2003 Honda S2000

First thing we need to get straitened out, I own a 2003 Honda S2000. Don't even waste your time reading these goofball reviews that these people write that have only test driven the car. They do not have a clue what they are talking about. I'm an actual owner, since August of 2002, so everything you need and nothing you dont, is right here in this review, enjoy!

First off, I am a lucky SOB to own this car. Not only do i own this car, but the kicker is I am only 17 years old. Now you say, ahh rich punk. On the contrary, I won mine in a contest. So yes, i am very lucky. It is a yellow 2003 Supercharghed S2000.

Ok, well i will spare everyone the general statistics on the car, because most of you that are reading this already know about the car, you are just trying to decide if you should buy one or not. I will tell you right now, buy it !!!

This car generally comes equipped with a 240 Horsepower 4 cylinder engine. Mine is a supercharged engine, with performance parts so it shoots out around 350hp. For those who say that forced induction is not possible on this car, they dont know what they are talking about. Just because it is an 11:1 ratio doesnt mean you cant have forced induction, you wont get as much out of it but if you can do it if you want.

This car is super low maintenance. Ive had mine for almost 8 thousand miles and there isn't as much as a squeek from the the engine, all i do is throw synthetic oil in every 2500 miles. And one thing you should be aware of, you have to use premium gasoline. I'm not saying that just because its better for your engine, but the gas cap says " Premium Unleaded Fuel Only" So if you are looking for a car that is cheap on gas try something else. It does get good gas mileage though, about 16-18 miles per gallon. Regular engines will probably get more. For those who say it is a "weekend only or second car" they are pretty belligerant. I drive my car to school every day, have it parked in the lot for 8 hours and then drive it home. And there is not a problem with it.

The very few downsides: downsides on this car are very rare and matter very little. The few things i have noticed with my car are as follows: tire life is very short, premium gasoline isnt cheap, and the radio sucks. Tires run about 160 a piece on the back and 140 a piece on the front. Note that the rear tires are 225's and the fronts are 205's so they cannot be rotated!! I can live with the gasoline, it is not that bad. But the radio, uggh, Honda can build cars, but they need help with their audio. I took out the speakers and stock cd player, and threw in a panasonic cd player and MB quart speakers. That only cost me about 700 so it worked out ok, i then sold my old speakers and cd player on ebay for 150 bucks so it was a good deal.

The exterior: Looks like a little rocket, you will get more looks than you could ever expect. Whenever im filling up people always ask about it, whenever im driving people are always looking. Attention is good exception when its Johnny Law that is looking. The convertable top goes down in 6 seconds, very easy to do. The engine is so very beautiful, and stays clean very easily, you dont have to clean the engine bay to keep it looking brand new. This car is very very easy to clean, it short so you can clean it very quickly. WARNING: do not use wheel cleaner on this car, it breaks down the break discs, make sure to read you instruction manual if you buy one, there is alot of things that you shouldnt do that you normally dont think of. The exhaust is load but not obnoxious like those huge 4" and 5" pipes those rice rockets have on them. It gives you a deep throaty sound you will never forget.

Performance on this car is sickening, in my opinion, it replicates that of a go kart. The handling on this thing is so precise that you can change lanes in a flash, takes turns at 50mph without even thinking about it. Quick you ask? Well consider this from 0-6000 rpms, the car moves quick and shoots a low moan out, but right when it hits that VTEC power band at 6100 rpms, its on steroids all the way through its 9000 redline. I know its not smart, and not legal, but time to time i do feel the urge to race some punk that thinks his car is the mack daddy. I can beat most any stock car except a few, ive beating anything from a civic to a boxter to a corvette. Normal S2000's are meant to compete with their BMW and Porsche counterparts in that of the Z3 and Boxter turbo. And they will do just that. One last noteworthy thing, this car has a hydrolic clutch, not the best kind of clutch to learn how to drive stick on. It is very sensitive and begs for performance. This is not hte type of car that you want to drive like a normal car it begs for performance, you give it what it wants and it will show you a good time in return.

The number one thing that has urked me about reading other s2000 reviews was hearing people complain about the center glove compartment. Ok, well first its slanted backwards so nothign is going to fall out unless you have so much crap in there that you are treating it like a mini van. Secondly, when you open the glove compartment and you move your hand up to the top of the glove compartment there is a latch which opens another compartment above that. There is a small space for coins and pens, and then a space behind that where your owners manual and other documents can be held. so that really aggrivates me when people complain about that. WAKE UP PEOPLE, THIS IS NOT A LUXURY CAR!! IF IT WAS IT WOULD BE CALLED A LUXURY CAR NOT A SPORTS CAR!!

Now on to the good stuff, the gauge cluster which i love is all electronic, easy to read. And good for night time driving. People say its a dumb thing and that regular analog gauges are better. Ok, again, wake up, if you people understood that this was Honda's attempt to replicate their F1 cars, hence the push start button, another favorite of mine. So if you are gonna moan and gripe about that, go buy a sissy z3. Continuing on the small 6 speed short shifter is excellent, great for quick shifts. It is a very tight gear box which is even better. Directly in front of the shifter lies the cd player compartment which is covered by a door contraption. The bucket seats are more comfortable than the lazy boy back at my house, just magnificently comfortable. The pedals are line with rubber pegs, for anti-slip driving, works very well and comes in very handy. Over all this car is wonderfully comfortable, i love it, I dont think I will ever be able to sell mine.

Anyways i've probably chewed our ears off, and you might be going blind from staring at the screen. But overall the best car ever! If you have anything you would like to say, leave me a comment, thanks for reading, bye!