Just to add my point of discussion to this board, there are certainly a lot of egos here and over in Miata.net as there would be anywhere else when a man's car is discussed. So on the whole, the majority of what has been said in this thread by S2K owners and what has been said by Miata owners over in Miata.net is just childish and unecessary. The moderators have closed the thread on Miata.net because it was developing into a flaming war on the S2k (something which I commend their moderators for doing so and as a result is one of the more civilised boards on the net).

I myself own a '01 Miata. I love the car for what it can do and what I paid for it. Of course I would choose an S2000 if they both cost the same, but they don't and funds, insurance and value for money for what I wanted made me choose the new Miata. And if they ever released a Type R S2K, then I would really need to consider which member of my family I need to sell...
But as a Miata owner, I realise that in comparison to the S2K, it hasn't got the performance to compete..that's a plain and simple fact, but what we don't need are S2K owners constantly rubbing that in our faces..as much as a Porsche owner rubbing your faces (that didn't sound right...). Egos are such fragile things and everyone is entitled to one but there is no need insult others even if they do talk shit. I realise the majority of S2000 owners are Honda fanatics and this car answers all their wettest dreams but in essence, Miata owners bought their car for the same pure reason as you bought yours...for a pure roadster, RWD, lightweight and steering you can talk to...for those who bought the Honda 'cause "it's got like 9000RPM and shits all over V8s and stuff!"...then you are a bit too lucky for your own good.

I doubt there is a single motor enthusiast that would not respect the S2K for what its engineers built it for, same goes for the Miata/MX5. Both are highly regarded cars in the motoring world and neither owner of the cars deserve the kind of crap that is dished out. I enjoy reading this board but every now and again I just get all annoyed that it relegates to this kind of incessant name-calling and flaming.

 

I have to honestly agree with one of the comments made on the Miata board, by a S2000 owner, that if it wasn't for the Miata, the S2000 might not exist today. The Miata did ressurect the roadster.

I was very happy to see that most of the comments on the Miata board were positive and that most of the owners appreciate the S2000. However, there's always going to be the nay-sayers (i.e. jealous) who are going to disagree with things.

Now, about the weight. . .the S2000 probably weighs what it does because of the design (i.e. x-bone and bracing) that gives the car such a stiff chassis. You can't get something for nothing. Also, making the top manually operate would only save 3-5 pounds according to what I've read.

 

Blackie,

The sad thing is that if you do a search on this board you will find very few disparaging comments about the Miata. As a group we have a great appreciation for the Miata. We appreciate the fact that without the Miata the S2K would probably not exist, and we acknowledge that there are many similarities between the two cars. There would not have been even a hint of a flame war on the Miata forum if not for a few Miata owners with very biased views that were not based in fact. It's too bad it had to be closed but was probably a good time for it to be closed before it became too heated. As I said above most of us appreciate and respect the Miata very much and we gladly welcome any Miata owners into our community.

 

A friend of mine just bought a Miata upon my reccomendation. He didn't have the budget to buy an s2k and I told him to look past the "hairdresser BS" some people say and go test drive as i know how fun and competitive they are from AutoX. He did and he imediately bought the car.

My problem is with the guys constantly trying to shoot down the s2k and give reasons why they don't buy it. There is a reason, most of them cannot easilly afford the car. I cannot afford a 911 Twin Turbo, but do i write BS about it???

I can't believe miata owners have the nerve to say stuff like the s2k is gutless below 6k RPMs. Do they know that an s2k shifted at 6k rpms will still beat a miata???? Lets not even talk about the suspension and chasis comments.

Unless you are driving a Mclaren F1 there are always better cars, you don't need to make the cars above you sound inferior to enjoy your car. Respect other cars for what they are.

 

Well I have read through the posts on Miata.Net and here, and I must say that both boards had members that made disparaging comments about the other car. I think there are too many egos involved with both parties involved, and the comments are becoming childish (my car is better than your car.) The fact of the matter is, the Miata is a great car, and the S2000 is a great car. In stock form, the S2000 is obviously more performance oriented. But if you own a Miata, you can add a FMIII turbo and 0-60 times will drop well under 5 seconds. Now the Miata becomes the better performer. It is all personal preference. I test drove a Boxster, used NSX, S2000, Miata, and new RSX. All of them are great cars, but I ended up with the Miata because it gave ME (not necessarily everyone) the same amount of fun and quite a bit of money left over to go towards vacations, rent, modifications, etc.
All of the other cars I drove will out accelerate the Miata, but with my handling mods I guarantee I will stay with them through any corner. It is all about what you want your money to go towards, but there is no use in bashing the others car. The s2000 is an amazing car, and I could easily be driving one right now. I know that there are many who did the opposite, drove the Miata and bought the s2000. To each his own, but I am sure that every one of us loves our car. Think about it this way, Miata or S2000, we are all guaranteed to be having more fun on our daily drives than 95 percent of the other drivers around us

 

miataboy, I think you are entirely wrong: I think we're having more fun than 99% of the other drivers out there. =D

 

Yay Miatas!

I raced past a cute white one in the right lane (I know- its wrong, but how long can you wait in a line for 5 cars going 55mph in the fast lane on a nice twisty mountain road? I waited about 4-5 minutes) that was blocking traffic on I-40 in the mountains. The driver's jaw dropped open as I "zoom-zoom-zoomed" by on the right at speeds in excess of 100mph.

I also saw 1 other S2000 on the way home up I75 heading into Kentucky. The other car was a silver s2K heading towards Tennessee.

-B

 

Well put.

 

There is a large difference between acceleration and performance. If there weren't, we'd all be driving Mustangs, eh? Believe me, if I had the cash to buy and install an FMIII turbo, I would be all over the S2000 (aside: I'd rather duplicate Jason Cuadra's setup than get the FMIII kit). Unfortunately, there's rent to pay, race tires to buy, and future sportscars to save up for -- so at the time I was shopping for a good-handling roadster the Miata just made more sense. If the Honda dealers were about $3000 less greedy, I'd probably have one.

A lot of people say that you have to really beat on the S2000 to get it to go fast. But when I drove the S2000, holding the engine at high RPM around a curve seemed perfectly natural.

The same sort of driving in a Miata feels much more like you're beating on it. The engine just isn't as smooth, and even though it's quite capable of doing whatever is asked of it, sounds a little more strained.

 

I'm not even going to play it subtle here.

The S2000 is a far greater car than the Miata is and the engineering in the S2000 is far superior to anything that's been put into a Miata, period.

Put all the shit you want into a Miata to make it go faster, but there's no way in hell I want to be seen in a Miata unless my girlfriend owns one and I'm forced to ride shotgun. You can put $$$ into any car and make it go fast. Big deal.

And I've said time and again, the S2000 is not anything close to the wet dream car for me.