The biggest issue, of course, being the S2000's tendency to oversteer, particularly snap oversteer.

The standard answer to the question above is usually "learn to drive," but then again I see posts almost weekly from people who've had their S2000 for in some cases years who managed to kiss the median with their right rear wheel just doing something innocuous like turning out of a parking lot. By comparison, you rarely if ever read about this type of occurrance on say, the Porsche Boxster boards.

Now I've been reading long enough to know about this but am curious as to whether it's a situation that's only likely to get you if you are driving at 9/10s or if it's a "leave work with your mind on problems and end up backwards in the street in front of the office" type of thing.

Basically, I know someone who's considering trading their Boxster for an S2000 as they don't feel the maintenance costs are worth it over the long term as compared to maintenance costs for the S2000 (an oil change is $200 for the Boxster compared to $20 or so for the S2K), but the oversteer issue and engine failures have him a bit spooked at this point. Yeah, the Boxster has a history of engine problems too but his has been reliable for him to date. I've counciled him with information I've gleaned from reading this board for over a year, but I can't entirely dismiss his concerns at this point.

The car would be his daily driver, 365 days a year (so snows or ultra high-performance all-weathers like the Pirelli P7000 SuperSport are in his budget plan.)

(Frankly, if I were in the market my biggest concern would be Honda's apparent desire to accuse owners of abuse in most any case of engine failure, as they seem to operate on the theory of "Honda engines don't fail, so if yours did, it must be driver error...")

Thanks in advance, and yes I have pointed him to the "Should I Buy an S2000" thread...

 

Engine failure shouldn't be one of his concerns. When reading over this board, most of the S2000 owners are posting problems they've had with their S, so everything seems exagerrated. But I'm sure most S2000 owners have not had major problems with their cars. I have my 2001 as a daily driver and have almost 30,000 miles on it with no big problems at all.

When it comes to the oversteer...I think the best advice would be for your friend to take it to a track or an open parking lot and get a good feel for it. I think a lot of the oversteer problems occurred from owners not having a great feel for their car. When I first got my S, I took a turn too fast and spun out jumping a curve. 25,000 miles later I drive it just as hard but have never come close to spinning out.

Good luck and let us know...

 

Tell him to buy a heavier front sway bar. A simple but very effective way to cure oversteer problems.

 

Another cause for oversteer is the dealers NOT removing the spring spacers. Honda installs the spacers to raise up the car for shipping (so they can tie the car down on the boat, without having to jack it up.) However, these NEED to be removed. I used to think, "well how big of a problem could this REALLY be?" Then last week I was on a drive with about 6-7 other cars and one of them still had the spring spacers in. He had had he car for over a year by this point. He almost curbed his wheels on the first turn we took.

If the car has traction (i.e.: it's not raining.) and the spring spacers are removed, the car is pretty dang solid. I corner awefully hard with no problem. In the rain, the S02's can get tricky.

 

Invest in courses at a racing school like Skip Barber.

 

Are the spacers visible if I were to look under the car?

 

the front ones are easy to see. just look through the wheel gap and you should see plastic pieces stuck in the middle of the springs. also you can easily tell that the car is sitting higher than it should.


for the rear, its not as easy. you need to stick your head around the rear tire and look up. you cant see the spring/strut assembly from the rear wheel gap.

 

I've had my S2000 for almost exactly one year, and its my first RWD car (from a long line of Honda FWD's), and it is my daily driver. I've read the same stuff you have, people losing control, snap oversteer, etc. and I've never experienced any of it. In fact, even when trying to find the car's limits, I've found that I have to throw it some pretty meatheaded inputs to get it out of shape. Every time I've had the rear end step out, it was because I intentionally got heavy-handed on the throttle in a turn, but it's always been predictable and recoverable (and fun). I think this car really does get some bad press from people who don't understand it, don't have the proper respect for it, or don't understand the physics of grip.

The question is, why this has never been a problem for me, when it is for others? I think the key is being smooth. From the day I first learned to drive (many years ago), I was taught to be smooth with the throttle, brakes, clutch engagement, and steering. Abrupt inputs will upset the car MUCH faster, and probably contribute to most people's negative experiences.

I'll back up everyone else's suggestion too. Get the s2k instead of the Boxster, take *some* of the leftover cash and go to a driving school. Not only will you improve your skills, you'll have a blast while you're there. If only I could talk my wife into spending the money on one of those......

Jeff

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ruexp67
[B]Then last week I was on a drive with about 6-7 other cars and one of them still had the spring spacers in.

 

I completely agree with what jeffbrig said. I've had my S for almost three years now, and it's never gone sideways on me unless I really pushed it (hard on the throttle while in a tight corner). Most of the people who seem to crash this way are young, and don't understand that a heavy foot in first gear while turning easily spells disaster. I can only guess that more people crash S2000's this way than Boxsters because the Honda is financially within reach of more young buyers, while most Boxster people are older, wealthier, and drive with less reckless abandon because the cost of fixing a Porsche is substantially more painful than an S2000.