hey everyone just joined this group, ive been wanting an s2000 since i was 12 and now finally i have the money and right job to afford one i guess my dream coming true, ive done alot of research on both the Ap1 and the Ap2 models but can you guys give some more info on what year s2000 is the best and also goods and bad and as a new s2000 driver what things i should be careful of and overall advice and by the way budget is not problem.

 

you will receive many opinions from many people about why certain s2000's are better than others. You really need to provide more information for us.
every year s2000 have positives and negatives.

whats your age?
budget?- no really, how much is your maximum budget? 10K? 20K? unlimited?
have you driven an s2000 before? they say don't drive your heroes.
is this your only car- as in a 4 season car?
are you a shade tree mechanic?
do you plan to do "mods"? autocross?
do you have a garage to store it in?
what's most important to you in a car purchase- ie. comfort, ease of maintenance, cost of parts etc?
are you going to crash it in a week?

you need to give us more to give you an informed decision.

good luck with your search
darcy

 

Great post Darcy.

OP answer those questions before proceeding. If it is an only car, I'd find a more suitable option. But plenty of ppl DD them.

They are all reliable, great cars, as long as they were maintained. I guess one advantage of newer AP2s are the retainers/keepers.

The common phrase around here is buy the newest, lowest mileage one you can afford. That being said if you could save $5k+ buying a low mile AP1 (2000-2003) go for it!

Personally I never looked into 2000/2001 due to plastic rear window and carpet center.

 

Have you already completely read these two threads?

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/753...r-useful-info/

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/775...-a-used-s2000/

If not, start there.

 

Hey sorry for replying late but im 18 years old had alot of fwd cars integras,prelude,civic boosted driven my friends ap, its going to be my first rwd car so im a beginer and budget is not a problem like i said and its going to be dd just to school and back not alot of driving probably get a side car and.im mostly looking into ap2 specially my06 and + and i dont care about the 9k redline of ap1. Overall i dont know much about the s2000 and how handles i really wanted to hear from people who have owned or driven different years of it, any help, opinions or advice would be great and thanks for replying means alot im new here

 

http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2173176

if you like to read^^^

I DD a MY01 AP1. If you are unfamiliar with the handling then I believe you're correct in looking for an AP2. From my understanding it has a milder suspension setup than AP1s. It really doesn't take much to get these cars to spin.

 

My advice is go get a Miata or FRS, drive it for a year, learn rwd, then consider an S2000.

 

Not really sure that's necessary. The S was my first RWD car and I was fine. All it takes is a little self control and awareness of your limits

 

Buy the cleanest one you can afford. Don't get too hung up about AP1 vs AP2. Spend the summer autocrossing it. Learn its capabilities there before pushing it on the street. Don't drive in the rain with worn out tires. Respect the car and don't drive like an ass and you'll be fine.

 

Nobody ever thinks they're going to crash it.

Anyways, right now you're saying that budget is not a problem, but unless your parents are paying for this, you might find that these are a bit more costly to purchase and maintain than you initially thought with maintenance bills, insurance, gass, etc.(I was only able to afford one after I had graduated college and gotten an engineering job.) If that's the case, you might be looking more in the AP1 category. IMO MY03 is a good option for AP1s. A bit more refined interior, glass rear window with defroster, upgraded banjo bolts and fixed clutch buzz.

If for whatever reason money is not an issue, why not buy a CR? Future classic and somewhat of a unicorn. I don't know that there are many mechanical differences between AP2s aside from the DBW change and VSA for '06+. If you plan to mod, '06+ might be an easier route as you can use a piggyback. For earlier MYs, you'll need a new ECU along with replacing respective components.

But all of that isn't as important as just finding the right car at the right time. If you plan to track/beat on/mod to hell, save some money and buy a cheap one. If you plan to daily, buy the lowest miles/best maintained stock specimen that you can find.

Just please be responsible with it. Don't take another one of these beauties off the roads and drive up our insurance premiums, and we'll all get along.