Well I joined the forum as I was considering buying the car. I am a driver in London England, and I have previously owned Golf Gti's, peugeot 205 Gti's, and BMW 328,330's.

I read all the stuff about low end torque and the like and I agree, I decided immediately it wasn't the car for me. I pulled away and the accelaration was average until I got the revs to around the 6K mark, then it was terriffic. But my problem is this, when you buy a performance car, you want performance from the outset, and the S2000 does not deliver. All my previous cars would beat this one for pull away and fun factor driving. I just felt that to get any performance you had to drive the car like a demented ford fiesta driver (we call them boy racers over here), and I don't like that at all.

I have now decided that the car I will buy is the BMW M Roadster ,based purely on the low rev accelaration.

Thanks for all the info I found on here, and don't think I am totally against the car, its just it wasn't for me.

Stu

 

not too sure i understand the meaning of your post...???

do you got to Burger King and ask for a Big Mac???

oh well hope you're happy with your z3

 

Point of the post is this, I came to this site to try and get some info on the car, and was intrigued enough to test one. However I was disappointed for the given reasons.

If I had read someone's post describing what I felt then maybe I would have gone for a more powerful car from the offset, saving myself a week of time in researching a car that was not for me.

Burger King and Big Mac? I don't really follow your line of thought with that comment, maybe you don't put much time into choosing a car, but I do, and I read peoples posts for what they say about the car.

The car is fantastic over 6000 rpm, until then it is not! anyone thinking of buying one should know this IMO!

 

I did a lot of research on a variety of roadsters. I was interested in the following:
Mercedes SLK
Chevy Corvette
Porsche Boxster
Toyota MR2 Spyder
Audi TT
BMW Z3
Honda S2000

I looked at most of them and finally cme down to performance value, reliability, and fun factor.Plus, Consumer Reports rates the S as the top roadster in their tests. Haven't lookd back and regretted anything after 28 months of ownership. Another benefit is the exclusivity of the S. I see those other cars (except for the MR2 Spyder) daily around here and hardly ever see another S.

 

This car isn't for everyone. If you have a torque mindset, then you made the right choice for yourself. The S is not for everyone, and by your own admission, you don't truly appreciate the virtues of this car.

If you are posting this to try in some way tell the S2000 is inferior to the Z3, then your words will fall on deaf ears. Personally, I wouldn't post a thread making it sound like we lost a great potential member. It serves no purpose but to annoy people you previously chose to relate with.

The Z3 is a nice car, and I'm sure you will be happy with it. I wouldn't have chosen it for various reasons but that doesn't make it less of a car. And I'm not the type of person that would go to the Z3 website and tell them I bought an S2000.

 

everyone has their own tastes. true that the s2000 doesn't deliver at low end but the power is there when you need it. it's not like we're racing every single time we drive the car. most of us drive it for fun. the z3 is a great car too but most of us agree that it comes down to the best bang for the bucks. the s2000 has more power for it's money than the z3... just my 2 cents. anyways, hope you enjoy the z3 as much as we enjoy the s2000 here.

 

Slalom, I can see maybe I rubbed someone up the wrong way, perhaps I was blunt with what I said. No doubt the S2000 is a great car, I certainly wasn't put off by the handling or looks of the car.

My comments were there to highlight for someone else in my position one possible downside.

No offence meant to any of you S2000 owners.

 

Stuey9 makes valid points.

The car does lack mid-range power, and you must drive it like you stole it to get anything out of the car.

I don't necessarily agree that he is taking a step up by substituting the S2000 of the Z3. But it's his money.

I am on my second S2000 and there will not be a third unless Honda addresses the torque issue at mid-range.

 

There's a thread on this very page called "Should I Buy An S2000?" that describes your complaint about the torque characteristics of the car, among many other things. Did you read that thread? I'm a little surprised if you say you were somehow misled by the posts on this forum.

 

The lower rev range of the power band doesn't bother me. I'm not an aggressive driver around town. If I need more umph I drop it to whatever gear I need. It has a sort of Jeckle and Hyde personality that I find exciting. Not to mention a proven performer on the track.

The M Roadster is an extremely nice car and a blast to drive. It has a totally different personality from the S2000. It's power band is totally different. It's a fine automobile and I'm sure you will enjoy it to the fullest. Congrats!