drove an s2000, thoughts and questions

[Guest]

Caps lock is activated.

[perris]

so my friend picked up an s2000, had one new but had to sell it and has wanted another since, got this one

this is a really nice car, very well made, I personally don't think the body style has aged at all

anyway, a few thoughts

our interior is much nicer in my opinion and I really don't understand why the s2000 doesn't have "cheap plastic" according to the car rags but ours does

I know, I know, that's a foreign car and ours is domestic and the car mags hate domestic

the s2000 seats are better though, they feel like recarros, the problem is they are built to snug you in if you are an average in shape male, I am average and in good shape but the seats are too thin and don't snug me in they push at my hips

the ride is excellant as is handling

now about that engine, it does something i never read about but this owner told me it's what all these s2000 vtec does;

it seems like there are three completely differant engines with three completely differant exhasts

when idling up to a certain rpm the engine sounds great but as has been written, very little power

but BOOM, it hits a certain rpm and the engine feels even more bump then a turbo charger, and it's a specific rpm, it's as if you are on a pedal bike with three gears and you switch gears, not granual at all

and then again, later in the rev band, BOOM, another gain as if there are asymetrical turbos

so their variable valve technology is "either or", it's not "this going into that" like ours

and the final observation, I have heard all the exhausts for our car and there is always the 4 banger putt putt

but the s2000 exhaust always sound great...it's a 2.0 4 banger too and I don
't understand that























...

[kwtoxman]

The s2000 hasn't really been seriously tested by mags IMO for a while so their interior, while fine for the day would be considered a little plasticky by todays standards for sure, like ours.

The S2000 uses vtec in a manner competely different from GM. GM wusses out on their variable valve time by making the car have good all around power. Honda on the S2000 makes it an high rpm demon. It all depends on how the variable valve timing specs are set up on an engine.

[Ben L]

My observation of them as a corner worker at many autoxs and driving with them on a few  track days is that they:

(a)  will rev really high; (b) need to rev really high to make decent power and torque; and

(c) seem to turn in and handle pretty well.

On shorter autox courses, the better S2000 jockeys sometimes don't shift at all. 

Wonder what gear ratios on their box is like?

[perris]

The s2000 hasn't really been seriously tested by mags IMO for a while so their interior, while fine for the day would be considered a little plasticky by todays standards for sure, like ours.

The S2000 uses vtec in a manner competely different from GM. GM wusses out on their variable valve time by making the car have good all around power. Honda on the S2000 makes it an high rpm demon. It all depends on how the variable valve timing specs are set up on an engine.

I kind of think the valves should "always" vary, not all of a sudden, I think there would be a differant perfect pitch for each rpm so for that I think the gm engine is far more sophisticated and personally, who really wants to loose low rpm torque?

but man, that exhaust and intake really sound sweet on the s2000, even at idle up to the first kick, then it sounds better after the kick, then it starts getting whiney but still sounds great at the last kick

[perris]

My observation of them as a corner worker at many autoxs and driving with them on a few  track days is that they:

(a)  will rev really high; (b) need to rev really high to make decent power and torque; and

(c) seem to turn in and handle pretty well.

On shorter autox courses, the better S2000 jockeys sometimes don't shift at all. 

I know that's the take on their engine but what I am saying is the engine acts like it's three seperate engines and switches between them all of a sudden not gradually

I am surprised I never read about that

[Treeman]

And, like the Kappa, Honda cancelled S2000s this year.  A sad year for sweet, little roadsters!  

[Kelu]

Over 10 years old car still looking great on exterior, hmm interior inferior to ours in my eyes and still one of the top engines NA for 2L.

The main thing about this car is the weight, the lightest roadster with that power, nowadays is easy to add more horses but is a pain to reduce weight. Weight is the other half of the part when is about upgrading a car which is very hard to be done and this means a lot. With less weight ALL parts from a car has less stress. I always admired japs for this car and they put it on market back in 2000 as an anniversary of Honda, in 2010 was supposed a new anniversary to be released but the rumors says has been canceled.

Because of the weight and how the car is made handles awesome but to have great results with it you have to keep it in high revs, this is tricky in AutoX but a great driver can make great performance.

The Vtec engine is in the market for 15 years and hasn't been beaten by other manufacturer not even by BMW which is in the same market with small NA engines. Only in the last years I could see Renault 2.0L 200 Hp but nobody released a 2L NA with 240 HP.

I wanted to buy one but because nobody knows anything about its engine in my country it would be a pain for me to make any upgrades on it, the engine is pretty much to the limit in the stock configuration (another   for Honda), it's hard to squeeze more power from it with basic upgrades (exhaust, tune, intake).

This is my opinion about S2000.

[Dave@DDMworks]

The reason that you feel such a big kick with the S200 engine is that they have variable lift on the cams, so when VTEC kicks in it actually changes valve lift also. The LNF and LE5 motors simply change cam timing, but do not change lift.

[Uranium-238]

VTEC is all good, but essentially all it does is basically give the car two cam profiles. One for low RPM fuel economy, another for high RPM power. If your cam is set for high RPM power only, you'll make as much power, but it won't be as good around town. No biggie, and a waaaay overrated feature, IMO. Yes, it's great, but it's not all the ricer's would have you think it is.

<-- Former i-VTECH Civic owner.

[SolNut]

My observation of them as a corner worker at many autoxs and driving with them on a few  track days is that they:

(a)  will rev really high; (b) need to rev really high to make decent power and torque; and

(c) seem to turn in and handle pretty well.

On shorter autox courses, the better S2000 jockeys sometimes don't shift at all.  

Wonder what gear ratios on their box is like?

Top 3 gears on their Big Block unit (2.2L) are all overdrive running a 4.10 Diffy

Steve

[perris]

VTEC is all good, but essentially all it does is basically give the car two cam profiles. One for low RPM fuel economy, another for high RPM power. If your cam is set for high RPM power only, you'll make as much power, but it won't be as good around town.
<-- Former i-VTECH Civic owner.

ya, that explains my experience as though the engine feels like it has a turbo charger, wiki says the same thing;

VTEC (Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control) is a valvetrain system developed by Honda to improve the volumetric efficiency of a four-stroke internal combustion engine. This system uses two camshaft profiles and electronically selects between the profiles

so it doesn't choose "best performance for the range being used" instead it chooses "this cam or that cam", nothing inbetween

I was led to believe (but might be wrong) that our engine has continuous

one thing though, my experience was this engine has three profiles not two, it definately has a third range and I don't know if that's a cam profile or lift profile but I see three completely differant power profiles when driving this car

[Uranium-238]

Could be you finding the RPM "sweet spot" for that cam profile. I know that some cams for V8's don't do much through most of the rev range, then suddenly come on like a load of bricks.

[Ben L]

E.g., the Ford Racing Boss 347 stroker with the single plane intake manifold and custom solid roller cam in my Daytona Coupe. . . 4k to 7k

[perris]

Could be you finding the RPM "sweet spot" for that cam profile. I know that some cams for V8's don't do much through most of the rev range, then suddenly come on like a load of bricks.

that probably explains it..good call

[Uranium-238]

E.g., the Ford Racing Boss 347 stroker with the single plane intake manifold and custom solid roller cam in my Daytona Coupe. . . 4k to 7k

Yeah, that's one. The cam in my friend's 5.0 mustang is another.

[perris]

The reason that you feel such a big kick with the S200 engine is that they have variable lift on the cams, so when VTEC kicks in it actually changes valve lift also. The LNF and LE5 motors simply change cam timing, but do not change lift.

aha...that explains it

[Mac]

2,855 lb is stated curb weight of the 2008 s2000

[DirtyMike]

the s2000 seats are better though, they feel like recarros

they feel like recarros because they are...  and a popular item to steal and place in civics...common problem

[wspohn]

the engine is pretty much to the limit in the stock configuration (another  for Honda), it's hard to squeeze more power from it with basic upgrades (exhaust, tune, intake).

Yes....but!

Throw a turbo on one and it is a whole new game.

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Turbo-S2000-95psi-Vs-C6_77565.htm

[Ben L]

Jeff Duncan, a local guy who races at Cumberland runs a World Class Motors Xr7 Ultralite Lotus 7 clone with an S2000 mill.  240 hp at 8300, 153 ft lbs tq at 7500.  1047 lbs. O-60 in 3.2 seconds.

It is fast and nimble as hell, and Jeff has taken FTD with it, no easy feat up there.  A testimonial to the worthiness of the 2 L DOHC Ecotec.

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