Hello,
I am considering upgrading my daily driver, and an S2000 is one of the cars I am thinking about. How are they for a DD? What kind of gas mileage do they get? I will be buying used, is there anything I need to watch out for?

-Chuck

 

The Trans Am should be the DD and the S should be the toy. Much more fun!!!

James

P.S. Gets about 24 miles to the gallon on avg. Could probably do better, but I drive it. You know what I mean?

 

I kinda trade back and forth between my S2000 and my lifted mud-tire-wearing Xterra (so neither one is what you'd call a great DD).


The S is fine for daily if you don't mind using such a cool car that way - just keep in mind that the very expensive tires only last 10-20k miles (more like 10k for the rears and 20k for the fronts). If I were going to be driving it a LOT, I might downgrade the tires.

Oh - on mileage, I hit 30mpg on a road trip from Virginia to here.... usually I get in the lower 20's... which is pretty darn good compared to the 12-15 I get in my Nissan.

 

My S is a daily drive. I am getting 23-29 mpg. I really enjoy it since you can take down the top for a good weather day. round trip to work and back is 35 miles

 

I put 76,000 daily driven miles on the '00. The only reason I got the Tacoma was to haul stuff and keep the miles off the S2000 - the car itself is a wonderful, fun daily driver. Especially when the weather is nice like this!

Gas mileage around town is 22 to 24. On the highway it's 26 to 30.

I have never had a single issue with comfort, but I understand that for some people it can be an issue. Something about the seat shape, steering wheel location, I'm not sure.

People complain about lack of torque, but from what I can tell that's mostly people who have never driven the car. It has more than enough power to get ahead of traffic with barely any effort.

The trunk is actually rather spacious. Except for furniture, anything you'd reasonably need to carry around (laptop, groceries, etc.) will fit.

On a used S2000, make sure the soft top doesn't have any wear holes just behind the side windows. Check the condition of the plastic rear window if it has one. The only other S2000-specific issue that I can think of is the 2nd gear grind, which typically only shows up when the transmission is hot and you're shifting at redline. Everything else is just general car stuff - oil changers, paint condition, collision damage, etc.

 

Sorry for the minor postjack - but I decided that in MY case, the 2nd gear grind was entirely due to a loose nut behind the wheel.

Now that I've been driving the car for several months and have gotten more used to it, it never happens.

 

My 02 is my daily driver (and only vehicle), and I drive a lot (will average between four and five thousand miles a month this summer). Also, I have a seven-year-old son.

It is a pretty liveable car. If you're moving down in size, you will find that you just wind up carrying less crap. It'll be fine. If you're like me, your car will be less messy, because that's the only way to survive.

My suggestions about how to make it work best:

- Maximize use of space. Get the organizer for your "glove box"; I'm sorry, I can't find the link right now. It helps a bunch. Get a cup holder. Figure out where you'll keep your sunglasses (mine go in the glove box, now that I have the organizer). Figure out where your CDs go (I use a slip-on on the passenger side sun visor, which is fine even though it restricts the rotation of the visor -- the visor is pretty well useless anyway). Figure out what goes behind the seats (a lot fits, even if you keep them all the way back). Use the secret compartment -- it's bigger than you think.

- Emphasize creature comforts. If you like music, replace the stereo -- almost everyone on this forum will agree that the factory unit sucks donkeys. As soon as I have the money, that's what I need to do to mine; I hear the need for it every day. Consider some soundproofing -- that roadster roar is fine for weekend jaunts, but it gets old if you hear it an hour a day. Understand that putting the top up will not help, as the car is louder that way than with it down, unless you do some mods. I think I'm wishing for some noise reduction even more than my new stereo; I have Rick's windscreen (7/8ths) to install, which may help, and two gallons of QuietCar waiting to be painted on. (If only I had a garage to do it in -- darned apartment living.) We'll see how much that helps, but trust me, the need is there if you drive a lot.

- Expect good fuel economy for a fast car, but lousy for a small car. Some posters above are reporting numbers much higher than what I see. I measure economy with every tank, and almost always wind up between 22.4 and 23.8 in mixed driving. I have gotten 27 in pure highway driving, but that was very unusual: top down, at what I consider normal highway speed for an entire tank, I am seeing 24.4-24.8. I have no performance mods other than an intake, and run all synthetic fluids, so this is very slightly better than stock numbers (Incidentally, I drive kinda fast, by most people's standards; it is a rare day on which I do not light up all three speedo digits.) I have an 02 with 50,000 miles, but the engine is fairly new; gas mileage with the old engine was almost identical. (Don't worry about the details of the engine replacement -- the S2000 is very reliable.) Remember that you'll be buying premium only.

- Be very sure you like the seats and the driving position. Many don't, and it's only minimally adjustable. If you fit, you will feel happy every time you get in. If you don't, I advise finding a different car.

- Get a radar detector, ideally a Valentine. You will need it, assuming you are the type of person who ought to be considering an S. Consider a semi-permanent mount with the hidden display; without a direct wire connection at the very least, you will be driven crazy by the idiotic location of the accessory power jack. (You will learn not to bump it with your elbow, but your passengers won't be so accommodating).

- Only consider this if you love to drive. The S is not a relaxing car. Six forward speeds (albeit in the best-feeling gearbox available for sale in any car) and minuscule low-end torque make traffic jams less than fun (though it is actually possible to creep along at 3-4 mph, believe it or not). The handling is amzing but some passengers will not be tickled about the ride (if you're a real driver, you will have no problem). In the rain the car requires rather more caution than almost anything else out there. The power will probably be disappointing unless you routinely wind it above 7000 rpm (which there is no reason not to do). The brakes are so good you'll find yourself glancing nervously in your mirror every time you stop hard. The car is almost infinitely rewarding when you want to experience the joys of driving the way it should be done, but if there are likely to be many days on which you could do without those joys, look elsewhere.

There's more, but that's all that comes to mind right now.

 

Preemptive flame retardant: I drive very fast, and I drive with my young son, but I don't do those things at the same time.

And, to Tx Phantom: sure, it's obviously possible to do better on the mileage. I was just guessing that someone with a T/A as a toy wouldn't drive an S that way.

Incidentally, the glove box organizer is here. Worth it.

 

Thanks everyone. The car I was thinking about sold today, but I am still looking.

 

Bummer... that was a nice looking one... but there are plenty more if you are persistent