baz90

From EVO Magazine. Share your thought's with the Board....


Honda S2000 v Porsche Boxster


It's on record that we at evo aren't big fans of the S2000. Way back in the summer of '99 we drove three sports cars to the car's launch party in the south of France to help discover just what sort of roadster Honda had created. We weren't sure whether we were going to find a back-to-basics sports car, a high-quality sophisticate or a brawny, raw thrills rag-top, which is why our trio of gate crashers was the Elise, Boxster and Griffith, evo icons all.

Our expectations were high, fuelled by an uncompromising and downright thrilling on-paper specification. To the traditional front-engine/rear-drive layout the S2000 added the world's most powerful and highest-revving normally aspirated 2-litre production engine, a snickety six-speed gearbox and, in the tail, a torque-sensing differential to ensure that all 237bhp would be deployed effectively. The specification also included an impressively stiff bodyshell, double-wishbone suspension all round and high-geared, electrically-assisted steering.

However, it was soon clear that although Honda's engineers had cracked harder puzzles

S2K1

I'm dissapointed in this article, my neighbor has a Boxster S and I have an S2000(obviously) and I have driven both to the limit on the track and I feel the Boxster has more oversteer and didn't handle as well as the S! I thought it to be more predictible, but not as good. I think they just had a bad first impression and they stuck to that impression.

CoralDoc

baz90 - thanks for the post!

One thing I've noticed about car comparisons from the UK, they aren't nearly as watered down as those from the US. Also, having driven the Boxster 2.7 and S2000 back-to-back, I agree with their evaluation. The Boxster DOES have better road feel, it DOES have more usable torque coming out of turns, the chassis IS easier to drive hard at the limit. I bought the S2000 anyway, because it is so much fun .

Remember, most of the driving in the US is on wider, smoother, higher speed roads. So, many concerns about oversteer tendencies aren't as apparent over here.

Porsche518

Europe has never liked our car, especially the brit mags (car and evo), because it's not a porsche our a bmw. There euro slant to everything is disgusting.

JaminBen

Baz 90, thanks for the post!! Hope you didn't have to type all that

Please, let's not get into any Euros this Euros that: it serves no purpose. FYI, several European mags rated the S2000 #1 when it came out.
There are differences between Europe and the US: road quality is one, as CoralDoc pointed out, but I don't think they include journalistic objectivity.

As an enthusiast still saving up for an S2000, it's very nice to see Honda continually honing the S into a better car.

Steering: can't the steering rack be mounted on stiffer bushings for more feel?

cthree

It's nice to find out about all the chassis improvement they made otherwise I wouldn't have known anything about them. I love accurate and unbiased reporting, such a welcome relief

hpalmer

They were much more complimentary in reviewing the 2002 S2000, than th 2000, saying the handling and chasis had been improved dramitically. Since Honda is saying there have been no changes to the S2000 in the suspension area I always wondered if they tested the first car with the spring spacers on. It would be stupid but I'm wonder why they found the 2000 and 2002 so totally different.


Hugh

brantshali

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Porsche518
[B]Europe has never liked our car, especially the brit mags (car and evo), because it's not a porsche our a bmw.

jerrypeterson

Yeah but the weather up here gives a keen opportunity to work on your powersteering technique, daily.

Turtle

[QUOTE]Originally posted by hpalmer
[B]They were much more complimentary in reviewing the 2002 S2000, than th 2000, saying the handling and chasis had been improved dramitically.