" The S2000 is out over there and I drove one. I actually managed to trick one of the Chiba Prefecture dealers into letting me drive it without an international license.... =)
Well actually the dealer was gracious enough to let me drive it as I had my US Passport with me. The car I got to drive was silver with the red Recaro-type seats. They offered good support and were nice and firm.
Inside, the much lauded instrument cluster was kinda plain when compared to the new outlandish design of the Altezza's but the big red push-button starter certainly did catch my eye. In addition this particular car came equipped with a 7" Panasonic TV and DVD player - damn I want one of those...
As for the drive itself I was pretty nervous to begin with - driving on the wrong side of the street and all. What made it worse is that the time of day guaranteed heavy traffic and indeed I was limited to the narrow streets around the dealership. I never really made it passed second gear. When the road cleared up I did gun it once in second and had a chance to test the brakes... and wow they were really good because they stopped the car very quickly. The only thing negative thing I noticed was that I got a lot of tire squeal so either they were still a little on the cold side, o rmaybe just maybe the S2000 is "under-tired"? I didn't get a chance to measure them to see whether they were the same size (or larger) as the TypeRs but they definitely felt up to the task.
In short it is pretty impressive as it sounds like a motorcycle engine. (After all what would one expect from an 11.7:1 CR inline four cylinder engine with a 9000rpm rev limiter pumping out 247hp out of a mere 2000cc displacement. -ed).
The car is impressive for the price and the engine technology but I
wouldn't pay US$30,000 for a Honda anymore. There were hella other cars that
impressed me more like the Altezza's and the Silvia's. These cars cost a lot
less and actually were a lot faster.
I also got to drive the new S15 Silvia, a 6 speed Toyota Altezza Turbo, and the R34 Skyline GTR VSpec... damn... The Altezza was one of my friend's car and we drove it from Matsudo to Narita airport on the day I left... it pulled and pulled and pulled... It was equipped from the dealer with a turbo from TRD which mad it put out around 300ps - and all under factory warranty. In terms of yen this car was still under $30,000 USD...
The new Silvia S15 was pretty cool too. The one I drove belonged to my friend's
uncle... The turbo in that car is so smooth in delivery and refinement
compared to the high-revving engine in the S2000... and it cost about 1/3 less. Most of the Silvia's there after a turbo upgrade and stuff are pumping close to 600 hp on a stock block... Oh.. I was sat in the Impreza WRX wagon... damn that thing is
probably one of the best cars I have ever sat in... anyways... that's pretty
much all I have..."
That's it end of the article. I will be able to offer you all more insight into it once I get to see it in person (and hopefully play with it too) this summer.
-e
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