Just been reading about the S2000 on long term test in EVO

Basically he loves it but says its annoying driving a car which can easily be caught with its pants down and you have to plan overtaking very carefully. He explains:

According to the power graph

at 3000rpm you have 80bhp :eek:

at 5000rpm you have 140bhp

i'm guessing (he didnt state) the peak power is between 8-9000rpm

As i'm sure you know its a 240bhp car!

I knew it was a peaky motor but this description still surprised me.

low down torque eh :rubchin:

no chance in that mota

ah my dream car, it will be mine one day

I have had a play with one of these and they are pants out of v-tec. But a you can wind them up and they are very quick......I noticed he got reasonable mpg for a 240hp car too.

Anyone who has ever driven either an Integra Type R or an S2000 will know they are NOT "pants out of v-tec".

As a former ITR owner I find that people who have never ever driven one on a daily basis think they are hard to drive, forever changing gear etc. etc.

For those people who have such opinions may I suggest they try living with one for at least a week. Then your driving style will adapt to utilise what is a very finely engineered motor car.

The beauty of the VTEC is that you can drive like a granny (or, your granny can drive it) or like a nutter whenever and where ever you wish. People who say you have to plan overtaking etc really should drive an automatic, because in almost ANY manual car, overtaking involves changing down 1 or 2 gears - so how is the S2 any different.

*rant over*

as you do on any VVC/VTEC style engine, the advantage of it running like it was a much smaller engine at lower revs.

You gotta expect it though with a variable valve style engine, all their power comes from how quickly they can open and shut the vavles.

It's a bit like my little K series (but obviously not as much) it really doesn't want to pull until around 4000rpm where it really surges.

People who say you have to plan overtaking etc really should drive an automatic, because in almost ANY manual car, overtaking involves changing down 1 or 2 gears - so how is the S2 any different.

No changing down in my cr@ppy diesel to overtake :P:rofl:

Chris

I thought the idea of variable valve timing was to optimise the timing at all revs? Why should the engine still be gutless at low revs?

I drove an 8V Mk2 Golf once and loved the low-rev torque. The 16V Golf by comparison didn't feel as quick unless I hammered it. I thought with variable valve timing you'd get the best of both worlds... :confused:

I'd agree with Goochie, The V-tec is no slouch under the V-TEC magic sport, ok they are not lightening below it but still quick, and then BAM V-TEC time, like a turbo but better lol

Around a track they will see off alot off "better" and "faster" cars.

VVTEC is very fine technology indeed. The thing with power is that it's very much related to the rpm done by the engine, as that's the multiplier used.

That's why a TD vs petrol (T or no T) 100 bhp engine will have vastly more torque at the lower revs, generally speaking. When the petrol gets higher up the rev range, bhp keeps increasing, ditto for diesel, but of course the petrol can rev (much) higher, so bhp will get much higher for similar torque figures.

VTEC does require you to drop a cog (or two) to get the performance. Ditto for say the 1.8T, you may be cruisin' at low revs and it would lag like mad compared to you being a gear (or two) lower at full boost.

There is no doubt that any petrol car that's low in it's rev range will struggle a lot more comparably than a TD would (unless you are insanely low in revs). Let's not forget though that that petrol WILL catch up though when it starts hitting the higher revs, and no gear-changing for a fair amount of time should help it catch up nicely

I've never been in a 4-wheel VTEC'ed motor.

Have had the pleasure of riding a VFR though. 800cc V4 VTEC engine. And wow, what a marvellous bike. Get to about 8000rpm and the note changes and a rather grinnable kick up the backside.

Also the fastest I've ever been. Had a little scare with an officer who pulled over an Xr2i car a few minutes beforehand which probably saved my licence.

But I love the technology

Anyone who has ever driven either an Integra Type R or an S2000 will know they are NOT "pants out of v-tec".

As a former ITR owner I find that people who have never ever driven one on a daily basis think they are hard to drive' date=' forever changing gear etc. etc.

For those people who have such opinions may I suggest they try living with one for at least a week. Then your driving style will adapt to utilise what is a very finely engineered motor car.

The beauty of the VTEC is that you can drive like a granny (or, your granny can drive it) or like a nutter whenever and where ever you wish. People who say you have to plan overtaking etc really should drive an automatic, because in almost ANY manual car, overtaking involves changing down 1 or 2 gears - so how is the S2 any different.

*rant over*[/quote']

Former ITR driver here too

Well said mate

Only comment I can come up with is based on me being in a test drive with my Dad in a CTR - Car felt like a normal N/A car, at usual revs, but on a long dual straight the salesman told Dad to keep it floored to 8k in all gears.... :eek: I've never felt anything like it - It was fast enough through first, then it just opened up! Not too dissimilar to a turbo kicking in, then holding 1st, 2nd & 3rd from 6k to 8k, and we were at 90mph in no time at all....

I could not say it was sluggish low down though - It was just "normal" with something "rather special" at the top end.

Saw 3 or 4 S2000's at the Autocar sideways challenge a couple of years ago at Silverstone. All I will say is that you need to be extremely careful in the wet - especially if coming from a FWD Skoda!

Whereas with most of the other rear-wheel-drivers taking part there was a balance and adjustability, once the S2000's started to slide, they seemed to go into a terminal spin. The 200SX Nissans were far better at keeping a controlled slide - and I've seen two of those spin on the road.

Lovely car but I'd get some instruction before using the full revs (as you would) on a wet road...

The later s2k's have had major geometry changes.

The first ones were wicked in the dry never mind the wet. I know of one who spun in the damp writing a (demo lol) car off. And another went into terminal spin on a trackday hitting the grass and ending up upside down smashed to pieces....

The newer ones aren't as prone to this, but care is needed as with ANY rwd car.

Only excuse for that is muppetry.

I used to own an S2000 and pretty much agree with everything in that evo article.

The engine is fine if you just want to trundle along in traffic, and is awesome when you take it out to 9K and thrash the pants off it. The 'problem' is that the mid range is a bit lacking, so overtakes can lead to the odd 'moment' if you're not in the V-TEC zone and something appears coming the other way.

Having said that frequently changing up or down a gear or three, isn't a problem as the S2K has one of the best gearboxes of any car currently on sale.

As for the handling, I never had any problems and that included driving it on snow :eek: on several occasions.

V-tec rules , test drove an early Civic, awesome engine , then tried a relatives' S2000 recently even more awesome , Honda are the best engineers in the world

Going slightly off track (no pun intended), didn't the 2nd generation Toyota MR2 also reputadely have tricky handling on the limit?

I saw one of these spin of a motorway bend a few years ago and nearly took me with it.

Going slightly off track (no pun intended)' date=' didn't the 2nd generation Toyota MR2 also reputadely have tricky handling on the limit?

I saw one of these spin of a motorway bend a few years ago and nearly took me with it.[/quote']

Not so much tricky handling... but the turbos were a wee bit over-powered for the chassis :eek: - having been in one, i would agree.

I've owned 2 MR2 Turbo's and I'd say the chassis is more than capable of handling the power of even a seriously modified turbo. The T-Bar version has slightly more flex but in my opinion this just made it slightly more proggressive on the limit.

What you have to remember is that they are a mid engined car and therefore the initial understeer you experience (due to no wieght over front wheels) will quickly turn into power oversteer once you pass the apex of a bend and accelerate, so long as you keep this in mind you can make very rapid progress and perform some lovely sideways action into the bargain should you so wish (track days obviously)

I also owned an imported Honda Prelude Type-S with the 2.2 VTEC engine, and I have to say to this day I still believe Honda make the best engines in the world. Never experienced any lack of power out of the VTEC 'zone' it just went like a quick car should, then when you come into the 'zone' - wow just shoves you forward and revs like a motorbike, fantastic

Ain't surprised.

Drove a 2.2 VTEC (or was it 2.4, cant remember) Prelude, and that thing kicked like a mule after 5000rpm..

drive my brothers s2k quite often and it is in no way hard to drive. i find i can potter round town in third gear and when i need the power to overtake etc still in third, floor it and GRIN. wind it up to 8000 revs and again in forth and fifth then into sixth.

you get what im trying to say.

i love driving my own octy 1.9 tdi. but i love driving the s2k. its just a fun car.

Ain't surprised.

Drove a 2.2 VTEC (or was it 2.4' date=' cant remember) Prelude, and that thing kicked like a mule after 5000rpm..[/quote']

Would have been a 2.2 as the 2.4 is non VTEC and actually slower than the 2.2!!

Just been reading about the S2000 on long term test in EVO

Basically he loves it but says its annoying driving a car which can easily be caught with its pants down and you have to plan overtaking very carefully. He explains:

According to the power graph

at 3000rpm you have 80bhp :eek:

at 5000rpm you have 140bhp

i'm guessing (he didnt state) the peak power is between 8-9000rpm

As i'm sure you know its a 240bhp car!

I knew it was a peaky motor but this description still surprised me.

Half the fun of an S2000 is using the gearbox when you want the power. When you don't it is as docile as a saloon, except when trying to stay below 15mph in second gear. I guess the transition from S2000 to Fabia VRS is going to take some getting used to on a regular basis. Not as bad as when you have a centre throttle pedal and a right hand brake pedal though!