I just love to get someone inside of my S2000 and take them for a little ride. First of all I find that most of them love the car but know nothing about it. So I give them the stats: 240 hp, 4 banger, 2 litre, high reving engine ... and it's FUN TO DRIVE!

I always get the: "oh it's so tight when sitting", but tell them that they will become one with the car and mold into the seats. They agree after the ride. I let them push the START button and drive off like a normal car. A little VTEC and they can't believe it! Their eyes pop wide open and they get an adrenaline rush. I go out of my way now to watch their reaction on the first VTEC. VTEC several more times and they are pleasantly surprised.

I then introduce them to S2000 handling and just crank it around a 90 degree turn at a fast speed and laugh as they say " holy s***". They are impressed at how well the car seems to stay straight throughout the turn.

Overall they say their stomachs move up their chests, their chests pound harder, they see everything coming too fast during VTEC and are confused as to what's going on and are left with a huge smile on their face. They also can't wait to tell their friend or partner on how much fun this car is to drive. In the back of my mind I know that their friend or partner are only going through the motions of nodding to reply...but if I could only get them in the passenger seat!

 

I get the "oh my God, oh my God, Slow down ..." <pause> "AHHHHHH!!!!" at the top of their lungs, well, one did that, my best friends sister - scared the crap out of me I thought I was going to hit somebody..

I also get the, "wow, I though my <insert favorite Import under 25k here> would be faster then you car, but this car is soo tight... " (age usually under 20, education, roughly high school or less..)

 

Usually people like their ride on the s-2000 and they always have good comments on it but the first ride i gave my father end up like......U are waisting gas !!!!

Ahrrrgg !!!

 

First time my Dad drove my S2000 was interesting. I kept telling him to take it up to 8 or 9 thousand, and that you can do over 40 in first and over 60 in second. Since we were on back roads(35mph) I told me he shouldn't go above 3rd gear.

Well my 60 year old pops decides after going to 7000 that it is too obnoxious for driving around peoples homes on the back roads and gets it up around 25mph and shifts into 3rd!!!! Yes THIRD! The car starts bucking and almost stalls and I'm like "DAD CLUTCH IN!" Then I gave him a lecture on how he almost stalled the car while moving and how bad that would have been and that he can't drive the S2000 like his Porsche 911. To give a little background info he has had corvettes and porsches his whole life, and is a very good driver/autocrosser even at 60! But from what he is used to he just doesn't understand how to drive the S2000. He does like the car a lot. Loves the handling, shifter, seats, speed of the top. He got a Boxster S loaner while his 911 was in service the day before he drove my S2000.

For his style of driving the Boxster S is a better car, but he had negatives and praise for each car. And of course when he realized you could get 1.5-2 S2000s for the price of 1 Boxster S he knew which one was the overall winner.

When I took my mom out(passenger) I went really slow because she hates it when I drive fast and lectures me ALL the time. I only hit VTEC once and she didn't know what it was or to expect it, so it cracked her head against the back of the seat and she kept complaining about whiplash! Also when she first saw it, she kept saying there is no way that car cost $30,000.

 

It's either WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE or Oh shit, slow down, I don't wanna dieeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

 

My Dad is a serious car enthusiast and an ex euro rally driver. Interestingly enough, he never did buy the cars that he wanted during our family years, he always got the "sensible family car".

When he heard I bought an S, he made a special business trip out to CA to see it!

We decided to take a cruise into the mountians, but to get there, we had to travel via freeway. I took the clover leaf at 50 or so, and coming out took 2nd to red and third to red, easily exceeding 100 mph. After we shut down to cruise, I asked him what he thought. "Pretty Dramatic!" says he.

Anyway, we get into the mountains (highway 78 from Escondido to Ramona and then to Julian for you So Cal peeps), and of course, I turn the car over to him. Next thing I know, the car is sceaming at the top of its lungs, this guy (65 yrs old) is braking from max speed AT THE LAST SECOND on every turn and powering out of the corners with authority. I knew my dad was a driver, but I was absolutely flabergasted at the way the car was being handled, and I knew that my cloverleaf trick was pretty ameturish. He gave me a 40 minute driving lesson that has since served me very well.

We get to the top of the hill, and I ask him, "so is this the most powerfu..." my dad cuts me off and says "without a doubt this is the best car I have ever driven".

Since then I've had my moments of glory with passengers, but for me, ironically, I'll never forget *my* first ride in an S2K.

 

Sitting in the passenger seat doesn't do the car justice. It needs to be driven. If the person with me can drive a stick and I trust them, I give them the keys and I drive shotgun. The smile on their face is worth a thousand words.

--Greg

 

great stories guys
keep them coming, i wanna hear more

 

I took my old man for a ride a while back, he doesn't like convertables (worried about losing his head in a flip)so this was the first time in the car.

Took him for a hard run on some local roads and he was blown away with how it handled, lots of reaching for the door handle, lots of deleted expletives and squirming around in his seat. He always watches my foot action (he taught me a lot of heel-toe etc when I was a kid).

He said to me when we stopped....so do you ever use the brakes on this thing? I said I tap them when it needs it. Thus explains why I need new rears already

 

Umm... I'm sorry but sometime I leave it in 3rd at ~18 mph. And yes I have shifted into 3rd at 25mph. It will not stall the car.