Now before you flame me lol let me tell you the details.... yes I understandthe s2k is the much better car, but heres the stuff....... If I get an SI, I will have 6/7 maybe 8K$ left over to mod it, or in case anything happens, if I get an s2k someone I know is selling, it will literally be ALL my money.... so what I want to know is this.... is the s2k any good as a car you want to keep forever? cause I know the SI is as far as motors being available etc.... what is the availability/price of an f20c long block if its even available? just curious, any insight would be greatly appreciated, thanks

 

my advice: drive both then look at your funds.

you might discvoer that while you can afford the S, you can barely afford it. and you will go through tires faster than the civic, they will cost more and it needs a little extra care in my opinion.

whichever you do, be smart about your decision and don't streach your budget past your abilities. don't forget insurance and most of all, don't forget that one isn't necessarily better than the other - they are actually very different cars, for very different customers and very different driving habits: for instance, if you have an S, and you want to go grocery shopping with someone else... better watch how much you get or someone will be walking home.

good luck!

 

personally, if I had 15k to spend on an everyday car right now, I'd get a 96-00 Civic CX/DX hatch or DX/HX Coupe, and then mod it like a madman. While the s2k is nice, maintenance will eat away your modding money. And it's fast enough to lose control on a turn easily, but slow enough to get bored between gears. It's a great car and I love mine. I wouldn't trade it in, but thats only because I have my Civc HX ready for an engine right now. If you don't want to mod the car, and you buy some tires with good treadwear and drive really carefully, then go for it.

Judging from your name I guess you drive a Prelude, so it might be time to get used to RWD. Just some more things to think about.

 

s2000 all the way... the s2000 is such a great car stock that you really don't need to mod it like you would a civic... you'll be happier with the s2000 in the long run...

 

Yeah. Si is a rice car. S2k is in an entirely different class.

Keep the S2000 stock and enjoy it. If you change your mind later you can always sell it and get your money back... in much the same way you cannot with a riced out Civic.

 

thanks for the insight guys, ill know thursday afternoon which way it will turn out..... I am not really concerned about modding it..... just the fact that if I choose to keep one or the other forever, I know its easier to do that with a civic because the engine options but a lot of people say you cant hardly even get an f20c let alone for a good price but I have to look into it... I know it wont need it til WAY down the road but its something I always look into because who knows what could happen....

 

si is a rice car?!!! ....damn that hurts

 

Most definately.

 

s2k all the way!

 

Get both. I did! HAHAHAHA!!! I have a turbo 1999 Civic Si as my beater (sarcasm), and I just ordered my Suzuka blue S2000 with trunk spoiler and front lip. It should be here this Friday. I'll post pics of the two together when it arrives.

 

A friend of mine had an Si. He toyed with it for a year, modded it and then sold it. Why? Think all you want, but Si is a nice daily driver but a sucky performance car. The Si is an excellent car to drive on a daily basis and it requires very little maintenance: just change the oil and take care of the fluids; its a lot of fun too. However, if you want to get into performance car world not as a ricer, stay away from that car and get something rwd. The friend of mine who owned an Si got very disappointed because he spend $17K on a new that could not compete with cars like '95 M3, 88-92 Supras (Turbo), MR 2s and other cars with true sport heritage. He sold his car and purchased a real can of whoop ***: 1988 Mazda RX7 Turbo Anniversary Edition. He spent $11K on a car + $7K on mods. Now he runs around 300whp and gives ricers a good run for the money in a car that is excellent both on the street and on the track. Anyway, the point is not to get an RX7, rather get something that has true sports heritage and that is meant to be driven hard. No matter how much you soup up a civic, it remains to be a civic and nothing else.

 

Apples and Oranges. The S2K is a totally different animal than the Civic. I agree with the guy above. But I will say this, I give S2K guys a run for their money in my Si. It's a very practical car even with the turbo. And it looks clean too. I drove it all the way through last horrible winter with no problems.

 

The best thing about the s2000 is the handling. Driving it means a garaunteed ear to ear grin. Also, since you are in california, I'd think twice about putting $7k worth of mods into your car. I used to have a turbo sohc civic before my s2000, and while It was faster in a straight line (at least until like halfway through 3rd gear), it was nowhere near as fun to drive as my s2000. I got pulled over randomly by a cop for no reason who asked me to pop my hood. The jerkoff thought I had an illegal intake on (which was actually the charge pipe from my turbo kit) so he told me I couldn't drive until I got it checked out. I was forced to take my whole turbo setup off twice before already (once for emissions testing and once to take the turbo to a machine shop). I was ******* sick of dealing with all that bullshit. I just took my whole setup off, sold it, sold the car, and used that money along with the money I was going to use for pistons, rods, injectors, a hondata, and tuning, and made a $10k down payment on my '00 s2000. I don't regret it in the least bit.

I went mod crazy on my civic. The urge to fix up the s2000 isn't nearly as big. It's PLENTY fast stock (especially 3rd gear and up), but if i do fix it up, it'll only be boltons.

Get the s2000 unless you're more of a straight line kind of guy, or you need something more practical (though I don't know how much more practical an si with $7k in mods will be).

 

well i didnt exactly mean I was going to put the 7k into the SI.... I just meant it was more safe to have an Si with 7K in the bank then to have the S with almost nothing left just incase......

 

other than tires, why is the s so expensive to maintain? i am juggling the idea of either getting an s or getting a wrx.
thanks

 

They aren't expensive to maintain. That's an "urban legend" spread by people that cannot afford to buy an S2K

 

ya, it's best to go with cheap and have money in the back... never know when you'll need it. Especially if the s2k is low on warranty

 

My experience may be of worth seeing as how I sold my 99 turbo Si for a 03 S2000. I loved the Si but it really is apples and oranges. My Si could have given my S2K a run for its money in a straight line (in the turns is another question) , but its still a radically different car. At the same time, like the other actual S owners have stated driving it just brings a smile to my face.

From the factory the Si is an econo box, a sporty econobox, but an econobox none the less. From the factory the S2K is a sports car, tried and true, and you really have to drive it to get a feeling for its refinement and bare-bones performance attitude.

If you're really into cars, most of us make whatever sacrifices we have to in order to get the car we really really want at the time, so pick which you like best

-J

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dustin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">They aren't expensive to maintain. That's an "urban legend" spread by people that cannot afford to buy an S2K </TD></TR></TABLE>

Do you actually own an s2k? The maintainence costs are substantially higher than that of any other Honda. If you change your oil, diff, and tranny fluid on an appropriate basis and get a new set of tires every 10K/mi, maintainence costs can really add up. This applies especially to a daily/semi-daily driver.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by oos2kfan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Do you actually own an s2k? The maintainence costs are substantially higher than that of any other Honda. If you change your oil, diff, and tranny fluid on an appropriate basis and get a new set of tires every 10K/mi, maintainence costs can really add up. This applies especially to a daily/semi-daily driver. </TD></TR></TABLE>


I'm the exception. I love being a technician. Free oil changes. All fluids free. No charge for labor. Get paid warranty time for bullsh!t rattles that I complain about on my own car. You get the idea....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by oos2kfan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Do you actually own an s2k? The maintainence costs are substantially higher than that of any other Honda. If you change your oil, diff, and tranny fluid on an appropriate basis and get a new set of tires every 10K/mi, maintainence costs can really add up. This applies especially to a daily/semi-daily driver. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Sorry, I have an NSX. And you have not listed anything out of the ordinary, anyways. There is nothing special that needs to be done or changed on an S2000 than any other Honda. It's a car. Drive it.

 

get the s2000...

i use mine as a daily driver for school and work which is about 40 miles, and even though the ride is a bit stiffer, theres nothin' like cruisin' with the " top down, volks spinnin'!!! "

i'm a college student that works part time, and i don't have any problems paying for the maintenance. there are a few more fluids to change like the differential, oil, and transmission but if you do the work yourself, you only have to buy the fluids which are not expensive [plus the dff. and tranny fluids don't need to be changed that often]. tires are a different story depending how you drive the car.


overall, its pratical as long as you don't mind gettin' a nice tan from driving with the top down all the time

 

When you talk about more expensive maintenance, I thought you meant tires and all. (Which the Si would take expensive tires too once you were done modding it). The s2k doesn't cost any more otherwise.. spark plug, oil, tranny fluid, windshield wiper fluid, all of it's pretty much the same. I think the s2k take about $1 more per oil change because it take more oil than my Civic, but not by much.

What I was saying though is you buy your s2k and now you have no money for maintenance on it. Whereas you buy your civic and you can do 20 oil changes per month and still save msome money.

 

How so? He's gonna rice it out with his extra money.

 

Well, don't spend it all on parts, the point would hopefully be to save some back.. If you're spending it all on parts then they're pretty much the same. The civic at least has a usuable trunk I guess. Resale would be better on the s2k.