My old man picked up a 2002 Metallic Red (Burgandy) Corvette Coupe last night. In driving over to go pick the thing up, I told him I had test drove an S2000 and liked it, and he said he liked the car too, but that they're really small. Well when I took his vette out for a drive last night, it's unbelieveable how much space there is in there, not to mention that it feels like a boat a little bit while driving it compared to my eclipse or the S2000. My biggest gripe though, and this is against the S2000, is that the corvette has so many ammendities that the S2000 can use. I mean, is it so impossible for the S2000 to have things like a power or manual telescopic steering wheel? (Actually, does the S2000 even have a tilt steering wheel?) The vette has a bose system in it, some decent power seats that actually grip you into the seat more, one touch down for both windows... Needless to say, I was just a little impressed that a Corvette has such luxury features in it. Now I know all that kind of stuff can add more weight to the car, but I just thought it might have been nice for the S2000 to get just a few newer ammendities for 2002 than it got. And hey, I still want an S2000 - its just sad to see that Honda didn't give the S2000 a few more common car features.

 

Well the Corvette costs $10 more, plus their engine isn't as high tech as ours (no VTEC compontents and electronics and aluminum fiber block) so they also have a cheaper to produce engine, plus they make more Corvettes then S2ks so they save more in mass producing. THe corvette doesn't have to pay import tarffs like there is on the S2k (severl thousands in tarriffs) In all, the corvette has more features because it costs more to purchase and is less expensive to build, so they have more room to play with.

 

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Ok I am going to sound real dumb here, but the LS6 is pushrod (i believe) while we are DOHC. We have VTEC so we have a VTEC controller, selenoid, 2nd set of cams, 2nd intake manifold, other misc. parts required for VTEC, and we have an aluminum fiber block while they have an aluminum block. While their block contains a larger volume of metal, we have more movable and electric parts so our motor costs more to produce. I believe a replacement short block for us is in the $8k range, I think the LS6 costs less for a new short block.

The S2000 is 100% made in japan so when it is imported into the US, we have to pay tarriffs. While the Corvette had parts made in North America, the parts are tarriff-free because of NAFTA.

The tarriff on the S2k is several thousand dollars.

 

Personally, I think the S2000 is better without all those extras. The stereo and plastic window were the only down sides, and those are fixed in '02. If I wanted extras, I'd have gotten the Audi TT roadster.

But, then I'd also preferred not to pay for air (and never have in my past convertables). The S2000 is a great "traditional" roadster, and part of that is being sparse yet comfortable. I think Honda reached a great balance...but maybe too much chrome on the '02 interior.

 

One-touch up and down on the windows would be nice but the rest I could live without. I do disagree about the seats however. As for the rest, they are so far down my list for a sports car that I could care less. That probably why I'm driving an S2000.

 

All those extras are nice if they don't break, remember it's a GM product. I think the engine and drivetrain are pretty reliable but as for any "luxury item" that's on the vette I'd be concerned that it would be in the shop too often.

I've personally spoken to a few C5 Corvette owners and they admit that the build quality is typical GM (meaning poor for a high dollar car) and too many little things break over time. You may have a warranty to cover all that but how many days per year (or month) do you want to be dropping the car off every time something decides to stop working.

Honda designed this car as a purpose built machine. If some of the Engineers had their way the car would not even have a stereo let alone power seats and an adjustable steering wheel.

If you compare the price of a Corvette Convertible then your talking more about a $20,000 difference in price. Yes the vette is roomy and has more storage space but you pay for it. If your going to spend $45k-$50k for a car why not get a new M3?

Yes the Corvette is nice but I just can't stand that big removable license plate block in the middle of the front bumper. That's just one example of the compromises GM makes on a sports car. Too many people making decisions. If the vette was a $32,000 car then it might be more in the running for my car buying dollar... but wait a minute a 1 year old vette depreciates at least $10K-$12k, maybe a new/used one is similar in price .

 

Power seats? How many of you actually let other people drive your car often? My current car has power seats and I use it next to never. So that was not high on my list on the S. The only other person that will drive my car occasionally will be my wife. I can move the seat manually.

 

Oh you're absolutely correct - the S2000 is the car that it is because it just doesn't have certain things. I mean the more stuff you add to it, the heavier it gets and yea, there's more things on it that can break. I guess i'm just being picky because i feel that when you upgrade to a new car, you shouldn't lose stuff you've already been used to. But then again, the engine alone in the S2000 should be enough of an upgrade at least performance wise.

 

cthree,

agreed on the seats, but would you say no to a pair of power recaros????

that's what the car should have come with