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Honda S2000 vs. Nissan 350Z

183 messages,  Last post on Sep 08, 2007 at 11:04 AM

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What is this discussion about? Honda S2000, Nissan 350Z, Coupe, Convertible

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#43 of 183 Re: Personal preference: [gsolman6] by dat2 Jan 29, 2007 (9:50 pm)
Replying to: gsolman6 (Jan 29, 2007 8:51 pm) true C/D was talking about the coupe, not the 'vert...
#44 of 183 C&D by fedlawman Jan 29, 2007 (10:00 pm)
Did a comparo of 5 convertibles back in 2003. The Audi TT, BMW Z4, Porsche Boxster, 350Z and S2000.   http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/6846/the-blow-dryers.html   They thought the S2000 wouldn't be a competitor because it is so much less expensive than the others, and powered by a small 2.0L engine.   It won the comparison. It was the most responsive handling car, 2nd quickest in straight-line acceleration (behind the BMW), and fastest lapper around BeaveRun. It was also the harshest riding and smallest of the bunch. The 350Z, on the other hand, was praised for it's sporty character and it's comfort, but was panned for it's curb weight and cave-like, high silled cockpit.   Personally, I don't get this comparison (S2000 vs. 350Z). To my mind, it's like comparing a Bell 206 to a Cessna 206.
#45 of 183 Re: Personal preference: [gsolman6] by glendower Jan 30, 2007 (7:04 am)
Replying to: gsolman6 (Jan 29, 2007 6:12 pm) "The S2000's gauges and layout are designed to mimic an F1 car's."   That's swell. Wake me up when you enter an F1 race in one, will you? The gauges are goofy, like the new Civic's and an earlier Prelude's. Why Honda comes up with such stuff periodically is beyond me. Especially when they have terrific instrumentation in utility vehicles like Accord, Odyssey, and Pilot. They just can't seem to resist gimmickry. Ask redsoxgirl when she expects to see instruments like S2000's appearing in a Porsche. Answer: Don't hold your breath. Simply inappropriate.   Look, I've owned two Benz 2.3-16's with Cosworth-designed racing engines (see Automobile magazine's Feb 2007 issue), so I know how to and what it's like to drive cars that have to be revved to the max to get real grunt. Fun for awhile but over time tiresome to drive.   S2000 is a nice toy--if you can fit--but "brilliant" it is not. NSX shows that Honda is capable of "brilliance." And note that I've never claimed the Z to be "brilliant," either. Both are very nice, fun-to-drive cars--different, but still really nice cars. But the over-the-top worship of the S2000 by a few here is just annoying. Replies to this message: gsolman6 (Jan 30, 2007 7:43 am) varmint (Jan 30, 2007 2:45 pm) boosted3liters (Feb 13, 2007 10:27 pm)
#46 of 183 Re: Personal preference: [glendower] by gsolman6 Jan 30, 2007 (7:43 am)
Replying to: glendower (Jan 30, 2007 7:04 am) Well actually the S2000 digital gauges are being spread in the Honda family now as the Civic has a digital speedo. Porsche is not the end all be all of sport cars. I test drove a 968 before buying the honda, a 4 cyl with about the same hp as the S2k, and bought the S2k w/o reservation. Jeremy Clarkson can sum it up better that I do - check out his comparo on youtube b/t S2k, Z3, and one other car I forgot which.   I just wish more carmakers made no frills sports cars, light weight and nimble but sadly things are going in the comfort/overbuilt/gadgetry direction b/c American drivers want to be coddled all the time. Little do they know that less is actually more when it comes to sports cars. In other words I would rather drive a 2000 Miata over a 2000 V8 Mustang b/c it is a more visceral connected experience.
#47 of 183 Re: Personal preference: [glendower] by varmint Jan 30, 2007 (2:45 pm)
Replying to: glendower (Jan 30, 2007 7:04 am) "Why Honda comes up with such stuff periodically is beyond me."   When you have a tach that runs to 9,000 rpms, you want to highlight it as a feature. An ordinary, circular analog dial would be... ordinary.
#48 of 183 Re: Personal preference: [glendower] by habitat1 Feb 01, 2007 (11:20 am)
Replying to: glendower (Jan 26, 2007 6:34 am) "The S2000 is simply too small, has goofy, inappropriate instrumentation for its genre, and lacks adequate torque. "Brilliant" it is not. And I'm not impressed one whit by the fact that you own a 911. Overpriced and unreliable, I regret to say."   You are certainly welcome to your opinion, just try stating it as such.   I put 20k miles in a Honda S2000 over 2.5 years and found the instrumentaion to be just fine. This is a no-frills sports car and the LED tach is a better altenative to analog guages, especially when you are taking it up to it's 9,000 rpm redline. But if you want to buy a sports car based upon instrumentation as a top priority, that's up to you.   As far as "brilliance" goes, Getting more HP per liter than a Ferrari 360 and implementing some of the most advanced technolgy in anything under $60k is a big step towards deserving that accolade, IMO. The S2000, as a roadster, far exceeds the 350 Z coupe in responsive handling, steering, gearbos crispness, etc. The 350Z convertible is the Queen Mary II by comparison. The S2000 is ground up new technology, in much the same way (or better) than the NSX was at the time it was introduced   As far as the 911 being "overpriced and unreliable". I also happen to own one now (2005 Cab "S" model). I did a lot of research into it before buying, since it exceeded my next highest new car purchase by a factor of 2.5. You might find that too pricey for your blood, but it's barely half of a Ferrari 360 and the performance is comparable. Price/value is highly subjective, but again, there was nothing out there that floated my boat in terms of build quality, reliability and performance   As far as the 911 being unreliable however, that is more objective matter and you are just plain WRONG. The 911 is about as bulletproff as any high end sports car can get. I now have 12,500 miles on it's odometer and I went ahead with an oil change at 10,000 miels and 1 year, in spite for the insitance by Porsche that you car wait to 2 years and 20k miles. JD Powers ranked Porsche above Lexus this year as the #1 quality manufacturer. Even Consumer Reports gives it a recommended mark and they are not exacly fans of sports cars. So you might want to recheck you facts on that one.   If the S2000 at $32k isn't brilliant from an engineering and performance standpoint, I'd like to hear what you think is.   P.S. Sorry to hear that you can't fit. It's one of the few times I was glad I am height challenged, at 5'7". And in the case of the 911, my 5'1" wife and two pre-teen daughters can go along for the ride, as well.   Replies to this message: tides (Feb 03, 2007 6:39 pm) dat2 (Feb 03, 2007 7:22 pm)
#49 of 183 Re: Personal preference: [habitat1] by tides Feb 03, 2007 (6:39 pm)
Replying to: habitat1 (Feb 01, 2007 11:20 am) Habitat, I remember you posting on the S2000 threads from awhile back. Glad to see you're stil extolling the virtues of the S2000.   I've wanted one since it came out, and had an opportunity to buy one a couple of car purchases back. I decided to go with another car, since I was already coming from a torqueless Prelude vtec.   I've now driven the current 2.2 powerplant, and I have to say Honda has made big strides with the low end torque. I'm impressed.   The car just feels right. Fits like a glove. In addition, the clutch/manual combination is heaven. You forget you're driving a stick because it's so natural and effortless. I didn't find the clutch to be too soft. I'd driven a Civic Si immediately before, and it felt like work rowing through the gears and the clutch made my foot tired.   I think it's a tribue to the S that we're still talking about it and heaping praise on it 8 years later.
#50 of 183 Re: Personal preference: [habitat1] by dat2 Feb 03, 2007 (7:22 pm)
Replying to: habitat1 (Feb 01, 2007 11:20 am) "You are certainly welcome to your opinion, just try stating it as such."   I would hope most of us can recognize that people are stating their opinions here!
#51 of 183 Re: Personal preference: [glendower] by boosted3liters Feb 13, 2007 (10:27 pm)
Replying to: glendower (Jan 30, 2007 7:04 am) "That's swell. Wake me up when you enter an F1 race in one, will you? The gauges are goofy, like the new Civic's and an earlier Prelude's. Why Honda comes up with such stuff periodically is beyond me."   Driving an S2k is the closest thing you'll ever get to F1 technology without having to buy a Ferrari. Strap on a Mugen full exhaust and it even sound like one, less the 4 cylinders. Honda pioneered variable valve timing which you now see a lot of other manufacturers are using to improve performance; which I think is brilliant! As far as the gauges.. it's a niche-market technology. Why it's beyond you might have something to do with the factor of age? Don't get me wrong, nothing wrong with analogs(I especially like the Audi's). But people are often afraid to accept new things. Maybe it's the S2000's way of telling us.. welcome to the new millenium. The digital age. Even if future buyers were to consider not getting an S2K because of it's "goofy" gauges, they'd be at fault not to test drive it first and take it to redline b4 making a decision.
#52 of 183 S2000's gauges by gsolman6 Feb 19, 2007 (10:10 pm)
My other car is a VW GTI with analog gauges and comparing them to the S2k's there is no difference in readability. A very close analogy would be a digital clock compared to a standard one.

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