bhav

is the s2000 made out of weak steel or is it just me thinking this?

FO2K

yes

Hockey

This little car is tougher than any I've seen, if you are talking about structural integrity.

If you talking about dings and dents......well that is another story.

You may want to clarify if you really want constructive comments.

Otherwise you'll get more comments like "yes". Hehehehe

bhav

yes, was talking about dings/dents.

its like a coke can

even my old peugeot 306 was tougher on the outside

Elistan

Anybody know the actuall thickness of the body panels?

For what it's worth, I'd much rather have a 2800lbs S2000 with some dents than a 3000lb S2000 with no dents.

rworne

Hondas have been the absolute worst when it comes to dents and dings. I first noticed this on CRX's back in 1990 or so and every Honda since then. The durability of the paint doesn't impress me either. Other Japanese cars (such as Toyota) fared much better with dents, dings and paint chips.

jelliotlevy

My understanding is that most sheet metal (i.e., fenders, hoods, door skins) are 1 mm thickness in metric system nations, and .040 inches in the U.S. [1 mm = .03937 inches]. Of course, our S2000 hoods are made of aluminum, and that material is more susceptible to dings and dents. It is the various corrugated panels and the backbone which give our S2000's their fairly high strength levels in serious collisions.

Bolt Upright

There's a real good chance that the body sheet metal is annealed prior to forming. Otherwise, you'd probably get cracks (especially in the front fenders) during stamping. And Honda's not about to ship the formed parts back to the steel vendor to be heat-treated (where they'd probably warp anyway). I think it's the price you pay for a car with "swoopy" lines.

For whats it's worth, I just put the 3M film on my car, and I'm lovin' it. Granted, it won't stop a 44 mag, but it might take the edge off of some of those dings.