Hey all,

New to the forums here. I'm currently driving an '03 evo, about to dump it via the lemon law though because of misfire issues. Long story short Mitsubishi's warranty service sucks, as we all know.

Anywho, I am off to the local Honda dealership today to test drive an '04 S2k. I really like the '04 improvements, inclusive of the slightly larger/broader torque band. I'm all about hopping into a convertible right now, and it's either going to be this or... well, to be honest, I don't know what else. It's either buy the S2k at a reasonable price, or lease a way-too-expensive M3 coupe (drove the 'vert, not highly impressed).

Basically, any of you who have purchased or driven an '04: what should I pay specific attention to? Any nuances or annoyances I should look out for? I plan on making this a pretty long test drive, the sales guy said I could take it out and 'enjoy' it without him, so it should be pretty fun.

Any tips/caveats/minor things I should look for or pay attention to, besides the obvious vtec engagement, would be great.

Thanks!

 

BTW, I do a bit of autocrossing and I enjoy driving a car in the manner in which it was intended to be used. Not a RWD newbie, but it's been a year or so.

 

Where do you live? I ask this because I think you should try to make sure your test drive includes some sort of canyon / mountain / coastal road with little traffic, and some elevation changes. Coming from an Evo8, there's a good chance you will find the S2000 to be low on power and torque. If all you do is floor it on a green light, and make a couple right turns at intersections, you won't learn anything about the real character of this car, and you could end up disappointed. Try to take the car to a place where you can experience the full range of handling, balance and braking abilities. Oh, and make sure the top is down. No test drives with the top up. That's my suggestion.

 

remember to check for spring spacers!

 

Have you driven a pre-04 model? The suspension was changed for 04, in a way which I dont personally like. But whatever floats your boat.

Def. Put the top down. I'd feel bad redlining/ vteching a car that hasn't been broken in. I guess you wouldn't be buying this one... but its still a shame. the one I test drove i just putted around to feel the difference in torque and suspension, never vteched.

 

That is a great idea, definitely part of my plan. I am going to span the gamut on this drive (around town, highway, mountains, top up and down). I live in the bay area (around montague and 101) so calaveras is right around the corner. I am a weeeee bit worried about the power loss, at its peak the evo was probably a 13-flat or high-12's car for me, now that it's back to stock I am a bit slower but not by a whole lot. I drove an e46 M3 vert and was disappointed by the top-end power, but then again that's a 3700lb + passenger weight problem now isn't it? I'd love to do the M3 coupe but I 1) want to get my drop-top on, and 2) don't want to break the bank doing it.

hpark I'll be sure to.

BTW the car I am driving today is not the actual car I will be getting, if I chose to do so. It's yellow on black but I'm going for silverstone on red/black.

 

Just make sure you have good health insurance, because you might crack your beak with that ear to ear grin your gonna sport

 

I drove an '01 back in the day, but that was when I had my 330i so it was much fun and very quick.

I don't recall the suspension, but I am looking forward to it matching the evo suspension and almost matching the steering feel (2.1 on the evo, 2.6 L2L on the '04 s2k). The things I am most curious about are:

1) clutch and shifter feel/tandomness
2) throttle response
3) heel-toeing comfortability
4) suspension tuning/ride quality/handling
5) general every-day driving and highway cruising capabilties

The power/acceleration/etc. is not high on the list because I know it's not going to match the evo as it is right out of the box. I am, however, going to be able to put the top down, which is perhaps worth the trade off.