Coraldoc, here is what that same reviewer said about the s2000. Note that he did in-one-gear times too..3rd gear only 50-70 MPH was way slower than the z3 or even the Acura TL-S, over 4 seconds, the Z3 time is posted above and the Acura TL-S can do it in 3.47 seconds. His test found that the s2000 was slower than a z3 3.0. His 0-60 was 3-4 tenths slower and the in gear times were slightly slower, especially with no shifting but even if you did shift. Of course the z3 was not intended to be an all out sports car though, more of a retro cruiser high end Miata type of toy so it is likely to be out-autocrossed by an s2k . But this is part of why the S2000 can have some trouble in certain types of autocrosses where you need to stay in one gear for various reasons.... If that one gear requires you to be under vtec it can hurt ya. Any time below vtec kills ya if it happens at a time when you need and can use power. Note that if you use 2nd and 3rd for 50-70 the times plummet, despite a few tenths of a second of zero acceleration during the shift. Cool.

Stan
>>Because of the high rpm torque curve, getting good launches were difficult when running all out 0-60 acceleration runs. Bringing the engine up to about 4,000 rpm and letting the clutch go would only bog the engine. Even when feathering the clutch, the engine would bog. I talked to a few magazine racers who said that dumping the clutch at 7,500-8,000 rpm is the way to get good times, which has been reported in the mid- to high fives by most of the big name publications. The best I could muster was a 5.92, with an average of 6.14, but I wasn't going to pile on any more abuse, of which this tester has seen plenty. I even thought about calling child protective services.

Passing times were very quick, with 50-70 coming up in just 3.30 seconds using second and third gears. Third gear alone will lengthen that time to 4.04 seconds. Uphill is also lightning quick, with 50-70 taking only 3.85 seconds, but using third gear will slow you down by a second to 4.88. The gearing allows good speed in the gears, 43, in first, 65 in second and 90 in third (that was a calculated speed). Any kind of passing maneuver will require a downshift from sixth to fourth and if real quickness is desired, call on second or third<<

 

The challenge in launching the car is one of the reasons that I'm not in a big hurry to run the quarter mile with it. I've never done a 6+k RPM clutch dump. In straight-line autocross starts the same challenges will occur, but in the local events that I attend that's not a problem for 2 reasons: 1) The start is on a roll, and 2) since I'm still learning more time is lost in the turns than at the start.

The reviewer you quoted has discovered what any S2000 driver knows; the party doesn't start until you're in VTEC . Shifting is all part of the fun.

There was a National-level autocross driver who used to run in our class at our local events in an E36 M3. Thank god he sold it for a ZO6 because now the S2000s can dominate the class.

 

Motor Trend, February 2000 tested the 2000, S2000

0-30 1.8 seconds
0-40 2.8
0-50 3.9
0-60 5.2
0-70 6.9
0-80 8.8
0-90 11.1
0-100 13.6
SS/4 13.8/100.5
60-0 113'
Lat Acceleration 0.96
600' slalom 70.1 mph

This is the same test which reported a >11 second time to 60 shifting at 5,500 rpm

MT had a quick one.

 

>>MT had a quick one. <<

Could be!

The reviewer I quoted showed 50-70 MPH in 2nd and 3rd in 3.3 seconds while MT is showing 3.0 seconds. That's a rather large difference!! The driver simply needs to hold the gas pedal down, aim straight ahead, and do ONE quick shift. The second reviewer took 10 % longer. Often, in-one-gear tests repeat to just a few hundredths of a second, which is along the lines of the type of variation you see in chassis dyno runs. You don't normally see 10% variations in chassis dyno runs folks. That might be around a 20HP change.

Stan