Mazda Miata takes the under $40,000 title. Should we be happy that a $24,000 car can be so well balanced and behaved, or upset that the fastest,meanest,Honda ever didn't pounce everyone?

 

For 99% of people the Miata is a better car. It's fun, it handles well, and it's very forgiving.

For the 1% of the people who demand a serious badass sportscar the S2K is better. It also gives the Miata people something else to dream about. At least I dreamed about S2000's when I owned a Miata!

 

Major kudos to the Miata...I am not surprised that the Miata took that prize. I think CG is perfectly correct. It's a blast to drive, it's reasonably quick and opened up the genre of the two seat roadster...which IMO led the way to the S2000.

I admire the car a great deal...and the owners that I know and have met are always enthusiastic. Fun bunch of folks!

The S2000 is a much more demanding and far less forgiving than most cars on the street, including the Miata, so it suits a far fewer number of people out there. So I'm not surprised that the Miata took it, nor am I jealous! Props to the Miata...!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gregstevens:
[B] Props to the Miata...!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Mindcore:
[B] Hey Greg, Your finaly getting the lingo

 

I agree totally.

As a current owner of a Miata and an S2k, I gotta say, the Miata is a fun car to drive and then the s2k...well, it just seems so complete. When I went to the airport yesterday in the Miata, everything seemed so open, so tiny, so small, so nimble, so tight, so less-forgiving, so in-control, without all the balls in handling and horsepower that the s2k has.

/ramble

 

I imagine you are Greg, I'm a 27 year old square, I wouldn't really know

 

Ok Greg you got your answer as to what punked means. Now are you going to tell us what 'props' means?

 

Well, my understanding is that 'props' is short for a longer word, which I can't recall right now which is a positive word of support. It's akin to the old fogey word for 'kudos' ... kudos is, of course, more my style, but given my recent admittals of being so unhip it hurts, I'm reaching out to the younger hipsters among us...

 

This is where I have to disagree with my esteemed colleagues.

If driven conservatively, the S2000 is as easy to handle as the Miata. It's only challenging in the VTEC mode, and even then it's less scary than a wide open Mustang V8, which are sold by the tens of thousand annually to people no more hard core than a school teacher.

The Miata is the perfect trainer for the S2000. Anyone who has put any serious miles on their Miata can easily handle the S2k. IMHO, the Stook handles side-to-side transitions better, brakes a heck of a lot better and has quicker acceleration response, which in turn, can get you out of a jam much faster. These characteristics make the s2000 SAFER, not more dangerous than the Miata. I'd say as many as 50% of Miata owners would love to upgrade to an S2000.

Oh, and I believe that Automobile magazine missed the call when they bypassed the S2000 as the best sports car under $40,000. After driving my Miata for over 140,000 miles, I can say that at best, the quickly-out-of-breath Miata is a trainer, but the S2000 is a full-fledged SPORTS car.