Hello,

A buddy of mine just got an 08' CR and after driving around it's made me realize I need to get one too. His is going to be his daily driver, however for me it will be more of a weekend/track/play car. I'm debating between either a 2002-2003. From what I've read the AP1's are better suited for mod'ing with the higher RPM range. Or if I were to get an AP2, I'd probably look at the 07' as there doesn't seem like much of a difference between 07' and 08' and the price is a bit lower.

I don't have a strict budget, but I want something I can mess around with without feeling too guilty. If I'm going to be adding supercharger and basically treat it as a hobby car, is there any year in particular you'd recommend or not recommend going with?

Thanks!

 

My recommendation is as follows, in this order:

1. 06-09

Can be tuned with Flashpro so you get an 8500 redline, thus only being 500 below the AP1. But at the same time you get all of the AP2 updates--front/rear bumpers, headlights, taillights, improved interior, lower gearing due to secondary gear reduction, more torque, etc.

2. 02-03

Best of the AP1s. Watch for a build date on the '02s, as some do not have some sort of oil-related upgrade (I can't remember off the top of my head)

3. 04-05

AP2 upgrades but no Flashpro tuning

4. 00-01

Plastic rear window if it's still intact, fairly unforgiving spring rates that induce oversteer more readily than other years, interior is the most lacking


If you're only going to do weekend/track you might stick with the 02/03 just because they are lower cost. You won't feel as bad if you put it in a wall. I love my 06 though. Flashpro is just awesome for midrange gains and higher redline.

 

06 and up is the way to go!

I have an 04 and it saddens me that I cant upgrade the ecu Ether way, all s2000's are good, no matter what year.

 

As always: test drive.

 

Thanks a lot for the comments! There doesn't seem to be THAT much of a difference between 06' and 07', so probably could go either way depending on the deal. And I guess with FlashPro, you get a close redline to the AP1's, but you have a 2.2 vs 2.0. So, seems like 06' is maybe your best bet.

 

In all reality the performance is extremely similar between them all, and if you are thinking supercharger, then you are probably going to do a standalone anyway making the 06+ ecu point moot. They all have slightly different personalities but once you start doing suspension and engine mods you pretty much make those moot too. My recommendation, is to find the cheapest one you can find that is still in rock solid condition, that way you have minimized your losses if something happened on the track.

 

x2

 

If I install a supercharger then the ECU wouldn't come into play or?

 

Flashpro is equivalent to a standalone...you can fully tune a supercharger setup with it.

 

I would buy an 06+ if I had to do it all over again. FlashPro instantly gives you more mid-range and for $500 is the first upgrade anyone should do if they can.