grr. my server is screwed. going to take some time to fix it. sorry

 

I'll take a guess. They did it to satisfy the large USDM market (and possibly others) from an aesthetics point. The black tape matches the black soft top better than the body color giving the windshield frame the appearance of being lower than it really is.

I'm not sure if this applies to the other world markets, I know the JDMs do not have tape. The UK, Oz website shows the S2000 without tape in their gallery, the US and Germany website shows it with...

 

thanks for all the replys guys. pwrmkr, thanks especially for that white s2k with the tape off!

 

You should know ahead of time that some cars, especially MY '00 and MY '01, have defective paint under the black tape. Most don't but some do. If yours does, you'll have to pay a few hundred dollars for a body shop to repaint the area/windshield frame.

Also, you can buy a kit from Honda to put on new black tape, but I think it is difficult to reinstall new tape after the original tape has been removed.

Having said that, I think almost everyone is completely satisfied with the appearance after removal. Also, it doesn't really make the car "not stock" because you can buy the car with the tape removed in many markets.

Go browse the S2000 sections of www.honda.co.jp to see what I mean. I don't think you'll find a car with tape on it on the Japanese website.

My car still has its tape on, even though I do have a hardtop.

 

Here's the link to the official Honda Motor Company Japanese S2000 site.
http://www.honda.co.jp/auto-lineup/s2000/

You'll see a rare S2000 with the black tape on; but almost all have no tape.

 

Ground Control adjustable coil-over kits with Eibach 340F 380R springs. The springs are notably stiffer and you can adjust hte ride height/corner balance as you like. You are also seeing a fair amount of spring compression on the side facing the camera, as I'm going through that curve pretty fast. On a level surface, about 5/8" of drop.

 

Hey Pat you better not take that tape off. Your car looks a lot better with it. By the way where are them pics you took of your car and the Z. You need to post them. Hope you know who this is....