ya he was leaning twards new, but he kept hearing about how the ap1 was better and that all the race built ones were ap1.

the dumb thing is that i don't think that he will ever mod it, so ap2 makes more sence. i'm going to tell him just get ap2 unless he wants mine to go faster and look better

 

If he can work on his own car...get the Ap1. For the money you'll save (a low mileage AP1 can be had for $16,000) You can do a lot of fun mods to it and make it a far better performer than an '08 with no mods. Not to mention insurance on a 2002 will be about 30% less than on an '08 (it was when I quoted a new one v. my 2002).

He says money is not an issue but it is...otherwise he'd buy a Ferrari.

for example, I bought my S2k for $19,000. It had 15,000 miles on it and was 4 years old. That was about $12,000 cheaper than buying a slightly used 2006 at the time with 5,000 miles. This car is the best deal (condition and miles for cost) when it's 3-4 years old.

 

I've never driven an ap2 so I don't know how true this is but I've always read that the ap1 has an edgier personality - higher revs, stiffer suspension and slightly quicker steering ratio, and the ap2 was more refined for daily driving.

They both post similar track times so I guess you'd really only feel the difference in daily driving. AP2 is a smoother daily driver - isn't that the reason they lowered the redline and gave it more torque?

 

Better wheels and tires? If by better you mean better looking, then that's subjective. If by better you mean heavier and more expensive to replace tires, then yes. Tires are a wearable item and i think the oem tires aren't as good as the other less expensive options (RE01R's, direzza's, rs2 z212's, etc.). But if we're talking oem, I always felt the S02 was stronger than the RE050's.

The tranny was revised to accommodate the 2.2 liter engine, so again, subjective.

better taillights and interior is subjective, but I agree with the interior.

OP - are you asking which is a better car or are you asking if 9k rpm is worth it (as your title implies)? If your friend just needs to decide between an Ap1 or an Ap2, then I'll tell you that this has been discussed since 2004. And the answer has always been - take it for a test drive and see which one you like more.

 

i love my AP1 but if your friend has no plans to mod and isn't really that much of a 'car guy', the AP2 is def. the better choice. VSA for one thing.. wish i had that...

 

New is better, that would be AP2 by coincidence.

 

Even though money isn't an issue for him, there are a lot of things he could do with the extra $10k+ that was saved from buying an ap1. I've never driven an ap2 but overall they are similar enough that I would rather have the extra money.

 

always love new cars. my vote goes for new. considering i bought mine new too.

 

as said above i am not trying to see which is better, quicker or cooler, he just wanted me to find someone who had owned bith and see what they thought about the two as far as a dd and as far as which revs lower on the freeway, simple stuff like that. and as far as what i said money doesn't matter i mean that he could go buy a new cr if he wanted, but he would rather get one that has been used cause its worth saveing some money and getting one that is six months old with 10k miles.

he just wanted an opinion by some one who has actually owned both

 

For that reason alone, definitely new.