I've been looking for a sports car in the 25 grand and under range and i've narrowed it down to the BMW M Coupe and the Honda S2000. I have not yet had a chance to drive the BM but have driven many other BMWs and have been very satisfied with them so far. My main qualm so far with the coupe is the unsophisticated(although effective) semi-trailing arm rear suspension that is supposed to cause excessive oversteer and that it looks so ugly that it will scare small children away(which may not be a bad thing) I did have the chance to drive an S2000 and was quite impressed by the ergonomics, responsiveness of the steering, stability and build quality, but did not get a chance to really rev it up, so acceleration is still in question. The S2000 is technically a much more advanced car with a backbone type monocoque chassis that makes it just about the only roadster in the world without major chassis flex problems and four whee unequal length wishbone suspension, which is also something you don't often find outside of serious exotics. I also prefer the more balanced cornering, which allows you to drift but at your discretion.

It would seem from what i've read that the S2000's lack of low and midrange power does get annoying after a while, Tiff Needell doesn't seem to like it very much for that reason. Modifying the F20C seems to be a waste of time. The only solution that actually produces legitimate acceleration results is the mugen package offered by king motorsports which adds only 15 bhp but appears to fill out the power band enough to drop half a second off almost all acceleration times. Unfortunately this option is so expensive it really doesn't seem worth it. I realize that many honda enthusiasts will disagree with me on this one but the supercharge angle is just ridiculous. If you do the math, a stock S2K at full power has a power to weight ratio almost identical to the E46 M3, which pulls null to 60 times a full second faster. Adding a crapload of power with a centrifugal blower at the top end will do nothing for daily driving. Based on this, I believe if i were to modify it, the best solution would be to try and install a JDM K20 engine, which does not have the oversquare block and subsequent torque problems of the F20C, and appears to be able to easily attain more than 240 BHP. If the front drive JDM integra type R is within a couple tenths of a second of the S2000's 0-60 time with 20 less BHP, I think it is logical that the S2000 with the same engine would actually be faster than stock, even at 220 BHP. Transplanting an NSX engine also seems like an attractive option, although i have no idea if it would fit, as double wishbone suspension takes up a lot of space. Also i would bet that despite the displacement advantage that the NSX 3.2 liter powerplant has, its 3 stage VTEC would not be delievered as smoothly as the tuned K20 with its cam phasing VTC. This is more speculative, as i have driven only the NSX and have no real experience with the K20. Does anyone know if these transplants are even possible? Has anyone tried it?

 

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...&threadid=79802