Hey guys... i am new here...
i don't have a S2000 right now.. but i am thinking of buying a used one...

i've read people say the 02-03 S2ks are better than the 01 or 04 ones... how come? whats the difference? and AP2 is the 2005 one? whats the difference between Ap1 and AP2 except for apperance... interior? engine work? foot work?

thanks guys... if this has been covered can u redirect me to a link or somewhere i can get a hold of this information...

oh and one last question... how much are insurances for say a 02 S2k... no discount... regular insurance.. nothing fancy.. thanks a lot..

 

Hi! Welcome to the forums.

Model years from 2000 to 2003 are AP1's. The '02 and '03 models, being the newest versions are generally considered "better" because they're the most up to date. The '02's were the first year to get a glass rear window. The '00 and '01 models also had some engine oiling issues as well as other "teething" problems that were corrected in the newer cars.

The AP2's start with the 2004 year model. Most of the changes at this point involve improvements (although there are a vocal few that don't call them that) in the suspension system. These include a slight softening of the rear suspension, tightening of the front suspension, wheel sizes up from 16" to 17" and a change in OEM rubber from Bridgestone Potenza S02's to the RE050's. These changes generally make the car less twitchy when pushed to the extremes. The RE050's also seem to handle wet and/or cold weather better than the S02's

The most talked about difference between the AP1's and AP2's, especially for those of us in the US and Canada is the engine. North America got the 2.2L engine in leu of the 2.0L that the rest of the world still gets. The increase in engine displacement was achieved by slightly stoking the 2.0 engine. This also brought about a reduction in redline from 9000 to 8000 rpm's. Horsepower ratings are the same but torque specs are up by about 8 ft/lbs total with a general improvement across the board at sub-VTEC rpms. That's anything below 6000 rpm or so.

That's the short description of some of the differences. Try poking around with the search function. It's not the greatest when you're looking for something very specific but it'll give you lot's of stuff to read and you never know what you'll find!

Hope this helps!

Drive Safe,
Steve R.

 

Hey Steve! Very nice concise explaination of the model variations. Your post should come up automatically every time this question arises.
Thanks!

 

Thanks Frank, I appreciate the compliment although I'm not sure everyone would agree with you.

There's a lot of stuff I left out. For instance, I forgot to mention the different transmission gear ratios in the AP2's but really, those are so slight that it's not that significant.

Drive Safe,
Steve R.

 

'01 footwork is totally different than the '02