Not everyone is a race car driver. A big part of enjoying a car is also the drivability.

 

What's with DBW bull, there is no delay.... Period. Every single car these days is DBW. Plus DBW can be customized.

 

With a flashpro you cannot tell, but bone stock it is fairly evident.

 

no more!

 

Specifically on the 1-2 shift you have to be fairly quick to avoid dropping off the high cam in an AP2 on the stock tune. From 2-3 and other higher gears it's not really an issue, but from 1-2 it is sort of a huge pain in the ass. When my car was stock, I felt like I was always waiting for the power, and then when I finally did get there I had to drive the car on the bleeding edge to keep it there. It was a very fine balance between tapping the rev limiter in 1st vs. dropping out of the powerband once I was in 2nd. Sure, it was fairly quick to get back into the power, but that lag time was still there in most instances. My car now, with a simple $90 testpipe, $100 custom e-tune, and $690 Flahspro is absolutely a night and day difference over a stock S2000 for a very small outlay of time and money.

You're absolutely right that stock for stock there are no differences in track times among the years. The point indeed is moot when you are comparing stock cars. However, most of the people who make it to a forum like this (especially for a car like the S2000) can be categorized as enthusiasts, and then the argument of the cheapest, most effective way to tune the car and gain significant area under the curve is absolutely a factor in determining which car is best.

Side note: I'm gonna go on the record saying these threads suck. All of this information is already out there 50 other times.

 

Awesome! My thread from when I was in the market.

 

Yup! I would say +1 but really, it's more like +51!

 

'06-'07

AP2, so you get the engine/cosmetic mods
In '06 they added the drive-by-wire throttle system
In '08 they were legally required to add TPMS sensors (which are lame)

Edit: '08+ had better OEM wheels but you can buy those second-hand and put them on your '06-'07 as I did

 

TPMS = lame? How so?

While your at it you could buy everything second hand and build the perfect S2000 based on your own preferences.

 

Because as owners, the cost-to-benefit isn't there if you were raised (as I was) to pay attention to what your car is doing and to notice problems before they become catastrophic. Also, have you owned a TPMS car and done tire changes / wheel swaps, or had a TPMS sensor go bad? Talk to the guys at your local tire shop about their opinion of TPMS if you need more info.

http://jalopnik.com/5653882/why-it-s...usiast-in-2010

For those people who may not have seen a TPMS, it's important to describe. From the outside of the mounted wheel and tire, it looks just like a normal valve stem. But on the inside of the wheel is the sensor, attached to the valve stem. It sends a radio signal to your vehicle that the car can be calibrated to read. The sensors are proprietary, as there were no standards set by the law, so they vary by make or even model.

A traditional valve stem costs $1 or less. $100 per corner is a fair estimate for a TPMS. If you switch wheels and tires on a newer vehicle, you have three choices really. The first is to not put sensors on the new wheels and tires. This results in beeping on every vehicle start and a warning light constantly lit on the dash (that mind you looks absolutely nothing like anything related to a tire) that can not legally be disabled. It also opens the door to concerns about safety inspections, resale and liability. The second choice is to move the sensors from your original wheels and tires, but then you're paying for extra dismounts, and what of your original wheels and tires? You can either leave them separated and dismounted, or reassemble them with traditional valve stems. The third option is to pony up for a second set of sensors, which is hundreds of dollars of extra cost in the mix. Also adding to the pain, many shops will not work on wheels and tires with the sensors in them, and some that do charge a large premium for mounting and dismounting, or moving sensors from rim to rim.