Hey what do you expect from a magazine that is owned (partially) by Saddam Hussein?

 

Forget the 350Z for a second - I can't believe the Mustang beat the S2000. That is just plain absurd. Who ever would rather own a P.O.S. Mustang over an S2000 has no taste.

 

He wrote the article himself.

 

Some people are way too uptight about this. Who cares what the results are when the cars aren't in the same class. I'll be more interested in seeing the same test with the Z-vert (when available), GT-vert, and TT against the S2000. Add vert weight to the GT and Z, remove coupe weight from the S, and see how they fair. Then people will complain that the Z and GT aren't real roadsters so the test isn't fair. Whatever.

I'd like to see an all-out comparison with all roadsters. They should include the miata, boxter, z4, lexus, esparante, etc. The S would probably fair well, wouldn't win, and I still wouldn't loose any sleep over it. I love my S.

 

I read the article last night and many of the performance bitches they made would have been resolved with a broken-in engine. I don't blame the car mag for that. It is up to Honda to send their best-a properly broken in engine. In C&Ds defense, they did mention the mileage. It is up to the informed consumer to understand the ramifications of a green engine, but maybe they should have said something about the F20C really needing to be broken in for true performance numbers.

I think they were fools for adding a hardtop and calling it a coupe shootout. That is just pure sensationalism. Even with a hardtop the S2000 will not cease to be a roadster. It will simply be a roadster with a hardtop.

Finally, for them to complain about engine noise is contrary to everything they have ever loved about the car. What, did they invite a team of grandmas in for this test. Next, they will complain that shifting gears is too hard and Honda should add an auto option.

 

I

 

And of course, a lot can be said for the amount of $$$ the manufacturers are spending on magazine ads. You don't see tons of S2000 ads - you DO see tons of 350Z ads......

I know the "Motor Trend _____ of the Year" has become a farce. If the winning company does buy a dozen pages in that issue they don't seem to win again for a long time.

I think for the same money, lots of folks would rather get the Z. Paying $33k for a 2.0l 4 banger with few creature comforts is just not for most folks. Plus the Z is "the latest thing" and lots of folks have to have the latest thing.

Dennis

 

Guys,

They're comparing hardtops and at best, "similar" cars. The S is one of the closest thing to the Z in terms of performance, so naturally they had to use the S (Best Motoring did the same thing with the Z doing pretty well as well).

The Z have had their share of injustice too by magazines such as HPI (Australia) when they compared a half dead Zed with a Toyota Soarer with the Soarer coming out as the winner. The report caused a commotion among the Z fraternity leading to another report (this time with a healthy Z and posting much much better numbers). HPI is a less reputable magazine, so I would think that C&D would know their stuff.

 

I read the article have the following thoughts:[list=1]
[*]Unfortunately, most members of S2KI are extremely biased towards S2000's and Honda's in general.
[*]The S2000 should have never been included in the test. It's a roadster, not a sports coupe.
[*]Having previously owned a Cobra, the normally-aspirated DOHC 4.6 is a beautiful motor.
[*]The S2000 is underpowered compared to the competition in the article (except for the TT), yet still fared well in the road course.[/list=1]
While I haven't had the opportunity to drive the new Z, the objective of both vehicles is entirely different. With the multiple versions available, the Z was designed to appeal to the masses. From the entry level model to the Track edition, there's a Z for everybody. Nissan's objective is to make as many of these suckers as possible in an effort to become a more profitable company. I'm sure that the Track version is a beautiful machine.

On the other hand, the S2000 is Honda's engineering toy. With its limited production and Formula One inspiration, I doubt that Honda (corporate) makes much money on S2000's. The car is a showcase of Honda technology built specifically for enthusiasts of their products. Because the car isn't for everybody, it's not always going to be #1 in every test.

Which car is better is entirely subjective; they all perform on a similar level. If you compare the S2000 with other roadsters in its class, I think that it would have done much better. Even with the hardtop, the S2000 is a pretty lousy coupe.

Moving forward, let's become less subjective and more objective with regard to reviews and comparisons.

 

Simple - ask the 350Z owners to put their top down That should remind people the the S2000 is NOT a coupe *sheesh* The S2000 has definately been treated lousy and omitted from a number of pertinent reviews in quite a few publications.