Well i think that might be the only thing that makes Ap1's better then Ap2's. Even that isnt much.

 

hand made or machine made, i love any MY s2000's.

 

I don't see anything in the article saying that the AP2 ISN'T handbuilt?

I don't see why they would automate the process 5 years into the model year. I'd venture to say that the S2000 is still assembled by hand.

Either way, this car should easily be worth much more than its value. A hand assembled car for 34k! Makes me that much more prouder to own an S2000.

 

The one in the Super Bowl commercial did, hehe.

 

It said the s2000 line in the new plant made around 60 cars a day. That could be people working really hard to "hand-assemble" 60 s2000's a day, or it could be really lazy robots tacking 60 s2000's together in a day. I bet it is people.

 

Not so much at Ferrari. If you were able to catch a special on the Ferrari Factory it was quite amazing. Humans still have a place thankfully.

 

Quicker steering.
Lighter flywheel.
Higher redline.
Higher specific output.
Track tuned suspension.
Quicker turn-in.

 

I don't think they've changed the assembly process in any way what-so-ever. I suspect they even moved the same guys over to build the cars in the new plant. Same craftsman, same process, just a different location.

Nobody's mentioned this (and I can't prove it), but the engine assembly is a one-man job. The way they do 60/day is by having several cars in-work at one time. An engine man finishes one engine and then starts assembling another, and they have enough engine men to meet production quotas.

If this hand assembly were such a crappy idea then why does Honda spend the extra money to feature it on their premium cars? Same reason Ferrari does, and if it has to be explained, then the explination won't be understood.

When a robot has a bad day it's not even smart enough to know it. It will stand there for days, making the same errors over and over, never caring and never noticing, until someone comes along to sort it out. The ultimate quality still depends on the humans supervising the operatios. S2000's and other modern hand assembled cars prove beyond any doubt that the robot has not over taken the craftsman just yet.

Did you guys know that the casting marks on the inside of your intake manifold are hand ground before the part is installed on the engine? I guess there is a lot going on with the car and the way it is built that most owners don't know (or care) about, but it is something those who love the car really should look into. This car has a very rich development history.

 

I believe a few AP2s were built at the original plant too as the factory change happened in 2004, after initial 2004 AP2 S2000 production started.

 

"Well i think that might be the only thing that makes Ap1's better then Ap2's. Even that isnt much."



who cares where it was built? It's amazing to see how people construe anything and everything to help them justify their belief that their car is "better" than the next guys.

Get over it, both cars, AP1, AP2, before 2004, after 2004 suzuka plant, tochigi plant, are all great. Can we all agree that the s2000 is just great(PERIOD)