I've owned AP1 and AP2 over the past 11 years of S2K driving. They're both great cars. The AP2 is more refined and easier as a daily driver. But for me the true spirit of the S2000 is the 9,000 redline.

Tips to tame the AP1 handling:

AP2 sway bars (best and easiest mod)
Good alignment
Fresh extreme performance tires (RE11A)

Optional...

Bilstein PSS9 coilovers. Better ride and handling than stock, adjustable damping rates and ride height.
17" wheels/tires

A few mods and the handling of the AP1 is as good or better than an AP2 (slower steering rack, tuned for safety/understeer, VSA).

 

I'm not quite understanding this. F1 cars don't drift through the corners because they don't want to. Drifting through the turns means less grip which translates to lower time. I think it's a bad definition of what a bad handling car is.

 

I've never driven an AP2 so take my comments accordingly.

I view the AP1 as being similar to the 65-66 GT350's. The later Shelby Mustangs ('67-70) were more powerful and street worthy while the earlier cars were a little more hard core and track oriented.

That said, I like both cars and the AP2's are obviously the more valuable of the group. I'm curious if that will change as they move from being used cars to being classics.

 

Sorry, but Your review was just ok for me.
After reading the title, I was interested in your in depth analysis having owned both, but the write up that followed fell way short.

I have an 2003 and have added AP2V'3's with Neova ad08 R's in 215/45 fronts and 255/40 rears and I get "0" sudden oversteer when pushed beyond the limit.
I can feel the rear tires start losing traction and when they do, it happens gradually without any sudden loss or spin!

Next, I plan on adding AP2 sway bars.

Then, I will have the best of both worlds. A 9000 red line which we all AP2 owners secretly know is better (but will never admit), and better handling than an AP2!!

 

I remember test driving a new 03 and a new 04 S2000 back to back when I was trying to decide which car to go with. I was buying new, buying in 2004, and I had the option which car to go with.

There were many considerations but the big one for me was, "which version do I want to live with daily?" For me, the AP2 was without a doubt the better car as it rode better, had better power delivery, and more updated styling with the remodeled front and back. 9k redline was nice, but waiting to get to the power band was not, and the extra 50hp below VTEC is used every time. If I wanted an S as a track toy where I'd have the car in the powerband without stop and go driving, I'd lean towards the first version, but I wanted a car that did an all-around good job as a daily as well as a toy.

Any S2000 is great, but imo if you want a car you can drive daily and enjoy when you take it out for sport, AP2 offers a better mix of daily livability and performance. I also think this is why Honda released the AP2 - the engineering team had a chance to see how the original car shook out, and made a large number (Honda stated 2,000 changes) of mostly small changes to improve on the initial version.

Overall, the S2000 was a car that the engineers and designers tweaked over its life. 00-01, 02-03, 04-05,06-07, 08-09, with each iteration being slightly better than the previous, and the largest jumps being the AP1/AP2 change and the S/CR version.

 

Or get a decent mileage AP1 and swap in the F22c but I may be bias a bit

 

The cars were being compared and the video is a comparison of the cars in question. No one stated it was definitive. For me, the AP2 is a far more refined car in many ways and my personal preference.

 

kenvai----thanks for posting your thoughts.

Very impressive and detailed writeup---i think you summarized the differences between AP1s and AP2s very well!

 

The Best Motoring video uses JDM cars so they are all 2.0 liter engines with 9k redlines.

 

Your posted sway bar rates are completely incorrect.

And that's why I always regret looking at any subforum other than R&C.