Who Knows About An S2000?

[diablo5969]

I didn't know where to post this question, but I figured the "Need for Speed" drag racing section might be appropriate (Mods, feel free to move this if you want it somewhere else)

Last night I pulled up next to an S2000 at a traffic light, and didn't think anything of it. The light turned green, and I floored it. So did he. And I kept up perfectly.

I just assumed he wasn't racing or whatever, but then my passengers pointed out how hard he was shifting, and he was really pushing that thing hard.

So, end verdict is, he was driving the S2000 hard, and I kept up in my Explorer. He was pushing his S2000, and I kept up in an 8 year old Explorer with 4 passengers.

Was there something wrong with his S2000? Or are S2000s really that underpowered?

 

[nnnick]

All the reviews i've read about the s2000 said that it was just an all around sweet car and very fast, handles well, etc, etc. I would expect one to be real fast. Maybe he took off all the Honda stickers and thats where he lost all his hp. haha jk. I actually like these cars a lot, do you have anything done to ur X? How far did you guys go? My X always does really well till about 40 or 50 then my low end torque is suprassed by top end performance and hp of other cars.

 

[jssong]

im sorry, but ive drivne an s2000 and there is no way u could have kept up unless he either wasnt driving hard or didnt know how to drive. usually manuals have that lag when they start until they hit 2nd, which is when automatics can beat them, but once that first to second **** is in, he should have taken off.. the 0-60 for the s2000 is 6.1 seconds, and ur x is nowhere near that. but u kept up with him, so u should be proud of that. the car weighs near nothing and has 240 hp, lacks in torque, but makes up for that by itz really really light weight

 

[Robb]

Yea, they are fast as pi$$. I know 2 people who own them. The main problem with them is they are a bit uncomfortable. Both of the people I know won't drive them for more than an hour at a time.

Robb

 

[james t]

i got to drive one about 6 months ago. i was quite impressed, and basically fell in love with the car. as far as accelleration, its no 'vette, but it is damn quick for a N/A 4 banger. even not being able to drive, the guy should have still been able to spank you. what you thought was him shifting really hard may have just been him learning how to drive a stick.

hmmmmm...... dont really remember it being very uncomfortable...... but then again, im comparing it to my wife's turd MR2, so my "comfort sensors" are probably ruined at this point.

 

[Brandon4AU]

Maybe he wasnt letting the V-Tec kick in...Doesnt it have to rev really high? My friend has one and he would have easily blown you away. Until that V-TEC thing kicks in though it isnt so impressive

 

[Alec]

Like the other people said, they're pretty fast. However, below 7000 rpms, they've got nothing! I can easily keep up with an S2000 until they hit the upper rpms. Even if the driver was working hard, he may not have been letting it get into it's powerband. It's pretty unnatural to drive a streetcar to 9000 rpms, and most drivers wont until they get used to the car.

Congrats on your performance, but he probably wasn't driving well. But I do agree with you that the Explorer can easily keep with them off the line.

 

[expo5.0]

no way. i've driven one of my friends a few times and in no way could my x keep up with one of those above 30 miles per hour or so. maybe off the line you could keep up with a regular v6 explorer for a few FEET but if he could drive at all it should be miles different by the time you are going 30 or 40. come on this car goes zero to sixty like four seconds faster than a stock explorer.

 

[Alec]

But if you run it over while they're sitting at the light then take off you'll win

I know I'm not most Explorers, but I can keep up with them easily until my 1-2 shift, then hang with them until 80 or so. In a roll-on starting at 50, I can pull them a bit until 80. You have to be a really good driver to pull tha max out of that car. I know 4 people with them, and they can't get the magazine's times.

 

[expo5.0]

alec- your talking about right now with your current mods? i would think that it would punish you pretty good with your current set-up (you ran in the 16s last time at the track right?) i know i can't begin to keep up with my friend over 30 or 35 no matter how far ahead i can get with all my torque and awd off the line.

 

[Alec]

That was with the 31s, but without the chip; so I'm still about the same.

 

[expo5.0]

hmmm, maybe my friend is a better than average driver. i haven't raced him for a few months, so i didn't have my current mass air and the baumann kit when i raced him, but that stuff really doesn't make any difference. oh well, have you raced one at the strip? or are these just races against random people on the streets? or are they friends who know what is coming when you race them?

 

[james t]

i still dont see a relativly stock 94 X taking an S2000, even if it had a bad driver. yes, the '2000 has to be revved high, but you could miss a shift and still spank a 94X. even if the S2000 was shifting at like 6000, it would still take the X with no problem.

 

[hornz2000]

there is no way he was pushing it...he would have creamed you.

 

[SaleenEXP]

The S2000 isn't really that fast at all, but he was not pushing it, because like they said he would have creamed you, it's a very light car with good power to weight ratio.

I've driven a friends and was only impressed by its handling, the S2000 is basically gutless below 7000rpm, after that it picks up fast, but still does not have that press you into the seat acceleration, but it will easily run to 60 in 5.9 to 6.1 seconds, and your truck is like what, 10 seconds

It's a useless car on the street, as it feels slow as a dog below 7 or 6 thousand rpm, and reving to 9000rpm is not fun in the city b/c by the time you get there you almost have to slow down already, but it did handle damn good, and actually didn't really sound like a ricer type of car, he had a B&B exhaust on it and it sounded pretty throaty with an F1 wail at 9000rpm.

 

[Alec]

On the streets, and the other driver always knew what was up.

 

[diablo5969]

Wow, that was a lot more responses than I was expecting. Thanks for all the info

Just to clarify, I wasn't trying to post a kill story or anything, I was more just curious about what was happening.

I didn't think he was racing, but all my passengers did

Oh well. I always have liked the S200s. I ran into the Atlanta S2K Club once, that was cool. And you should've seen this thing cornering.

Thanks again

 

[SaleenEXP]

I thought I remember you saying you had 4.10 gears right? If so, you ould easily take him to maybe 25 or 30mph after that you'll be seeing honda lights moving away from you pretty quickly

Besides the handling, I didn't like the car, I got the fastest acceleration times by doing a drop-clutch launch at around 6500rpm which you do not want to be doing everyday on a street car or you can say goodbye to that clutch pretty quickly.

The easiest way to tell if an S2000 is racing you is you'll hear the regular 4 cylinder ricey sound, then all of a sudden it'll sound like they switched nitrous on as the sound picks up very fast (VTEC kicking in) and turns more into an F1 wail, at least thats what happened on my friends S2000 with the B&B cat-back, he got rid of it though after missing low-end pull. Ended up with a 6-speed CL-Type S and that car is sweet, he already has some mods on it and that engine friggen screams like hell, does not sound like a 6 cylinder.

He thru on magnaflow mufflers and custom cat-back b/c some of the exhaust systems for the CL are around $1000 and up, I think his comptec headers were around $1400. But damn, you gotta hear magnaflows on that car. Plus it has a sh!tload of torque down-low compared to the S2000.

 

[Fish Man]

my boss has one of those, it looks pretty sweet, and he babies it like crazy. has a standing challenge out to all of his son's (another employee of the store, 17 like me) friends that he'll give them $1k if they can beat him in a race, and of course they are all driving riced out civics, so they cant touch him

 

[diablo5969]

Does the VTEC really "kick in" in those engines? I thought I remember reading that VTEC was just a type of engine, not something that could "kick in." Of course, I must admit, I'm not exactly an expert on Honda engines, so I could be wrong