Why do people say the s2000 is a poor daily driver
 

I've seen it repeatedly the last couple of days, bitching about the s2000 being a poor daily driver due to lack of torque. Its not a muscle car! When you go from point A to point B around town, its a normal car. People make it sound like you can barely keep with the flow of traffic if you don't keep it at 6000+. I've never had a problem sitting in traffic, going stop light to stop light, or cruising around town. Can shift at 4000 rpm's and be just fine.

Then when the road opens up, or finding some twisty roads, the s2000 separates itself from the civics, accords, etc and it becomes a "super car"

I dunno, just dont get the bad daily driver stereotype due to the high reving nature of the engine

I think it has more to do with the fact it only seats two, the storage (or lack of), the harsh ride and the noise.

i get that


but i am seeing people cute the lack of power as the reason

I think magazine reviews have plagued this car with a lack of torque myth and people just jump on the band wagon. For some reason, some people just can't understand that getting 240 normally aspirated hp out of a 2.0L engine has some disadvantages. They get that 240hp number in their head and immediately think the car should have 200+ ft-lb torque to go along with it. It's the nature of the car. I find my MY04 quite torquey and I'm satisfied with it as a daily driver.

Ive never seen lack of torque as the reason for it not being a good daily driver. It was always the lack of space both passenger and cargo. Also the handling in inclement weather. Small light weight sports car with summer, tires not the best all year round vehcile. Well, maybe in the south.

The main reason most people don't think the S2000 is a good daily driver? Well, simply put--they are pussies: No slush box, can't fit a big gulp anywhere, trunk can't swallow a lazy boy, getting in and out of the car is almost like doing one squat!

Okay, my S2000 is my daily driver. In my opinion, it does have some disadvantages as a daily driver relative to, say, torquey American V8 cars. However, those disadvantages have little to do with torque - or rather, have to do only indirectly with torque.

The main difference is that the S2000 requires more attention to drive. It has a 50/50 weight distribution, which makes it more agile - good if you're autocrossing, but not so good if you just want to relax, listen to the radio, and let the car keep itself in its lane. It has a manual transmission with six speeds, which means you have to shift it a lot. (Indirectly, that's a function of torque - you have to use all six gears to keep the engine in the appropriate RPM range, whereas with a torquier car, you'd use less gears. For example, the Z4 and the Corvette really only have 5 performance gears - the 6th gear is just for saving gas at highway speeds. All 6 of the S2000's gears are needed for performance.)

The reason American V8 cars have a lot of torque down low is because most of them are sold with automatic transmissions. The extra torque is to compensate for the fact that the automatic doesn't choose when to shift as well as a human driver, but on the other hand, the human now doesn't have to shift at all. And if the steering stays on center really well, as it tends to with a 60/40 weight distribution, you don't have to steer much, either.

Of course, some of us would just as soon pay attention to our driving. Unfortunately, that brings up another problem - if you pay attention to your driving in an S2000, you will rapidly be going faster than the rest of the traffic. That can lead to frustration when the stupid SUVs with the cell phones hold you up. In a Miata, you'd be paying full attention and still not be held up by traffic.

I am hoping that with more time behind the wheel, I'll develop the skills to use the S2000's full capabilities to cut through traffic, so the SUVs will be less of a problem. One of the reasons I bought the S2000 was memories of CRXs zipping through gaps too tiny for the Trans Am I had then. I do suspect that will take my getting used to revving the engine well past other cars' redlines.

Lack of torque does bother me in emergency situations. In second gear, slowing down... revs drop to ~2k... small opening in adjacent lane... tromp on the gas... and... nothing. :rev:

You have to think ahead with this car and be in the proper gear at all times. Most of the time, no problem. It keeps you honest. But occasionally I'm taken off guard by someone else's driving and wish that I didn't have to gear down or rev up.... but it is rare thing.

Do people drive daily with cargo?

Okay, I admit I put my briefcase in the passenger seat. And the remote trunk release is a real blessing when I have a passenger.

I guess if my wife was too big to fit in the passenger seat, that would be an issue.

I didnt mean that, by the way my one friend is 300 pounds and actually fits in the passenger seat. Not comfortably though.

When you need to transport more than 1 passenger or have to load it up with groceries or anything semi-large.