Argetni

I took the 2001 s2000 to the Chevy dealer and test drove a 2002 Corvette Coupe 6spd.

My thoughts and comparisons to the s2k.

My first thought was wow this car has a lot of room, I am a big guy 6'0 and 230Lbs (all muscle ), the s2k is a tight fit for me. Then I started her up, got to love that V8 rumble, No I4 with a fart pipe(s) is ever going to sound this sweet. The shift throw is at least 4 times as long as the s2k, but very tight and positive feeling...I like it. The clutch action is just great, far better than the s2k. I had to drive in some stop and go before I hit the highway and the vette is so damn easy to drive in traffic, due to its abundance of low end torque. I thought the s2000 had no steering feel, but compared to the vette it is a BMW. I finally made it to the highway, the car only had 11 miles so I never took it past 5000rpms. I threw the vette into the turn at the same speed I usually would with the s2k and it said give me more...which I did first gear to about 40 then 2nd...wow torque (wife said it hurt her stomach ) 65 or then 3rd 90...4th 110...5th 120 wow that didn't take much time at all LS1 power baby, 120 felt sooo slow to me. then some firm (but gentle) braking back to the limit(50). This is a great highway cruiser...smooth as a caddy . When we returned to the dealer (45min and 30 miles later) took the s2000 to lunch to think about the deal. The s2k is more "sporty" for sure, tighter handling, way nicer shift action, and of course much more compact...but the vette just has something(besides 100+ more HP and 200+ more ft/lbs)...can't quite put my finger on it, that makes it better IMO.

Over all I really loved driving the vette, I was ready to sign the papers. But while the 27k they offered for the s2k (8500miles was good, they only wanted to come down 1000.00 from the vettes sticker of $43,700. This would make my car payment about 200.00 more than the s2k and the insurance is 40.00 more a month. Totally worth it in my book, however my wife's book is far different from mine

I now have to search for a better price.....

DarioManfretti

Keep in mind that, reliability wise, the two cars are like night and day. Consumer Reports has the S2000 as the top rated sportscar and is selected as one to buy. They say that the Vette has reliability problems.

Woodson

I love the vette. It's an awesome car. My only complaint is the perception. You know how a Camaro is considered a "mullet car"? If I owned a vette, people would ask me why I'm not wearing a Mr. T starter set.

xviper

I don't think you were a bad boy at all. You're mearly excercising the perogatives of a car enthusiast. If I hadn't had 2 Vettes already, I'd be looking at them too. As much as I enjoyed those 2 cars, they were not carefree ownerships. Each one, in turn, were in the shop every other month for some dumb thing or another. I'm not so sure they make them any better now. After 2 decades of "This is the best Vette, yet" every year, and having been tricked twice, I'm reluctant to believe the news ones would enjoy day to day 4 seasons driving without issues.
As much as we hear about the problems with the S2000, mine has endured 2 fairly harsh Calgary winters without a problem. This car has proven to be bulletproof. I could NEVER have said that about the Vettes I've owned. But I wouldn't blame anyone for being tempted to get one. They certainly have appeal.

Sime

I used to own a 2000 c5 6sp coupe with Z51 suspension. Bought it new.

Did I clarify that I USED to own it.

It was such a piece of shit that I ended up having it bought back due to Lemon Law. In the 11 months of owning it, it was in the dealer over 30 days for repair, and in the shop 11 times for an oil consumption problem that saw the car (if you can call it that) use 13.5 quarts of oil in 9500 miles. With never a day on the track.

The whole car was repainted from the A pillars back due to poor paint coverage.

Seat trim tore, radio buttons cracked, headlights operated uncontrollably like they were possessed. Dash had wrinkles, panel gaps were bigger and more irregular than the San-Andreas fault, rear hatch leaked profusely, and the panels had more creases than a high school text book.

It wasn't so much the fact that the car had problems, it was GM's attitude about their lack of compassion in fixing the car. Basically, they didn't give a shit. Not the right attitude for a $45+K car. Not acceptable as far as I was concerned.

I will NEVER buy a Corvette, let alone a GM product again. Ultimately, the choice is yours my friend, but having come out of the 'vette and into the S2000, let me just say that I have never looked back. I absolutely love my S2000. Don't feel guilty.....you had a fling with something ordinary, but you get to go home to the sophisticated 9000rpm babe. You'll save heaps on gas too.

Now, the S2000 is not trouble free, and I'm sure that there are C5 owners that have had trouble-fee C5's, but I personally know of too many people that have had problems with the C5. 2 others alone I know of have had theirs also bought back.

It's a shame as I really did like my 'vette. I think it looks beauifully styled too. Sad it didn't work out for me. But I am so happy that I have my S!!!

Cheers,

Argetni

Thanks for the info xviper and the understanding, you are right I am a true car enthusiast, and I could care less what country the car is made in.

Sime...That is awful, but I m sure out of 33,000 vettes made in the last year, there will be some lemons. i have heard of people with accords galants, camrys, whatever with the same types of stories.

I must say though that your post certainly makes me a little nervous,
I have been spending a ton of time at corvetteforum.com recently and I do not see them complaining about problems any more than we do here, or than they do over at the M3 board for that matter.

My main problem with the vette is my wife does not like them...cheezy, class-less are the terms she uses. I could not however disagree more.

We have been fighting ever since we left the dealer yesterday


I really love the s2000, but after almost 2 years(November) I am getting kinda board with it, and even though I hate to say it, I street race alot...just like 60-100 blasts on the highway and what not...nothing organized. The s2k just is not a drag car, I know it, and I knew it when I bought it. I love ripping around turns as much as anyone else, but I feel it is more dangerous to go fast on turns than to go 100+ on a straight flat mostly empty highway, even more so in an s2000 that can and will bite you in the ass if you make one wrong move.

I don't know what to do...maybe I'll just keep the s2000 and dream of owning a vette Which has been my dream since my dad brought home his brand new 86 Vette Vert...I was 10 at the time.

cthree

I was looking at getting a vette when I bought my S2000. The C4 sucked but I really liked the look of the C5. My dad owned 2, a '62 convert 4spd and a '67 Stringray coupe.

DR. JEKYLL

yep, I have some Consumer Reports magazines also. I just can't believe so many American cars are more unreliable than Toyota and Honda. Just look at Toyota. It has about 15 different cars. And every Toyota that Consumer Reports has tested is "recommended." Only Ford "recommended" car was new Ford Taurus. But for the previous years, the reliability of the Taurus cars had less than average reliabilty

Plus, the shift boots on manual American cars look too weird. They don't stand up too well

MyBad

I have a buddy who recently bought a new C5. Every time we get together with our cars, he only wants to talk about MY car. Also, when our cars are together, MINE gets the most attention from others!

Vettes are nice, but there's something about the s2k that sets it apart!!

USAA55

Have you looked at a C5 with 15 to 20k miles on it to see what happens to these cars? I just finished renting a 2002 Camaro Convert. I had the first one for 1 day and brought it back. It had 20,000 miles on it. The girl behind the counter took one look at the mileage and said she would give me one with only 10k mi. cause by 20k they were shot. If you will be keeping the C5 for a year or so and running less that 15k mi, then you might be happy. After that, you may find it falling apart around you.