I have a very nice Alfa Spider at the moment (Brera type). It was a bit of a compromise purchase but I have had had it for 18 months and was not really my choice. Looks lovely and sounds lovely (aftermarket exhaust and induction kit). Perfectly fast enough and delightful brakes, throttle response and gearchange and so progress and heel and toeing is a delight. It has been very comfortable and amazingly reliable in 15000 miles but not sharp enough for me. Steering a bit dull and not steereable at all on the throttle unless you have big spaces to play with and then it gets a bit lurchy as opposed to slidey. My natural choice is Elise or Caterham even though this is to be my daily driver. As a family we have a couple of other cars for carrying stuff etc and my car rarely gets used at weekends, just for work. my family hate me driving anything other than a people carrier anyway.
Thinking about an S2000. Very bland looking and so sneaks under the radar and easy to park for other family members etc and not scary below 5800 revs. have been reading some motoring forums but they talk even more bollocks than bike forums. Interested in the STW view. They have a reputation for tricky handling but I have owned a couple of twitchy racing cars and survived those and I am a convertible OCD. Always roof off unless it is pissing down and I am likely to get stuck in traffic where a brolly makes you look even more of a **** than I already know I am.
What is the concensus? i don’t really know why I have asked. I have a couple of test drives booked and never listened to anyone anyway but curious as to the view of the non motoring majority.

Fast Eddie

NB
Couldn’t really stomach a Porsche or a BMW. I have only ever owned French, Italian and British cars and so Japanese is already a big jump for me.

Test drove a couple. Like you said, doesn’t come alive until higher revs, by which time you’re quite illegal in most gears. That made it pointless for me.

Nice cars, twitchy handling but the later ones had mods to make them better.

If it’s been looked after will be reliable enough too.

Test drive one though and see what you think!

A mate of mine tunes them. Is current s2k I think is 540hp turbo. It looks ace too. In his spare time he designs and sells tuning parts for them. facebook page.
Send him a message. He would probably be able to give you some pointers.

Last great Honda IMO.

I would love one.

I’d love one. Getting a bit more sensible as middle age creeps up on me and the S2000 ticks all the boxes. Good looking, superb engine, rwd, and they haven’t really had the chav/Barry Boy following that a lot of other Jap cars have so the insurance isn’t too bad either. Not much else of the same vintage to compare it to either. MX5 is too sedate, 350z convertible is too big and lumbering, likewise for the Jag XK8/XKR, Boxsters of the same age are a potential money pit for very little improvement in power or handling.

Go for it, Fast Eddie.

Having said that I’m about to buy an MG Rover, so maybe take my opinion with a large pinch of salt…

Very nearly bought one myself a few years back but got an EP3 Type R instead as I needed a proper boot and would have one again in heartbeat as they are ace cars and the V-Tech is just brilliant. The S2000 was nice to drive in the dry, quite twitchy in the wet and next to useless in the snow (a mate had one and ditched it after his first winter with it).

Test drive a couple and make your own mind up though.

Test drove one, hated the power delivery. Went from 1 litre Micra to warp speed the moment it came on cam.

Thanks for your comments. I expected a sports car thread to get lots of haters on here. I think that it is the under the radar element that appeals to me with the s2000 as Mr F.Ox states. I test drove the first Integra Type R back in 97. It was the noisiest, most uncomfortable new car I had ever driven but the engine, lumpy suspension ( I remember it crashing off the curb as I got in to drive it where it was parked on the pavement) and grainy steering but I loved it and it was a perception changing experience. I took my wife to see one before putting down the deposit and she took one look at the red seats, white wheels, tea tray spoiler and reminded me that we had two children at the time and to f off and grow up. I bought a 306 GTI instead that actually turned out to be an understated B road blaster with still one of the most exploitable chassis that I can remember.
I have to advise that I have my red wine, rose tinted glasses on as I type.

I like the idea of working for the manic power delivery and so that is not really an issue, assuming the throttle response and gearbox is as good as it has always been reported to have been. With regard to Toppers, I think that 240bhp in 1200 kgs is enough for me when i am driving to work, your friends facebook page looks amazing and I will study in depth in due course – cheers for the wallet wilting link..
i will test drive a couple and knowing my impulsiveness will probably buy something and will report back.
I feel the need to buy and enjoy a few cars before it all goes, automatic, electric and lane changing.

The boyfriend has had 2 – the first was an 06 plate bought with his first paycheck, and was written off 3 months later on a twisty damp road after a night shift. I never got to drive that one! The second was a 10 plate (with traction control this time!) and was sold for more than we paid 3 years later. It’s my favourite car that he’s owned (he had an RX8 between the two S2000s and currently has an Evora).

From a motorcycling perspective I do like thrashing an engine and revving the tits off a motor to get it to shift is fun. But a motor with masses of top end and no bottom end does require a complete lack of mechanical sympathy to drop two gears to find the power. Most people find this tiresome.

A friend of mine had one (in a long line of sports/performance cars). Wrapped it neatly round a lamp post when a damp patch of road coincided with vtec kicking in.

I think the engine makes sense if you do a track day.

The boyfriend has had 2 – the first was an 06 plate bought with his first paycheck, and was written off 3 months later on a twisty damp road after a night shift.

A friend of mine had one (in a long line of sports/performance cars). Wrapped it neatly round a lamp post when a damp patch of road coincided with vtec kicking in.

As a wise man once said:

VTEC just kicked in yo!

Internet foolery aside, they’re fun cars with a lot of potential for tuning if you don’t like it as is. Yes, VTEC needs to be revved to get the best out of it but it just means you have to plan ahead, no different to a turbo really (unless someone’s going to claim that the kinda rev bands a turbo is useful in produces ‘illegal’ speeds?)

(unless someone’s going to claim that the kinda rev bands a turbo is useful in produces ‘illegal’ speeds?

Oh, I don’t know. 0-30mph in 2 seconds dead is immense fun. It does get a bit tiresome driving around in 1st all the time though.

never listened to anyone anyway

it was parked on the pavement

I expected a sports car thread to get lots of haters on here.

B road blaster

talk even more bollocks than bike forums

even more of a **** than I already know I am

My wife chose our car, I suggest letting your wife choose yours.

Awesome rule that one ^ Means my next car’ll an Elise or Exige – happy with that

I run an Elise as a daily driver, no problems at all.

OP given what you are looking for I think you could be underwhelmed with the S2000, get the Elise. Caterham really is going to be a PITA as a daily commuter especially from Dec to March.

As part of my work I go to a specialist breakers yard, they specialize in Japanese performance cars, especially S2000 – they had over 30 when I went in last time!
The guy running the place said the mechanicals are bullet proof and a lot of engines are pulled to use in other cars, especially older Brit sports cars. He also said the vast majority of the breakers come in with serious rear quarter damage as novice drivers put their foot down round a corner and don’t realise how much power they actually have, back end comes away which they aren’t used to in this FWD biased world hence quickly backwards into a hard object.

He did say to go for an earlier one with a mechanical throttle cable rather than the later fly by wire ones – he was very insistent on that point.

Owned one for two years, a 52 plate. The following is IMHO

The most beautiful car I’ve owned, as in it was lovely to drive, lovely to own, I loved the look of it, and I just loved it. (Can you tell I loved it?)

The gearbox is perfection, really short throw, really close to the steering wheel for quick changes. The controls are perfect too, all just a finger stretch away from the wheel. Really good driving position.

With the hardtop its super warm and quiet although you’ll need a bit of space to store it.

Engine is bullet proof, its a Honda. The rev limiter will stop you VTECing until its warm. Will hit 30mph in first @ 9000rpm. The gearbox is such that if you change up on the shift light you should stay in the VTEC zone.

It really is a banzai car, like a sedate 2l saloon below VTEC, Mr. Crazy pants above it. It will slide in the wet if you push it, but in my experience it’s quite predictable, and with the fast steering it has catchable. But best to maybe not put yourself in that situation in the first place.

The only fault we had in two years was a flat battery.

The only warning I can think of is that the early ones (up to 55 plate I think) drank as much oil as they did petrol! Oh, and they like the expensive 97/98 RON fuel too. Might have changed with later models.

Only got rid of ours because of children. Will probably buy another when I’m older (unless I can stretch to a Lotus Esprit V8 ….).

Agree the Elise would probably be perfect but does not really fit in with the desire to be a bit understated.
Thanks Sammy C, yes it is clear that you liked it but robdob, legolam and jimjam add fuel to the twitchy reputation. Will just have to be careful I guess. I have arranged to drive a couple of seemingly reasonable ones locally.
Edukator, you are right and I am guilty as charged. The only one where you are wrong is that I didn’t park it on the pavement, that was just dropping off the forecourt. My wife chose the Alfa but now hates parking it and feels self conscious driving it and so does so rarely which hardly seems fair and which is one of the main reasons for considering a change.

Vx220?
Sort of an Elise but a Vauxhall so nobody will pay it any attention.

A great car, I owned a 2001 (y reg)model from 2002 to 2007. Perfectly reliable, relatively cheap to run, great fun to drive.

Buy it now.

I also had an Elise and still have a Caterham 7. The Elise can be used everyday, but is hard work, the Caterham cannot be used everyday, its just too hard core. The s2000 works absolutely fine everyday.

Buy a Caterham 7 if track days are your thing, an Elise if you like track days but still need to use the car everyday or an s2000 if the focus is on road driving without the trackdays

My better half owns a s2000 and I’ve driven it a few times. Lovely car. Engine is like a sewing machine.

Nice gearbox, handling is good and power delivery is not that abrupt. If you are used to a tin-top saloon with the driving dynamics of a sponge, it might catch you out on a wet road, but it’s not a hard car to drive and enjoy. With the roof on, it can be a bit noisy on long journeys, but that’s the nature of the beast.

My caterham 7 makes it feel pedestrian, but that’s not really a fair comparison. IMHO unless you want a track day toy, I’d forget the Caterham, as they are only really usable in the summer months and even then it’s difficult to really open it up on public roads without being a nob (ok, some people use them most/all of the year, but try driving a powerful one on a cold wet road….)

Buy a Caterham 7 if track days are your thing, an Elise if you like track days but still need to use the car everyday or an s2000 if the focus is on road driving without the track days

agreed.

Vx220?
Sort of an Elise but a Vauxhall so nobody will pay it any attention.

😯
Lad I work with has an S2000, bright red, really clean, attractive looking car. His previous two cars were Suzuki Cappuchino’s which he’d done some work on, larger turbo, tweaked engine management, and other stuff; moved up to the S2K after a van driver ran into the back of the Cappu at a pedestrian crossing, but I’m not sure if he’s done any mods to the Honda. I’ll tip him off about the Fb page, he might be very interested in that.
He’s certainly very happy with the S2K, though.

I loved my Type R and was close to buying a s2000 but the wife in me said “get something we can all fit in , so for the past 2 years ive been driving a Spec B legacy saloon , full leather 4 wheel drive ,flat 6 , 60 comes in around 6 seconds and shy of 150 and on a run im getting 36mpg … Mental car with all the comforts ,everything leather heated and all wheel drive when you need to go nuts ,and easily sits 2 bikes and a pod on the roof .and the best part , its not deemed as a nutter car and I get to pay just £250 a year full comp 🙂

By way of an update, someone I know locally has one and let me borrow it a couple of days ago. It was much stiffer and more mechanical feeling than I was expecting and so much more my sort of thing than I was expecting. Pedals nicely placed with a nice flat brake pedal for heeling and toeing. Yes you could criticise the steering but I was in someone else’s car on a wet day and so cannot pretend that I did anything other than point and squirt and the engine and gearbox are quite a combination. Without further ado, I have bought one. An 06 with 46,000 miles. Full history etc etc but just been vandalised, badly keyed and roof slashed and so one side has been resprayed and the roof renewed.
No doubt why it was good value, but I am not that bothered because it seemed to drive OK as far as i could tell. We will see.
Anyone fancy a red Alfa Spider?

Nice. Awesome car. I was the passenger in one coming back from Le Mans and was shocked at the attention it got and how fast it could go around corners! The engine and gearbox were no surprise as I have an ’04 Civic Type-S which is lovely despite having only 160bhp and 5 gears.

It really is a banzai car, like a sedate 2l saloon below VTEC, Mr. Crazy pants above it. It will slide in the wet if you push it, but in my experience it’s quite predictable, and with the fast steering it has catchable. But best to maybe not put yourself in that situation in the first place.

I asked Dan at work about his, and he absolutely agreed with this, a mate with a Clio Sport takes the piss because he can go quicker in the wet, and Dan said you really do have to pay attention, that very morning he’d had the back-end step sideways when he drove over a wet manhole cover.
He absolutely loves it, though.

Nice glad you bought one

What engine, mileage and rough cost are we thinking for the spider ? 🙂

i test drove one a few years ago. loved it. fast but predictable when it started to give way. would have one in a heartbeat if i could justify it

I had an accord type r with vtec, it was too much all or nothing. A good idea for the s2000 might be to buy the hondata ecu and remap it so that the vtec is more progressive?

Titusrider, assuming you are not joking it is an 07 with 47,000 miles and the 2.2 JTS engine. Right colour and right wheels and very nice inside. Just about to get it serviced again by local Alfa Specialist Monza Sport and put it on ebay for a couple of weekends time and would hope to get a bit over £7000 but not really good at judging these things. Loads of them seem to be in the 8s and 9s and on the face of it are no better than mine. My one real downside is that I only have one key! Who knows.
Fantombiker – for me the change and induction roar as you go through 5800 is half the fun it seems. below then it ‘only’ has 150bhp which is perfectly enough to make normal progress and keep up with traffic. I imagine getting into a rhythm on a decent road and keeping the engine on the boil may take some concentration and practice but we shall see. You may be right, you have lived with a VTEC after all and the internet is full of all sorts of mods and so we shall see.

I owned an s2000 for just over two years. I decided to go for an early car with glass rear screen and no traction controll.
I really end enjoyed for a while but the novelty wore off. I think this was partly due to the nature of my commute at the time.
Chasing more power from the engine is expensive unless you go forced induction. The best mod is to drop the final drive ratio. The gearing is way too long as standard so dropping the FD makes it a much quicker car in day to day driving.

Oh at this time of year when it’s cold, run it with the airbox lid off for extra sound 🙂 at any other time of you you’ll get heat soak in traffic and s2000s are notorious for kangarooing in hot weather.

Finally, when the cam chain tensioner gets noisy you can arrange for the worm screw to be shot blasted. Search the net and you’ll see this is a common issue.

Oh one last thing, whatever mph you’re doing in 5th will equate to the revs in 3rd.
IE 57 mph in 3rd – drop to 3rd and you’ll be at 5700rpm ish.
This is handy when overtaking and won’t leave you off cam on the wrong side of the road.

I had one for a couple of years.

Great to rev that engine to 9k. Makes an epic noise. Big boot for what it is, easily fitted in all my stuff for a biking weekend away with bike on rack. Cheapish to look after compared to German equivalents. Cool instruments and controls etc.

Front brake callipers prone to seize, roof prone to wear just behind driver’s and passenger’s head as metal rubs on canvas (check for holes), cover for rear tow eyelet kept falling out due to wind at speed, get a later one with glass rear screen if you need to see out of the back (plastic one goes totally opaque). Lots of wind noise at speed means you can’t really hear the passenger or stereo. Swapped it for an R32 which was so much more torquey and less stressful to drive.

GB

Never had an S2000 but just wanted to say nobody vvt like Honda.Did have a couple of the early Japanese Civic vtecs and the engines were beautiful.