OK folks, Ive only had my VR MSM for about 2 weeks but this is my third Miata. I thought some of you might be interested in a fairly comprehensive comparison of these two cars. I just got back from a week in San Francisco where I rented a 2003 S200 for four days driving North through the notorious and insanely twisty HWY 1. Man, what a road. VERY fun drive. My girlfriend actually got sick during the last torturous 22 miles. Just a bit queasy really, we laughed about it. Here are some of my thoughts about the two cars.
The S2000 is a great car, very tight and fluid. On that note, Im very happy with my car. The Honda has a very stiff suspension, too stiff for me. Perfect for that road, but as a daily driver? No thanks. The dash is all digital. Ill take regular old gauges any day. The interior is very plain. Not as sporty looking as my Mazda by a long shot. The Honda has more leg room, which is nice, Ive got some seriously long legs, but I do manage to squeeze into the Miata fine. The thing I liked the least about the Honda was the engine. 9000 RPM redline? Thats just nuts. I never redlined this thing. It just seemed weird to me to rev the car that high. I know its designed to, but I almost always shifted by 6000 or so. So, I probably missed much of the power of this car. Around town its just not that fast. I think the MSM has a much more usable range of power. Besides, Im getting very addicted to that surge at 4000 RPM.
Styling? Personal taste I guess. I just love the look of the Miata. Always have I guess. The Honda is nice, but will look dated sooner than the Miata which has been around looking much the same for 15 years. One minor thing I liked about the Honda is the lack of the triangle window between the windshield and the door. (Pardon me for not even knowing the name of that). I wish the Miata would do away with that.
Power top? Who cares. I can raise and lower my top in less time manually. Never mind I never have to worry about it fizzing out one day.
No glove box on the S2000? Why? I dont get that.
Anyway, It was a great ride. Very fun, but I was glad to come home to my Miata. Not to mention the S2000 would have cost me over $10,000 more that what I just bought my MSM for. Not a bad deal really.
Thats about it. (2thumbs)
Alec
The S2000 is a great car, very tight and fluid. On that note, Im very happy with my car. The Honda has a very stiff suspension, too stiff for me. Perfect for that road, but as a daily driver? No thanks. The dash is all digital. Ill take regular old gauges any day. The interior is very plain. Not as sporty looking as my Mazda by a long shot. The Honda has more leg room, which is nice, Ive got some seriously long legs, but I do manage to squeeze into the Miata fine. The thing I liked the least about the Honda was the engine. 9000 RPM redline? Thats just nuts. I never redlined this thing. It just seemed weird to me to rev the car that high. I know its designed to, but I almost always shifted by 6000 or so. So, I probably missed much of the power of this car. Around town its just not that fast. I think the MSM has a much more usable range of power. Besides, Im getting very addicted to that surge at 4000 RPM.
Styling? Personal taste I guess. I just love the look of the Miata. Always have I guess. The Honda is nice, but will look dated sooner than the Miata which has been around looking much the same for 15 years. One minor thing I liked about the Honda is the lack of the triangle window between the windshield and the door. (Pardon me for not even knowing the name of that). I wish the Miata would do away with that.
Power top? Who cares. I can raise and lower my top in less time manually. Never mind I never have to worry about it fizzing out one day.
No glove box on the S2000? Why? I dont get that.
Anyway, It was a great ride. Very fun, but I was glad to come home to my Miata. Not to mention the S2000 would have cost me over $10,000 more that what I just bought my MSM for. Not a bad deal really.
Thats about it. (2thumbs)
Alec
The thing is that car can go 9000rpm and that's where they put the power.
