There are 2 kinds of rigidity: bending and torsional. The S2000 might edge the 8 in one, but there's no way that a roofless car will be stiffer all around unless the RX-8 was made from a sponge.

 

beat me too it!

the structural rigidity of a vert can NEVER be that of a 1/2 decent coupe

 

That's not true, I weighed our 00 in bone stock trim with 1/4 tank of gas and myself in it (150 pounds) and it was barely over 2700 pounds.

 

I'd say the chances that a stock S2K tipped the scales at under 2550 is very slim. Honda are usually pretty accurate when publishing curb weights of their cars.

Was your driveshaft laying on the ground beside the car when you weighed it, by any chance?

 

you're right i should have specified more. my apology.

 

While I know owners of 2.2L and 2.0L S2ks and I've driven an '01 S2k several times, I haven't weighed an S2k myself... so I'm not in a strong position to argue with you. However, your number goes against what people have been posting over at www.s2ki.com and www.vtec.net for years. Stock S2ks (going back to MY '00) have been widely reported at over 2700. Some were able to get under 2700 by using lighter aftermarket parts and by stripping away non-essentials (airbag, spare tire, etc). One guy was even able to get it down to almost 2500 by gutting the interior.

A couple posts from S2ki (these are typical):
Do you have an explanation for why your result does not match up with most people's?

 

The right decision will come naturally once your subconscience mulls it over.

I bought an RX-8 for one reason: I was blown away by how it looked in person after seeing it one day on pure accident. Previously I would never have given it another thought, because the web photos I had seen were unconvincing and all the wrong angles. In the end it was the best looking new car available in late 05 for $31,000.

Incidentally I achieve 11-12 mpg and burn 1 qt. of oil about every 1000 miles. Since I bought it on looks, I also spend 30 minutes at the end of every day detailing the exterior (black).

When I need to wash laundry, I pass the waiting time by conditioning the weather seal and any other rubber areas that I am continually discovering, or maybe treating the leather every month or so. I change my oil and radiator fluid frequently, renting a vehicle lift. As you can imagine, 60 seconds to pop the trunk and check the dip stick is nothing to me.

At the end of the day, after a hard drive, the car is just purring in idle contentedly, letting me know it has appreciated the time I took to ride it out. There are some other cars out there on the lot, maybe even another RX8 with some bird poop eating through the trunk lid, but not mine. That's why mine always has a smiling face to show me when I approach from the front bumper.

So I bought on a superficial reason, and I had no expectations, but it has been a good vehicle so far and is showing me new things about itself every day.

I offer you no recommendations, just sharing my experience thus far and hopefully you can weigh that against your open-air experience.

 

Wow guys, it's been two months since he asked, I'm sure he decided by now.

User24 - 11-12 mpg?!

 

I wish he'd tell us what he decided.

But if he's still thinking about it...

I have never driven and S2k, but I have one piece of insight on comparing the two. When I park my car at work, I am the only RX8 at work. And every morning I have to walk past two or three S2ks just in my lot. I can only imagine how many there are in the other 5 parking areas at work.

 

I'm in the same boat mileage wise, 11 to 12mpg city driving and get 20 to 22 highway. I keep telling Mazda this can't be normal and they keep telling me it is.

 

Eh?????

 

I have both and there both great cars..im a true honda fan but my 8 is great

 

I have both, and the S2000 is a keeper (I am on my 2nd S) and the 8 is probably not. I MAY keep the 8 or I may not, the S2000 I WILL keep. It is just a more fun car and gets a lot better mileage :D

S2000: Love
RX-8: Like

If I get rid of the 8 I am thinking of the speed6 - a lot more room and AWD. Lots of other choices as well. I drive both as intended at get 23-25mpg on the S commuting to work and 13-15mpg in the 8. With $3+ for premium gas costs are a lot more for the 8. Heck, I owned a 394hp M5 and got BETTER mileage with it commuting that I do in the 8

The 8 is fun to drive (not as much as the S) but the bad resale value - made worse by more recalls and the mileage being so bad. I am not tall and the backseat behind me is not really usable - I CAN get 2 of the kids on the passenger side - one front and one in the back - but it is a tight squeeze. The trunk is larger (if you don't have the spare kit) but the small, odd shaped opening limits what you can put in it.

My 8 has been fine, runs super, blows cold air, etc so I am tempted somewhat to keep it. Maybe if gas would return to $2 a gallon for premium it would be more likely....

I would keep the S and get a 2nd car, even if you have to get a beater, for when you need more room. I have a truck for truck things, an old Suby AWD wagon for snow days, a convertible for nice days, and the 8 for the other days

Put the stock exhaust back on and save your hearing while you are at it.

Dennis

 

Agreed

Especially since a street-legal exhaust won't add any power, only bling, to the S2000.

 

When I had a C5 convertible one of the vendors (MADvette?) used to send out an audio CD with sound clips of all the various exhausts they sold - taken from both in the car and from outside and both idle and driving. I found the best sound on the CD for inside the car was the stock exhaust! The others were just made more noise. Now from outside the car the OEM system seemed tame.

Same with the M Miata I used to have, sounded super in the car but pretty tame to others outside the car.

Moral of the story: if you are trying to impress others or attract attention, then get and aftermarket system. If you don't care about that, keep the stock system.

The 8 has a nice, but different, note to it from in the car. Don't know or care what it sounds like outside the car, but sounds unique from the inside.

Dennis

 

I agree with you 100%. I'm coming from an RX8 myself to an 01 S2K, and now an 06 S2K. No denying the fun factor of the S2K, the better gas mileage, and of course far better residual value. I also think it's gonna prove to me much more reliable long term. I can imagine driving my S2K trouble free for many many years and many many miles. Never had that trust with my RX8 unfortunately, although I did really enjoy that car. The constant dealer visits and problems told me NO MAS.

I also traded in my daily driver (STI) for the Speed 6. It's selling for insanely cheap right now in most areas (several grand below invoice after all the incentives. ) Just realize that the Speed 6 is basically just an AWD 6 with good power, luxury, and respectable handling for a car this big and heavy. It's way more of a luxury performance car then an enthusiast sedan. Lots of body roll, lots of torque, but with power ending abrubtly up top (5500rpms). It makes for a great daily driver, and I got 27mpg highway my last tank, and i get about 22-23 city. It's definitely not an enthusiast type car, which is why it's failing in the market and being unloaded for cheap, but this is the time to snag one of these bad boys. It comes with so many great standard features, even on the sport model, and is just so comfortable as a daily driver. It's a total sleeper, that doesn't get attention, which I actually enjoy. I miss my STI's performance, but for my long commutes to work, I love this 6, even if it is an older person adult luxury car. Enjoy.

 

First, you should put your children on a exercise routine

Granted, my dad is rather large and he is tight in the passenger seat, but I have had no problems with fitting people in my car, and have had multiple "this isn't bad at all" comments. I also like being able to toss things in the back seat and access them easily via the back doors.

Secondly , since he is a college student, I am assuming he can't afford FOUR cars (I can barely afford one!). 8 vs S, the 8 is going to win out in functionality any day. You're not going to move in to an appartment (at least not in one trip), but thats what UHaul is for, or if you're Dennis, you can just buy a moving truck and add an extended garage on your house.

So yeah, being 22, I like the sharp looks, fast drive and tight handling, but I also like being able to drive my friends to the bar and take my laundry to the laundry mat.

 

Like I said, get a cheap beater for times when he needs more space.

All my kids are taller than me with the boys being around 6'. Getting 2 6' folks one behind the other is not that easy in an 8. We would take the Suby or my wife's car if we had to do that a lot.

If it get rid of the 8 and get a speed 6, I could sell the Suby and use the 6 as my snow day car

My 8 is fun, runs great, looks nice - but it does have some issues: mainly fuel economy and resale value that would make it hard to recommend to someone wanting to come out of an S2000.

Dennis

 

It was hard enough to get one parking pass in school...

 

Let's not go overboard on the back seats on the RX-8; I'll sit in the back seat of my S2000 at about the same time I sit in the back seat of our RX-8--which is to say, never.

That said, the RX-8 is a far more practical car. And I would be more comfortable leaving an RX-8 in outdoor parking at a college for long stretches than an S2000. The RX-8 is a great compromise car. But these are two entirely different cars, and one shouldn't have to ask others' advice on which one he should get--try them both, and it should be obvious which is the better one for you.

 

The S2000 shifter has been called "perfect" in various reviews. I remember the first time I drove an S, I hopped our of a 'vette with a LONG throw 6 speed and I swear when I tried to hit 1 to 2 I though the tranny had jammed up.

That said, with a VooDoo **** in both the 8 and the S I prefer the 8's shifter! I never thought I would think the S had a long throw but the 8 w/VooDoo **** is positively shorter - even shorter that the VooDoo + short shift kit I had in my Miata. When I get back in the S it feels weird now...

I do like how with either car you don't see a lot of them on the road.

It is also not fair for a student to have an S - or to be looking at an 8

When I went off to college I had a '67 Mustang with a 200 cu in 6, 3 speed tranny, and over 100k on the clock. What a heap...

Dennis

 

When I drive my brother's C5 with a stock shifter, I have a nasty tendency to shift from first into neutral the first time, since I'm used to a short throw.

But the short throw is only part of the charm of the S2000 transmission. The precise gates don't matter much on the street, but on the track, or in autocross, they matter a lot, and the precision of the S2000 tranny is unmatched on any production car I've driven (or Road & Track).

 

Way of base my friend, the back seat room in the 8 is excellent for a car this size. I'm 5'10" and find the rear seat very comfortable. The 8 is a functioning 4 seater with road manners very similar to the S2000 yet with utility the S2000 can only dream of.

The only thing I envy the S2000 for is the gas mileage, beyond that I am quite happy with the 8. And for the record I do like the S2000 a lot but it is a weekend toy.

 

Actually, I never said it wasn't a four seat car; I only said that I won't be attempting to fold myself into the back seat of the RX-8 (I'm 6'2"). That's a fact. I also said that the RX-8 is an excellent compromise car; the back seat is fine for a small car; it just won't fit long people. That's not a slam; that's reality. And, as a matter of fact (not opinion), I have plenty of head room in the S2000 (even with the top up and a helmet on), while my head brushes the ceiling of our RX-8 without a helmet, and I can't drive the RX-8 with a helmet on.

That's your opinion, and that 's fine (it happens to be an opinion shared by my wife). I also said that these cars were very different cars (gee, one's a raw two-seat roadstar, and the other one's a fairly refined four-door coupe); some people value utility; some value elemental, open-top driving. These are different cars, meant to satisfy different wants.

Of course, some of us value both, and have both (but also know the actual strengths and weaknesses of both cars), so ease off on the "way off base my friend."

That, also, is a mere opinion, which would be fine if stated as an opinion (rather than as an assertion of fact). My opinion is that the S2000 is a fine daily driver (I have the second generation, which has a far more tractible engine than the RX-8 or the first generation S2000). Heck, in July, I drove the 700 miles to Thunderhill in one day, drove the track for two days, and drove home on the fourth day; despite the temperatures which exceeded 110, I was quite comfortable the entire trip.

Sure, most people would prefer the RX-8 as a daily driver, but Honda didn't make the S2000 for "most people."

 

One other thing that is common for both cars - there are a LOT of folks out there that do not "get them". For the same money you could get something like a Mustang GT. So they don't understand why you would want a car that winds to 8 or 9k and has so little torque that you have to DRIVE it.

There are a lot of folks who take a test drive and walk away unimpressed (by the motor) and will never have one.

One of our customers was in town last year and noticed the 8 in the parking lot. She asked around who here drove it, it was mine. She said she was thinking of getting one and proceeded to ask me a lot of questions and went out to look at the car. She had test driven one and thought she might like it. The next day was perfect drop-top weather so I was in the S. I told her if I had to choose I would keep the S, she looked it over and liked it too. During a lunch break we went for a drive and I let her drive it back. Since it was fully broken in she could redline it. I bet it took her hours to get the grin off her face after we got back. She had no more 8 questions - but more S questions (like where to get a good deal on one). She got both cars, but like me the S spoke to her more. She may have ended up with the 8 ("more practical") or something else - but I think the S would have been more fun for her.

That is the key - which car speaks to you? Just about anything new on the road today is a "good car" so there may be few BAD choices - drive what you can afford that makes you happy.

Dennis