Boxster vs S2000

[jlucas]

Originally Posted by fatmike

ps -- JLUCUS -- Cowl shake in a boxster? huh?

Generic term for body flex in a convertible and yes the 986 is noticablely less stiff than the S2000. Both are light years better than the Miata for torsional stiffness.

Added note: when we had the S2000 it was a daily driver including winters (with snow tires if course), our BoxS is not.

[ekam]

It all comes down to this.

Do you like Asian or European women?

[Johnny Danger]

I've had the occasion to drive a few S2000's over the years, to include a friend's that has been mod'd to the max . Here's my ditty :

Pro's : reliability, relatively inexpensive to maintain, and a world of JDM aftermarket
performance products if mods are your thing .

Cons : performance and handling that are uninspiring, aesthetically boring, an engine
that feels like a "mouse on a pulley", and devoid of any kind of cachet .

p.s. None of the S2000's that I drove felt any more solid or rigid in the chassis
department than the boxster. In fact, most of the S2000's that I drove were far more
prone to creaks and squeaks, cowl shake and cabin/wind noise than any boxster
that I've driven . Oh, and despite all of the concerns surrounding IMS failure with
the boxster engine, it's my understanding that the S2000 has some problems of
it's own .

[Topless]

Originally Posted by ekam

Do you like Asian or European women?

Yes I do thank you!

[Perfectlap]

I weighed the S2000 vs. Boxster S vs. Carrera proposition after autocrossing a Miata for a few seasons. I ruled out the Carrera because I had to have a roadster and 911 Cabriolet just ruins the look for me. I was about to pull the trigger on the S2000 (yellow ) until I spoke a buddy at the local autocross who drove an S2000 himself but pushed me toward the Boxster. He was a former junior formula racer who at point raced against a former F1 driver (McLaren). He was emphatic about the Boxster being the perfect roadster from a driver's point of view. Balance, torque, steering, responsiveness, seat position, braking and those intangible things like the induction sound. Okay so he got my attention. Top Gear ran an episode with Tiff Needell trying to determine what was the best 'pure sports car' you could buy today and drive every day. They decided on the Boxster. After watching him slide the Boxster S around the test track, laughing the whole time, I was convinced.
A week later the EXACT Boxster I was looking for appeared at a local Acura dealer as a trade in. The minute I put the car in drive and heard that induction and listened to the revs come up well even the salesman's (young guy) eyes went like this: The car was spotless. Bought it a week later. Little did I know how hard it would be to come by a low mileage, silver/red, 3.2 garage queen.

The thing about the S2000 is that its perfect for autocrossing although I hear the repairs aren't as cheap as they are made out to be. In that respect I really regret selling my Miata. I should have kept it as my dedicated autocrosser. BUT...autocrossing the Boxster the first time was confirmation of everything my former racer buddy said. That car is perfectly set up right out of the box. You have to pretty experienced behind the wheel to find faults. And most of those are cured with a few modifications. That's something you can't do with the S2000's short coming (torque). I eventually hooked up Toyo R-compounds on the Boxster and it was on rails. But the IMS concerns at the time (pre-LN Engineering) cooled me on beating on the car too hard given the low mileage after four years. Now that I've done the upgrade and have consistently put 10K miles on the car every year I'm not so concerned but for what I spent on the big "major maintenace" items I could have picked up gen 2 Miata with extensive supsension, exhaust, wheel/tire mods with a few bucks to spare. Still thinking about it though but I doubt I'll ever sell the Boxster S, the money I would get would never ever put me into something on par that didn't need repairs. Not to mention I still get compliments, thumbs up, hot girl pulling over to tell me my car is "soooo sexy", and one black dude who pulled up in bumper to bumper traffic sayin "F*ck yeah! Now that's what I'm f*cking talkin' about.". Okay....What do you say that? I've also had many senior citizen guys come up to me and say "you have the dream car I always wanted but could never afford before startinga family". I guess people take this car for granted.

[papasmurf]

but drove a friends briefly ('03 model I believe) several years back before I bought my boxster. The S2000 has a sweet short throw shifter stock....that was probably my favorite part. The power is strong but you have to constantly dog the car to keep it in the power band so alot of times it does not feel as fast as it is. I was never fond of the styling of the S2000 and less so the interior (bar graph tach/speedo) as it seemed kind of monotone to me. The 986 interior is better IMO *when you have some of the upgrades like the sport design package and optional items like painted console, etc...stock it is probably not any better but I do prefer the analog gauges. Also, if you take the snorkel off the 986, the sound is amazing and the S2000 just can't compare. If the reliabilty thing is a big concern to you, I would get the S2000...peace of mind while driving is hard to find a substitute for.

[fatmike]

Originally Posted by jlucas

Generic term for body flex in a convertible and yes the 986 is noticablely less stiff than the S2000. Both are light years better than the Miata for torsional stiffness.

Added note: when we had the S2000 it was a daily driver including winters (with snow tires if course), our BoxS is not.

I drive my Boxster year round in the northeast winter. It does just fine in the snow with proper tires.

There are lots of reasons not to buy a Boxster, but cowl shake isn't one of them...

[Idaho Red Rocket 3]

My wife wanted a Miata for years....untill I talked her into test driving several. No way, way to small. Then we test drove several Thunderbirds. They are nice but no umph. Then we test drove a couple of S2000. Nice, Honda quality and easy care for me. Then we test drove 1 Boxster and bought it on the spot. We now have 2 Boxsters.

Nuff Said ?

[laphan]

S2000 was one of my choice before I bought the boxster. They are fun to drive. The styling is not that great IMO but neither the boxster.

I thought Honda should have bulletproof reliability but when I went to their forums all they talked about are transmission issues (more like how we talk about IMS issue here).
S2000 has issue with their transmission (2nd gear) popping out and synchro issues.
And our boxster is not in much better shape with engine blowing up issues too.

After knowing both cars have their own major and expensive to fix issues, I went with whatever I like better (which I picked the boxster).

[Jake D]

I had this debate too. I went with a boxster clearly. I drove an S2000 yesterday around the shop to pull the bumper off. It didnt impress me much even in the short ride i was in it. I thought not having a headliner was primitive.

Also not that i do it very often, but you cant beat the amount of cargo room from and back that a boxster has. I've gone on a few weekend trips with the ex and it works out great. The "her" trunk is up front, mine is in the back. I don't like how little room the S2000 has

[blue2000s]

I think the S2000 is a couple hundred pounds lighter than the Boxster. Which is a big + for sports car fans.

[ekam]

Originally Posted by blue2000s

I think the S2000 is a couple hundred pounds lighter than the Boxster. Which is a big + for sports car fans.

Not true.

Weight is 2809lbs for MY 2000. 2835lbs for MY 2005. Less than 100lbs lighter than a base 986.

http://www.autos.ca/car-test-drives/test-drive-2000-honda-s2000
http://www.autos.ca/car-test-drives/test-drive-2005-honda-s2000

Read this too, while the motor won't blow up it's hardly trouble free.

http://www.autos.ca/used-car-reviews/used-vehicle-review-honda-s2000-2000-2007

[WhipE350]

Originally Posted by ekam

http://www.autos.ca/car-test-drives/test-drive-2000-honda-s2000

The 'autos.ca' site had a 2000 Boxster 'S' review too and they listed it at $71k! What's up with that, I have the sticker for my 2000 'S' and it was $55k. Interesting.

[WhipE350]

Surf, did you post this same question on a Honda forum...if so I would love to read..send us the link.

[surf40]

Originally Posted by WhipE350

Surf, did you post this same question on a Honda forum...if so I would love to read..send us the link.

Here is the link to a S2000 forum. I posted pretty much the same question there.
I even posted some of your comments over there, and they thought you guys had a fair assessment of the differences. You’ll see that pretty much everybody came to the same conclusion as you guys here at 986.

Enjoy!

http://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/878653-s2000-vs-boxster/

[Perfectlap]

Reading those comments there seems to be a belief that a pre 987 Boxsters are on par with S2000's on performance. I don't think they are very familiar with the Boxster S. My local autocross like most others classify the cars on power to weight ratios. Base 2.5 and 2.7 Boxsters were grouped with the S2000.
Boxster S 3.2 and 3.4 987 were one class above running against the standard 996 3.6 Carreras and some of the older 993 Carreras. I regulary saw lap times from Boxster S (3.2) that at least matched and often beat the higher horsepower Carreras. Probably due to the fact that they didn't have long straights to make up ground against the more nimble Boxsters.

At any rate very few of those S2000 owners seem to have first hand knolwedge of any Porsches. So if I were you I would focus on what they like about the S2000 and not so much what they don't like about a car they haven't even driven. The best advice is from someone who has driven both in a track and autocross setting which I presume you are looking to do at some point.

by the way, the Boxster is not the "lowest" Porsche. An base Cayenne is the cheapest Porsche you can buy. Also, the Boxster sets the bar in the roadster category. I don't think there any other Porsches that can say the same.

[jlucas]

Originally Posted by fatmike

but cowl shake isn't one of them...

Agreed, it's just that it has more flex than a S2000. It's noticeable if you've owned an S2000.

One other difference that I forgot to mention is the Boxster is a lot quieter on the highway (top up or tow down) than the S2000.

No regrets here on moving up to a Boxster S.