Have Nsx Buying S2000

[91BLACKANDBONENSX]

Looking this week to pick up a black 2000 s2000. Wondering what experiences people have had who own both. Currently have a 91nsx owned for 4 years and loved it and not parting with. Other car is a 98 prelude base model and no mods. Wondering how the s2000 will compare and be like the prelude but also different. And what your impressions of driving the s2000 and nsx are. Hard to part with the prelude but got an offer on the s2000 could not resist. Any help or comments appreciated.

John
91 nsx #1231 black and ivory
2000 S2000 #3661 soon to be on its way black/black/black :smile:

 

[THE4TH]

Well, I'll give you the Prelude vs. S2000 portion.

The first thing you'll notice when you get in is that the S is obviously more of a cockpit design. Where the Prelude has some comfort and an adjustable wheel, the S has an adjustable seat and depending on your height there may only be one position for it.

Then of course there is the driving experience. As you know the Prelude is fwd and the S is rwd. With these specific cars I find a big difference in the 'push vs pull' feeling of the drive. Driving the Prelude hard still feels like it's being pulled around, which it is, where the S is very obviously being pushed by the rear. I only say this because there are some fwd and rwd cars that don't feel one way or the other extremely, but these two cars do.

I think the Prelude has good power and has a pretty smooth power band. The S has a much more powerful feel, especially up high, but the low end does suffer from a lack of torque. I know that there have been billions of posts all over creation about the shifting habits to eliminate the missing torque, but honestly, the lack will always be there. Now you may not notice it since you drive very similar cars, such as the Prelude and NSX, where the engines are somewhat similar. But if you've driven something from the BMW M series you'll know torque. If the S had the low end torque of the BMW M Coupe it would be the best all around roadster ever, IMO.

Then there is the 'reflex' of the car. The Prelude is a pretty responsive car. It accelerates well, turns as well as a fwd can be expected to, brakes well, and can provide a very nice drive. The S is all of these things multiplied many times over. The acceleration is much more severe especially in VTEC, and the handling aspects are much more precise. There is a lot less roll in the S on hard cornering than the Prelude, as one would expect. The S is just stiff, there is no better way to put it.

Now the things you used to enjoy about the Prelude, such as a back seat, and multiple cup holders, well, they are gone. There is a cup holder in the S but as you'll find out soon enough the location isn't desirable. You'll also miss the hardtop at some points due to road noise. I don't even notice it anymore, but when I get into my A4 it's nice and quiet. The Prelude came with a pretty good stock stereo system, the S did not. There will be a need for some speaker upgrades and some rear speakers in order to get close to the experience from the Prelude. The trunk is obviously smaller, but I can still fit my golf clubs in the S so I don't care. :smile:

Those are the basics, hope it helped....

 

[Juice]

Quitea few Prime members own both. Mitch and I for two. The S2000 was purchased for a couple of reasons, but one is because my NSX has been in the shop for so long. The S2000 is a very fun car with great handling charecteristics. But it is no NSX. The car feels too small and simplistic. The earlier models make terrible use of storage within the car. Forget ever using the boot, EVER. What a pain in the ass. And I like my NSX's lack of power steering vs. the S2000 hyper sensitive/detached from the road skitter bug aproach. Unless I'm trying to manuver in the driveway that is; then please let it be the S2000.

The differences are drastic in my book. I don't know how these two cars could possible come from the same engineers. They are both fun, but switching from one to the other will hurt your brain.

 

[Da Hapa]

We have a 2001 Silverstone/Red S2000 as well as a 2002 Spa Yellow Pearl. We loved both cars.

I sold the 2001 when the glass rear window became available in 2002. Back then, the cars were going for stupid money over MSRP and because I used to have an "in" I ended up selling my 2001 for $100 less than I paid for it (excluding tax, lic, etc.). I got the 2002 at a little under MSRP and only sold it after my Dad had a terrible stroke and heart attack and my wife and I needed to help my folks out. Otherwise, I'd still probably be driving the S2000.

Great cars that are really a lot of fun. Here's my Crib Notes version.

Pluses -
Very ecomical
Great value
A blast to drive top down
Best MT I've ever driven. And I've driven a lot.
Good brakes
Good handling.
Awesome headlights
Great sightlines (top down).
Great power once you're in the power band.
Good seats
Good steering wheel
Sounds great when rev'd.
Dead reliable.
Great cockpit/snug feel (if you like that)

Cons -
Loud
Stiff
Poor visibility with the top up (ours was a weekend car so I only drove them top up when washing them or once when we got caught in an unexpected thunderstorm)
terrible stereo
steering wheel isn't adjustable (I never could get that perfect driving position as the very top of the tach would be blocked for me because I couldn't tilt the wheel).
relatively no torque down low. This is all relative and frankly never bothered me except once when I was stuck in traffic driving N. on the 101 to Santa Barbara with a trunk full of stuff, the A/C on and my wife in the car. Lots of people will complain about low torque and if you come out of a Vette (or the NSX) you might too. But I never had a problem keeping ahead of traffic even when driving lazily.
Snug cockpit (if you don't like that).
Every butt monkey with a clapped out civic and a fart can exhaust will want to race you. I hate street racing and never succumbed (not that the S is much of a drag racer anyway) but I found this very, very annoying.

All in all... I put more than 30K miles on my 2 S2K's and loved every one of them. I don't think I ever got tired of hearing the car rev to 9K rpm or using that awesome MT. I took them on a few longer road trips (including a trip to Phoenix, AZ with a buddy for our annual mecca to spring training baseball) and no complaints. No... it's not a Lexus (from a NVH standpoint) but then that's not what I wanted.

Do yourself a favor. Check out S2ki.com. There's some pretty good folks over there and a lot of good info.

Good luck.

BTW - One of the big reasons I got the NSX over the S2K after we got my parents back on track was that I did not enjoy the "improved" 2.2L motor in the current S2000. As I said earlier, I never really had a problem with the "low torque" of the 2.0L motor and missed the 9K rpm zing of the smaller motor. But that's just me.

 

[NetViper]

I test drove a 05 S2000 today. It looks nice. Interior is nice. Engine is seriously dissapointing. It just gets loud, not faster. I love the look of the car, but after driving it I would never consider owning it.

 

[4AU4LIFE]

I drove one a couple of years ago and was shocked how quick a 4cyl could be. It just kept pulling and pulling in the rev band.
I didn't bounce off the limiter because it wasn't mine but I enjoyed the short drive. I wouldn't consider owning one because the cabin is so cramped that there wasn't ANY spare room in it.