D13vyl Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Hi Guys For the summer im thinking of getting a good priced honda s2000 soft top, Ill be keeping the zed off course. Ive seen some cracking deals on private sales at the moment, 60Kmiles on the clock at £8K. At 36 yrs old in January i think i am going thro a mid life crisis, having a 24yr old girlfriend lol. Well i only learned to drive 18months ago lol Does Anyone else on here have the Honda as a second car, and do u rate them? Thanks D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatboy Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 I have never driven one but if I was going to get a second car I would go a bit more extreme, elise or a vx220, even a caterham or something like that. For me an S2000 is a bit too similar to a 350z (all be it without a roof) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D13vyl Posted December 15, 2009 Author Share Posted December 15, 2009 Hi Goatboy I test drove an s2000 a while back and didnt really get the most out of the car at all as i had the sales man beside me, so i could get it over 5000rpm, and these babies only come to life after that. I am looking for a soft top and will only be used in good weather what do u suggest soft top wise, cheers D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatboy Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 what do you want it for? Driving purity, looks, cruising ability etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UNABASHED Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 very, very nearly bought an s2k just before I got myself a 350. I personally love the cars, feel faster than the 350 due to the manic nature of the engine and a lot cheaper to run. I thought they were a loty of fun but I had come from a CTR and so it was a bit too similar a driving experience - barring the RWD of course. The only other things that put me off was that it didn't really look aggressive enough and the interior looked dated. All depends why you want the 2nd car? will it be for hooning around at weekend or track days? If I were to get something as a 2nd car it would be something more along line of elise/exige/atom/vx220turbo etc. something much more track orientated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D13vyl Posted December 15, 2009 Author Share Posted December 15, 2009 Hi Lads Thaks for the replies, it will mainly be for cruising and a few trips up to the highlands, I dont want to spend £15K, £8K would be my limit at the moment depending how my business does over the next few months. The zed is bought and paid for so no finance. I saw a red s2000 on auto trader for £6.5K with 35Kmiles and wasnt cat D, the thing is the standard alloys have got to go lol. D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UNABASHED Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 I don't see any point paying £8k for another car that will be used for the same thing as you current car though - there's not much (if anything) an s2K can do that the Z cannot? For cruising around the Z looks better, maybe for the highlan twisties the s2K would be more of a hoot but not enough to justify £8k I wouldn't have thought! I'd go for a s1 exige or elise - great fun in twisties, cheap on petrol etc - only drawback is you look like a tit getting in and out (I crawled out on my hands when visiting the lotus dealer lol) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D13vyl Posted December 15, 2009 Author Share Posted December 15, 2009 Lol Yeah mate im a bodybuilder and my mate had one a while back i had to be pushed out the damn thing lol. Was there not a lot of mechanical issues with the elise? Anyway many thanks for the responses D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digsy Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 I looked at getting one with the same budget in mind but was put off as the ones in my price range were leggy or old or both. Bear in mind that the early ones can rust and pre-2002 the tail can be a a bit viscious. They don't seem as solid reliability-wise as early Zeds. I'd sign up to the S2000 forums and find out what to look for - they're very friendly folk. I did have a test drive in one with an HKS exhaust - very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilsheepshagga_turbo Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 my cousin has an s2k which i drive quite often. its an absolutely awesome car. (2009 reg tho) there are some cracking deals to be had on them. tbh if you drive the car with the same mind thought as you drive the zed then you wont have an issue ie be gentle in the wet. The amount of mechanical grip it has is untrue and the feel of the thing reminds me of my vx220 just a lil more comfy. it isnt cheaper than running the zed tho. real world driving your gonna get about 22mpg and its v power only in the s2k. mods are also just as expensive as the zed unforunately. go test drive on thoroughly and see what u think of it really m8. i would personally say go for it and sign on to a s2k forum and read about what to look out for when buying. good luck -ho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Was there not a lot of mechanical issues with the elise? Depends on the car, but they're about as fallible as the Zed is overall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatboy Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 for me I would be seriously tempted back into a VX220. doesn't need to be a turbo and 8K should get you a reasonably nice one (particularly this time of year) yes they are a bit cramped inside but once you've got the roof off you don't notice it so much. No idea how big you are but I'm 6ft 5 and fitted in my VX fine (they are bigger than a series 1 Elise inside). Its a completely different driving experience from a 350z, very focused, very at one with the car. you also sit very low to the ground so the sense of speed is greater. I got rid of mine as I didn't have enough decenet roads to drive it on, if I had highlands available to me I'd probably still have it. Like I said for me an S2000 is just a bit too much like a 350z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maz77 Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Hi GuysFor the summer im thinking of getting a good priced honda s2000 soft top, Ill be keeping the zed off course. Ive seen some cracking deals on private sales at the moment, 60Kmiles on the clock at £8K. At 36 yrs old in January i think i am going thro a mid life crisis, having a 24yr old girlfriend lol. Well i only learned to drive 18months ago lol Does Anyone else on here have the Honda as a second car, and do u rate them? Thanks D I am thinking of getting one this winter and turn it into a track car. I was thinking more along the lines of a CAT D car though as you can have a decent one for 1/3 of that price and still have minor damage. I drove my friends 57 plate few times and felt so close to karting. was really good fun. It seems cheaper to mod compared to the Zed and could loose significant weight also. however, I cant justify buying one to do what the Zed can do better to be honest with you. its less comfortable and running costs are similar to the Zed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 If it's just for the summer then get something daft like a Caterham Roadsport or something. If you're keeping the Zed then there's no real need for it to be practical if it's just for the summer, and you'll not lose money on anything that cheap for a few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UNABASHED Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Lol Yeah mate im a bodybuilder and my mate had one a while back i had to be pushed out the damn thing lol. Was there not a lot of mechanical issues with the elise? Anyway many thanks for the responses D there were issues with the head gasket going on the earlier Elise as it had the Rover k-series engine, get a cheap s1 elise and stick a civic type r engine in - smashing car then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Not going to get any change from £15K if you do that though, bit more than £8K There's nowt wrong with a K-series engine that a couple of hundred quid can't fix anyway if it's got HGF or not, and it certainly wouldn't put me off buying one. There isn't a car in the world that can touch an S1 Elise (except maybe an S1 Exige!) as a driving experience, and I'd love one as a second car if funds allowed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 i'd get an early s1 elise or exige, or vx220, pick them up for peanuts these days for what they are. early S1 had the k series engine but it was a lot more bullet proof in the lighter cars than when it was in land rovers. they did go, but it was down to cheap gaskets. rover saved a few quid per car by using cheap gaskets which blew out over time. i think hangar 111 sell new upgraded gaskets and once fitted i've been told no one who has them ever has a problem with them blowing. if you get one and they don't have the uprated gaskets i'd do it when you buy it as it would be cheaper. if you wait for it to blow you'll have to have the head re skimmed and your looking at about £500 ish for the job. Vx's don't have that problem, don't know a huge amount about them but speak to ekona as he had the turbo version or some of the other lads and they'lll know of any issues with those. if you want to do an engine converison i know a very good man who'll drop what ever you like in the back of an elise, he race tunes and preps elises for the elise cup. or as mentioned things like the caterham are great fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.