FR-S vs RX-8 vs S2000 Review - Everyday Driver

[ZDan]

I drove the S2000 down to Atlanta from Providence RI a few weeks ago, looking forward to driving back up in the FD. Despite 500+ hp V8 and a pretty free flowing exhaust, it is WAY more comfortable sound-wise and much easier to tolerate on long trips, except for the lack of cruise control

[iLuveKetchup]

Originally Posted by slowbrz

Is the s2k really that loud in the car? even with a hardtop?

WHAT?! What did you say? Couldn't hear yoU??

[WolfpackS2k]

yeah no cruise control sucks!


The longest drive I ever made in my S2000 was Raleigh, NC to Port Jefferson, NY (out on Long Island). Suffice to say my ears had a slight ringing in them after that trip. Of course I was buzzing hard on Red Bull so it didn't bother me much

[GTM_Challenge]

The twins are night in day difference in cabin noise at interstate speeds, hardtop or not!

[switchlanez]

Everyday Driver posted a new "sights and sounds" vid of the S2K from this review. Maybe we can get them to post the same for the FR-S sooner if we badger them enough.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5R-o5rV7QA"]Honda S2000 Sights & Sounds - Beauty, Exhaust, Fly by - YouTube[/ame]

[QuikSilveRX-8]

Contact Todd at EverydayDriverTv@gmail if they did extra scenes during their production.

[CSG David]

Originally Posted by iLuveKetchup

WHAT?! What did you say? Couldn't hear yoU??

S2000 + hardtop = okay...quiet for CR and track guy standards...
S2000 CR + hardtop + J's = excellent for silencing that not so ideal date.
BRZ/FRS + any exhaust/deletes/straight pipes = we can hold a casual conversion if you want.

[switchlanez]

RX-8 "Sights & Sounds" are up. That leaves only the FR-S due next!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB5yJfPgWDc"]Mazda RX-8 Sights & Sounds - Beauty, Exhaust, Fly by - YouTube[/ame]

[switchlanez]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmqiV4FhpEw"]Scion FR-S (BRZ, GT-86) Sights & Sounds - Beauty, Exhaust, Fly by - YouTube[/ame]

[Nathan Atkins]

This is what I had to say over at rx8club.com about the Everyday Driver vid:

My favorite thing about this video is the conversations that it has fueled among my friends in my car club, we all go round and round extolling the virtues of our cars, and at the end of it all my FRS/BRZ owning buddies(including my wife!), my S2K owning buddies, and my fellow RX8 owning buddies, all declare our own cars to be our favorites, and we state that we respect and admire the competition. that's kind of how it should be I think. Most of us have driven each others cars, on autocross courses and on the street so there is actual experience talking not just fanboy biased owner declarations. I do think its important to point out that I enjoy driving my car more than my wife's knowing that I can replace it for less than 10 grand, where we paid 28k for hers. I can buy a lot of gas and tires and oil for the missing 18,000!

[B-R-Z]

Originally Posted by 86'd

...

My S2000 scarred me for life. Every car I have owned since then I have compared it to and every car thereafter has let me down in some way.

...

Me too, I DD'd an S2k for about 7 years and 100k miles and I really loved it. I ended up getting rid of it, mid-winter 2011, after having to drive it in nasty snow storms in NJ and replaced it with an 08 BMW 328xi, which I HATED. I have regretted it since and started shopping for a replacement s2k that following summer.

I searched and searched for a clean low-miles S2000, white w\red interior, they are very hard to find and they do not come cheap. I came across one or two but couldn't bring myself to spend high $20k's for a car that is 5+ years old, and not new. Plus, I always HATED the canvas top of the car, it looks hideous if the top is not down or without an OEM hard-top. The small trunk was annoying at times, no backseats (just incase kids come in the picture), no oem navi, but everything else about it I loved, I looked forward to driving it everyday even after years of ownership. If I come across one down the road for the right price I may pick it up, but will not do it again as a DD.

Then I test drove a BRZ. I went into it not knowing what to expect, I thought it would feel much too underpowered. In the test drive it didn't feel that way at all, the power was there and it gave that same driving experience of the S2000, the handling is awesome. And, with the BRZ, it's brand new, has back seats, trunk space, OEM navi, and better MPG's which is key for me being I drive 100 miles a day for work. After my test drive I told the salesman to find a white limited for me. I get a call two days later and he said one was just delivered on a truck fresh from the factory.

[regal]

The Ap1 S2k was always a dream car for me except I don't like convertables. When the stock market crashed a co-worker wanted to sell me his cherry S2k (w/ hard top) for $16k, being Mr. conservative I bought a new Yaris instead as I didn't have a reliable car at the time and it was cash for clunkers.

As soon as I paid off the Yaris I started looking at used S2k's. It was disappointing. Many just seemed risky, most all needed the suspension bushings replaced which is a bitch of a job. None had the hard top, and to buy a hard top is at least $2k. So basically add $3k to the price of the used S2k's plus no financing. $20k out of pocket was just too much.

The FR-S was so easy, no more hunting or rolling the dice on a used car, no haggle pricing decent interest rate. That said it the FR-S isn't the performance car that the S2k is with its double wishbone suspension and 240hp. I honestly think if you have the cash for an S2k you could put 50k miles on it and not lose a dime, they won't go down in resale any further like Miatas did. They are Honda's performance swan song, a timeless classic.

But the twins have the aftermarket, this car will always be upgradeable to whatever you need and no soft-top.

[QuikSilveRX-8]

I want to see a review (since this is infact about"Everyday Driver") of the other two driven on snow. I've taken mine four times in the winter snow, three up in Big Bear on BFG g-Force t/a KDWs and once to Mammoth Lake on Falken Azenis ziex 512s, and it handled the snowy and icy roads except the last trip to Big Bear when my BFGs had less than 1,000 miles it, still handled the slick and twisty downhill on the Rim of the World Highway 18 pretty well. I know how my MAZDA RX-8 handles three inches of snow on high performance tires, I wonder if anyone else have driven their AP1/2 or FT86 on snow?