I didn't have traction control in the 8 and it worked out fine. Although I know that S2000 is a different car. I don't think the insurance is going to be as bad because I have a pretty good track record, I paid 2500 for the RX-8 and paid 3500 for the FX35 (not bad for the metro boston area), I don't think it'll surpass 2000 dollars because it's a used car.
Everybody keeps talking about the rear window though and that kind of concerns me. Like the 8, I'm not going to be driving the S2000 daily. But why does a glass rear serve better then a plastic rear? Is it because it's less blurry for a glass rear or is it because the glass produces less noise when the roof is up? I'm probaly going to look for another S2000 with less miles and not a '00 this weekend and see if it's really a better car. If not then I'll just stick with the plan I had when I traded in the 8 and buy a bike.

As has been pointed out, the S2000 has two glove boxes.

I fully agree that the stock stereo is not adequate to the task of being heard on the highway with the top down, the radio cover is a great thing. I only open it when changing CDs; the dash controls are entirely adequate for controlling everything, so the radio cover does not get in the way when driving, if you know how to work the dash controls.

If you drive like a human being on the public streets, and/or are a good driver, you don't need traction control. Save it for the track.

I'm 6'2", and I'm very pleased that I did "bother." :rolleyes: As a matter of fact, I fit far better in our S2000 than in our RX-8. I can't fit in the RX-8 with a helmet, and I can fit in the S2000 with a helmet, even with the top up. And it's fine daily driver for my 25 mile trip to work each morning.

Yeah, it's a small compartment. Duh! It's a roadster. Try putting the top down in the RX-8.

I've never heard such nonsense as "it can't be driven in the snow at all." Put good snow tires on it, and it's fine. Same as the RX-8. I own both, and only a moron would take either out in snow on summer tires. Or any car. Both cars are very competent in lots of snow if properly shod.

Likewise about rain. It actually rains once in a while in Seattle, and that's never been an issue for me. Perhaps that's because I drive like a responsible human being in the rain, but that's not a bad thing, now, is it?

Just wanted to set the record straight. Whether one prefers the S2000 or the RX-8 (or any other car) is a matter of preference, but let's stick to facts, please.

I wrote that based on MY experiences with the S and what my friend has told me .. You may think my comments are nonsense but I'm only tell you what I have seen/happend to me personally.

i'm 5'8" and I have difficulty getting comfortable in that car.. I don't normally wear helmets when I drive (no track time personally) so I can't comment on that aspect of the car.. The person who owns the car is just shy of 6' and has a tough time getting in and out of the car.. Headroom isn't the issue, it's legroom.

I said you can't drive it in the snow because I've been in one with snows on and it wasn't very fun and was almost scary.. I'm not a tire specialist so I can't comment on why it didn't feel right.. But during the winter months we get quite a bit at times(remember, we get more snow in one month than seattle gets all winter!), further north of toronto there's a massive snowbelt which I"ve been caught in and it gets really really bad. And it's not even when it snows a lot, it's when it lightly snows and screws up the roads which affected this car.. with lots of snow the tires can grip, that lightly packed shitty wet snow is what made the car freak out..

and I was incorrect about the glovebox, sorry about that one! totally forgot about the one at the top of the middle console.

And for the rain, I was driving in a straight line and the bloody thing started to hydroplane when it was raining (it wasn't even raining that hard either).. Had to slow down below 100km/h (which is under our posted speedlimit), i suspect it could have been the tires, but they were brand new potenzas.. besides that it was fine (which is why i said shaky)

To me, the cons outweighed the pros which is why I bought the 8 as my primary car.. My friend has another car and a bike so for him, he didn't care about anything else but the looks, convertible, and performance.

And I've spoken to many S2000 drivers and since the inception of this car I have never heard of ANY S2000 drivers or seen any on the road during the winter, cept my friend.. they actually thought he was an idiot for driving the S in the winter even with snows on(went to a meet).. which he doesn't do anymore :)

yea, the snow comment kinda bothered me.. hehe, i guess it's because when it comes to snow, we know snow best! :)

I'm tall, with disproportionately long legs. It takes figuring it out, but once you've done it a few times, it's not at all hard. And certainly worth the sublime pleasure of driving the S2000. ;)

Well, I've driven it a little snow, and in lots of snow. It's fine. I have Blizzak LM-22 tires on the car in the winter, and they go through anything. There are lots of S2000 drivers in Canada, all of whom say it's just fine in the snow. Put proper tires on the car, drive for the conditions, and it's fine.

The stock Potenzas are not particularly good in the rain. But that's not the car's fault, or any reflection on the car's ability in the rain. SO-3s, or any of a number of other tires, are fine in the rain. Just get proper tires, and drive to the conditions (if you were hydroplaning, there was standing water, so driving should be more cautious), and you're fine. Just like the snow tires. Heck, even the stock Potenzas are fine in the rain if you're driving carefully. See, you can talk about snow, but nobody can talk about rain like us Seattleites. :p

I have no problem with people deciding that the S2000 is not a very good "only" car. It isn't for a lot of people. Too little utility and too little comfort for most people. But that's different from saying that it can't be driven in the snow or rain, which simply isn't at all accurate. But for those whose lifestyle fits having a small car, there's nothing like it for less than $15,000 more.

Just as many RX-8 drivers put their car away in the winter, preferring to expose a beater to the elements and other drivers, many S2000 drivers do the same. Heck, I spent over $1000 on the wheels and tires for winter driving, and you can buy a decent winter beater for not much more than that. But that's not to say that the S2000, properly shod, isn't perfectly good in the snow. I'd rather drive a Jeep, or even an STi, in the snow, but the S2000, with proper tires, will do just fine.

I would personally just go for the bike. My cousin had an s2k and loved it (so did i). But for 7k you can get a nice 600cc. Then you have paid cash, owe nothing, and have something much faster. May I recommend the 05 Kawasaki zx-6r.

I'm one of those that sold his RX8, and bought an S2000. Do I think the S2000 is a better overall car? No. Do I think it's a better fun summer/weekend car? Absolutely. This is why I made the change. I realized the RX8 could not fit my needs as a year round car, or a pure fun summer car. This car has grown on me much like the RX8. As a daily driver, I could never deal with it. It's loud, and there is serious lack of room and comfort. The RX8 was hard to live with too, but for completely different reasons. Gas mileage and depreciation were two of those reasons. I get 30mpg highway with this S2K, The S2000 really holds its value. This car, much like the RX8, is not for everyone. It's open to criticism just as with any car. I do love the performance though. Car is noticably faster, but I admit I miss the smoothness of the rotary. It downright sounds like abuse when I rev this sucker high as well. BTW, someone mentioned the S2000 has two gloveboxes. I believe that is for the 02 and higher model. My 01 has only one, and I also have a plastic rear window, not glass like the 02+ ones do.That meant nothing to me, as I drive this car 90% of time with top down, and only when weather is nice. :) Starting in 04, the S2000 used a 2.2 liter vtec, with more torque, and lower redline. It's much more daily friendly, and you get more daily driver power. I can say this. This car is buying me time, because if they make a convertible RX8, I am so so there to buy one. After all I wrote, only one thing made me choose this as a fun summer car. THE CONVERTIBLE FACTOR. ;)

Insurance
 

Be sure to check insurance rates. I'm surprised that for someone here the S2000 is cheaper. When I checked rates, it was nearly $400 more a year for me. Everything else I checked rates on, even a BMW M Roadster, was much less expensive to insure than the S2000.

I drove a 2002 and a 2004 the same day a few months back. The differences are not night and day. I personally like the wider V-TEC band and quicker steering of the older cars. The newer one will still snap oversteer, just not as easily or to as large an extent.

A shame stability control wasn't included all along. This might have affected accident rates, and thus insurance rates. No doubt less-than-expert drivers have snap oversteered a number of S2000s into immovable objects.

I just recently bought a MY00 S2000 with 32000 miles. i love the performance. its a little more raw than the Rx8. I bought2005 white 6spd RX8 gt last year in 04 september...which i sold about 8 months ago. i definitely miss the Rx8......

btw i do have two glove boxes in the s2000 , u just have look hard enough.

How's that do in snow? :D

Sure have. There are posts regularly on the S2ki board about nasty stop signs, dumpsters, onramps and guardrails which jump out at the S2000 being driven by some idiot who doesn't know what he's doing, and chooses a public road to prove that point. :rolleyes:

My favorite was the guy who posted pictures of his car wrapped around a tree (literally, a 90 degree bend in the middle of the car; no passenger, fortunately, as there was no passenger compartment after impact); it seems he was going something over 100mph, at night, in the rain, on a twisty road. His reason for posting? He wanted to warn everyone to make sure your tires were good when driving in the rain (the irony is that the pictures showed his tires were fine, unlike his intelligence).

We pay much more to insure our S2000 than our RX-8.

124Spider, well, you've convinced me the S can be driven in the snow with a good setup :) but that one day in the snow really scared the shit out of me :)

If i didn't have to deal with snow I would have looked at the S much more seriously though.. Maybe I should move to California :) I hear it's nice all year round

We're just starting our monsoon season, where it will rain far more days than it won't, between now and next June. I do lots of California dreamin' during this dreary stretch. :)

I ran into this problem and learned that the insurance companies each have different rules regarding convertibles. When I got my S2K, I had State Farm. My premium went up about $250 per year by switching RX8 to the S2000. I was not happy. I then went online to Geico. My rate was $50 less per year, totalling a $300 swing aroundin yearly savings. I asked the lady why they are so different then State Farm, and she told me that car insurance companies simply view certain cars differently. In their system, the S2000 and RX8 were pretty much identical insurance risks. She acknowledged that they may be in the minority, but I don't care. I suppose more times then not the S2000 will be more because it's classified as a pure sports car, and the RX8 is not. Even so, I was going to raise the deductible on the S2000 to make up for this price increase, since this is a pure weekend summer car, but I am glad I got to keep same identical coverage by switching insurance companies, and actually pay a bit less to boot. With that said, had I purchased a brand new 05 S2000, I do not believe this would have happened. This may have been a different result had I bought an 05 model, but the real raping I am taking is on the STI. I cannot wait to pay it off so I can drop collision, which is why it is so expensive. :)

o h

Did you check how much State Farm would have charged for the RX-8?

No doubt different insurance companies charge different amounts. Rates tend to be based on their claim experience with a car. My company, USAA, must have awful experience with the S2000.

On the other hand, I priced both a regular Z3 and an M Roadster, and the difference was about $50 a year. Shocking.

Equally shocking: an RX-8 as my only car would cost less than $100 more than the 130-horsepower Protege5 I currently drive. This is what happens when you drive a car favored by young drivers...

I never priced an STI, but based on the claims experience stats I saw once it should be about the worst thing going.

I think its a great car , my cousin has one. brand new 05 AWESOME MACHINE!... really fun to drive!


but i would not spend 20k on one with 75 k miles my friends brother got an 03 with 14kmiles for 21k, So shop around

I had State Farm the entire time I owned the RX8, so I knew exactly what they were charging, as I was paying for it. State Farm told me the S2000 is in a higher insurance class, and Geico told me the S2000 is only listed to them as a standard 2 door coupe. I faxed them the Geico quote to try and get them to match the premium, and they told me that cannot do that. They let me walk, because their computer says the S2000 is more expensive. So I had the choice of switching to Geico, or pay $250 more per year more for the S2000 by staying with State Farm. All I know is that I saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico. YEAH BABY. YOU CAN DO ITTT. ;)

im paying about 1100 a year for my S2000. 500 deductible.

$650 a year for my S2000. 100 Comp deductable 500 collision. My STi is $1150, and it's listed as fun car, and S2000 Daily driver. I am taking in the behind with that car. Might unload it next year and go with a economical daily. ;)

But then you wouldn't have a fun car for the winter! The S2000 surely is not a viable option as a winter car. If you are able to support the STi, I recommend keeping it :p That's what I'd do anyway. Good luck with whatever you end up doing, but make sure you've always got at least one sports car, alright? :D

I have had both the RX-8 and the S2000, I loved both but....
The RX-8 had more room even though the back seat was never used.
The S2000 is faster and has better build quality.
The RX-8 sounds better.
The S2000 HID headlights are much better and has a true blue color.
The RX-8 got 12 MPG when I drove it hard, the S2000 gets 20 MPG even when I run the shit out of it. 25 MPG on the road.
Both of sound systems suck
Both shift great.
The S2000 handles more like a go-cart.
Both have great brakes.
No traction control or stability control on the S2000 (mine is a 2005) the 2006's have both now.
It is a very close call but when you put the top down on the S2000 you remember what a sports car is all about.
The S2000 wins. It also has had a much better track record, less recalls not as fragile and better gas mileage.

man, that is a great rate for the S2k. How old are you? im 24.

I'm 33. I think due to the fact that the S2000 is much like the RX* in that a wider age of older folks own one, makes it an affordable car car to insure, like the RX8. No matter my age or clean driving record, even I cannot escape the wrath of the STI. Too many parents are buying their kids the STI, so the risk factor jumps. As soon as STI is paid off, I'm removing collision, and it will drop significantly. :)

there are sweet cars i would get one but i don't hondas like me anymore after i broke 2 of them