Your's was pretty too!

Thanks!

 

......make that 46

Isn't this a childish game that's played in the Corner ?

Maybe you should "organize" one there too

 

Did I only get two in this thread?

I might have to try harder.

 

Certainly, roadsters and convertibles sell better in the sun-belt states (like Nevada) and I'm a 2-3 hours drive from three California Honda dealers --- and a 6 hour drive from a bunch of them. So I have some choice and bargaining options.



This is what is listed in the Road Test Summary in my 17-month old issue of Road & Track in the format car/list price/price as tested:

Honda S2000 $32,950 $33,465
BMW Z4 3.0i $40,900 $48,620
Porsche Boxter S $53,100 $67,520
Corvette Coupe $43,445 $53,545

The prices that Road & Track quote in their magazines are real-world prices, not some low-balled prices scarfed up on the internet somewhere. Further, what you will see on a sticker on a car in a dealer's lot will be around the "price as tested" number, if not higher. And these numbers are probably obsolete as, as I mentioned in a prior posting, the base S2000's are stickering out at $35,000 in my area. You almost never see a car with a "list price" number on it. The only way you can get one of these is to have the dealer factory order one for you according to the options that you want on the car (have done this twice), but on imports factory orders aren't usually an option (except maybe on Ferraris and such). So you see in the above that there will be about a $12,000 price differential between the S2000 CR and the next cheapest performance-comparable sports car, comparing prices that you will likely have to deal with in the real world of car dealerships with everything probably up about $2,000.

And there's another issue to owning and supporting a sports car. It's well known that parts and servicing on Porsches is extremely expensive. A guy I know bought a Boxter shortly after they came out and he couldn't afford to keep it after it dropped off the warranty. Now, he was just an "Average Joe" financially, but then so am I and probably most S2000 owners or prospective owners. Even if you do your own "wrenching," Porsche parts are priced like they are platinum plated. I am less familiar with the operating expenses of BMW's, but I'm sure that they are more than for a Honda. And the Corvette: Consumer Reports magazine gives the car a big, black circle indicating "much worse than normal" reliablilty, whereas the S2000 gets a "better than normal" reliability rating. If you've ever had a car you were always taking to the dealer for work, you know that even the possibility of this is something you absolutely want to avoid.



The S2000 CR is a track toy. No more, no less. That's what Honda intended it to be. All the amenities have been stripped to save weight. If you want something more comfortable and civilized and with perhaps a bit more performance, buy one of the European sports cars or a base Corvette where you get both. But then there's that $12,000 --- minimum --- price jump . . . . . . . .

 

Edmunds.com first drive:

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drive...topanel..1.*#28

 

that write up sounds a lot like what we've been saying here

 

RE the Edmunds track testing:

"And, after a day of hammering an S2000 CR on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, we found it to be the most tightly focused, single-minded performance roadster on the market." If true, the CR will be a grave threat to some much more expensive sports cars on the market. But these guys' opinions don't inspire much confidence. Read on:

"The roll bar cowlings (those humps behind the seats) look merely silly." These are known by the cognoscenti as headrest fairings and have been on sports-racing cars since the mid-1950's. Their purpose is to reduce drag.

" . . . . that hideous rear wing . . . ." "The protrusions at the lower outboard corners of the CR's front end are ugly but according to Honda, reduce front-end aerodynamic lift." "Maybe the wing and deeper front spoiler are functional after all." Duhh. Do they think that legendary Honda Senior Chief Engineer Shingeru Uehara is a boob?

"Edmunds attended a manufacturer-sponsored event, to which selected members of the press were invited, to facilitate this report." Hopefully, we'll see some reviews from more performance-oriented testers. These guys are mostly lame.

 

Where does one find 255/40/17 RE070's?

I'm up for a new set of rears so maybe I'll give those a shot but no go on TireRack or any other website.

 

Looks like Bridgestone only has one size available in the states right now (I think Subby guys use them)..

http://www.bridgestonetire.com/tireselecto...Product_ID=1082

 

OK, i just finished watching the TOV video of the CR (see below), and they did stick the Ap1s rack and pinion back into it... but what is this business about the exhaust? They speek of a "loop" on the Ap2, anyone care to explain?

Also.. listening to the guy, if you opt for the ac/radio and are driving with the top on, there is only about a 20lb weight difference.... and thats all due to the lack of sound deadening and spare tire.

Anyone know what other Ap1 parts are going back on the car?


Vid