Ziploc

Hey yall,
I've always loved the s2000 and plan on buying one this year possibly. The only thing is it would be my only car so I've been tossing this idea of k swapping an frs with the kpowered kit. Obviously, the frs would be a better daily car but I was wondering what you guys think of how the two would compare in terms of a daily driver and occasional track car.

d16tof22

In terms of interior space the BRZ/FRS would be a better daily driver, but the S2000 is dead reliable if it's near stock. I know the K24 is reliable as well, but I can't imagine that putting it in a car that it isn't meant for would be nearly as reliable, especially when I would guess that it likely has clearance issues. It's replacing a flat boxer engine and probably sits close to the ground.

Chuck S

Major messing with the engine in a car you need for transportation 100% of the time is not highly recommended. Save that for the weekend car. Simple tune? OK. Engine swap?! These aren't weekend projects in your Mom's driveway like the old Mighty Car Mods guys tried years ago.

Daily driver where? Key West? Anchorage? Back and forth to high school or college is different than commuting to work.

-- Chuck

Car Analogy

The farther you get from stock, the more little things that add up to huge hassle you have to regularly deal with. Fine for a project, not so much for a car you need to get to work.

An engine swap is never going to have oem level of reliability. As in get in, start, drive, no drama.

There is a reasin oems spend literal millions of dollars engineering something like adding a new engine to an existing model.

umair

Its not really a fair comparison and does not make much sense IMO. If you buy a frs and k swap it you will be paying a pretty penny (over 10k). Even more if you are not doing the work yourself. Plus you have the cost of the car as well. Even if you k swap it I would say the s2000 is still the better call overall.

B serious

A K swapped car that didn't originally have a K series in it probably isn't the best choice for an only car/daily driver.

Neither is a S2000, but at least the S2000 will drive more or less like a normal car.

Why are you doing this to yourself? Wouldn't a stock FRS work?

ckrahe

I own both, and if I had to choose, I'd pick the S2000 for reliability hands down. Heck, I'd even choose it for the trunk cuz it's deeper and shaped in a way that it's easy to secure things so they don't slide around.

umair

just curious what issues have you had with the FRS?

Jub

Seems a little fanboy-ish at this point. I do think the S2000 is a more stout drivetrain and I'd say is more robust. It is old now though and requires some stuff. Parts are more expensive, getting more sparse and expensive, can't find them in a junkyard. The shape of the trunk is a really oddly specific thing to justify the S2k over the 86. The 86 has wayyy better storage and a larger trunk opening. It's not even close.

I love my S2k and think it's the better driver's car, new for new. It will cost much more for replacement parts and running costs that I no longer think the *reliability* makes up for that. Most major components on the 86 could be replaced for half the price of the S2k. Old age is also starting to go against the reliability factor.

I'd suggest OP go for a factory drivetrain 86. It's not as special as the Honda engines but it works. They're good cars. You can always K Swap in the future if you'd like. A K series 86 would be a great track toy.

umair

I dont think the age really effects the s2000. I have a few buddies with higher milage s2000s and they have required nothing but normal maintenance. At the end of the day its a Honda. lol