Z4 3.0 or S2000
 

As some of you may know, I sold my modded DC5 a couple of months ago and purchased a 530i sport as I had a hip opp and needed an auto, well got a scooby Sti RA limited and use it a couple of days a week and it's my 'fun' car.

Misses want a soft top again so the 530 will have ot go, we both like the Z4 3.0 and S2000, I prefer the shape of the Z4 and she prefers the S2000, I love honda's and I'm sure it will be a hoot to drive and both will be reliable, has anyone owned both or driven them back to back. I bet performance is on par.

Yep. Had both within the last four odd years. Personally, as an everyday option I'd go for the Z4 mainly down to the engine which you could either thrash or cruise whereas the Honda had to be caned to get anywhere. The Honda just has the edge in handling terms unless its wet in which case the Beemer's the best place to be.

More room in the Z4 as well. In fact the more I think about it the more I realise its simply the better car although there will be plenty on here who don't get the Z4's styling and will attempt to shout it down.

Ultimately, only you can make the choice. Have fun either way.

Tough choice - The Z4 would just get the nod.
While low torque, super high revving engines are fun some of the time, they get tiresome when not in the mood.

Thanks for that, I really 'get' the VTEC thing so I'm not too concerned about low rev grunt, I can get the performance out of VTEC's.

Price may be the deciding factor, I can get a new parallel import S2000 for £22.5k on the road price, can't say the same for a Z4 3.0

These two cars were on a top gear repeat today. Clarkson goes for the S2000, hammond goes for the Z4, while captain slow takes the boxster.

Not much between them really, think the Honda is slightly quicker and i think were about 4K cheaper when new.

If you like the high revving VTEC engines you'll love the S2000, think its into 9K RPM before the red line.

Driven a 2000 and a own a 3.0 Z4. The BMW is the car of choice if you want a nice place to be in, acres of storage for a 2 seater convertable and don't want or need to drive at ten tenths all of the time to make it move :)

S2k is a cracking car though as well, more the drivers choice IMHO, but on chokka UK roads who cares!

Buy a secondhand S2000 and have a holiday :)

Not put the 350Z in there? the soft top version of that is stunning :D and in last months evo they compared the 350Z and the Z4, worth a read :)

Tony:)

I would rather have a S2000 above a Z4

I find it looks lardy and feels lardy, did drive one for a short while and did nothing for me, much prefered my DC5 at the time. For a 2 seater sports car it's massive....

People seem to forget that the 350Z weighs over 1500kg - A LOT for a 2 seater car!

I enjoyed my test drive in one (non cabrio) but you can't hide that much bulk too easily.

If you are not confident with lightweight, RWD, throttle steerable cars - then stick to the Z4 or even an Audi TT convertable.

S2000 is really a purists cars (with powersteering and air con :)), well the older model years were untill they softened the rear suspension, softened the V-TEC transition and added TC.

You'd be hard pushed to throttle steer a 4WD (or FWD) Audi TT!!

How did they soften the VTEC, by introducing iVTEC?

I have been down the road of considering both of these cars. One of my friends brothers got a JDM S2000 and its lovely if a bit over-steery. The Z4 would be my choice, although more because of the sound of the straight-six than anything else! :)

Honda power all the way. VTEC With cold air induction= one of the best sound tracks a 4 cylinder engine can produce

Not that Cyberevo needs me tellin him that :thumb:

Not sure! They still used VTEC on the F20C unit. I just think the S2K got worse year after year, more understeer dialed in, heavier wheels and tyres, more weight, softer ride and extra weight - and their lap times on test tracks reflected this.

I can quite easily dial that out, put some Volk CE28N's on to reduce that unsprung weight, couple that with a GruppeM and Kpro, get some Eibach or spoon spring and fast road set-up and your sorted. Putting a deposit down on a all black beast tomorrow, brand new car! god it feels good.:)

I did own a s2000, an early version no T-Control either. I say did, as I hit standing water in pouring rain, spun a few times and ended up in a hedge with 10k of damage, I was travelling at 35 mph. It spun so viciously there was no bringing it back :( Loved the engine noise, if I ever got another I'd have the v-tec moved lower, and a second car for the bad winter weather ;)

S2000

Although both 2seaters they are very different cars. The S2000 is more sports car, where the Z4 is a posing mobile with a bit of grunt.

So you've owned both have you?

This choice really is down to personal taste and what you are looking for in a car. There is no doubt the S2000 will be the more raw race-car like experience whereas the BMW will be smoother, more refined and more relaxed. Just decide what is important to you. I think its also a key consideration that the new price of the S2000 is considerably less and if you are buying in the 2nd hand market you'll get much more S2000 for your money.

nope but had the bm as a hire car for a while

As nice as the S2000 is it is very much a one trick pony, and VTEC becomes extremely tiresome after a year or so, it's just got no guts.

The handling is geat when the weather and road surface are nice, but anything else and it doesnt inspire confidence in its handling, and when it lets go it does it unpredictably and quickly, so you're never comfortable pushing it to 100% except for said occassional perfect conditions.

I found it just too compromised a car with regards engine and handling, the two things that are paramount in a two seater sports car, it's fun for a while but soon starts to show it's shortcomings.

The engines lack of flexibility also makes driving it along general roads a pain. Just to make some decent progress you're driving along revving the car like some learner driver. I liked it at first, but over time these things became more and more annoying.

For a long term car Id look at the Beemer, or try out the 350Z, I tried one but went for the S2000 as it was just after they'd come out and I couldnt get a convertable one.

same as most of the above, the z4 can be used all the time and, imo, a much better looking car then the S2000. And i could see how you would get bored of it, as i have a friedn with the 190 engined corrola, and he says he's bored of that because its tiresome to drive if you're not in the mood.

S2000;)

All this talk about it being difficult to drive when outside V-TEC switch over is nonsense. Obviously the myth spread around by arm-chair experts and people who have no talent to drop down a gear when you wish to extract its performance.

This car weighs as much as a medium family saloon or rep mobile, and has over 100 HP more and makes more torque from idle to the redline.

I drive my S2000 daily in stop start traffic and on dual carraigeways and the car has no problems picking up speed at sensible revs. 4th gear at 30 MPH will still accelerate well, much better than any other 2 litre - even 2.5 litre V6 saloons!

Why is it that S2000 owners always allude to the fact that you have to have some God given talent to drive one and if you don't like the car then you're some sort of armchair expert?

If you want to thrash the car, then its good fun but around town its simply a pain in the backside constantly having to shift cogs to pull out of low speed corners. Your example of 4th gear acceleration is poor, given that by the time you've got the thing going the Z4 will be two miles up the road under similar conditions.

Its a reasonable car but it is seriously flawed in a number of departments. If you don't mind caning it all day, then fine but its not practical in the real world when compared to cars that do have bottom end torque.

I owned one for over a year so am more than an arm-chair expert, I drove mine every day too, and as a performance car the lack of grunt does become frustrating. I dont want to be next to a standard rep mobile, start pulling away, and then just to pull a short distance away from him have to drop a gear and rev it like im some sort of moron, you're supposed to be in a performance car and there you are having to work hard just to make ground on any decent rep mobile.

At first I was happy with the car and dismissed these sorts of comments much like you are, but after a while it becomes grating, it is so compromised in the engine and handling department, my 330BHP RX7 was progrsssive and enjoyable when the tail made an appearance, the S2000 on the other hand seems to like surprises, takes away a lot of the fun of RWD when you cant trust it.