Hello everyone. My name is James; and I live in Gainesville, FL. I am coming to this forum to gather information on the Honda S2000. My current ride is a 2002 Ford Mustang with a v6 motor, which I am looking to have paid off by the end of the year. With that said, I am also starting to look now for a new daily driver. The mustang will be handed down to my girlfriend.

I love the style of the S2000, and am looking for a car with a bit more power out of the box, and the S2000 seems like a car that delivers. I am only wanting to spend a max of 20,000, so I will be be buying used of course. What year would you all recommend? How many miles is a lot of miles for these cars? Any known issues I should be aware of or look out for? I am still shopping around, as I have plenty of time and am also contemplating between a 03 Mach 1, Nissan 350z, G35 coupe. Thanks for any advice.

BTW; not sure if many of you would care, but here is some pictures of my mustang.























Mods are;

CAI,Dual Exhaust,Tokicos Shocks/Struts,H&R Super Sport Springs,4.10 gears,Tlok,Xcal2 93 octane tune, Zex Nitrous Kit 75 shot.

 

You're in luck because I've found that the general population on this particular forum is more forgiving and we tend to like a number of different types of cars. I for one am not a Mustang fan, but I still respect them and I'm sure yours has come a long way.

First of all, I've driven a stock V-6 Mustang which was to say the least not very impressive, but you've done some modifications to it. If you are pinned in your seat at all in your car, understand that you will not get that effect in the S2000 no matter how great of a driver you may or may not be. These cars are known for a lot, but torque is just not one of them. I currently own a G35 coupe, I've driven many 350Z's and I've also been driven in a Mach 1 of that generation. All of them have loads of torque, so they're in a completely different category than the S in my opinion.

$20,000 on a private sale could get you a decent AP2 (2004-2008) or a very nice AP1 (2000-2003). I personally would go with the AP1 just because you could definitely get one with a hardtop, low miles, and would never notice the power difference. Yes, most agree that the AP2 styling is nicer but we've somehow found ways to fix that . A lot of miles to me would be 75,000 or more, but I personally know a few guys with well over 100,000 and they're running fine. Remember, they're still Hondas . As for looking out for things, they are convertibles with soft tops so look for rips, tears, and anything else that could go wrong.

Remember...drive a lot of cars before you make a purchase and don't listen to anyone but yourself. Buy what makes you happy.

Good luck!

 

is that a 3.8 badge on the side? sik! i like it when v6-ers don't pretend lol (never in orlando; GT tags aplenty); and i also was between a 350z & an s2k (had a 300z), and while the tq. in the 350 rocked it, it seemed so big after test driving both. may as well go w/a totally different experience, like a 2-seater

~tina~

 

cool mustang, dont see to many V6's rocking clean mods like that. anyways you should test drive all the cars youre thinking could be a possibility then work from there. you can get a nice s2 with 20k, just be patient and wait for the right one!

 

Have you bothered to drive one yet? I'd recommend doing so before getting anywhere near close to deciding. Torque-fixated people always seem to be disappointed.

Personally, I don't get it. There's so much more to driving than just torque but YMMV. Get what suits you best.

 

Go see Johnny Cannelle in sales at Wade Raulerson Honda in Gainesville. Tell him Jimmy from Philly sent you. He's a friend of the family and sold me my first Suzuka.