Honda S2000 pricing

[Kickstart]

Only just discovered Honda S2000's and planning to buy one - probably looking for a 2007 ex-demo one with nominal mileage.
The question is what is a decent price for one noting the time of year. I have seen one with 90 miles (6 month old) ex-demo for sale for £21,995 (on autotrader website) is that reasonable or can they be bought for closer to £20k ?
Also the car will be used for a few euro track days is it worth buying a hardtop version.

Thanks for any hints, advice etc

[MrFlibbles]

Kickstart said:

Also the car will be used for a few euro track days is it worth buying a hardtop version.

Why would you need a hardtop version for Euro trackdays?

You'll probably find that all the GT owners will rave about how great having teh hardtop is and all the non GT owners will say you dont need it.

As a non GT owner, you don't need it. Mines a daily driver that lives outside. The roof is well insulated and doesnt leak at all. If you get the hard top, IMO, you've got all the hassle of where to store it when you arent using it, and putting it on and off is a 2 man job. You also lose the freedom of taking the roof off if you get a nice sunny spell.

If you go to Europe with the hardtop on, you're stuck with it all the time. FWIW - I took mine to the 'ring last year, we had the roof down all the way there, it only ever went up when we parked up at night!

If you're planning on tracking it, in my experiece I found the brakes to be lacking a bit in fast road use. I've swapped the pads for Ferodo DS2500's and they've made a world of difference.

[havoc]

There's an independent (Bob Gerard) in Leics which does Euro-imports at very good prices (IIRC new for not much more than the £22k estimate above). And with a car like that I'd be wary of an ex-demo...VTECs really do need the oil to be warmed up before playing with, and in my experience neither salesmen nor punters have the sympathy/patience...

Other option is get a late-05, before the 06 model-change which brought in electronic throttle (optional VSA) instead of throttle-cable, plus some more suspension changes (undecided whether better or worse) and a slight alloy re-design.


Hard top for trackdays...a lot of people don't bother, the A-pillars are supposed to be pretty strong, the roll-over hoops are proper stuff, and it's got such a low c-o-g and wide track you'd have to hit something (kerb/ditch) to roll it anyway. But the r-o hoops aren't that high - I'm 5'10" and if mine rolled it'd be questionable if my head would hit the ground first...

Hard top in general...mine's on now, mainly to protect the soft-top and to make it a bit warmer/more habitable in this weather. But the soft-top IS very good as Russ says, so it's personal preference...


Other advice...get the geometry properly set-up - it makes a real difference to the handling for £150-250 for a professional job. And I spent £300 on 3x cross-braces, which made an even bigger difference to the 'feel' of the car...stiffer, more consistent now, with heavier more feelsome* steering, and deals with mid-corner bumps better at the rear...

• Don't expect Elise-like feedback though...it's better, but still not brilliant.

[Kickstart]

Thanks all - going for a test drive on Sat - hope I like it.

As the car will be used mostly for trackdays, europ fast road with no winter use what are the best tyres ?

Thanks

Kickstart

[havoc]

Stock RE050s are pretty handy, apparently. Import-only RE-01R's are supposed to be the mutt's nuts (road and track), but B'stone don't appear to be selling in the UK. But sounds like you should be looking at a near-trackday tyre. Make sure you get one with stiff sidewalls...handling adversely affected otherwise.

Also check s2ki.co.uk - I could give you lots of advice for 16" rims, but that's no good to you...

[Cathar]

Here's a GT owner who thinks you don't need the hardtop. Mine is for sale actually, I drove around with the top down all day yesterday.

[MiloD]

Cathar said:

Here's a GT owner who thinks you don't need the hardtop. Mine is for sale actually, I drove around with the top down all day yesterday.