"yitznewton" (yitznewton)
03/27/2016 at 11:55 • Filed to: honda s2000
3
9|
"yitznewton" (yitznewton)
03/27/2016 at 11:55 • Filed to: honda s2000 | 3
| 9 |
I’ve had my AP1 since November, daily-driving it during that period. I unfortunately have not made it to the autocross yet, as the opener was postponed last week. I went over some thoughts in my recent video review. The S2000 is a very engaging car in stock form as a daily, but here are some specific areas where it falls short.
Seats
The factory seats, excepting the CR edition, are smooth leather. They are moderately supportive, but the bolsters do collapse after a while, depending on how good you are at levitating yourself in and out. I find that I have to constantly readjust my seating position during general driving. It’s not too bad if you’re locked in against the dead pedal, but then again an ideal seat will provide some of that for you.
Soft top
This is probably true of convertibles in general, but the soft top is an Achilles’ Heel of this car. Obviously it’s a vulnerability to vandals. The plastic windows in the early model years tended to go opaque and crack, the elastic frame straps wear out and damages the fabric, the rain rail leaks and the drains clog. It’s a relatively expensive, difficult and time-consuming item to replace, at least before you get some experience with it.
Noise
Top up or down, there is a lot of road and wind noise at highway speeds. Some of this is probably worse because I have had the back of the car apart for a while, trying to track down a rain leak (see above!).
Parking lot maneuvers
With the top up, rearward visibility is atrocious, especially if you have a glass rear window. You’re pretty much blind backing out of parking spots and driveways. I’m not sure what it is about the turning circle, since it seems good on paper, but I find it’s hard to do tight maneuvers, and I need to sawtooth around to get into parking spots. It might just be the fact that the seat is farther back in the car than other things I’ve driven.
Non-issues you might have suspected
Ride and comfort on the stock suspension is not too bad; my 600-mile road trip bringing the car home was not a problem. The S2000 has plenty of mid-range power to get around town without sounding like a boy racer. Fuel economy in tame mixed driving is pretty OK, around 23-24 mpg, and straight highway driving is 32 mpg.
The trunk has quite a lot of usable space.
Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
> yitznewton
03/27/2016 at 12:08 |
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do you do the Meadowlands auto cross?
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yitznewton
> Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
03/27/2016 at 12:14 |
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I’m dying to; the S is too fast for the street now that I’m getting used to her. I tried to go last year with the Jetta, but the stadium took back those dates, so I did a track day instead. My schedule isn’t so flexible unfortunately.
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Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
> yitznewton
03/27/2016 at 12:16 |
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I almost want to go just for the fun but really don’t want to rip on my Si already
Sneaky Pete
> yitznewton
03/27/2016 at 12:26 |
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One gripe u had while riding in my friend’s S2k was the cramped foot area, especially with whatever beam it is protruding into the area.
Would a hardtop fix the noise issues?
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yitznewton
> Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
03/27/2016 at 12:30 |
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Doo eet... check out zygrene on YouTube; he went from S2000 to NSX, was like “I don’t think I want to track it right away;” next month “First Track Day in the NSX”
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yitznewton
> Sneaky Pete
03/27/2016 at 12:32 |
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I don’t think I’ve ever ridden passenger in an S2000, heh. Not sure about the hardtop. It would solve the vandalism and leaks, but it’s a theft target in its own right.
interstate366, now In The Industry
> yitznewton
03/27/2016 at 12:41 |
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Good write-up. I’ve been in both seats of an AP1 and both generations are on my list of approximately 63 cars that I’m considering for my next one.
Chasaboo
> yitznewton
03/27/2016 at 12:51 |
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I was looking at the Z4 and it was shocking how poor the visibility is with the top up. You might as well be driving a submarine. It was so bad, I felt I couldn’t live with it.
Nauraushaun
> yitznewton
03/28/2016 at 22:47 |
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Soft tops seem intrinsically flawed to me. Most of the issues you’ve described just don’t exist on a targa top.
It’s a shame, I’d love an S2000 some day soon, and I love having the roof off. But dealing with those soft tops just sounds awful.