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Coupes & Convertibles Honda S2000 Honda S2000 vs. Nissan 350Z
183 messages, Last post on Sep 08, 2007 at 11:04 AM
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Replying to: accelerator (May 31, 2007 6:38 pm) |
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Would any S owners (or Z owners, or anyone else) care to enlighten me on how well the S works as a daily driver? My current car is a 2000 Celica GTS, which I have been driving every day for the past seven years. So, I know a thing or two about peaky engines and all that. I promised myself to get something with more torque next time, so I've been test driving larger and heavier cars, but driving the S was way more involving and fun than anything else I've tried lately. I'm estimating it has 30-40 ft-lbs more torque to work with between 3000-6000rpms compared to the Celica, and an extra 300 lbs of weight to haul around. It felt quicker through traffic according to my butt-o-meter. Not as grunty as the Z, for sure. But for the same price, I get a drop top. Advice, anyone? |
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Replying to: tgeen (Jun 03, 2007 12:56 pm) |
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Replying to: tgeen (Jun 03, 2007 12:56 pm) Frankly, a bigger issue was the noise level and overall comfort with the top up. I could handle it from the driver's seat, my wife did not like it from the passenger seat. If you will be doing a lot of daily driving with the top up, you may want to test drive it under those conditions. Also, do not spend too much time with your calculator doing torque-per-pound or other such calculations. It's performance that counts. In spite of a 100+ ft-lb advantage on paper, the S2000 and 350Z are essentially identical in actual (full throttle) acceleration. Around town, at 50% throttle, the Z's low end torque offers a bit better acceleration, but you will be giving up point and shoot handling and better fuel economy with the S. It's very much a subjective choice. Lastly, by comparison, my 911S "only" has a 28 ft-lb advantage over the 350Z, but at around 4 seconds 0-60, is in a completely different league, performance wise. I'm sure there is a statistical way to figure out why some ft-lbs of torque do more than others, but if you can do that, start a hedge fund, make billions, and buy a Ferrari 599. No torque issue there. 
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Replying to: tgeen (Jun 03, 2007 12:56 pm) |
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Replying to: tgeen (Jun 03, 2007 12:56 pm) The things you should also consider are your environment (will you get enough time to enjoy the car in your climate), insurance cost (it is high to insure), etc. Would you rather have some of the creature comforts the Z offers or the oneness you feel with the S2000? Do you want a unique car (S2000) or one you see everywhere (350z)? I love being at an intersection and dropping the top. I imagine people looking at me and wishing they had my carefree life. And no, I don't have a carefree life, the S2000 just lets me pretend like I do and allows me to enjoy life; for me, that is priceless. This is the first car I can see myself literally driving till 100k or even 200k miles. I've never been able to say that about any car I've owned (in 18 years of driving, this is my 11th vehicle). I've had a mustang GT and while the acceleration was fun, I'm not lacking/missing any fun by the driving the S2000. |
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Replying to: tgeen (Jun 03, 2007 12:56 pm) Look at these and you will see why I just ordered the Solstice. Solstice GXP/Sky Redline = 11.4 lbs/lb-ft Z350 = 13.4 lbs/lb-ft S2000 = 17.6 lbs/lb-ft The Sol will flat put you deep into you seat. I also went with the auto. The torque converter gives you another 2.0 torque multiplication over the gears by themselves. Yeeeeeeha!!! |
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Replying to: trucktricks (Jun 04, 2007 7:43 am)  TGREEN: Be sure to factor in how long it takes to put up/down a top on a ? An S2000 can do it in less than 4 seconds. Don't think it is important? I found myself just last week in some questionable weather but the air was cool and I didn't want to miss out on the cool breeze. So, I dropped the top. About half way home, I could literally see the wall of rain up ahead... I pulled over, pushed the button, and up went the top. I pulled over, put the top up and was was back on the freeway 15 seconds later; another 45 seconds after that, the rain was pouring down on me as I was heading into the rain. If I had been in a Solstice/Sky, I don't know that I would have risked putting the top down, not to mention getting out of the car on the freeway to put the top back up... safety factor there. But I can't argue with the push the GXP/Redline has, the looks of the Solstice, nor thier stereos!  For me though, the S2000 just fits me like a glove, and every control is exactly where I would have put it had I designed the car.
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Replying to: dat2 (May 30, 2007 12:54 pm) I travel extensively, but have tried to get through 3 times now and have never succeeded. Furthermore, I'm not doing anything until I find some better advise than the dealer gave me (I won't be doing business with them in the future. I can't stand being lied to). For those of you that think it was fixed after 2004, you're mistaken. They may have delayed the onset of the symptoms, but the service schedule doesn't recommend alignment until 30K. If I had known of the issue, I would have checked the alignment long ago and taken it to a shop with the best equipment. The dealer that quoted it above admitted that they don't have equipment sophisticated enough to accurately correct the 350z. I'm aware that the Potenzas are soft (I raced SCCA long ago and know tires and sports cars), but expected 35 to 40 K given my wife's driving habits. If any of you have information on a tire replacement recommendation for the 350z or an alignment machine that is suited for this car's suspension geometry, let me know. After all, my wife isn't going to the dragstrip with the car, she just loves the look and feel of the car and Nissan has no intent of addressing the issue.
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Replying to: rp1947 (Jun 04, 2007 11:25 am) |
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