The "softer" suspension is definitely only a relative difference that is really only noticable when you drive the cars back to back.

I did just that and noticed. However, the 04 still rides like a sports car. The way some talk about how much softer it is, makes it sound like the car has been ride-engineered by Lincoln. Not the case by a long shot.

I think the difference, in terms of handling capability, is more dependent on driver than on car capability.

 

The cars have gotten softer every year after 01. Dumb American drivers ...

I used to get a chuckle out of the threads that started about this time of year when the roads get wet and cold -- "I spun my S2000 into (name your object here). You suck, learn how to drive.

 

Wow, this is the first time I've ever heard someone say that an S2k understeers. My '04 certainly does not understeer, on the track or on the street (and I still have stock tires). It oversteers easily if I make a mistake (shame on me, not the car), but it is remarkably precise, in steering, shifting and suspension, and very predictable in any case.

 

And we used to have to walk to school barefoot. In the snow. Uphill. Both ways.

 

You know everyone states how the 04 was made softer, which is true, but it was made softer at the right place, at the rear. Also, no one mensions that the front was stiffened. This allows the rear of the car to grip better.

 

, some people still do not understand the concept of RWD and how it reacts in different situations. some need to stick to the FF cars that are available now.

 

Maybe they should remove the shocks and springs and make the car really stiff for all you folks that drive on glass smooth asphalt.

For the rest of us that drive on real roads, the "softened" rear end gives a little more control and drivebility to the car.

 

THE QUESTION STILL STANDS

which handles better 00-03 or 04+

hhhhhhhhmmmm??

 

skidpad #'s only is a small part of how a car handles....
i don't think one handles "better" than another, they just handle differently

 

Serious? You must be reading a different forum than I. There have been numerous 04 understeer posts, most saying that the factory settings has no front camber and an alignment helped fix most of it. For me, an alignment was an improvement, but not enough. (I'm not too worried about it, since my belief is that the front tires are causing it.) What car did you have before the '04 S2000? Keep in mind that my pervious one was a '00 model.