Hi pfb,
Power will not do it at Nurburgring. Yes, you do need power (the more the better) but also, you need handling and grip and braking as well as good balance and grip.Here you need 'the lot' handing - need to handle in slow corners as well as fast ones, swichbacks, off camber as well as on bumpy roads, uphill and downhill. Nurburgring is about 12Km long and has about 176 corners. These corners vary - some are tight some are open and fast. They all have verying camber and some sections of the track are uphill while some are downhill. There's also, 2 sections where the car gets airborne.

The backs straight is long and even though it starts downhill, it ends up going uphill. Power definatelly is needed here. Though, there's a fair few sections that are very fast and downhill. Bottom line is that you need a complate performance package and the 'performance worth' of your car is shown on this track. There is no better way to just the performance merit of a car but by a lap time around Nurburgring (IMO).

 

The is300 looks cool from the outside...abit too rice for my taste...and the interior is pure 80's Toyota...not to mention, AN AUTOMATIC!

 

Hear, hear AusS2000, I totally agree with you. We're talking chalk and cheese here guys - the two vehicles are at different ends of the driving spectrum - go back and read the following post worldhonda.com maybe then you'll understand what the S2k is about.

BTW WTF is Cliff??

 

2kturkey - S2000 is about driving fast and so is the S4 :-) I'd compare the S2000 to anything that is labeled 'performace car' - M3, AMG merc, Lotus Elise, 200SX, WRX etc - as long as it's ment to 'perform' then I look at the car as a competitor. I see things as if I go on the track - what car/s will be in front of me and what cars will be behind. That's all that separetes the car in my eyes :-)

 

David, the only vehicle out of the ones you have listed that are in the same category as the S2k is the elise. The point I am trying to make (and I think AusS2000 too) is that on one side you have purpose built roadsters (Stook, Elise) which are designed to be driven topless and in a sporting manner - they are architected from the chassis up as a specific singular purpose vehicle.

By comparison the other vehicles, S4 in particular (and TT too) are designed and built first and foremost as garden variety family sedans. To get to the hot models what they do is add lots of strengthening, more neddies etc. Lets face at heart the S4 is a Volswagen Golf/Passat!!

To put it simply the S2000 is a pedigree greyhound whereas the S4 is a mongrel with a poodle for a mother and a bullterrier dad.

 

I understand your poing 2kturkey. Though, if that S4 (or any other car) finsihes in front of me, then that car is a better 'performance' car than my S2000. Whether it had 4 doors, 2 doors, is a FWD, AWD or RWD, whether it's based on a mass-volume car - it makes no difference to me. I got the S2000 for it's performance (that is combination of power, handling, brakes and balance). The fact that it looks nice is a big bonus :-) The fact that I get to take the roof of is another great bonus, but the fact is that my #1 priority in purchasing the car were it's 'performance credentials'.

If you give me a twisty piece of road and another car can get though it quicker - then it's a better performance car than what I got. Not that I'd swap into too many cars, but I'll respect the other cars superiority.

 

I researched a S4 extensively before purchasing the S2K. I think the 250 hp rating is extremely conservative. I have not seen dyno run but many S4 owners think that the car actually puts out more than 260. That may explain the negligible performance difference given the S4's weight disadvantage. You know something like the R34 Skyline GTR putting out only 276 ponies.

 

DavidM, have you driven on the Nurburgring? I was there this past summer and got a chance to rent a BMW 320d (don't laugh, it was all I could afford), it was definitely fun with all the different corners and camber changes, I kept driving and driving and the track never seemed to run out of corners...oh and the track is closer to 20km long or 12mi.

 

I don't know about other reasons why people are comparing the S4 and the s2k, but I have to race against 'em this season...

 

I own both, and for the life of me, can't think of more horizontally opposed cars. That being said, I can say that my S2000 9when it was stock) is quicker off the line i.e. a stop light race to say 75) than my S4 (when it was stock). The Audi is more of a high top end car than the Honda IMHO. Both of mine or somewhat modded, and now my s4 is quicker in all aspects. on the track though, I would still pick the Honda. the Audi maybe just as quick on the track, bu the Honda is much easier to drive fast.