This OPPO just bought my new ride :)

"InfinityAero" (infinityaero)
12/27/2016 at 18:30 • Filed to: None

2006 S2k. I’ll need to remove the hideous front lip kit and hood but otherwise it’s in great shape. 83k miles. Got a loan for full amount at 4.09%, so good rate for an old car...

2 AM update: the wife likes the car, as she made clear exactly twice tonight. She likes the hood (unfortunately) but hates the bumper (hooray!) so that goes ASAP. Doesn’t mind the exhaust so that stays for now...

DISCUSSION (35)

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > InfinityAero
12/27/2016 at 18:36

So much fresh air!

Bytemite > InfinityAero
12/27/2016 at 18:41

Oh my god I’m jelly...well I will be once you get rid of the hood, front bumper, and maybe those taillights and headlights and that huge exhaust.

Kanaric > InfinityAero
12/27/2016 at 18:46

lmao where i do autocross there are some serious SSM build S2000s that are super or turbo charged and not even them have such a ridiculous kit. Glad to see it’s being saved.

Matt Nichelson > InfinityAero
12/27/2016 at 18:51

Nice color. Hope you enjoy it. The hood wouldn’t be so bad if not for that offset scoop in the front. There’s some tasteful aftermarket front bumpers out there too.

Steve in Manhattan > InfinityAero
12/27/2016 at 18:55

Holy shit - love it. There’s one on Turo that I have to rent at some point.

scoob > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
12/27/2016 at 18:58

Gotta cool that 2,000 HP, 2,000 cylinder engine somehow!

Chasaboo > InfinityAero
12/27/2016 at 19:10

Have purchased the requisite head gear to go with that car yet?

Kinja'd!!!

Nimbus The Legend - Riding on air like a cloud > InfinityAero
12/27/2016 at 19:42

oooh and 06~!

How much?

daender > InfinityAero
12/27/2016 at 20:18

Ditch the bumper but keep the hood.

InfinityAero > daender
12/27/2016 at 21:17

I’ll have to refinish it if I keep it, it’s got a little wear on the painted sections... might buff out. Bumper definitely, exhaust probably...

InfinityAero > Bytemite
12/27/2016 at 21:18

Yeah, the bumper is terrible, hood a lil much, exhaust I’ll prob change, I don’t mind the head and taillights though...

InfinityAero > Nimbus The Legend - Riding on air like a cloud
12/27/2016 at 21:19

A little over 14k at a dealership, 0 down., no trade in...

InfinityAero > Kanaric
12/27/2016 at 21:46

Yah, lol, rescue car!

MyC7 > InfinityAero
12/27/2016 at 22:01

I had an 05 S2000 up until last year when I sold it.

Fantastic, wonderful driving car.

It worked as a great commuter car going from Virginia into D.C., and it was a great car out in the southwest, with the wide open roads and mountain roads.

It was a great pace/safety car at a number of SCCA events.

Once you adjust to the VTEC, you will want it in every vehicle. The manual transmission guides you into the next gear (up or Down). Brilliant top.

Nauraushaun > InfinityAero
12/27/2016 at 22:16

Can’t wait to see the after pics!

RWS Motorsport > InfinityAero
12/28/2016 at 05:59

Oh my, that blue is lovely! What colour’s the interior? and are the wheels smoked rather than silver? i’ve been pondering doing that to mine, on Silverstone Silver.

ArmadaExpress drives a turbo outback > InfinityAero
12/28/2016 at 09:42

Any audio clips of the exhaust?

InfinityAero > Matt Nichelson
12/28/2016 at 09:58

Yeah, that bulge is where the intake is. I suppose if I keep the hood I could cut a hole in the front of the bulge to feed cold air directly to the K&N CAI that’s currently installed. I’ve heard the stock intakes actually generate more power, so I may look into reverting that as well.

InfinityAero > ArmadaExpress drives a turbo outback
12/28/2016 at 10:13

Will make one today :) It’s an Invidia exhaust... this should be fairly representative:

Low on the list of priorities to replace... I’ll need to do some research to see whether I should stick with aftermarket vs stock; if aftermarket, single or dual exhaust— etc. I would guess a single-exhaust pipe would return the best HP gains, but I’ve also heard there’s basically nothing to be gained with bolt-ons with the F20C, not sure if that applies to the F22C1...

Matt Nichelson > InfinityAero
12/28/2016 at 10:16

If stock gives you more power, then I would say revert it back. I’ve never been a big fan of a CAI. It almost feels like a scam to me. Plus that way you could just get a different hood. I actually really like the look of it, but that bulge just makes my OCD go crazy. If nothing else you could probably sell the one you have and make some money back from it. Either way, that’s still an awesome car even if you leave it as-is.

InfinityAero > Matt Nichelson
12/28/2016 at 10:40

Yeah, people underestimate the engineering that goes into stock airboxes, people just like the sound... hard to test correctly without motion, too... conditions are not static in an engine bay like they are during dyno testing, so I’m often sceptical of claimed gains...

Nimbus The Legend - Riding on air like a cloud > InfinityAero
12/28/2016 at 11:27

great deal with that mileage even despite the “upgrades”!

InfinityAero > RWS Motorsport
12/28/2016 at 11:54

Kinja'd!!!

I love the interior, haven’t seen any others with the blue trim... maybe custom?

Yeah, he smoked the wheels, I like it! Better than stock, imo.

InfinityAero > Nimbus The Legend - Riding on air like a cloud
12/28/2016 at 11:57

Yeah, exactly, they were originally asking $17K, came to me with an offer of $15K with a $1K trade in of my Xterra making it $14K-- counterproposed 14.3K without the trade-in using the mods as my justification to drive the price down more. I don’t think they would have gone any lower, and I wanted to purchase before 2017 so that the car is “10 years old” instead of “more than 10 years old” for financing purposes; tho from what I could see he just manually entered the 4.09% rate through one of their lenders. Definitely a good price for my region (DC area).

Nimbus The Legend - Riding on air like a cloud > InfinityAero
12/28/2016 at 12:29

NICE!!!

good bargaining!!!

17k is definitely crack pipe territory!

InfinityAero > Nimbus The Legend - Riding on air like a cloud
12/28/2016 at 14:00

Yeah, I only planned to go by and test drive it before looking at others in the 13-15K range, so it worked out pretty well for both sides in the end. KBB is listed as a range from 14.5K-17.5K, so I’m basically somewhere in the middle after accounting for the $500-1K I’ll have to spend for a new painted bumper and hood....

RWS Motorsport > InfinityAero
12/29/2016 at 04:31

Oh wow yeah thats a really cool interior. I think that is custom, as i think the only options were red, red and black, black, and then on the pale blue you could also get a full blue interior, but it was a different blue to that anyway. But either way, that looks really great!

ArmadaExpress drives a turbo outback > InfinityAero
12/29/2016 at 08:32

Assuming it’s very similar to the video; I’d personally keep it until it needs to be replaced. Doesn’t seem too loud, and I’m sure its not harming power output. The only reason I would personally consider replacing this exhaust before it falls off, is if I was getting too much negative attention from the police. But everyone’s opinion easily differs when it comes to exhaust, and there would be nothing wrong with going back to stock just because you feel like it.

InfinityAero > ArmadaExpress drives a turbo outback
12/29/2016 at 11:20

Yeah, I’ll likely keep it. It’s a little grating, but not grating enough to justify spending $600 to return it to stock.... the front bumper is really the only thing I want to return to stock ASAP. The 05-09 Bumpers look great, IMO, if anything I’d like to revert to one of those and put the club racer lip kit on that, seeing as that setup has actually been wind tunnel tested with verified downforce... pick up the wing down the line as well.

ArmadaExpress drives a turbo outback > InfinityAero
12/29/2016 at 12:12

All good choices. I hope you get many great years out of your new ride.

InfinityAero > ArmadaExpress drives a turbo outback
12/29/2016 at 13:02

Thanks! If I’d been an hour earlier to another dealership that day I probably would have ended up buying an 02 WRX that was for sale at $8K/90K miles and we’d be Subbie brothers, lol, but everything worked out well in the end...

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > InfinityAero
12/29/2016 at 13:40

Jealous. When my Miata inevitably rusts away, I will likely be looking for an s2k. Ideally a bit more stock so I can mod it to my own liking but this one is tasteful at least. I need to rent one from Turo someday soon so I can get a better opinion. I will definitely be hard-pressed between another miata, s2k, brz/frs, and a Cayman for my next fun-all-the-time car.

InfinityAero > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
12/29/2016 at 14:46

Yeah, I was looking at S2Ks, Boxster S’s and base WRXs this time around; almost everyone I talked to pointed me in the direction of the S2K, while the WRX got some love as well. It’s too bad most Miatas seem to have been owned by people who don’t care to do anything beyond keep the car running for their first 100K miles, when I was looking for one before getting my Fiat almost all were rusted out because of rust that could have been taken care of a decade ago with some brush-on inhibitor. I like the BRZ/FRS and if I were buying a new car that’d probably be at the top of my list, but I just couldn’t think of a reason to go with a 200HP Coupe for the same money as a 240HP convertible since I don’t need a 4-seater. Caymans seem to be about a year or two away from hitting the Porsche depreciation cliff, so you might be in a good spot to buy one when you’re ready. On the plus side, they’re all 07+, which seemed to have fewer IMS bearing issues and the like than the earlier Boxster models.

I initially planned to just go by and look at the car, it was priced in the high range for the dealer-listed ones in the area, but in the end they came down to the prices I was seeing for private seller models in the nearby area; anything selling for less had a turbo, supercharger, or full engine-out rebuild with a big-bore; so it was nice to find one without extensive engine work done. I like the side skirts, paint, wheel treatment, and tinting, not a huge fan of the front bumper— the hood’s a little extreme but actually pretty well designed and built and is stock fitment, so I can live with that for at least a bit.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > InfinityAero
12/29/2016 at 15:18

Well that rust problem is not really a user-error, it is just a Mazda problem for anything located on the East coast pretty much. Unless the car was meticulously garaged, cleaned, and rarely driven, it will have rust on it. I kind of just accept this and since the car was cheap I will drive it until the frame falls apart. Maybe if I pick up welding skills I can fix it but otherwise I will ignore the problem. My bigger solution is to move away from salt forever and go live in Socal lol.

ArmadaExpress drives a turbo outback > InfinityAero
12/30/2016 at 09:15

That seems really cheap.... you’re probably safer with the S2000. They seem to really hold their value, even better than the Subarus. Although, I do really like the older WRX’s.