Blackrain

Bad idea. You love your daughter and want her to be alive right? S2000 is a track car made street able. The over steering or over confidence can cause an inexperience drivers they're lives. It's a great car, too much for a noob to handle.

namedonelettere

Other than safety concerns about oversteer in the AP1 it's also going to be a boy magnet.

You know some guy comes up to you every time you go to a gas station to ask you about the car.

Well those same guys are going to be asking her to dinner.

Agiyo

As one who raised my daughter alone from 3 to 23, I have some knowledge of this.

Certainly not an S2000, especially an AP1. Teens are social people and having room for one friend and nothing else in the passenger compartment would be bad for her. I taught my daughter to drive on manual transmissions and to PAY ATTENTION to the responsibility of driving, and she's an excellent driver. She insists on a manual transmission, and currently has a 6-speed Mazda 3 that she loves.

Please keep and enjoy your S2000 for yourself. Particularly in current traffic, so many highly aggressive and distracted incompetents on the road, your daughter will be happier with a vehicle that will carry school stuff and friends.

Isolato

First of all...your insurance would be astronomical. The only way my S2000 insurance was affordable was to exclude my 16 yr. old daughter. Second...this is a performance car. It requires that you drive it every second. No texting, no makeup in the mirror, no cellphoning, no snacking.All of which a teenager is likely to indulge in. With the top up the S2000 is like wearing a hoodie. They shouldn't be sold w/tops.

In 1975 I traded my MGB/GT for a then new CVCC Honda Civic. A car that would have driven figure 8s around the MG. A few years later a friend was considering giving her MG to her daughter and we drove that old dinosaur around a bit. A block and tackle would have helped low speed steering! Get your daughter a car that is safe, easy to drive, cheap to insure, and not your "baby". Both babies will be happier in the long run.

RGCorris

I was 22 and had been driving on the road without problems for five years when I bought myself a Triumph Spitfire. Within weeks I had spun it on a bend. I was lucky there was no truck coming the other way at the time. While the S2K holds the road better than a Spit, it can be similarly unforgiving when pushed; it also has a lot more power, and no matter how sensible your daughter is, she won't have the experience necessary to handle an S2K as an unsupervised new driver. Add in the rubbish rear visibility and it is a no-no as a first car. You should be looking for something forgiving with good all-round visibility for her to learn roadcraft. By all means let her try out the S2K with you as a passenger but hold back on the solo flights for a while.

Richard

Kenny_Stang

A couple of fun facts to take into consideration:

1. Traffic Accidents are the #1 killer between the ages of 15-24
2. 30,000 people die in the US of traffic accidents
3. 40% of people involved in traffic accidents, never even hit the brakes

So keeping all that in mind, wouldn't you as a responsible parent, want to mitigate the risks involved for your daughter as much as possible? I think your heart is in the right place, but as others have pointed out, you are drastically under estimating how dangerous driving can be for teens... and that's not even taking into account that the S2000 is more complex, less forgiving, and less stable than your average car on the road. If you still want her to learn on a manual RWD vehicle, get a early 90's Volvo, they are built like tanks, and will allow her to gain the experience of a manual RWD car, without the other associated risks.

InTheLou

Not a good car for "approaching" driving age. Safety rankings are ok, but nothing near something ten years newer and a size or two larger. I have a 2001, since new, my daughters have both attended Mid Ohio Driving School put on by Honda. A great program if you can complete it. A S2000 is very hard to regain control of without some of the safety features that are built into most cars now, such as the traction control and stability. A S2000 is not a car for a new driver, there is going to be countless other kids (and adults) coming up along side her, gathering attention, wanting to race, that you don't want as a parent with a new driver.

warshan

My wife drives her 2002 S2000 as a daily driver all summer.

If we ever sell it, I will advertise it as "Lady Driven"

She seldoms lets the tach go below 6000 RPM and she goes through tires and brakes like toilet paper.

The car is definitely abused. The clutch has lasted only because she is on and off it quickly, because she likes to be first off the line at traffic lights.

She has driven it now since we bought it used in 2005. Ten years of real abuse.

The car can take it..

I should have never bought her that track lesson

blonge1

I had an S2000 for my 2nd car, 3 months after I turned 16. What a lot of the other people on here are saying is 100% correct, the S2000 even if handled properly can be a very dangerous car, and is a whole lot of power for someone who doesn't know how to handle it. My parents have made me buy all my cars, so the level of respect that I showed 1st my Miata, then my S2000 and now my M3, is more than your average teens, but regardless the S2000 still managed to get me into a decent amount of trouble, (to the tune of about 17k in damage). I'd say as a first car NEVER, but as a second car, I think it'll be ok (so long as you keep an eye on the tire consumption). If you're still planning to give her the S2000 for her first car, I recommend you make her put some money into it, so if shes about to do something stupid, she knows she's losing some of her money too. Also I think learning on an a stick shift is a good thing, it will teach her to be more concentrated.

2Kaputnik