I sold these cars for all the years they were offered by Honda. I have driven examples of most of the different years during that time, and continue to do so since those years. I have good friends with AP1s and Ap2s, and have seat
time in both. My first year Silverstone/red has a rawness that the later cars lack. Some find the AP1s lifeless at low revs, but your right foot can control that! 9K rules.

 

wow! Thanks for sharing this. Makes me feel a lot better about walking away.

 

that’s what I was thinking as well. Car has been there since March I doubt it’s going to sell unless they really rethink the ask. Who else even buys these cars besides us? Certainly no one who doesn’t know what they are.

 

At the end of the day you are the only one who needs to be satisfied. Only you know how much you want to spend what you can afford, if you want the car make it happen and get your best price. Do your homework on pricing and values , make sure it has all that you want in an S2000 , test drive it and see it up close before handing over the money, get the documents and paperwork to support the history.

Good luck

 

Honda sold us a bill of goods regarding 9000rpm and VTEC at 6000. We bought "the power of dreams" of course -- pedal to the floor ... dreaming, dreaming, dreaming about power -- Bam! VTEC finally kicks in and we can feel suddenly feel it. 9000 rpm (or 8000) by itself is meaningless. Gotta keep the AP1 and AP2 engines above 6000rpm to get any power otherwise we might as well be driving Civics. I'm assuming Honda was heavily financially supporting the Fast-n-Furious movies which made our ordinary speed cars look fast.

-- Chuck

 

HonnnnnnnnDAAAA!!!

As proven by Gernby, the vtec crossover was dictated by resonance in the exhaust system design. Most prominently, the cat.

Lowering vtec rpm actually lowers power when it engages with stock cat.

The location and design of cat couldn't be significantly altered and still meet emissions regulations in all markets.

So Honda set vtec as low as they could.

Meanwhile, with a hfc and a tune, you can achieve significant mid gains and smooth vtec crossover.

This is most easily achieved with Flashpro, which is only possible on dbw, '06+. In most markets, that means the lower redline F22, which already has better midrange torque. The widened powerband is much welcomed, since its lower redline means stock its just 2k rpm wide.

I've often wondered what an '06+ F20 (which is what some markets got), with a hfc and FP tune would be like. Lowering vtec fixes midrange, but you still have the 9k rpm capability.

 

Lots of compromises in manufacturing for world wide markets. Emissions can get esoteric! As can impressions of power.

I believe FlashPro can get VTEC down below 5,000 rpm without exhaust modifications so Honda could have too and emissions aside I remain convinced Honda chose 6,000 due to the large power increase there. Power jump at 5,000 rpm = VTEC yo (lower case), 6,000 = VTEC Yo!. That's my conspiracy theory.

I'm Gernby FlashPro tuned with a high flow cat and no longer have VTEC Yo! as the power just rolls on at 3600rpm with no major power jump as occurs at 6,000. However there's also no drastic power increase at or above 6,000 that wasn't there before tuning and lowering VTEC. Main benefit is between 3600 and 6000 rpm right where I typically drive.

-- Chuck

 

Chuck, you’re just speaking out your rear dude. We’re all here to opine, but some of this stuff is just baseless conjecture.

I bought an AP1 because I really preferred its gauge cluster, the sound difference, and how it looks. I drove a few AP2 and genuinely found them less appealing.

People should do the same if possible for them.

Its just like the dog thing, I wouldn’t ever want a dachshund in my house but I get dough eyes for every big doofus livestock guardian dog I see (especially my pup asleep next to me). Everyone’s got an opinion, you posting yours more doesn’t make it worth more.

OP, my car has some rust underneath. Was daily driven in Illinois for a few years. It drives sweet, it doesn’t bother me.

 

Yeah the AP1 is the only car I want personally and really only a 2002 in white or black on full red interior. Although I do like the blue interiors, but I don’t love the blue exterior. White on blue would be sooo cool but I know that was only offered in Canada.

if I don’t come across an s2k that I want it might be time to start thinking NSX.

 

Iirc, Gernby testing found he could only lower to around 5.5k before he started losing power w stock exhaust. So Honda choosing to round that up to 6k makes sense. Not be at the edge where some cars might actually lose when vtec initially engaged.

I don't think Honda had any real choice about lowering it further. They wouldn't have much incentive either, as initial design still allowed 3k rpm vtec power band.