RotoRocket

iTrader: (1)

Not yet.

It's a future project.

StealthFox

stick a 20b in a new 07 escalade on 24" works hahaa

124Spider

Yes. The vast majority of the noise you are bombarded with in an S2000 is road noise and engine noise, since there's essentially no sound insulation. Wind noise is a small part of it.

If creature comforts are important to you, don't get an S2000. If raw performance in a 2-seat roadster is important to you, the S2000 is the best value out there.

VikingDJ

From what I have been told, the hardtop significantly reduces noise. I'm considering getting one myself. I read that the newer S2K's have gotten a bit quieter, but will still be loud in many people's eyes. If you compare an S2k with hardtop to an RX8, then yes I suppose it is noisy. If you compare it to an EVO or STI, it's probably comparable.
I was looking at an 06 S2K at dealership yesterday, and I have to say it's improved quite nicely compared to my 01. Those back speakers built into the roll bar sound pretty damn good. I am actually considering a possible double trade (04 STI and 01 S2K for a new one.) I have fallen in love with the S2K, just as I did the RX8, but even more so, because of the convertible factor. Just not sure if I'm gonna like the reduced redline to 8krpms, as opposed to 8900 rpms on the 00-03 models. However, the car is a bit faster, and has a nice increase in torque.

StealthFox

what the heck, youd give an 01 s2k and a 04 sti for a 06 s2k??? i would never do that in a million years...

Revlis

I was sorta torn, In fact the RX-8 wasn't even on my short list. I simply drove it cause I was at the Mazda Dealership looking at a Used Audi TT. I took it for a spin and thought, Hmmm, That's neat.

Then I drove the S2K, The G35Coupe, and then went and drove the 8 again. then drove a huge stack of other cars only to go right back to Doug's and bought the 8.

I enjoyed the S2K, it's a Honda what's not to love? The 350Z Sucked, a LOT interior had all the quality and feel of a Yugo and the rookie Ride quality was just wrong. I'm still pissed at Nissan cause I am/was a fan. The 330CI was wonderful but more sport coupe not sports car, on and on. Kept coming back to the 8.

The 8 just struck that perfect Balance between practicality and Sportscar. No rattles, perfect suspension for the real world, High Quality interior feel, and superb Tranny. Just the right mix. Nice and quiet compared to the others as well (besides the 330 and G35 anyway). Only thing I wish the RX-8 had that it lacks? About 50 more H.P. It's fast enough for the real world, I just don't look forward to getting my *** handed to me by every V-8 Mustang and 330CI at the stoplights.

VikingDJ

Well, it's just a thought. I just love the S2K so much, I want a new one, but that would mean bye bye STI, and hello cheap preowned beater. Tough call to give up the STI for a preowned corolla or something, all for the sake of a brand new S2K, so I likely won't do it. The STI is basically my beater car, if for no other reason then it's becoming one fast. This STI exterior scratches very easily, and HATES the highway, especially in winter. The car also dents and dings easily, because of the thin sheet metal. Subaru needs to work on their paint, and I may not buy another one until they do. It's absolutely pathetic. My former daily commuter car (95 Golf) was much more resistent to the highway road rash, and the paint was much tougher to chip and scratch. I still love the STI though. Cars like the EVO and STI can't make me drool when I look at them, and lure me in as a an enthusiast sports car fan, but the STI is my top pick for year round daily driver. So much fun to drive. The 06 is nicer looking then my 04 IMO, so that's somewhat tempting as well, but not enough to make me give up my S2K. I just saw that 06 S2K, and it drew me in like the RX8 did. My two favorite machines no doubt.

Racer X-8

You've thought about a good quality paint job by now, I'm sure. If that's all there is about your STI that you don't like (engine, clutch, tranny, suspension, interior niknaks, etc), then, paint it with a good quality paint, by a good quality painter. That would be a whole lot le$$ than the depreciation hit, not?

VikingDJ

Well, as a daily driver, there's no point to getting a good quality respray. More or less I was just bitching at Subaru, because I hate to see a car that's only 2 years old get this beat up already. If this were my fun sports car, well then yes. The Impreza is a decent looking sedan, but if you start comparing it to other sports cars in looks, it's actually quite unattractive to me. This best sums it up. I bought the STI as a winter car, and the vehicle I will put tons of miles on and drive into the ground. I took a chance that just maybe a 300hp car like the STI can give me the 200k+ miles my previous daily driver gave me. Reality hits and you wonder, if it's realistic to think the STI will last as long as my 95 Golf, which had ten solid years and 220k miles, and still ran great when I traded it in. Part of me wants to keep it just for that reason alone to find out.
As for depreciation. You'd be surprised. I own two of the best cars at retaining their value. This STI, unlike my RX8, has a big market used, so I took it in the *** when I sold my RX8, but I won't with the STI. The demand is so high for this car used, I can literally sell this car right now for $24k (trade in about 21-22k) without a problem. (I bought it for $29k, and it has almost 30k miles on it now). So that's about 20 months of ownership, 30k miles, and only a 5 grand hit.

Racer X-8

lol, ok

I'm still getting past the days when a brand new car cost 4 grand.

my bad

crimson-rain

The S2K is an awesome car. My friend has one (01'). Drives very similar to the 8 in my opinion. The convertible thing just isn't me. I would get a hard top ... better yet, that and the whole Amuse kit and convert it into ... THE TOUGE MONSTER!!!!

... screw that. I would stick with my 8!!!

REMillers

And I have yet to see a S2K spin out

CDC starts up soon...WOOT!!! be there!

StealthFox

yeah they are so resistant to snap oversteer unlike my FD. ugh i hate that. i still whoop on S2Ks up and down the alley in touge but i have to be careful on turn in not to boost too hard

124Spider

You guys are joking, right?

The S2000 is famous for snap oversteer; not that it's a dangerous car, driven right, but it will punish anyone for making a mistake. Almost any car of similar power is much more forgiving than the S2000. The S2000 group is littered with posts from idiot kids who wrapped their car around a telephone pole, or a stop sign, or some other such inanimate object, because they've never learned to drive a fairly powerful RWD car, and they spun it.

REMillers

hehe the comment I made to crimson is a joke He learned what happens when you lift throttle in the middle of a corner after I showed him how to turn the traction control completely off during a AutoX.

StealthFox

heheh drive an FD and it will seem like its snap oversteer proofed. that s2k can just hold corners so hard though, its an amazing handling car.

mtan86

This is my first post on this forum, yeah, I am new. I'm also a member at mazda6 and mazda3 forums (I only own the mazda3 and it's my first car). I'm looking to get an RX8 as my next car but I'm in the same position as the first guy who started this post and a little torn between the two cars....I've been reading and researching. I've actually test driven an 05 RX-8 (I had a fun time driving it too) and I actually haven't gotten the chance to drive the s2k because the dealers are being a little stingy nowadays, but they did let me sit in one. Probably because of my age (I'm currently 19). I don't own either of the 2 cars but I currently own a Mazda3 (a great car btw if you're looking for a daily driver/econo car). Anyway, this is what I've come up with from what I've been reading and looking up + experience I've had and what my friends have said (they test drove both).

Anyway, here's what I pretty much came up with:
s2k
positive:
-better handling than the 8 (it's from what I've been hearing and reading)
-better gas milage
-More reliable (it's a Honda, NA, and it's a piston engine)
-MTs is slightly better on Hondas imho
-convertible (only a good thing if you like it.)
-and from what I hear, amazing grip on that car.
-Honda's customer service is "better" from what I hear
-I'm not too sure on this, but on paper, it's supposedly faster straight line? but I think someone else proved differently in 1/4 mi?
-comes with a spare tire
-interior feels better, but looks plain.
-convertibles are great in nice weather (IE a nice drive down pacific coast highway on a good day)

negative:
-if you like a daily driver, not my kind of car because of the harsh ride, can get tiresome for some people.
-insurance costs are pretty high
-MSRP is pretty expensive (you can buy a nicer car for the same money), occasionally you may find some place that sell around invoice.
-2 seater if you're a family man.....it's a problem and if you don't have another car...it's also a problem for cargo....(can be a good thing if you're single)
-noise (convertibles generally have this issue)
-have to pull over to pull up top on rainy days.....CA is getting some unpredictable weather. The alternative to that would be to just buy a hard top if you hate convertibles and keep it on during the winter and during the summer, take it off.

RX-8
positive:
-2+2 configuration (bring friends/freeloaders/lazy people who don't want to drive) can be bad, can be good. Depends if you wish to play bus driver with your friends. (alternative is that you can stuff a grip load of stuff on the back seats and tell them to take a hike =P).
-4 door (easier to get in and out than a conventional coupe)
-rare car = more stares (I don't see too many on the road, I see more s2k's)
-straight line acceleration isn't too bad
-handling, although supposedly slightly worse than the s2k, is great.
-cheaper insurance, last time I got quoted it was about $500-600 less than s2k
-imho, I think it looks better, but the s2k isn't such a bad looking car either
-interior looks better, but doesn't feel as great as the build quality in the s2k (it's not too far behind imho).
-not as harsh ride, from what I've been reading, it's easier on your bum
-I believe it has bigger trunk space than the s2k.
-it can be used in almost all weather conditions (except snow, I hear it's terrible in snow conditions)
-cost, it's cheaper, and there are deals out there that you can even get the car for a lot lower than the MSRP

negative:
-fuel economy (I'll bet that the cheaper insurance makes up for it though).
-reliability is a little up in the air and is debated to be not so good while others say it's as reliabile as a rock (If I were to guess, it's probably because of people doing stupid stuff with their rotary engines and not reading the manual)
-visibility is supposed to be poorer (I don't know, people talk about visibility, but it's not really a big deal for me when I drove it)
-no spare tire, can be a pain in the butt, but there's a kit that comes with the 8 to patch up your tires
-more maintenence? (this machine drinks oil like no other (from what I've been reading) and I believe there is a warm up period too? Don't flame, I don't own one)

In terms of both...you also have to consider the fact that gas prices are rising....and at the rate these prices are, I think I'm more likely to get another econo car before I even think about getting an 8 or an s2k

Just thought I would be of some help to the first guy and whoever is still torn between the two cars. Well, that's all that I can think of atm. In the end, I'm leaning toward the 8.

StealthFox

got a few things wrong

1. the rx8 in ergonomics and build quality is far superior to the hondas, it has the best interior quality ratings in its class, its literally a world apart i cant see how you're comparing the two, 4 seater vs a small roadster.
2. the transmission on the rx8 is also the best in its class and has one of the shortest shifting throws of any production car.
3. the s2k is easily faster than the rx8

to confirm a few things

the s2k is definately a better handler than the rx8
the visibility is indeed TERRIBLE in the rx8, you will eventually get used to it though but its pretty dangerous

i have a few friends with s2ks and am around the regularly, its a very very fun car to drive and i'd reccomend that over the rx8. not as good as an FD though...but thats not exactly the kind of car you get if you're not very knowledgable about rotaries

Raptor2k

The s2k's visibility is worse, unless the top is down, of course.

mtan86

Fox, I didn't say the RX8 was faster, I just said that straight line wasn't so bad. The build quality, I just got that from some reviews (C&D and motortrend) I read and the same with the transmission. And to clarify, I meant visibility is worse than the s2k when the top is down for obvious reasons.

124Spider

While I agree that comparing the two cars is silly, it's equally silly to say that the "build quality" on the Mazda is superior, much less "far superior" to the Honda. I own both, and that's utter nonsense. The RX-8 is far roomier and more luxurious, but that has nothing to do with "build quality."

The transmission on the Mazda is a very fine one, but car magazine after magazine say that the S2000 transmission is the finest transmission on any production car. For instance, in a review of ten sports cars (including, e.g., a couple of Porsches), Road & Track said of the S2000, "this Honda 2-seater still has the best gearbox in the business." See this article. My experience with both cars agrees with that appraisal.
Sure, the S2000 is faster (quicker to speed, really), but not by a lot, because the RX-8 has taller gearing, requiring one less shift to 60, and one less to a quarter mile.

yiksing

I think Honda has the best gearbox in the S2000 or the NSX, Ford seems to think so too about the shift feel so they too try to make the one in the Ford GT as similar as possible.

JB_Rotary

I think that the cars are equal if you take away all of the compromises Mazda made to sell to a much broader audiance. Both cars have 50/50 weight. High reving engines and are track oriented cars. However, Mazda made some comrpomises that make it take a back seat to the S2000 in a few of ways. Weight is probably the biggest factor. s2k is about 2700lbs vs rx-8(base model) 2900~3000lbs. which really kind of ticks me off becasue half of the advantage of a rotary engine is its light weight. Resesis ~ 270lbs(according to this site). I wonder what a renesis in an FC would do? FC = 2400lbs.

StealthFox

rotarys are not that all much ligher than a small block chevy v8 ls1 engine actually. they have cast iron blocks that are very heavy. thats one of the two most common misperceptions about rotaries, gas efficiency and light weight.

phxtravis

I was next to one on a freeway on ramp, sweeping left hand turn. He had me by a nose but I started to creep up as the speed increased, I also f'd up and hit the limiter in first.