I thought this would be more of a fun thread comparing the two vehicles in driving, ownership and overall enjoyment.

I've owned both cars for a little over 2 years, both 2001 models coincidentally, which is nice because it's more of an "apples to apples' comparison in the way of comparing vehicles of the same vintage. You could have purchased either of these vehicles at the time at each of their respective dealerships. It's not as fun of a discussion when you're talking about a 2017 Viper for instance and a 2001 S2000, the technology is vastly different 16 years later.

We'll start off with a baseline of the two vehicles...

Honda S2000
113,000 miles
Performance mods: Ohlins coilovers
Tires: Firehawk Indy 500

Dodge Viper
36,000 miles
Performance mods: Roe Racing supercharger, Belanger exhaust headers back
Tires: Michelin Pilot Super Sports

Reliability: In the two years of ownership I've spent $0 on anything outside of oil changes for both vehicles. Anything I've spent money on has been purely cosmetic or upgrades such as new radio head units, speakers, shift knobs, replacement boots etc.

Both of these cars give ZERO hesitation to get in and drive wherever you heart desires. I recently drove the Viper 14 hours to Eastern Pennsylvania, not one issue whatsoever! I haven't taken a trip like that in the S2000, though I have driven 4 or 5 hours obviously without issue as well. I wouldn't have hesitated to take the S2000 on a similar trip by any means though. On a side note, the Viper has some of the most comfortable seats I've ever been in hands down! Don't get me wrong, they're a sport seat, you're held in place with firm, hugging, bolsters but they seat itself is so soft! You sink into them and feel supported everywhere. I had a C5 Corvette once, the seats aren't in the same league! The C5 was like some lazy-boy you slid around in, felt cheap and were just ok on comfort. The Viper I could have driven across the entire country, not just half of it, comfortably.

Power: There's no real competition here obviously, we have a 4 vs.10 cylinder vehicle. To make matters worse, we have a 4 vs. supercharged 10 cylinder vehicle! The Viper puts down to the wheels 537 hp and 608 tq. I had a Gen 3 Viper that was N/A, and it's the same obviously...ZERO comparison to the S2000, so it's not like the supercharger makes a difference in the discussion whatsoever. The Viper is just an animal, you have to be careful, you have to be constantly paying attention, you can't act like an idiot and expect everything to go your way. On the other hand, there's not much more fun to be had in an automobile PERIOD! I'll post the dyno chart from the Viper later, it's not linear on the torque, it's straight up from throttle 608 foot pounds! You depress the gas pedal and hold on!!! Any gear rockets you ahead of the car next to you! Turn the wheel slightly, crack the throttle and you can do doughnuts for days! Pull up to anything at a stop light...laugh at the challenge and audacity! "Savagegeese" on YouTube did a show on the Viper, their impression of a man shifting gears in the Viper...was actually spot on...YEAHHHHH, shift, YEAHHHHH, shift, YEAHHHHH, shift, YEAHHHHH, shift. It's exhilarating! I've had a few Factory Five Shelby Cobras over the years, they give the closest feeling, just a lot more dangerous. They are also sounding more than they're doing. Don't get me wrong you're moving in them at a vert fast pace, and I'm not sure there's a better sound to be had on earth, but that's just to 60 or 70 mph. The Viper is an eargasm explosion (not as good as the Cobra IMHO) that's rocketing you to 120, 140, 160, 180 mph...it just DOES NOT STOP!! On an interesting side note, when you're on the highway and you drop it into 6th the car sounds as though it has some electric cylinder shutoff, it gets very quiet. You still know you have 10 cylinders sitting in front of you so it doesn't become a Civic or anything, but it's very subdued. 85 mph in 6th you're sitting around 1,400 RPM's.

With all that being said, I enjoy the power of the S2000! It's very quick, when you're in the power band it has substantial feeling. Darting in and out of traffic is fun, rewarding and brings a constant smile to your face. When you're done with your drive, you've had fun, you're relaxed, you're looking forward to the next one. You're not beating anything modern for sure...in a straight line, but that's not where the S2000 shines.

Sound: This is an interesting one, and is subjective. When you start the Viper, everybody knows you just started the Viper, heads immediately turn. When you're under full throttle at 5,000 RPM's you're enveloped in ghastly, violent noises! It actually hurts your ears. The S2000, not so. Nobody knows you've turned it on, in stock form, the noise it emits is purely for the driver. On your favorite back road at 8,000-9,000 RPM's...it's heavenly! It's a beautiful noise that makes you feel empowered, strong, athletic...like you have a purpose...and the purpose is to carve that road up as quickly as you can. The Viper is more like The Juggernaut running full of rage into a brick wall!

I prefer the sound of the S2000! It reminds me of watching my favorite Formula 1 drivers on Sunday, I feel like them. It sounds like so much more than you're actually doing, but that's ok. The Shelby Cobra you could swear was going 110 mph...you were only doing 62, and I'm fine with that, my ears didn't know that, if my eyes were closed my brain wouldn't know it either. I get the same feeling out of the S2000, yes, you're only doing 50 mph, but the intoxicating wail from that engine singing at redline...I just LOVE it!

Looks: This is again very subjective and somewhat of a toss-up for me. I do not like how convertibles look for the most part, I'll start there. I DO like how the S2000 looks! It's the only convertible I would own, I find it to be absolutely beautiful at every angle and believe it looks far better with the top down than up. It looks purposeful, strong and athletic. I went for a long drive enjoying the fall colors in early October. I stopped along the river at the boat docks and there were some elderly gentleman at the bench right in front of the parking spaces. I pulled up right behind them and they just wouldn't stop going on about the car. "That just looks fun", "That's the prettiest car I've ever seen", "If I were a young man again and had that, I'd never quit driving". I get compliments on the car all the time. There's always a conversation to be had at a gas station, somebody always has some type of compliment, somebody is looking at the stoplights. It just has a calm beauty about it.

The Viper is not that, again. Like the engine, it's a wild caricature! I do not like it from all angles, some angles it's just not all that appealing. On the other hand, from the rear quarter standing behind the driver wheel looking towards the front of the vehicle, sub $100,000 I'm not sure there's a more beautiful sight. It looks gorgeous, mean, ferocious! You can't even see the full width of the tires they're so wide. It's just a beautiful, beautiful line. From the side, just ok. From the front, I like it alright. But taken as a whole, well, it's a conversation and small crowd at gas stations. There's heads turned at every stop light from every car, women included. Lots of time they have their cameras out, taking pictures for their significant other I'm assuming, like mine does. People ask to get in it all the time, and it's very enjoyable letting them in and taking their pictures for them. It's just a different feel, but a vehicle that just isn't seen often at all. I've never one time come across another Viper while I was out driving, there just aren't that many around.

Driving: This is the meat of the discussion in my opinion. Both cars have excellent handling characteristics. The differences that I can point out is that it feels the Viper is always on the edge, however, it also never seems to be at all. The grip never lets go and you can power out of a turn like nobody's business. It's a large car however, and you can feel that, though the interior does not feel that way at all, some have described it as claustrophobic. It has considerable length compared to the S2000, it just feels, big. On a very tight track the S2000 would give the Viper all it could handle and possibly more, there's just so much of a power disparity on a real track with any length of straight lines that it's not really a fair comparison.

But we're not discussing tracks here, we're talking about the real world on your twisty back roads. I mentioned back in the Spring in another thread about a run-in I had with a new Corvette that was heading to the same destination I was of back road. How he was shocked when we chatted for a minute at the end of the stretch of road that I was in his rear view the entire time! The S2000 doesn't need 500 hp to be extremely enjoyable in your favorite twisties. Where I previously mentioned that the Viper seems to always be on edge, perhaps that's because of the G-force, the S2000 does not, it firmly holds its line through the turns. It's not to say that the Viper does not, and that's mostly due to my own limitations I'm assuming, but it feels as though if the throttle is pushed a little too much at the wrong time...you're going to have a very hefty insurance claim. I never feel that way in the S2000, it's always confidence inspiring. Admittedly I've never come close to reaching the full potential of either vehicle. I'll say on my favorite multi-turn off ramp that the posted speed limit of 30 mph and then 25 mph can both be taken at 65-70 mph in either car without either feeling like it's a struggle. Where I can see a significant difference though, is this particular ramp comes off the highway into a 30 mph right turn followed by an 1/8 mile straight then a left hand curve, very small straight and a right hand curve before merging. Exiting the first 30 mph turn at 65 mph in 2nd gear and flooring it in the Viper just rockets you into 3rd gear and 100 mph in a blink, brake and down shift into 2nd and hit the left/right and the S2000 could never keep up with that over the long haul if that was the beginning of a designed track.

Here's where the S2000 shines in that respect. While you may not be doing the same as the Viper, you certainly feel like you're doing that much and possibly more, all the while with confidence. The engine is screaming at 8,000-9,000 RPM's, you're up shifting, down shifting with that perfect, laser precise, effortless transmission and short throw shifter you forget you're not going 100 mph...and that's ok. If there didn't happen to be a Viper in front of you, you can pretend, at 40 years old in my case, that you're Max Verstappen in the Honda powered Red Bull going around a track. Speaking of shifting gears, the S2000 is so vastly superior in that respect it's comical. You have to pay to get a short shifter in the Viper so you're not feeling like you're shifting a Mack truck, just to get in the realm of the same discussion. Although you can adjust the pedals in the Viper it never comes close to the feel in the S2000. Between the actual feel of the transmission, shifter and pedals...there's ZERO comparison between the S2000 and the Viper, the Viper can go slither away down a hole never to rear its head again because it's not even a comparison, the S2000 wins that fight 100/100 times 7 days a week and twice on Sunday as they say. If you want to compare pure drive-line strength, yes, the Viper can do 5,000 RPM red line dumps over and over and over hour after hour day after day. There's no questioning that. Total feel under normal circumstances, again, it's the S2000 winning by a vast margin.

Overall: Why did I even write this? It's my homage to how good the S2000 actually is! Let's be honest, the buyer in the market for a Dodge Viper is not the same buyer that's going to be cross-shopping the Honda S2000 and vice versa. They're not. The caliber of car is different (not as vast as one would think), the cost is dramatically different. They typically have a different appearance factor, after all, if I'm going to a car show in a vehicle I'm taking the Viper. However, there's a "but" there. But, I have one of each in my garage, and if I'm going to choose just one for a 70* perfect fall day where I'm going to be lost for hours on back roads and my favorite twisties doing U-turns at the end and having another go over and over and over...I'm choosing the S2000! There's something just right about it. Overall, the Viper is the superior car, let's get that straight. It's the American exotic car, hand built with pride, every car lover should appreciate it and we should be proud of our countrymen for creating it. Again with the "but", BUT, overall the S2000 has a certain magic about it. Bouncing off a wailing 9,000 RPM rev limiter, braking, downshifting, powering out of a turn and bouncing off the 9,000 again, with perfect shifting throws sun on your face, wind in your hair...it's just, it's perfect. I haven't had the opportunity but I imagine a supercharged S2000 is a vehicle I would never quit driving. But there's the thing, it doesn't have to have more power to stir the soul, it's perfect where it's at now, I already don't want to quit driving it. This is my 3rd and last S2000. I searched, traded cars, bought cars, tried different vehicles all for the purpose of finding something "better". In this mans opinion there isn't "better". Granted, I'm not a person of unlimited funds, I haven't and am not going to be able to afford a Pagani Zonda, McLaren F1, Ferrari Enzo etc. Buying a car that is attainable for any car guy, this is the one, if you're not under any pretenses.

Yes, the Viper is a hellish brute with wild fun to be had behind the wheel! It does get exhausting after a while though, there's only so much fun you can have on public roads, so much pushing where it's gone from fun to you've become a danger to yourself and others. The S2000 is unlimited fun! You don't find yourself in triple digits by accident, there's no reason to be there as that's not where the fun is to be had in the car when you're not on a track. It's perfectly balanced, you're not constantly fighting the imperfections in the road to correct the steering because your 2 ft. wide tires aren't following every groove they can possibly find in the street. Since your having fun in the higher RPM range there's the constant, glorious, shifting and sound that never, ever, gets old.

The differences of the two vehicles can be summed up this way...

The Dodge Viper is the automotive equivalent of "Hell in a Cell" Undertaker vs. Mankind where as the Honda S2000 is the automotive equivalent of two angels making love.

Again, if I had to pick just one for a perfect day and a perfect drive it's the Honda S2000. If I could only keep just one of them, and had to sell the other...well, the Viper never did make it back from the trip to Pennsylvania, I sold it and drove something else back home. It never even crossed my mind to sell the S2000! As far as I'm concerned, the other stall in the garage cane revolve with new and exciting things for years to come, but my GPW S2000 will be waiting patiently in its reserved spot for the next beautiful drive until I hang my driving shoes up one day.

I'll visit another Honda S2000 vs. xxxx down the road. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this, as it's not your typical "vs." post, can't wait to hear your feedback.

 

That is a pretty darned good comparison. Both of them should be yellow though ... just sayin...

But I agree on the vette seats. I would love to have a zo6 with the seats out of something else like the Viper. And oddly enough, the seats have been one of the main complaints about vettes for a while now but they do not seem to make them better (maybe the new model is better?)

And your point on the convertibles I agree with. I normally like the fixed roof version of any car better than a convertible. However the S2k simply looks great.

 

I've found that the viper seats don't hold me in place- I'm a skinny 30 inch waist- the s2000 has the perfect seats for me.
darcy

 

Hey another Viper and S2000 owner! Good Car Choices! Didn't know how many of us are out here.

The Viper was my dream car since before I could drive, but I love my S2k.

I agree with most everything you say. The Gen 2 GTS seems to be a timeless design. The car is almost 25 years old (mine is a 96) and still looks modern. I love how exaggerated everything is. Super curvy, big motor, big tires. Its just overabundance. I'm like you, I've only seen other Vipers in Cars and Coffee events, never when I'm driving around in it, but you don't see many S2000 either!

My GTS is stock except for cat back exhaust, I wonder if that would make a difference in how you feel. Mine doesn't have the "on edge" feeling, but that could be me. Since I've had my 96, I've been surprised and surprised others how great the car handles. Despite its bad reputation, the car is glued to the road. It really is fun to drive. Some of this could be tires as I replaced mine shortly after getting it with new ones. The going census is tires make all the difference in trying to tame the Snakes.

 

The seats in the Z do have a lot to be desired. I've thought about replacing them, just haven't found the right fit seat yet. The Viper seats are quite good IMO, but the S2k Seats by far are the best in fit and quality.

I'm not a fan of convertibles either, but thats the only way S2k's come, unless you go hardtop, and yes the S2k looks awesome.

 

There are certainly elements of the fast car slow vs slow car fast allegory mixed into your excellent article. The odometer readings seem to reflect your impressions as well. The Viper only had 36k miles.

I find it interesting how often you brought up the Shelby Cobras (replicas). The original Viper made no pretenses about attempting to reinCARnate that legendary vehicle. Although that isn't the case with the S (apparently Honda Indy cars, Honda motorcycles, and the Lotus 7 were pasted on the Story Board used for inspiration during development), I always felt it had some Cobra DNA in it.

A slightly more refined, more restrained version of a Cobra. A Cobra you could reliably dd. Yet when you unleash its upper rpm fury, much of the things that make a Cobra a blast to drive are there.

They both recreate Cobra in their own way. One trying to remake the same car, just more. The other trying to reinterpret it in a modern way. Carve away all the bad (though along with it quite a bit of its true character), enhance much of the good. But unfortunately merely aspire to its power. Yet, as you mentioned, a bolt on sc and decent tune would complete the modern Cobra interpretation. None of the massive V8 torque, but virtually all of the hp.

 

Shelby likely would have been part of the design effort of the Viper had he not been having some health issues at the time. But yeah, it is pretty obvious it was meant to point back to the Cobra. Everything from the styling, to the big motor to the name.

 

Me as well, the seats in the S2000 fit me perfectly, they're one of my favorite part of the car.

 

Great post!
My plan is to keep my s2k which I got 5months ago and get 3rd/4th gen Viper in 2 years. Good to read a review from someone who has both lol. Doesn't get more accurate than that.

 

This was very enjoyable and interesting to read. I seek out driving impressions from people who have experience driving the S2000. That way there is a common point of reference. This is one of the reasons why I regularly watch Youtube videos by Jay Emm, Savagegeese, and Davide Cironi. Jay Emm owns two of the same cars (including the S2000) that I do. Savagegeese has owned several S2000's and still owns one as far as I know. And David Cironi has reviewed many rare and exotic cars and also did an entire episode of driving all Honda cars. After doing track time in the NSX, Integra type R, a racing spec Civic, and an S2000 CR, he said the S2000 was his pick.

I've never driven a Viper but they are very cool cars! Like you, I have a complementary car to my S2000 and it's a blast to do back to back drives comparing and contrasting.

I'll look forward to reading more driving impressions from the OP!