S2000 / MS3 Comparison

[david.underwood]

I had put on just over 80,000 miles on my 2001 S2000 before getting the MS3. The MS3 now has about 6,500 miles and I gotta say this thing is Great! Im about to hit 53 (years old) and getting in and out of the S2000 was getting pretty tiring. I wanted something with an edge that was fast and fun to drive but found nothing anywhere near affordable. But then I read about the MS3 and checked out the forums and that was it.

Since getting the MS3 Ive had a few days when I drove the S2000 to work. My wife needed to use the MS3 Grandpa Wagon (as she calls it) for the day. Here are a few observations from switching between the S2000 & MS3:

MS3:
Damn this thing goes! You just kind of whoosh up through the gears, shifting very early.
Smooth and forceful moving through traffic.
Great seats, once I razed the front mounts a couple inches.
Corners pretty good, a little isolated from the pavement. Still able to zip along the twisty road to work, and I get there smiling and much more relaxed.
I can carry stuff & people!

S2000:
This thing is slow, that is until you get over 6,500RPM! I keep massing the petal and not much happens then I remember to downshift!
Hard to be subtle in traffic at 6,500 to 9,000rpm(evil)
Feels like hard rubber tires, this thing is so direct you feel everything.
Short through shifter and clutch petal. Distance between 1st & 2nd in the S2000 is like 1st to neutral in the MS3.
I attack the twisting road to work, no such thing as zipping along.

Dave

 

[silverspeed03]

Welcome to the club!! Lots of helpful people and useful information.

BTW, I know it sounds strange, but I cross shopped the MS3 and S2000. So I know what you mean about the low end torque. I do however love the look of the S2k. If only it came with a some sort of F/I to get it moving. Oh well, We're happy to have ya!!

 

[chronus377]

Good write up here, I really like the looks of the s2000.

I drove my friends s2000 again after buying my MS3, and I was quite surprised at the polar opposite nature of the car to what I become used to. It really makes me apperciate the torque I have at a much greater range. Also, and I'm not sure if its just his car, the shifter felt so terrible. I almost felt like I was grinding gears but it's just the feel of the shifter. It didn't seem right.

S2000's are nice, but the MS3 is built for me... thats for sure.

 

[MS3ICA]

yeah i loved my integra gsr but now im a big fan of torque!!!

 

[dkswim]

i looked at the s2000 but i decided if i was going to spend that kind of money on it i was going for an STi. i sat in a couple and i started to feel everything closing in on me. thats when i said no thanks not for me.

 

[SharkDiver]

Great seats, once I razed the front mounts a couple inches.
Corners pretty good, a little isolated from the pavement. Still able to zip along the twisty road to work, and I get there smiling and much more relaxed.
I can carry stuff & people!

Dave

I raised my front seats also about 2"..It feels much better now.I wish they would of done it right the first time so I would not have to do that.

 

[serialtoon]

i looked at the s2000 but i decided if i was going to spend that kind of money on it i was going for an STi. i sat in a couple and i started to feel everything closing in on me. thats when i said no thanks not for me.

You and i felt the same. It was between the MS3 and ths STi for me. I felt the STi was the best, until I ended up sitting inside of it. Then i saw how plain and cheap everything on the inside looked and felt....i went with the MS3. Besides, im coming from a Toyota Matrix and i cannot give up all the space.

 

[CaSHMeRe]

david, you related to carrie underwood? if so, i am maddddd jealous...lol

 

[xs2000]

I sold my 2001 s2000 with a comptech supercharger to buy my speed three a few weeks ago. I really miss the shifter and the high end power of the s2000 but bought the ms3 because of its ease of daily life and massive low end torque....Even with the supercharger my s2000 had over 100 less Lb. Ft of torque than the speed 3 does stock...torque makes everything fun and the cops no longer follow me around town.

 

[QuicklyCosmic]

Wow, raising up the front of the seat might be exactly what I need to do. Awesome idea. I've adjusted it every which way but it never feels quite right with my long legs. Did you guys use a spacer of some sort? Did you need longer bolts?

 

[david.underwood]

Just used longer bolts with larger nuts for spacers.

Maybe the nuts that made my leg cramps go away

Dave

 

[BlackCherry06]

I did this in my Eclipse. Got rid of my thigh fatigue. It's a great mod.

 

[MS6S2K]

Interesting comparison. Personally, I love the MS3, but as a fun weekend car only, NO WAY IN HELL. Much like my Speed 6, which I find to be an even less of a fun car thena Speed 3. I'd own an MS3 if not for the fact that I got my Speed 6 for about the same price as it would have cost for a Speed 3, and got so much more goodies, luxury and AWD, which I'm addicted to having in a daily now that I owned an STI. I had an 01 S2000, and traded it in for an 06. Had an RX8, sold that, had an STI, and traded it in for a Speed 6.

I just can't see a comparison to these cars. One is a FAST practical hatchback, and the other is a pure sports car in every sense of the word. The R+D put into the S2000 is remarkable. I could never use it as my only car. It's more of a weekend thrill car. Yes, it lacks much of any power until you hit 6krpms, but then the car transforms it's personality, It's also what I love about it. It requires skill to go fast in, where my Speed 6 is just gas it and GO.

Two different cars, and honestly I couldn't enjoy one car without the other. Something would me missing. Got the nice sporty luxurious daily, and the pure fun sports car. The Speed 3 was more my personality, but i couldn't pass up the offer for the market failing Speed 6, and I LOVE THAT CAR.

Now the 06 S2000 is definitetly different thenthe 01. Nicer interior, smoother shifting, more torque and, a much smoother power delivery. A regular 150hp honda when you want it to be, then BAM, a BEAST. I'm gonna eventually go comptech S/C, and turn it into a pure beast. Not sure how one looks at a speed 3 or 6 as a sports car, but we all are different. Both fabulous cars with different purposes. Nice to have such a variety, and I'm blessed to be able to own both my cars. Love them both equally, but for two entirely different reasons.

There's just nothing like the S2000 though. Originally built, no other trims, or base models that look like it. It's PURE. That's what I admire the most about it. The Speed 3 and 6. Great looking cars that give you the best of both worlds. Enjoy your Speed 3, it's a FINE machine.

 

[Scott]

Comparison? How are you going to compare them? They are two COMPLETELY different cars.

The reality of it is, you will pick whichever car suits your needs better. If you want a more thorough sports car, you get the S2000. If you want something that's still VERY sporty, but also civil enough for daily use, you get the MS3.

 

[david.underwood]

Yes they are to COMPLERELY different cars, but both are a lot of fun as daily drivers. I had a blast commuting 25miles each way for 6 years in the S2000.
Then I was looking something easier on the old body and there just wasn't much out there without spending way too much money. That is until I read about the MS3!
The MS3's torque is about as much fun as 9,000rpm in the S2000. And a lot stealthier. Handling is close enough, for an ex-S2000 driver. (That's mostly ex-S2000 as my wife is now drive it, and occasionally I still get to too)

Dave

 

[unluckydiablo]

Glad you like it. I myself hope to get a MS3 this spring, though all my dealers are a ways away... It will be my summer driver only till I beat the Hyundai into the ground, then it will be my full time car (hopefully paid off by then). I agree with you about the stealthyness, my friends dad has a S2000 that I used to get to ride/drive alot and man, it everyone wanted to race you, even if you were going to the store for milk. I also agree with you about how it drives in first and second, compaired to the S2000. I just hope it stands up to vermont winters when it becomes my daily driver.

Justin

 

[I vtec do you?]

Haha props to you for even being able to begin to compare the two. I test-drove an S2k a while ago, when my pops was interested in getting one. Fuuuuuuuun car, but the thing can't really be compared to the MS3. Two totally diff machines. I thought the s2k was a bit more fun, but only because it had a sky-high redline and it looks a lot better, imo.

 

[megaspeed3]

I have 05' s2k before I traded it in.. (It was kinda painful to give it up. you can't put a car seat in an s2k..)


but boy, the MS3 in my opinion is a decent lateral move from the s2k (maybe more!) Yes, they are both in a different class, but yet, BOTH are FUN!

 

[ch77]

I just wish the S2000 was a hardtop, or came as one. I can't stand convertibles, but that's just me.. Also I wish it was rear-engine.

If the S2000 were that, a hardtop with RR platform I'd get one and live with the insurance costs and impracticality..

 

[MS6S2K]

I just wish the S2000 was a hardtop, or came as one. I can't stand convertibles, but that's just me.. Also I wish it was rear-engine.

If the S2000 were that, a hardtop with RR platform I'd get one and live with the insurance costs and impracticality..

Well the 2008 limited and RAW CR model coming out will be hardtop. Lighter, stiffer suspension, and purely a auto x enthusiasts dream. Of course you can always get a hardtop for it.
Personally I love the Miata's retractable hardtop, but the car just doesn't have enough power for me as a fun car.

I mean hell, I love the MS3, and that car is more me then this Speed 6, but I demand AWD now in a daily beater/commuter, and it's hard for me to imagine owning a FWD car ever again. I still am tempted sometimes to trade my Speed 6 in for a Speed 3 though, but I just have this feeling losing the luxury and AWD will leave me a bit disappointed. One of my cars has to be luxurious and barrel through the snow we get here. You never know though. I really do drool when I think of the same power as my Speed 6 and about 300lbs less weight.