Im a fellow Chevy Ls1 Camaro Owner. Dont get me wrong, i love my car, but i've had it for a lil over 4 years, and am *thinking* about getting something a lil different. This car has really caught my eye for some reason. I was also looking at the Subaru WRX, but am much more interested in the S2000.

My Question is, How does this car handle compared to a Z28? I know that a Z28 will out accelerate it in the 1/4, but as far as the twisties goes, can the Z28 hang or not even close? From what I hear this is one of the best handling cars out there. I think Motor Trend had it doing 70.1 mph in the slalom???

Modding: How expensive are mods for these cars. I paid 1200 for a set of longtube headers, and offroad pipe for my ls1. Just tryin to get an idea of how expensive it is.

Are these cars capable of 12 sec passes? Does it take a Comptech Supercharger?


thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.

 

Bottom line - the car is just fun. Take a test drive, hit some corners, see for yourself. You'll never know until you try.

As far as mods - expensive and don't necesarily give you much. To do 12s, you'll definitely need forced induction.

 

Elistan,
thanks for the writeup. As far as FI goes, what compression do these Motors have? I know that Comptech makes a supercharger for them, is there any Turbo Kits out for them?

 

There's a speedcraft turbo kit, but as far as turbo goes it's still new to the market and unreliable. Supercharger seem to be the more popular option.

I drove my friend's LS1 a couple of time at autoX, if you like the handling on the LS1 wait till you hop in the S2000. It'll feel so small and light that you'll feel like you're in a gokart on steriod

Something else to consider, if you love torque and can't live without it, you might not like this car. Go out and test drive it first before you consider it any further. To me the car has enough torque, and it's perfect, but for some torque abusers it's not enough.

 

You will love the S2000. The handling is rediculously good and the car just has such style. No offense, but a camaro is a dime-a-dozen, even fixed up, but I get stopped or waived at in my car all the time. Go test drive it and you will probably be hooked!

Enjoy,
Nix

 

Thanks Everyone for the input.
ONe thing that I have noticed around where I live, dealerships are hesitant to let people testdrive these cars. I can understand why too. They just dont want people puttin lots of miles on a brand new car. I have a feeling that I would really like the acceleration of the car. Im always up for different kinds of acceleration I sure would love to rev. the car up to 9K. what is the redline on the car?

 

Redline is at or around 9200 RPM, and believe me, your adrenaline gets pumping just as fast as the car when you run it that hard.

 

Why is someone considered a "torque abuser" if they think that the S2000 does not have enough torque, which by the way, is about equivelent to that of a caviler when it is at 7000 RPM's?

 

Nastinupe and his lovely torque remarks again. I just love this guy/girl.

 

I had a '99 Z28 for a little over 3 years. As everybody knows, it's definitely a torque monster. In the handling department, it's decent, but only on smooth roads. I found that it has a lot of body roll and the suspension definitely needs to be tweaked for autocrossing. Nevertheless, it's a cool car, but I needed something different - something more fun and refined. I had no problems (mechanical) with my LS1 for the entire time I owned it (23,000mi).

Ever since the S2000 came out, I've always been interested in it. After having the Z28 for a few years, I felt it was time to change to something different - this time I wanted a car that handled well. The S2000 is incredible in the handling department, but also holds it's on in straight-line acceleration. If you're looking for a quarter-mile only car, the S2000 might not be the car for you (get a used C5 or something). But the S2000 is much more balanced overall than a LS1. As for performance mods, I've spent about $900 (AEM CAI and Spoon N1), and probably didn't gain much power. The performance mods are very expensive, compared to the mods of an LS1 at least. You definitely need to get forced induction if you want more straight-line power (12's in the 1/4). I believe people are hitting low 13's with the Comptech SC and some are hitting mid to high 12's with the SpeedCraft Turbo Kit.

Regardless of what everyone here says, go out and test drive a used one. That way, you'll get the feeling of it and can decide for yourself. Good luck!