To each his own. I'd prefer a 5-60 test rather than 0-60, but I do care about acceleration both away from a light (without launching) and when merging onto the highway. And I find that the evaluation of any individual writer often reflects idiosyncratic preferences that I don't share (I have different idiosyncracies).

 

I thought all of the data thus far has pointed to the MY04+ being faster in both 0-60 and 1/4 mile?

didn't temple of vtec write an article about this comparing the two?

 

i can hit 62 in second gear in my civic..heehe

 

I know that merging does not start at zero but......I'm not trying to hit 95-100+ to merge. The point I was trying to make is that most of your acceleration is in the under 60 range. This measurement is more important to me in my driving on a day to day basis.

 

You guys are forgetting one important thing:
Any speedometer, especially a digital one, has "lag time". The last indicated speed you see just at redline may not be the real speed you are going because the speedo hasn't "caught up" yet. During a 0-60 run, you are accelerating and increasing speed at a very fast rate. The speedo simply cannot keep up. If you really want to know what speed you are going at redline, bounce off the rev limiter for 2 to 3 seconds, then see what the speedo says. An '05 may, in fact, be able to do 60 in 2nd. Anyone wanna test it out?

At 5 mph, the rpm is very low, as is the torque, on an S2000 (regardless of MY). In a "roll-on" from 5 mph, unless you are willing to do a "rolling clutch dump", an S2000 will get killed by almost any "performance" car.
As an aside, this is one of the reasons why street racing an S2000 results in many embarassing stories that get spread all over the internet. You get hammered on a low speed rolling start and invariably, the S2000 owner cries about how the other guy wouldn't start at a speed that is just under VTEC for the S. Most S street racers don't have the ability or the "guts" to do rolling clutch dumps.
S driver: "Can we start at 20 - 25 mph, please?
Other driver: "That's stupid. Let's just get rolling and mash it on 3."
S driver: "OH, SHIT!"

 

they were about the same Pace, more or less. 13.8 in RT for a MY00 back in 2000 and 04-05s get the same. It all depends on the driver of each magazine pretty much and how they launch (whether a full 5-6k launch or shitty 3-4k)

 

There's something I think you are really missing here.

Because 0-60 measurements are so heavily focused on in magazines, car manufacturers have historically made 2nd gear taller than it should be to allow the car to reach 60 with only 1 shift. This hurts a car's overall accelereration just for the sake of advertising. And all those examples you gave are pointless unless they all stop at exactly 60. If they stop at 50 or 70, the car with the shorter 2nd gear will probably win(assuming all else equal).

I say props to Honda for daring to be different!

 

You can always 'engineer' a piece of equipment to get optimum results on a very specific test, which is a reason to treat 0 - 60 only as a general indicator of straight line acceleration. Example case, VW Rabbit in the early 1980's. There was a choice of a 4 speed manual, or a 5 speed manual. Ist gears had identical ratios; 5th and 4th were identical, i.e., one transmission was very wide ratio, while the other was a much better extra cost closer ratio transmission.

The 4 speed got a couple of mpg better than the 5 speed on the official EPA city cycle test. Why? The official test rules were to shift 1-2 at 15 mph, 2-3 at 25 mph, 3-4 at 35 mph, and 4-5 under conditions of 'best advantage', or words to that effect. Was the 4 speed really a more efficient transmission? Of course not. The rules were bureaucratically written in such a way that the 4 speed looked better. In the same way, you can always optimize 0 - 60 results by being sure that 2nd gear does not top out till after 60 mph. You don't get better acceleration, just a better result for that specific and limited test.

 

MY04 owners

 

You honestly believe Honda set the redline, the gearing ratios, the ECU and everything else necessary to accomodate a quicker 0-60?
Quick. Give me a few more automotive examples...
And if it is so all fired important, as you state, why then was this not a consideration when they upped the engine to the 2.2? They wanted to slow it down?