Common S2000 problems?

z31, usually this cars are famous for buckling the rear fender when they try to pull/roll them ... most likely what happened to this car.

Keep looking, they are out there and worth waiting for the right one.

Regarding mods, even though mine was pretty modded, I agree with Josh ... the less the better. If you do get a 2006+ this is what I would reccomend:

• Flashpro (you can clean up the tune and lower Vtec to around 4k to smooth out the transition + give you more low end torque)
• Exhaust: I had a Mugen. Very quiet and deep, no drone.
• Berk test pipe - 65mm (not sure if this is something you want to do, but it will give you a few horses)
• Intake: the stocker is not restrictive at all. I had a Comptech drop in foam filter.
• Suspension: on the AP1 I had Koni yellows with espelier springs, on the AP2 I had tein Monotube coilovers. I have driven cars with KW V3s and Megan coilovers and another cheap brand .... I would go KW
• Radio (the stock one sucks) I like to keep it as stock as possible, so I had an Alpine IDX305 and boston acc. components that dropped in the stock location ... not wow but good enough.
• The best mod. was the Kraftwerks SC ... now you have a car that will keep up with the 5.0 ... It is still very linear, so it will not have the torque of the 5.0, but its a hoot to drive.

Come down for a Florida vacation and you can buy me the beer and take my S2000 for a drive

J

z31maniac wrote: How do the 2004-2005 models compare to the 06+ models? I'm thinking an '04-05 may have to work based on prices I'm seeing (I'm searching within a ~350-400 mile radius of my location. I don't really want to approach $25k and I don't want an AP1 or a ton of miles.

I would not remove an 04-05 from the list ... still a great little car. The seats are worse (this is subjective and my opinion), no flashpro available or traction control ... the rest is mostly the same. To me the best advantage of the 06+ is the computer.

$18k should get you a decent 2006 with not a lot of miles.

J

If you don't care about autocross classing, I would recommend a tune also, not necessarily for the power but to lower the Vtec crossover which is set more for marketing purposes (to generate a "kick in the seat" when it hits) than performance or drivability.

The sheetmetal really is pretty thin on these cars (light weight!), I wouldn't necessarily be scared by a small wave in a panel if there was a good explanation. The chassis tub is very rigid. My car had a fender replaced and a door smoothed out due to an inattentive lane shift by the P.O., car aligns perfect and no ill effects that I can tell.

^I definitely don't.

It was directly behind the door opening at door handle height. It kind of looked like maybe someone leaned up the against the car too hard and then a cruddy PDR repair that left it a bit wavy and some smaller dents. About the size of a softball, maybe a touch bigger.

Honestly, if it had been on the passenger side, I may have still brought it home since the 30 minute test drive in the rain didn't leak through the top fix.

But I knew my OCD would see that wavy/dented spot EVERY TIME I got in the car, and it would not sit well. All of my DD's the last 3 years have either been new off the lot, or very lightly used, so I'm used to NO dents/dings/scratches/etc.

I know I have to deal with it for a cheaper used car, but it's hard.

Slippery wrote:

z31maniac wrote: How do the 2004-2005 models compare to the 06+ models? I'm thinking an '04-05 may have to work based on prices I'm seeing (I'm searching within a ~350-400 mile radius of my location. I don't really want to approach $25k and I don't want an AP1 or a ton of miles.

I would not remove an 04-05 from the list ... still a great little car. The seats are worse (this is subjective and my opinion), no flashpro available or traction control ... the rest is mostly the same. To me the best advantage of the 06+ is the computer. $18k should get you a decent 2006 with not a lot of miles. J

Excellent........the VSA definitely helped today on the hard 1-2 shift in the wet, actually surprised how loose the car got considering it was on.

My only problem to being able to shop really HARD, is it would make my life much easier to find an S2000 at dealer/lot. I wouldn't mind selling the Mustang myself.

But that basically means buying another car now. The Miata has no top (soft top completely removed and haven't found a hard top yet), so I don't have another car to drive if the Mustang were to sell before I found it's replacement.

Hmmmm, first world problems I suppose.

Josh wrote: This is so untrue it's just silly. I hit VTEC on the street in my AP1 maybe once a month, usually accidentally, and I have never had any problem keeping up with traffic. It's not a torque monster under 6k, but it is perfectly adequate.

I've only driven 2-liter models, but they all felt perfectly fine shifting at 2500 or so in city driving. Rather strong for a 2-liter in such a heavy car, to be honest. You only need to wind it out if you feel like you want to.

The only downfall to the 04-05 models is the lack of a reflashable ECU. So tuning options are down to a stand alone, Kpro in an RSX ECU (huge PITA) or a VAFC.

z31maniac wrote: It was directly behind the door opening at door handle height. It kind of looked like maybe someone leaned up the against the car too hard and then a cruddy PDR repair that left it a bit wavy and some smaller dents. About the size of a softball, maybe a touch bigger. Honestly, if it had been on the passenger side, I may have still brought it home since the 30 minute test drive in the rain didn't leak through the top fix.

TBH, I kinda like a car to be slightly less than perfect when I buy it just so I don't feel too horrible the first time I lean against it with a knife clipped to my pocket or tag the crap out of a big slalom cone. I can't deal with dirty/smelly/worn interiors, though.

Mine developed a hole in the top in the exact same location (most do, it seems), and oddly enough, it also did not leak.

So you're telling me I've got $14,000 worth of seats just sitting in my shop gathering dust?

carguy123 wrote: So you're telling me I've got $14,000 worth of seats just sitting in my shop gathering dust?

I am not telling you anymore than what Allstate gave me ... The seats you have are worth what someone will pay for them. Btw, the 06+ seats come with a bunch of sensors and an airbag ECU under the passenger, so more $$ if you also have that. Back then, my car was 1 year old and those seats were VERY hard to come by used, so Allstate had to cough up more ... The dealer only sells them as parts, not an assy.

How did you get those seats?

J

I drive an '06 and the biggest problem I have is a top that desperately needs to be replaced. I absolutely love mine and it's been pretty much trouble free.

My father drives a 2013 MX5 Club and I'd take the S2000 over it any day of the week. He's getting better fuel economy, but that's really the only thing I can think of that the S2k doesn't do better than the NC.

Spoolpigeon wrote: The only downfall to the 04-05 models is the lack of a reflashable ECU. So tuning options are down to a stand alone, Kpro in an RSX ECU (huge PITA) or a VAFC.

Whats the cost difference in "tuning" between an 04-05 vs an 06+?

Could you be a bit more detailed with PITA? It seems like that is well known and the 06+ cars still command a bit more in similar mileage/condition.

Also, slippery mentioned better leather on the 06+ cars, but it seems like in pics the 06+ cars have more visible wear on the bolster vs the 04-05 cars I'm seeing......of course that could be a non-issue.

I'm hoping to find a few different ones in Dallas or maybe Kansas City by this weekend to go look at. I'd like to get this accomplished ASAP.

Flashpro for 06+ is $695. Takes seconds to reflash

Kpro will run you $1500-1800 if you source a used RSX ecu ... Will take a couple of hours to swap sensors and then you can tune like the flashpro via a laptop. I am not too familiar with the Kpro, tho.

J

Ouch!

Slippery nailed it on the ECU thing. It's hard to cough up that kind of dough for relatively small gains. A VAFC is the only cheap option, but its very primitive and limited in what it can do.

So you don't even have the car and you already want to up the HP?

You don't even know if you need more power. The best bang for the buck on the S comes in the way of handling bits.

But in either case, buy the bloody car and drive it for a while to see if it needs ANYTHING AT ALL!!!

^Not saying it needs to, I just want to a bit better job of research on this car.

And I like the idea of an easy midrange bump by lowering the VTEC crossover point.

z31maniac wrote: And I like the idea of an easy midrange bump by lowering the VTEC crossover point.

Me too. I will probably pick up a VAFC just to drop the vtec crossover.

Spoolpigeon wrote:

z31maniac wrote: And I like the idea of an easy midrange bump by lowering the VTEC crossover point.

Me too. I will probably pick up a VAFC just to drop the vtec crossover.

How does the trans handle going back into 1st at speed? Noticed you doing that on course a few times.

Spoolpigeon wrote: Now going to a square set up will increase the tailhappyness of the car. Not as pronounced in the ap2's due to corrected rear bump steer geometry and a smaller rear sway bar, but a front sway bar is a good idea. Most autocross guys will tell you to buy the biggest front bar you can find, however I disagree with that. I've driven a car with the largest bar on the market and it completely killed the steering feel of the car. It was fast in transitions, but the car pushed a lot and and the steering felt dull. I run a whiteline FSB which is one of the smallest out there (32mm solid bar) and I think the car has a very nice balance (still oversteers, but predictable and easy to catch) and they're under $200 new. Found mine for $50 used :) Since you are looking for a comfy DD, let me tell you about my setup. It rides better than stock, performs better, and was very inexpensive. After having a heavily modded 240sx for almost 8 years, I was ready for something that would beat me to death driving it to and from autocrosses (hour each way for me) and to the dragon and back (6 hours). I decided to keep the stock springs, but with a twist. The ap1s had stiffer springs in the rear than in the front (they changed spring rates every 2 years, find the rates here ) and the springs are the same dimensions front and rear. So I ordered off the shelf Koni yellows, put the spring perches on the lower mount (3/4 inch drop front, 1/2 inch rear) and put the rear springs on the front, front springs on the rear. I also picked up a set of hardrace camber adding lower balljoints. These are the better way to go with camber adjustment if you run the 17x9+63 wheels. They push the bottom of the wheel out. If you run the upper ones that pull the wheel inwards, the inner wheel lip will hit the lower control arm at full lock. Then had the local race shop put an aggressive alignment on it and the car is golden. Ride quality is better with the shocks at full soft and the softer rear springs, the stiffer front springs also help tone down the oversteer, and best of all......under $1k!!!!! And for comparison (and a little video whoring) here is the car bone stock at my 2nd autocross with it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJIit-_RHbI It pushes at turn in, then quickly transitions to oversteer. And now on the current setup: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTp9CBNaj8o

Besides just swapping front to rear, would there be a "most desired" set of stock springs? I like this idea of stock springs, good dampers, front sway and more camber.