steps to looking at the car. A month later being deprived of my joy a made the purchase of my second S2000. A 2007 GPW with red and black interior, equppiped with a KNN Intake system, GReddy exhuast, test pipe, flashpro and buddy club suspension.
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From: Carlisle, PA
It was in my eyes, perfect. That is until my senile pill hopped up, 80 year old neighbor backed into my door a week after owning it. After getting fixed and swapping parts from the old yellow on to the GPW I felt it was complete. Every day I walked out to drive to work and saw it sitting there I would just be thrilled with excitement, it never got old. Every trip, whether it was to Ohio or down the street with 110% filled with excitement for me and that's one thing that never went away for me.
The car went on to make 229 whp on the Dynapack dyno at Innovative Motorworks and I would get it to a 13.7 @ 103 at the local drag strip. I looked into doing an HPDE at the ITR expo I was attending at Mid ohio, but I needed a roll bar or hard top, so nothing came of that.
A year passed in owning the GPW, and I had moved back home after living on my own for a couple years as my room mate was now engaged and I wanted to pursue a home. After a blast of a summer, I made the difficult discussion that I was going to sell it for something cheaper and something that would set me up for the next couple years. Not realizing the mistake I was about to make, I looked into a 2007 civic SI sedan. Thinking that it would bring back memories of the RSX. WRONG. After trading in the S, selling some parts, I lowered the SI and put my RPF1's on it hoping to spice it up a bit. Even with my favorite music blasting on my favorite roads, the car was just not excite my soul like the S2000 did.
I found my self not giving a damn about washing the thing or keeping it clean. Don't get me wrong the SI is a nice car, a great great engine and I love the cloth seats but It is awkward to drive. So from October until now, I witnessed Innovative do work to a record number of S2000's, so every day I'd walk in the shop there would be a damn s2000 getting turboed, or on the dyno or getting work done. As well, I watched Eric ooze with excitement as as he supercharged his berlina. My friends joked around as they knew I was not happy at the lack of this car in my life, but I stuck with the plan of a house and tried not to let it get me down. A chance meeting with a close friend at a local target would start the pursuit of my third S. His 2000 Silverstone sat in his garage and was hardly driven. In fact I saw it probably 7 times in the 6 years I've known him. He told me about remodeling the upstairs of his house and possibly selling the S2000. I told him to get in touch with me if he was going to. A month or so goes by and I decided I was going to pursue a cheap S2000. Keep the SI, and pay it off enough to get rid of it and get a cheap beater once it would be sold, as well as still eventually pursuing a house. It would be an ap1 since I knew they would be the cheapest, so I after years of being an ap2 elitist I had swallow all the cheap shots I took at my roommates ap1. After a bit of talking with Brice about the possibility of him wanting to sell his Berlina, he decided he wasn't ready to sell it. So I decided to text my friend Brian in regards to his S. And after exchanging texts and settling on a price that was a steal, we started paperwork. And this past Friday I picked up my third S. A low mileage, MY2000, Silverstone on red and black,garage kept all but flawless AP1.
The joy came back immediately driving it again and realizing I was back. I understand that it's just a car, and that not everyone understands the relationship between man and machine. Even now, even stock, Driving this car just does something for me, and I know you can all relate. Its hard to describe but I feel alive when behind the wheel of this car, and the months not owning it allowed me to realize that it's always been there throughout these years, popping up here and there the whole time. And maybe its fate that I'm now in a Silverstone AP1, the same color and year as my cousins that I first layed eyes upon, whom after being apart from his S for a couple years is now in an 06 LBP. The SI is now enjoying the driveway. I've built some of the best memories with myself and friends in an S2000 and I will continue to do so. So thank you for the years of having me on this forum and reading my long ass story I just typed. Heres to you all and the following years in owning my new S
The car went on to make 229 whp on the Dynapack dyno at Innovative Motorworks and I would get it to a 13.7 @ 103 at the local drag strip. I looked into doing an HPDE at the ITR expo I was attending at Mid ohio, but I needed a roll bar or hard top, so nothing came of that.
A year passed in owning the GPW, and I had moved back home after living on my own for a couple years as my room mate was now engaged and I wanted to pursue a home. After a blast of a summer, I made the difficult discussion that I was going to sell it for something cheaper and something that would set me up for the next couple years. Not realizing the mistake I was about to make, I looked into a 2007 civic SI sedan. Thinking that it would bring back memories of the RSX. WRONG. After trading in the S, selling some parts, I lowered the SI and put my RPF1's on it hoping to spice it up a bit. Even with my favorite music blasting on my favorite roads, the car was just not excite my soul like the S2000 did.
I found my self not giving a damn about washing the thing or keeping it clean. Don't get me wrong the SI is a nice car, a great great engine and I love the cloth seats but It is awkward to drive. So from October until now, I witnessed Innovative do work to a record number of S2000's, so every day I'd walk in the shop there would be a damn s2000 getting turboed, or on the dyno or getting work done. As well, I watched Eric ooze with excitement as as he supercharged his berlina. My friends joked around as they knew I was not happy at the lack of this car in my life, but I stuck with the plan of a house and tried not to let it get me down. A chance meeting with a close friend at a local target would start the pursuit of my third S. His 2000 Silverstone sat in his garage and was hardly driven. In fact I saw it probably 7 times in the 6 years I've known him. He told me about remodeling the upstairs of his house and possibly selling the S2000. I told him to get in touch with me if he was going to. A month or so goes by and I decided I was going to pursue a cheap S2000. Keep the SI, and pay it off enough to get rid of it and get a cheap beater once it would be sold, as well as still eventually pursuing a house. It would be an ap1 since I knew they would be the cheapest, so I after years of being an ap2 elitist I had swallow all the cheap shots I took at my roommates ap1. After a bit of talking with Brice about the possibility of him wanting to sell his Berlina, he decided he wasn't ready to sell it. So I decided to text my friend Brian in regards to his S. And after exchanging texts and settling on a price that was a steal, we started paperwork. And this past Friday I picked up my third S. A low mileage, MY2000, Silverstone on red and black,garage kept all but flawless AP1.
The joy came back immediately driving it again and realizing I was back. I understand that it's just a car, and that not everyone understands the relationship between man and machine. Even now, even stock, Driving this car just does something for me, and I know you can all relate. Its hard to describe but I feel alive when behind the wheel of this car, and the months not owning it allowed me to realize that it's always been there throughout these years, popping up here and there the whole time. And maybe its fate that I'm now in a Silverstone AP1, the same color and year as my cousins that I first layed eyes upon, whom after being apart from his S for a couple years is now in an 06 LBP. The SI is now enjoying the driveway. I've built some of the best memories with myself and friends in an S2000 and I will continue to do so. So thank you for the years of having me on this forum and reading my long ass story I just typed. Heres to you all and the following years in owning my new S
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i completely understand the feeling you are referring to.
im still saving up for my next s2000. even though they are quite pricey, considering a low mileage 08 and up costs around the same as the subaru brz.
i keep telling myself i should be practical, and rational. but every single time i see a s2000 drive by, all logic escape my brain, and i find myself having withdrawal symptoms.
dang honda for discontinuing... i's want MOARRRRRRRR!!!
im still saving up for my next s2000. even though they are quite pricey, considering a low mileage 08 and up costs around the same as the subaru brz.
i keep telling myself i should be practical, and rational. but every single time i see a s2000 drive by, all logic escape my brain, and i find myself having withdrawal symptoms.
dang honda for discontinuing... i's want MOARRRRRRRR!!!
