Honda S2000 - it's like coming home
Discussion
In 2006 I was driving a Porsche Boxster S. I'd had it for about 3 years and it was around 6 years old. It was not exactly problem free and this was a situation made worse by the local Porsche main dealer who seemed unable to diagnose any single fault without 3 or 4 visits. On top of that I never really felt at one with the car, I'm sure they're great, but it just didn't do it for me. On my way back from yet another visit to Porsche I passed a Honda main dealer who had a one year old 17K black Honda S2000 sitting there on the forecourt. I stopped, test drove it and did the deal there and then part-exing the problematic Porsche. Over the next 5 years I did 140K in that S2000 and it never missed a beat, not a single thing went wrong with it. It was a hoot to drive, easy to put the roof up and down, looked the part in either guise, had the best engine/gearbox combination I have ever encountered and was very cheap to run for a proper performance car. Having had an Integra Type-R DC2 I was more than familiar with the need to rev the VTEC engine to get the very best out of it when enjoying a spirited drive and it is this I think many people miss when criticising the car... they don't get that they have to rev it beyond what they might feel comfortable doing in other cars. Once you get it it sort of becomes addictive though.
Anyway I eventually traded it for a Civic Type R and since then have had all sorts of machinery including Jags and AMGs. Recently (and probably as I am getting on a bit now) I have found myself thinking a bit more sensibly and feeling that having 4 or 5 cars is just crazy especially as 3 of them rarely get used. So I decided to streamline my fleet to a usable daily and a fun weekend car. The fun weekend car would need to tick a few boxes... cheapish to run, relatively simple (ie. not an AMG with every driver aid and extra known to man), good looking and, if possible, not likely to depreciate too much. The only answer I could come up with was... another Honda S2000. Looking at the prices for low mileage late models I was staggered to find they were not far off what they cost new... it seems I was not the only one with fond memories of Honda's efforts.
So the search began. My criteria were less than 50K miles, UK car, unmodified, FSH, AP2 generation. I did a lot of reading of forums including this one and drew up a list of things to check (mainly rust related) and set off on my quest. I looked at a fair few cars and found some really interesting 'mint' examples that were not so mint the highlight of which was a red one described as virtually showroom that had had a heap of (bad) paint, a shocking front spoiler install, some minor rear damage and (unbelievably) the rear arch lips had been cut off. Anyway I eventually happened on a private sale where the car looked fantastic. The advert wording was honest and led me to believe the owner was a genuine enthusiast... I viewed the car and was mightily impressed, it was exactly as described, but I had one more to look at... however driving away I realised I was being daft and it was the car for me so did a deal and a week later picked it up. Driving it back was like returning to that comfortable place you call home, everything I remember about them is as I remember and not filtered through a rose tinted retrospective. I get they're not everyone's cup of tea, but for me there's little to touch them.
As for the exact car it's a 2009 Synchro silver (light grey) 34.5K miles car that is absolutely stock save for a headlight washer delete and the rear boot spoiler and is a credit to its previous owner condition wise.. Impressively it came with FSH, all receipts, books and 2 keys as well as the factory hard top and the tonneau cover (unused). My plans for it are to only modify it lightly (wheels, brakes etc.) and to do so such that it can easily be returned to stock in the future. The only bad points are there is a tiny bit of lacquer peel on the passenger sill and the drivers seat bolster needs a bit of re-colouring to get it back to 100%, it's not bad, but I'm very picky. Will add some pics in due course, but here are two of the seller's pics.to be going on with:
Anyway I eventually traded it for a Civic Type R and since then have had all sorts of machinery including Jags and AMGs. Recently (and probably as I am getting on a bit now) I have found myself thinking a bit more sensibly and feeling that having 4 or 5 cars is just crazy especially as 3 of them rarely get used. So I decided to streamline my fleet to a usable daily and a fun weekend car. The fun weekend car would need to tick a few boxes... cheapish to run, relatively simple (ie. not an AMG with every driver aid and extra known to man), good looking and, if possible, not likely to depreciate too much. The only answer I could come up with was... another Honda S2000. Looking at the prices for low mileage late models I was staggered to find they were not far off what they cost new... it seems I was not the only one with fond memories of Honda's efforts.
So the search began. My criteria were less than 50K miles, UK car, unmodified, FSH, AP2 generation. I did a lot of reading of forums including this one and drew up a list of things to check (mainly rust related) and set off on my quest. I looked at a fair few cars and found some really interesting 'mint' examples that were not so mint the highlight of which was a red one described as virtually showroom that had had a heap of (bad) paint, a shocking front spoiler install, some minor rear damage and (unbelievably) the rear arch lips had been cut off. Anyway I eventually happened on a private sale where the car looked fantastic. The advert wording was honest and led me to believe the owner was a genuine enthusiast... I viewed the car and was mightily impressed, it was exactly as described, but I had one more to look at... however driving away I realised I was being daft and it was the car for me so did a deal and a week later picked it up. Driving it back was like returning to that comfortable place you call home, everything I remember about them is as I remember and not filtered through a rose tinted retrospective. I get they're not everyone's cup of tea, but for me there's little to touch them.
As for the exact car it's a 2009 Synchro silver (light grey) 34.5K miles car that is absolutely stock save for a headlight washer delete and the rear boot spoiler and is a credit to its previous owner condition wise.. Impressively it came with FSH, all receipts, books and 2 keys as well as the factory hard top and the tonneau cover (unused). My plans for it are to only modify it lightly (wheels, brakes etc.) and to do so such that it can easily be returned to stock in the future. The only bad points are there is a tiny bit of lacquer peel on the passenger sill and the drivers seat bolster needs a bit of re-colouring to get it back to 100%, it's not bad, but I'm very picky. Will add some pics in due course, but here are two of the seller's pics.to be going on with:
Edited by emmetb on Wednesday 1st September 00:40
Edited by emmetb on Wednesday 1st September 01:00
F20CN16 said:
Nice. Great choice (though I would say that). Looks like a good one, and much less used than my own. FYI in the photo the hard top is the wrong way up on the stand!
Thanks and yes I know about the orientation on the stand. The hardtop is now in my garage mezzanine stored nice and safely in a large cover.
LosingGrip said:
I like that a lot! Do you mind saying how much you paid for it? I keep finding myself looking at them on auto trader!
It was £20K which was top end of my budget really and I think this is where the market is at in reality for low mileage mint examples, but I looked at several others slightly cheaper that weren't anywhere near the condition of this one and I also looked at several others a lot more expensive (£23-25K) that also weren't as good as this one, but I think they're dealers chancing their arm. In the end I came down to choosing this one or one from a dealer in Birmingham called Shocars who price their cars right on the money and were genuinely great to deal with (it's rare I say that about dealers), but the colour and condition of this one won out and the owner was great and an obvious enthusiast (he is track prepping another one in his garage). It was also the only car with a hard top that I saw and one of only two with their tonneau cover.Lovely car and looks in great condition too. The first time I drove one it felt wrong to keep revving it past 6k but the noise and the feeling when you do is so addictive. The gearshift is superb too.
I had a pre facelift in Silverstone silver with full red interior, which I swapped for one of the runout white GT100 editions. Three years and 15000 miles later I part ex’d it against a C63 and got £12.5k for it in 2014…
Still got the tonneau cover hanging up in the garage as I forgot to put it back in the boot.
Enjoy the car OP, it’s fantastic.
I had a pre facelift in Silverstone silver with full red interior, which I swapped for one of the runout white GT100 editions. Three years and 15000 miles later I part ex’d it against a C63 and got £12.5k for it in 2014…
Still got the tonneau cover hanging up in the garage as I forgot to put it back in the boot.
Enjoy the car OP, it’s fantastic.
Your story is very similar to mine except I did it the other way around. After my S2000 which was my daily and went all over the country for work I had a Cayman S and later on a Boxster S as just a weekend car. All were good but only the S2000 was great (at least, for me). It also had an AEM v2 long arm induction kit so the noise addiction was considerable.
I can't believe I part exed the S2000 (at that point 120,000 miles) into Porsche for only £4,500. The same car can't be found now for anywhere near that! Instead of going back to S2000s though I now have an Integra DC5 in the garage for track work which feeds the VTEC addiction.
Congrats on the purchase - will be very enjoyable. Jay Emm's YouTube videos on his yellow S2000 are also enjoyable to watch.
I can't believe I part exed the S2000 (at that point 120,000 miles) into Porsche for only £4,500. The same car can't be found now for anywhere near that! Instead of going back to S2000s though I now have an Integra DC5 in the garage for track work which feeds the VTEC addiction.
Congrats on the purchase - will be very enjoyable. Jay Emm's YouTube videos on his yellow S2000 are also enjoyable to watch.
Had 2 back in the day (early 2000s, seems like yesterday but its nearly 20 years ago.....) and they still seem an attractive proposition today.
240bhp from a n/a engine in a production car with great reliability - it's got to be one of the high points of automotive engineering.
They never felt like a small (or particularly light) car at the time but now, every time I see one I think how small and neat they look.
240bhp from a n/a engine in a production car with great reliability - it's got to be one of the high points of automotive engineering.
They never felt like a small (or particularly light) car at the time but now, every time I see one I think how small and neat they look.
Koolkat969 said:
Great write-up and a great purchase!
I've enjoyed mine now for 6 years after always wanting to have one and stories like these make me appreciate it even more.
Hope you keep updating the thread with your adventures second time round, future upgrades and improvements. Enjoy!
Thanks and yes I will keep the thread up to date, but it might be slow progress at first. The initial task is to find somewhere to treat the underbody properly including dropping the petrol tank and subframe and taking the bumpers off. As far as I can see there's no rot in it yet, but I want to keep it that way so preventative measures must be taken. After that I will put it away until spring, but will sort the driver's bolster over winter. I'm pretty good at leather work so will have a go myself first - it needs rubbing back, possibly a little filler (but maybe not) and then colouring (several thin coats) before sealing and then both seats will have several coats of leather feed. Will post up progress on both fronts as I go. If anyone knows any good bodyshops to do the underbody work let me know. Happy to travel for the right job.I've enjoyed mine now for 6 years after always wanting to have one and stories like these make me appreciate it even more.
Hope you keep updating the thread with your adventures second time round, future upgrades and improvements. Enjoy!
mooseracer said:
Ohhh that is lovely. Isn't there something about the engines in the 09 cars being a bit dodgy? Could well be the usual internet stuff mind, I can't remember.
Enjoy 9000rpm
No, you are right that a certain number of 2008/2009 engines went bang due to excessive crank play. However, it was a relatively small number and nearly all went pop within 10K miles so I reasoned that a 34.5K mileage engine at 12 years old would probably have failed by now with this issue if it was going to fail at all. Let's hope I'm right Enjoy 9000rpm
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