For some stupid reason, I recently sold my E36 M3 track car (HPDE). It was mostly stock, except for coilovers, partially gutted and race seats. It was a fantastic track day car that could still be driven on the street. Plenty of power and handled like a go kart. The only down side was repairs, each time it was in the shop it was another $1K.

So I started to read up on how great the S2000 is a track day car / weekend car and began thinking of getting one and just adding some basic stuff like Roll Bar, PFC pads, seat, harness, etc...

I finally got to drive a 2002 with 100K miles today. The car was in perfect condition. My first impression was how claustrophobic the interior was. It feels tiny inside compared to anything I've owned. Second thing is, it felt sooo slow compared to the 240HP M3. I only revved it to about 6-7K, but it just kinda felt like driving a little civic or something.

Now this is going to be strictly a track day and Sunday fun car and would like something easier and cheaper to maintain then a BMW, Porsche, etc. How many people have gone from "torquier" cars to the S2000 and gotten used to it, or do you end up missing the M3, Cayman, Z06, etc...?

Here's a recent video of the E36 M3 at Homestead with a couple 458s on the track. In case anyone else is local, my lap times are around 1:47 (infield) and 1:42 (banking) on RS3 tires.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5-zRLRr9lQ[/media]

 

You barely touched vtec The car IS a civic until you get out of normal RPM ranges (at least in power). that 9k is there for a reason!

 

The s2000 is gutless until you get into VTEC, it makes all its power in the last 2,000-3,000 rpm. During empty freeway pulls with friends my AP2 walked an OBD I e36 M3 and was dead even with an OBD II until the m3 needs to shift to 5th gear... then I would start to creep ahead. On a road course the S2000 is faster than a similarly prepped e36 m3 but can be more twitchy.

 

what they said, plus if it is still a concern you can get it tuned, 06 or newer can be flash tuned, older ones can be piggy back or haltech or something like that. You pick up a good amount of tq in the midrange with a tune.

 

S2000>E36 m3 I'm bias though. But anyways. The s2000 is soooo much sexier!!!

And oh yeah....these cars like to be rev'd to the moon!!!

 

Thanks for the quick replies. I'm going to check out a 2004 (AP2) this weekend to compare. They are both about $15K. I didn't take it to 9K RPM because it just felt weird revving that high with salesman in the car. I'll make sure to rev out the AP2 this weekend and hopefully bring it home...

 

 

I contemplated the E36 when I was looking for a weekend/hpde car and a few friends of mine track E36's and run into a similar issue of constantly have to repair stuff. I went with a 08 CR and couldn't be happier. Power wise I added a test pipe, exhaust, intake and custom tune from evans with flashpro and the car runs flawless at each event. It is also much easier and cheaper to work on and keep running. I daily an E92 335i M sport with custom tune, FMIC, and exhaust and still love running the CR at the limits at the track. It is a very raw feeling similar to the E36, IMO. Keep it above 6k and it is amazing in the turns, get it tuned and vtec engagement can be lowered to help even more.

Good luck!

 

It is a night & day difference between an AP1 & AP2. A Flashpro tuned AP2 does not feel slow at all.

 

Just ask the salesperson before you do it. I test drove three S's before I bought mine, and as long as I asked first, all the salespeople were more than happy to let me redline it. They don't like surprises, but they want you to love the car so they will let you wring it out.