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Originally Posted by stephen wilson
Quick, you should have some insight on my auto purchasing dilemma, having owned all 3 cars I'm considering. How was the S2000 to live with on a daily basis? I've driven it, the Boxster, and Miata. The lack of low end power is annoying w/ the S2, but the shifter is great, and it's at least $5,000 cheaper than a Porsche. I like the Boxster best, but am worried about maint. costs (and IMS failure!), and the fact that I can only afford a $25k purchase price right now, which means an older/higher milage car and more service issues. The Miata is OK, but didn't excite me like the other 2 options. Thoughts?
Thanks,
Steve
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I've owned 3 Miatas (still have 2 of them for the track) an S2000 and the Boxster S. I really liked the S2000 and don't have much bad to say about it. I thought the build quality was excellent and I've always thought the "lack of torque" issue was way over blown at least for the 2004-later cars. You did have to ring it out to get the most out of it, but the same can be said for Boxsters in my opinion. For me, the S2000 shifter is the best I've owned, better than the Miata and a lot better than the Boxster S even with the factory sport shifter.
The one thing I didn't like about the S2000 was the car tendencies. A Miata is extremely well balanced and can be driven up to the limits of the car pretty easy. When it starts to slide the car "wants" to come back into shape, it's very confidence building. I find the Boxster S to me much the same, very balanced, very easy to push the car hard and feel good about it.
The S2000 on the other hand tends to have a bit of oversteer build into it which turns into snap-oversteer in a heartbeat if you aren't paying attention and pre-2006 cars don't have traction control as an option. Driving an S2000 reminds me a lot more of driving a 911 (as far as tendencies go) than driving a Miata or Boxster. That's probably part of the charm for some because with the S2000 (as well as the 911), they will flat go in the hands of a capable driver. I have a bunch of track experience, etc, but even with that I still feel more comfortable in the Boxster S and Miata. Different strokes.