S2000 a $34K car ????

On Oct 9, 9:19 pm, "userjohn" wrote:
> I'm wondering:
>
> what makes the S2000 a $34K car ????
> It's a 4-banger with only 237 HP and for that price you don't even get
> Navigation.
> What gives ?

There are people who actually enjoy the thrill of driving. I think
the modern word for them is "motorcyclist". It's obvious low inertia
(weight) cars can be accelerated and turned faster. So small is good
for performance. Public streets aren't race tracks anyway. You can
only use so much horsepower. Try to keep a Z06 Corvette at redline in
the twisties and you'll probably wreck in less than a mile. A Honda
Civic is quite doable however. An S2000 has close to double the
horsepower of the Civic.

Breaking marker, hit the brakes, double clutch downshift, Corner
entry, get mostly off the brakes and trail brake up to the apex, get
back slightly on the throttle out to corner exit, straighten the wheel
and accelerate hard from the corner exit to the next braking marker
upshifting as necessary. Next turn has a slight crest of hill, reduce
the corner entry speed, move the corner entry a bit earlier, you want
the car turned more than normal at the peak of the hill as you'll have
less traction than normal, back on the throttle to corner exit and
accelerate down the straight,

No brain power left over to think about nagging wives or obnoxious
bosses. Nirvana!
 >> Stay informed about: S2000 a $34K car ???? 

On Wed, 10 Oct 2007 00:19:58 -0400, "userjohn"
wrote:

>I'm wondering:
>
>what makes the S2000 a $34K car ????
>It's a 4-banger with only 237 HP and for that price you don't even get
>Navigation.
>What gives ?

It is a purpose-built sports car. It was never intended to sell in
the volumes of a Civic or Accord and therefore the development costs
are amortized over a much smaller number of vehicles.
 >> Stay informed about: S2000 a $34K car ???? 

camgere.TakeThisOut@earthlink.net wrote in


> On Oct 9, 9:19 pm, "userjohn" wrote:
>> I'm wondering:
>>
>> what makes the S2000 a $34K car ????
>> It's a 4-banger with only 237 HP and for that price you don't even get
>> Navigation.
>> What gives ?
>
> There are people who actually enjoy the thrill of driving. I think
> the modern word for them is "motorcyclist". It's obvious low inertia
> (weight) cars can be accelerated and turned faster. So small is good
> for performance. Public streets aren't race tracks anyway. You can
> only use so much horsepower. Try to keep a Z06 Corvette at redline in
> the twisties and you'll probably wreck in less than a mile. A Honda
> Civic is quite doable however. An S2000 has close to double the
> horsepower of the Civic.
>

snip for brevity..

my local auto ads usually have several used S2000s for sale,but no last
model Preludes.


--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net
 >> Stay informed about: S2000 a $34K car ???? 

Gordon McGrew wrote in


> On Wed, 10 Oct 2007 00:19:58 -0400, "userjohn"
> wrote:
>
>>I'm wondering:
>>
>>what makes the S2000 a $34K car ????
>>It's a 4-banger with only 237 HP and for that price you don't even get
>>Navigation.
>>What gives ?
>
> It is a purpose-built sports car. It was never intended to sell in
> the volumes of a Civic or Accord and therefore the development costs
> are amortized over a much smaller number of vehicles.
>
>

OR,it's priced similar to the Porsche Boxster.(but not equivalent)

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net
 >> Stay informed about: S2000 a $34K car ???? 

Larry in AZ wrote in


> Waiving the right to remain silent, Jim Yanik said:
>
>> Gordon McGrew wrote in
>>
>>
>>> On Wed, 10 Oct 2007 00:19:58 -0400, "userjohn"
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>>I'm wondering:
>>>>
>>>>what makes the S2000 a $34K car ????
>>>>It's a 4-banger with only 237 HP and for that price you don't even get
>>>>Navigation.
>>>>What gives ?
>>>
>>> It is a purpose-built sports car. It was never intended to sell in
>>> the volumes of a Civic or Accord and therefore the development costs
>>> are amortized over a much smaller number of vehicles.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> OR,it's priced similar to the Porsche Boxster.(but not equivalent)
>
> The Boxter's base price is $45,600. The S2000 is $34,300. Bit of a
> difference...
>

well,of course,you would pay more for the PORSCHE name and quality....
[sarcasm]

plus the Boxster engine has more HP,doesn't it?
(and it's a flat-6 cyl. gotta pay more for a 6 cyl.)

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net
 >> Stay informed about: S2000 a $34K car ???? 

"userjohn" wrote in message

> I'm wondering:
>
> what makes the S2000 a $34K car ????
> It's a 4-banger with only 237 HP and for that price you don't even get
> Navigation.
> What gives ?
>
I have wondered that about the Pontiac Soltices a local dealer advertises at
a bargain 31k. If you want cheap fun the Civic Si coupe or sedan gives a
lot of bang for the buck.
 >> Stay informed about: S2000 a $34K car ???? 

"tww1491" wrote in


>
> "userjohn" wrote in message
>
>> I'm wondering:
>>
>> what makes the S2000 a $34K car ????
>> It's a 4-banger with only 237 HP and for that price you don't even
>> get Navigation.
>> What gives ?
>>
> I have wondered that about the Pontiac Soltices a local dealer
> advertises at a bargain 31k. If you want cheap fun the Civic Si coupe
> or sedan gives a lot of bang for the buck.

But not a drop-top.

how long will a Solstice hold up compared to the Honda?
Hondas/Acuras have excellent reliability,and IMO,the domestic brands do not
have such a good rep.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net
 >> Stay informed about: S2000 a $34K car ???? 

"Jim Yanik" wrote in message

> "tww1491" wrote in
>
>
>>
>> "userjohn" wrote in message
>>
>>> I'm wondering:
>>>
>>> what makes the S2000 a $34K car ????
>>> It's a 4-banger with only 237 HP and for that price you don't even
>>> get Navigation.
>>> What gives ?
>>>
>> I have wondered that about the Pontiac Soltices a local dealer
>> advertises at a bargain 31k. If you want cheap fun the Civic Si coupe
>> or sedan gives a lot of bang for the buck.
>
> But not a drop-top.
>
> how long will a Solstice hold up compared to the Honda?
> Hondas/Acuras have excellent reliability,and IMO,the domestic brands do
> not
> have such a good rep.
>
> --
> Jim Yanik
> jyanik
> at
> kua.net

Actually, the Soltices I see just sit at the local GM dealer. As an old
roadster type -- 1960 era -- Sunbeam Tiger, 64 XKE, MBG, TR4 -- and even a
couple of early C3 Vettes, the S2000 fits the bill better for the money. I
became a Honda fan in the 60s with a CL77 305 and later CB750 when they came
out.
 >> Stay informed about: S2000 a $34K car ???? 

"tww1491"
> I became a Honda fan in the 60s with a CL77 305 and later CB750 when they
> came out.


wow hahaha ! I didn't even know the's Honda in the US in the 60s
 >> Stay informed about: S2000 a $34K car ???? 

"userjohn" wrote in


>
> "tww1491"
>> I became a Honda fan in the 60s with a CL77 305 and later CB750 when
>> they
>> came out.
>
>
> wow hahaha ! I didn't even know the's Honda in the US in the 60s
>
>
>

I think he's referring to motorcycles.
AFAIK,the first Honda motorCAR in the US was the Honda 600.
IIRC,followed by the Civic CVCC?

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net
 >> Stay informed about: S2000 a $34K car ???? 

"Jim Yanik" wrote in message

> "userjohn" wrote in
>
>
>>
>> "tww1491"
>>> I became a Honda fan in the 60s with a CL77 305 and later CB750 when
>>> they
>>> came out.
>>
>>
>> wow hahaha ! I didn't even know the's Honda in the US in the 60s
>>
>>
>>
>
> I think he's referring to motorcycles.
> AFAIK,the first Honda motorCAR in the US was the Honda 600.
> IIRC,followed by the Civic CVCC?
>
> --
> Jim Yanik
> jyanik
> at
> kua.net

Yes. Bought the 305 scrambler in Tokyo at Curly's by Yokota AB and rode it
for the two year I was stationed there -- 67-69. Saw the 750 at the Tokyo
Motor Show in Dec 68 and bought one in 1970 after I returned to the States.
Honda bikes were bulletproof.
 >> Stay informed about: S2000 a $34K car ???? 

"tww1491" wrote in


>
> "Jim Yanik" wrote in message
>
>> "userjohn" wrote in
>>
>>
>>>
>>> "tww1491"
>>>> I became a Honda fan in the 60s with a CL77 305 and later CB750
>>>> when they
>>>> came out.
>>>
>>>
>>> wow hahaha ! I didn't even know the's Honda in the US in the 60s
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> I think he's referring to motorcycles.
>> AFAIK,the first Honda motorCAR in the US was the Honda 600.
>> IIRC,followed by the Civic CVCC?
>>
>> --
>> Jim Yanik
>> jyanik
>> at
>> kua.net
>
> Yes. Bought the 305 scrambler in Tokyo at Curly's by Yokota AB and
> rode it for the two year I was stationed there -- 67-69. Saw the 750
> at the Tokyo Motor Show in Dec 68 and bought one in 1970 after I
> returned to the States. Honda bikes were bulletproof.
>
>
>

Interestingly,Honda's motorcycle production moved to the US(Ohio),and that
led to US production of Honda automobiles;non-union,and keeping high
quality.
The first Japanese cars built in America(including engines!).

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net
 >> Stay informed about: S2000 a $34K car ???? 

"Larry in AZ" wrote in message

>>> "userjohn" wrote in
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> "tww1491"
>>>>> I became a Honda fan in the 60s with a CL77 305 and later CB750 when
>>>>> they came out.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> wow hahaha ! I didn't even know the's Honda in the US in the 60s
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> I think he's referring to motorcycles.
>>> AFAIK,the first Honda motorCAR in the US was the Honda 600.
>>> IIRC,followed by the Civic CVCC?
>
> My Honda AN-600...

When I was in Japan 67-69 Honda sold a very small roadster -- the S600
followed by the S800. It was chain driven with a DOHC 4 banger. A few folk
autocrossed them but their competition generally was in the Datsun 1600
class, so they were'nt competitive. At the time, I ran a modified Sunbeam
Tiger which produced around 220 hp out of its 260 cu in Ford V8. I ran in a
class that included the Prince Skyline 2000 GT (later bought out by Datsun)
and the modified Datsun 2000 roadsters. Austin Healeys just were not
competitive as I recollect.

>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/larrythefrog/477777904/
>
> --
> Larry J. - Remove spamtrap in ALLCAPS to e-mail
>
> "A lack of common sense is now considered a disability,
> with all the privileges that this entails."
 >> Stay informed about: S2000 a $34K car ????