Quote from Nathan_French_14 :

Ya, i can understand the feeling with older cars. I personally prefer older cars, as i hate all the plastic and electronics which are poured onto modern cars now, but the S2000 is an exception. Such a lovely car.

As for your 944, sure i would love to see some pics!

I think you might have been the guy, that said you were driving along, some guy pulled out and you tryed to avoid. You then landed the car on a rock or something i think?

This was the first 944. I've never made decent photos of it when it was washed and polished. But look at the two of the interior and you see it was like a new car (more important, it was like that from a mechanical point of view aswell!). Last photo shows the momo i've installed.
http://i41.tinypic.com/2q24jmv.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/2rhqvqh.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/16ayz45.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/qqr135.jpg

Here are pictures of the accident. It shows only a small part of the damage. The frame of the car was bent. In the last two pictures you see the way i took to avoid the other car, and also the stone i hit on my way down (look at the pack of tissues for a size comparison... the stone was smashed in half from the car).
http://i43.tinypic.com/2s9dl5y.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/2mfkm00.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/j9pnoz.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/2gwes0l.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/zluqti.jpg

This was the 2nd 944 i bought to replace the first one.
http://i42.tinypic.com/wu4fmd.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/33ogyrm.jpg

Now, you may say "the 2nd one looks really nice too!". And at a glance, it does, yes. But it was no comparison to the first one. It was repainted, had a crash sometime ago (as i've found out later), drove like a used car (still fast, but you could feel it has been used... opposed to the first one, which drove like a new car and was (very) impressive at handling), etc. It was nice from the distance, but if you looked closer, it was nowhere near the first one.

The thing with those cars is... they are very sensible cars. Very complex from a technical point of view, very "fine tuned". They are very reliable and make up to 400'000km and more... if they are maintained well. If not, they end up as old cars with all kind of things that are not perfect anymore. So you would either have to find one that is like new, and has never been abused (again, young people bought many of those cars and ruined them), which is almost impossible to find (and pay). Or you'd have to find a more or less decent one and fix what eventually will show up after some time (clutch, suspension, transaxle, etc). The 2nd option will get you a car with a good "basis" (never crashed, etc), but with a ridiculous price tag. And it will still cost you money until it's in perfect condition.

I bought the first one at the perfect moment, just before they started to become expensive again. Now it's too late for those cars, unless you're kind of "semi-rich".
The first one was 100% stock (which is worth more) and cost me 10k Euro. The 2nd one, about one year later, was the nicest available on the market in switzerland at this time, had 20'000km more on the clock, and did cost 12k Euro... That was five years ago.

Shame to hear about the first 944. That interior though...wow. Its beautiful. It really does look like new! I love the Momo race wheel too. I've always liked them.

Well, who knows. Maybe when the prices come down in a few years, you might be able to get another 944 to go alongside the S2000 (or whatever you decide to buy) .

i know an interesting car to buy, get a lada niva. i bet you get alot of suprises in it if you look closer after someone sold it to you

I'm getting more and more serious about the S2000. There's one big question that turned up however, and maybe Michael could shed some light on this one... It's regarding the handling.

I think in 2002/2004 Honda has made some changes to the suspension to make the car more friendly when it comes to handling. From what i've read in reviews, it makes the car more safe when you reach the handling limits.
Reviewers described the cars handling as neutral and understeering, where the previous models have been more snappy and oversteering.

Now my question is...

Is it worth to go for a 2002, maybe even 2004 model because of these changes, or is it that maybe the 2001 and earlier models require a little more car control, but are infact more fun (while it is safe, i hate cars which tend to understeer all the time)?

I'm a little confused here if i should still consider an 2001 (and before) model, or forget about those (i've read things about really dangerous handling on wet roads/hard rain), spend a little more and go for an 2002/2004 model. Comments and suggestions appreciated.

Maybe it's worth asking the S2000 owners club for advice on which model to go for. What they don't know about them isn't worth knowing

http://www.s2kuk.com/s2kuk/index.php

Let us know when you get one

I did some more research and have read a lot about the S2000 in the meanwhile....

I went to have a look at a few more this week, and decided for one today.

It's a 2001 model, blue with black interior. 56k kilometers and in very nice shape, all maintenance done every 15k kilometers, the last one at 56k. Should be mine in a week or two after all the paperwork etc. Pics will follow...

Congratulations.

Congrats indeed! The 01' shape is much nicer than the newer S2000's. Also heard the earlier cars are a better drive. Again, congrats jibber!

Thanks guys!

I also came to the conclusion that the first model years look much nicer than the newer ones. And most people seem to think it's also more fun (just be careful! :schwitz.

I decided to keep the car i have now (VW Polo) and use the S2000 only from spring to fall.

Next tuesday i'll take the car to a "garage of trust" so they can check it out properly. I always do that with used cars, just to be sure everything is ok and it's a good buy.

Can't wait!

Good stuff. Awesome car for Swiss roads...

Took the car to the garage today to let them check it out. Everything is as clean as it looked from the outside, and there's no reason why i shouldn't buy it...

The drive to the garage was about one hour each way. Needless to say i took "the long way" and made it a good and long testdrive including some nice and twisty roads. Let me put it this way...

If i would have to count the moments when i had a huge smile/grin on my face, laughing out loud and saying something like "ohh boy!" or "yes!" to myself... i would need more than my fingers to count them. This is definately the right car for me in terms of what i've been looking for.

Now comes the waiting time... dealer said one or two weeks until its ready.

Sounds awesome jibber! Cant wait for some pics!

Here's a quick pic... it was dark already, and i was a bit tired. Maybe at some other point i'll take some proper ones.

The car is great fun to drive!

Im jealous!
Looks to be in VERY good condition. Looking forward to some better pics.
Out of interest, how come the front number plate is so small compared to the housing? Trade plates?

p.s, what did you think of them videos i PM'd you?

congrats looks like a really nice machine
is the engine as amazing as it seems to be from the specs?

Quote from Nathan_French_14 :

Im jealous!
Looks to be in VERY good condition. Looking forward to some better pics.
Out of interest, how come the front number plate is so small compared to the housing? Trade plates?

p.s, what did you think of them videos i PM'd you?

I have no idea why the housing is so big, the front number plate is regular size. I was wondering about it aswell.

PS: I liked the videos (really enjoyed them actually, thanks!), but the fact that they even thought about removing the turbo sticker...

Quote from Shotglass :

is the engine as amazing as it seems to be from the specs?

It depends a lot on personal taste i'd say. For daily road use it's quite a stupid engine. Until you reach 6k you have 150hp at best, then it starts moving, until you really feel some punch at around 7,5-8k, which keeps going until 9k. In the usable rpm range, it is quite a blast (my 944 turbo was just as fast, faster with chips installed) and the engine noise helps quite a bit with that aswell.

Now it depends pretty much on your taste. Do you like a car that has an engine with "race car characteristics"? Do you like a loud an roaring engine when you want to use it to its full potential? Etc.

For my part, i love it so far. It's a fantastic little engine, sometimes a little scary, and definately a blast above 7k rpm.
I had the top down in a tunnel today, and after hitting 9k in 2nd gear, my friends reaction on the passenger seat was a big grin, followed by "it's like a race car!!".

Downside is you are likely to go past the speed limit a lot, and i'll try my best to keep my license (i thought about a small sticker on the dash, saying "don't lose your license!" :razz. *fingers crossed*

If your that bothered about the number plate housing, you could do something to it.
Heres a pic of an S2000 like yours, wearing a british size plate. It seems the housing is meant for larger plates, and so they did'nt change it for countrys with small plates.
http://i155.photobucket.com/al ... 3/adamkendal/IMGP3187.jpg

Heres another with a british plate, and his looks much neater.
http://i427.photobucket.com/al ... e/new%20folder/clean5.jpg

It seems he has removed the housing, and bought a small plate and attached that straight to the bumper.

I'm not really bothered about the size of the housing for the number plate. The important part is the car itself and the handling. If it was a beauty contest, the 944 would still get my vote.

I drove to the "engadin" today (another part of switzerland, in the alps, lots of fun roads). I didn't expect the handling to be that good, but it's really great. Lots of fun within the speedlimit (almost), exactly what i've been looking for!

I still have to get used to those rpms however... it's like crossing a natural "barrier" in your brain everytime you rev it above 7k... it sounds bloody nice, while at the same time, you feel like hurting the engine.

One negative point about the car so far is the clutch buzz noise when decelerating at certain rpms. It's a problem of the AP1 models aparently and some have been fixed in a recall (clutch replaced with a newer model). I testdrove two AP1 models, and both cars did it. It doesn't hurt the car, even honda seems to say it's not a malfuntion, but sometimes the buzzing noise (almost a grinding noise) can be quite loud (read: annoying). It suits the "race car feeling" i guess.

Jibber, you could try this if your out one day and cant find any parking spaces.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v ... 9rB1o&feature=related