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I'm 20 years late to the party, but finally a proud owner of a RYP 2005 s2000. I bought this car to be a contrast to other cars I own or have driven. Below are some of my initial impressions. (warning a bit long…hopefully enjoyable)
My wife drives a 2023 Audi A5 Sportback. It's got all the modern amenities. It unlocks for you, an interior light illuminates only the driver's seat, the seat auto configures for your individual setting. You press the engine start button, screens come alive, side mirrors unfold, the engine wakes up. A few more logical button presses, god view mode comes online and off you go. Kind of a jet fighter feeling. It's good.
That said, there is something wonderfully delicious about stepping into a car from a different time. Not quite vintage, but old school, the s2000.
Here are 20 things I like about my s2000.
1. Door: I never realized how solid the s2000 door close is. You shut it and whoomp! Reminds me of an old german car. Nice surprise.
2. Key: I like putting keys in ignitions. We used to do that all the time. And then turning the car off by pulling the key out. Old school.
3. Tach: Really like how it sweeps when you start the car. Somehow looks vintage and modern at the same time. Funny that modern digital clusters in "race" mode often look like this now, too.
4. E-brake: A real e-brake. That really just works. That's cool.
5. Screens: There are none! All the controls at your fingertips and nothing else. The radio is covered. Who else had the balls to create something so driver focused, yet beautiful? Even "for the drivers" Lotus interiors are an afterthought.
6. Remote radio controls: This couldn't have been common back in 2000. I assume F1 inspired. It's a pleasure to use and very useful. Even the mute button comes in handy. I never open the radio door.
7. The Red Start button: Was this the Red Start button that started it all? I actually think it was. My Audi even has one. Who doesn't have one now?
8. The noise: Not the engine or the radio or occasional squeak. But the sound of pebbles hitting the inside of the rear wheel arch. Why am I hearing such things? This must be a serious car.
9. The steering wheel: It doesn't telescope. Why not!? Because racecar.
10. The hole in the headrest: My wife asked me why there is a hole in the headrest. I said, it's for when you wear a racing helmet. Who designs their seats to accommodate for racing helmets? Literally no one. I love this, it's iconic, it's s2000.
11. Lack of storage: Where do you put things? Unless it's a piece of paper, it's going in the trunk. Remember, racecar. At least you have a real trunk.
12. Gas cap release: You pull an unlabeled knob. Truly odd. I suspect an italian influenced this choice.
13. Throttle cable: Very direct. When you engage cruise control, the throttle physically engages. It's an odd feeling.
14. Lack of traction control: I grew up driving slow cars without traction control and was never afraid of overdriving the car. Now I drive fast cars with traction control and forgot how to find the edge. It is time to unlearn.
15. Steering: People will complain about the steering, but I find the off-center sensitivity really engaging. It's not nervous or twitchy, but very sensitive to driver input. Very different than a typical "car".
16. Manual gear shift: You know it and love it. I actually love all 6-speeds, even crappy ones. The crappier they are the more skilled you have to be to drive it smoothly. Fortunately, the s2000 is no crappy shifter. I LOVE rowing the gears on this thing- I downshift all the time just to have fun rev matching and shifting gears again.
17. The VTEC: It's glorious. It will never be again as glorious as this. It's no longer necessary for power and efficiency- there are better ways. Fortunately, there was a time when there were not better ways and we got the F20/F22 as a result.
18. The chassis: Of all the surprises, this surprised me the most. How could a convertible feel so rigid? How could a car with stock suspension corner so well? This doesn't show up in any of the numbers, but the chassis design is a big part of the feel and secret sauce.
19. The timeless design: Non-car people have no idea what it is- just cool car. It feels entirely modern and looks better than most cars on the road today.
20. The air: In your hair while you have the top down. Take the experience above and multiply by 2. Cherry on top is just how easy it is to put the top down.
It's the combination of these factors that make the s2000 a unicorn. A lovechild between engineering excellence and a passion for driving. It is so very Japanese in its execution being both meticulous and minimal.
I might add the trunk is generous for a car like this. My wife have been on the road for 3 weeks without complaint. Rrounds and his wife Cindy have made coast to coast trips a regular occasion.
The wife has a 2019 MX-5. Shortly after we got it and she had driven all over the place, we went somewhere is my S and she says, "Wow, this interior is roomy"!!!
Well stated @imserious! The fact that S2Ks are still compared against many modern day sports cars as the benchmark sports car is a phenomenal testament to the design, engineering, reputation, reliability, and longevity of the car. What other non-super cars are considered a “benchmark” comparison vehicle 20 years later? Perhaps some 911 or Boxster/Cayman versions? If that’s it, what great company!
I think the modern Boxster / Cayman S is probably the roadster/sports car benchmark minus the stupid manual gearing ratios which is so lame by Porsche. But they don’t care that much since they sell mostly PDK.
I raced back in the 60s when cars were simple. I drove some sports cars, & some sedans for GM & Ford, but my love was open wheelers. I drove m own Lotus & Brabham formula 2s & finally an F1 for a top Ozzie team.
A car had a space frame to hold an engine & gearbox, 4 wheels, 3 fuel tanks & a steering box. There was no power assistance on brakes or steering, in fact we sat in a fuel tank shaped to fit our body, & had no seat belt, you were so beautifully cocooned in the thing, you didn't need one. The way the space frames folded up in a crash, you were better off coming out of the thing. One of my most vivid memories of racing is sliding down into the car & feeling it envelop me, holding me securely in the driving position.
There wasn't a living in Oz racing back then, so after taking second in our Gold Star, our 6 race series championship for formula 1 cars in those glorious days when you could buy & race last years world championship cars, I gave it up to go earn a living when the kids arrived. For decades I drove utes & trucks & it was only when I retired I got another car for me. I bought & restored an old TR Triumph, then another, using them as my daily driver as I did so. After making them beautiful I didn't want to use them as daily drivers, & went looking for a daily driver I could enjoy driving.
Looked at everything I could think of, German, Jap, English, Other European, & nothing grabbed me, they were too dull, or too exotic for daily use. Then a mate asked me what I'd found wrong with the S2000. The S what? Then I remembered reading something about them years earlier, but out here in the Australian bush I had never seen one, & had forgotten they existed. A bit surprising as I had loved the S600 in the day.
There were only 12 for sale on Oz at the time, & I found 2 a couple of hundred kilometers away. The first one was a bit rough, but as I slid down into the seat I already knew this was the car for me. Surely no engineer could design such a great place to be, without it being in a great car. It felt just like sliding down into the seat of the Formula 1 all those years ago.
It took 6 months to find the right one for me, & now I have the difficult decision every time I'm going some where, do I take the TR7, TR8 or the S2K. I always feel it is a real pity more folk don't have such a difficult decision to make. I've had her 10 years now, & still reckon the S is the best "modern" around. At 83 I probably wont be driving much longer, so I have another decision coming up. Which kid gets which car?
20 things I like about my ~20 year old s2000
