I have been in love with this car ever since its inception in 2000. I don't even like convertibles but it still holds my heart. It it THAT good. With this car Honda has captured the true meaning of sports car. High power, low weight, everything planned out to the greatest extent. As it was just revised for 2004 I will comment on the differences of this car as I go.
You already know that it's beautiful. I will tell you that its ergonomics are very well laid out and comfy. Fit and finish are superb. For 2004 we get some nice subtle styling updates. My favorite is that the cabin is a little roomier due to deeper sculpted doors. This is a very nice touch as I drove a 2002 and a 2004 back to back and really appreciated the added elbow room. The rest of the changes I'm sure you can find elsewhere so I won't list them.
What we really care about this car is how it performs.... Vroom vroom. The S2000 is no compromise car. It extremely stiff and it is loud on the freeway. The 2004 is supposed to ride quieter but I felt their noise levels were the same. The 2004 has notably softer suspension though. Still sporty, just the pre 2004 cars have rock solid suspension like nothing factory I have ever driven. I do find its leather clad seats extremely comfy and supportive. To further support their ideals that this should be a pure sports car Honda didn't feel the need to come out with a watered down automatic version. It is a six speed or nothing. Don't be fooled that sixth gear will be a nice cruising gear, unless of course you consider cruising at 4,500 rpm at 80 mph relaxing. This gearbox was meant for the track, to keep you right in the powerband. Which, by the way is the best thing about this car.
Life in the S2000 begins at 6,000 rpm (regardless of year). This is when the VTEC kicks into gear. For the uninitiated basically where most engines would give up this one switches to monster mode which gives you another 2,000 rpm to play with. When this kicks in you will notice a slight and sudden increase in acceleration. The exhaust note changes slightly and you will be amazed as the car rockets off getting faster and faster with building rpm (and increasing pulse) as the beautiful digital tach sweeps across the dash toward its 8,000 rpm redline. This car goes from zero to illegal in about six seconds. One point of difference between the pre and post 2004 cars is the new cars come with a 2.2l engine (old 2.0l) that produces more low end torque than previously. The old engine has 3,000 rpm of VTEC fun to play with and thus has a bit higher redline than the new. While they both produce 240 hp the new one does it at 800 rpm less than the old. I had the chance to drive a 2003 S2000 at a racetrack and can say it is nice to have a wider VTEC range to be able to stay there no matter what. In the new car I felt as soon as I entered that range I had to shift out too soon. If you don't plan to track your car (if you own this car I highly suggest doing this at least once) both of these engines are equally impressive. I did notice that the 2004 has a little extra torque, but it is not really anything to brag about. The whole fun of this car anyway is to drop it a couple of gears and scream off whilst nobody can keep up.
Equally if not more important to the engine is the cars handling and balance. This car is a front mid engined car. Its mass is centralized for better turning and it has 51% of its weight on the rear tires. It is a common misconception that 50/50 is the ultimate weight distribution. Formula cars are actually more like 60% weight on the rear tires. The S2000 is about the closest you will get to this save the NSX or Lotus Elise. It is a very well balanced car. The S2000 I drove at the track reminded me much of my 1995 Toyota MR2 in the handling department. It is easily throttle steered (if you know what you are doing). Heel-toe action is very well set up. Coming out of a corner just squeeze on the throttle and the car just hugs the pavement until you actually start to scare yourself. Then it sticks some more. When you need to stop this car does so with serious authority. To get the most out of this car take it to a local autocross or driving school and learn what it can do. Not doing this could actually be dangerous as this car can spin out on the uninitiated. For 2004 the suspension was set up to be less sensitive to bumps upsetting the car during a corner and to give the driver more warning before a spin. I would say for most people this is a good thing. For the die-hard racers they may (I do) prefer the more aggressive old setup.
Another item to mention is shifting. I have never felt such a short throw. And of course in true Honda style shifting is very precise and it is never hard to get in a gear.
There have been many complaints because the new car's steering is less sensitive than the old. I found this complaint unfounded. I think people read too much into numbers and should worry more about the feel of the car. I equally like the different steering ratios of the pre and post 2004 cars. The newly updated car is being treated by some as a totally new car which is very untrue. I have had time behind the wheel of both and can say that this is just the evolution of a good thing. The differences are detail and in my book every S2000 gets five stars.
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