My nephew just called me asking about the two. He's looking for a toy and can buy a Honda S2000 That is really rough looking. Or a early Miata. that is pristine.
Is it possible to make the Miata perform like the S2000? With maybe a turbo and suspension upgrades?
What would it cost to have done? Would there be a good place in Minneapolis Mn or send it somewhere?
Sorry I don't know anything about either car.
In this scenario? Miata all the way unless your nephew doesn't fit said early Miata. I'm 5'11" and it's a tight fit, the S2k has more room. That said, getting a rough looking S2k up to snuff isn't going to be a cheap endeavour, and OEM parts supply for this car is ... patchy these days.
If the Miata suspension is in good nick, there isn't that much difference between the two - they're both very capable cars. IME the Miata might be a little more benign, at least compared to the early S2k. Both will probably need a suspension refresh either way, and I'd hazard a guess that it's cost less on the Miata than the same suspension on the S2k.
Yes, the S2k is faster, but not necessarily in a way that can be exploited on the street. Having a turbo on a Miata is always a good thing, but have your nephew do himself a favour and use a quality kit like the FM one that's complete and tested. There are too many others out there that are almost complete, go 80% of the way and expect the customer to figure out the remaining 80%.
IMO it depends on what he is going to do with the car. Is he going to only drive it on sunny summer days in Minnesota. Then the Miata would be the choice. If he is going to learn to modify his car and bling it up then the ratty one would be the choice.
I wouldn't touch a rough S2000 with a 20-foot pole. Condition being equal, the S2000 is a better car by an order of magnitude, but nice ones are expensive for a reason. Most of the cheap ones have been beaten on by idiots, wrecked multiple times, have salvage titles, etc. That is a car where you buy a nice one, or you don't buy one, especially with how scarce parts are getting.
As all the car.guide say "buy the best one you can afford".
Get the Miata.
Both Miatas and S2000s show up somewhat regularly on the BringaTrailer auction site, so the OP might watch that for a while to get an idea of what nice examples go for, and go from there.
Adding an aftermarket turbo system can be reliable, but needs to be very well engineered, and many are not. In that department, you pretty much get what you pay for, where $$$$ tends to equal more reliable. Money-wise, it's always best to get a used car in the condition you want, unless the journey to fix it is a planned part of the adventure.
Get the Miata and throw a K swap in it.
kb58 said:Money-wise, it's always best to get a used car in the condition you want, unless the journey to fix it is a planned part of the adventure.
Great advice. The only thing I'd add is only get the S2000 if the journey to fix it is a planned part of the adventure and the budget.
I learned the hard way that buying a car that is a rough fixer-upper and planning to work on it as time and money allows is a recipe for spending way too much over a really long time while not having a useable car for most of that time.
A better condition runner can be driven, and then upgraded if money and time allow, which is a much better proposition in hindsight, even if it is a 'lesser' car.
In reply to ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) :
I've never spent more than $500 on a race car. Actually everyone except my last cost $300
Well my early ones were under $50.
On the other hand I've probably spent 2000 hours at least before they raced the first time and the next several years has been spent perfecting them.
Money? Well my Black Jack which won the only trophy's I've kept. I probably had over $2000 in it.
The picture below is me leading in the Black Jack spl. 
followed by Carl Larson in the DeMar. A tube frame car with Lotus 23 suspension geometry. And a 430 cu in small block Chevy and Hilborn Fuel injection.
What track is that?
Unless the kid is an S2000 expert, I would say Miata also. It will be far more fun to modify a nice Miata than fix a crappy S2000.
In reply to frenchyd :
You made clear what you did, but this is for your nephew. Is he into cars enough to buy something for $300 and spending 2,000 hours and $$$$ fixing it into running condition? Would you be helping him?
Nice beats rough no matter what.
That said I am tall and S2000s are a much tighter fit, due to the lower dashboard. Much less legroom because you can't bend your knees.
kb58 said:In reply to frenchyd :
You made clear what you did, but this is for your nephew. Is he into cars enough to buy something for $300 and spending 2,000 hours and $$$$ fixing it into running condition? Would you be helping him?
To add to this, also don't force him into helping you on a project car. That's a good way to make sure that the car enthusiasm is short lived. It may be hard to accept that your relative does not share your same desire to work relentlessly on something.
Unless the S2000 problems are 100% superficial, I'd go Miata all day long. The reason the S2000 is considerably more expensive than a Miata in equal condition is that the powertrain is largely unique.
frenchyd said:Is it possible to make the Miata perform like the S2000?
Why would you want to downgrade a Miata?
Why is the answer not XK-E?
Pete. (l33t FS) said:That said I am tall and S2000s are a much tighter fit, due to the lower dashboard. Much less legroom because you can't bend your knees.
I'm not that tall (6'0), but the S2000 dash/short door/wide sill is *very* noticeable. The car is an oddly tight fit. I don't think it really has any more room than a Miata, and the ingress/egress is worse.
In reply to kb58 :
Good question. He tends to follow things I do but hasn't expressed any interest in sports cars until now.
I doubt his goal is to race it nor do I expect he will get that deep into restoration.
But I could be completely wrong. I'm just trying to pick up enough information so I can give him good guidance no matter which way he goes.
In reply to alfadriver :
I learned that many many decades ago. I'm a unique wacko and few are like me.
I got the impression the issues with the S2000 are mostly cosmetic rather than mechanical. His comment was he loved how the S2000 went ( implying he drove it) but really preferred the condition of the Miata.
It was my thought to buy a good turbo kit for the Miata to give the Miata the performance of the S2000.
I haven't seen any pictures and Ibwould hope he would have me check it out before he pulls the trigger.
I've done this debate with myself several times at this point and have gone back and forth between 4 s2ks (2 AP1s, 2 AP2s) and 6 miatas (5 NAs, 1 NB). At one point, nice s2ks weren't much more expensive than similar NBs and under those circumstances, I think the s2k was a bargain! These days though, prices on the s2ks have gone nuts and there are much better options for the money IMO. For the price of a nice s2k, a brand new ND can be had or very close. I'd much rather have a pristine Miata over a beat s2k though. Maintenance costs are much higher in the s2k and some parts are becoming harder to find and replace.
I built my current NA Miata using the s2k as a performance bench mark. The miata weighs 500-600 lbs less so you already have an advantage there. I boosted the Miata with a TDR Rotrex, MS3Pro, and flex fuel and it's much faster in a straight line. I also added Fox Coilovers and Wilwoods from FM and I'd be willing to bet it handles and brakes better as well. Even with these improvements in performance, it's probably still cheaper than a similar condition s2k.
If you have any specific questions comparing the two, feel free and I'll do my best as I have had one or the other for many years now.
What does he want? Does he want fast, image, comfort, reliable, collector, etc?
Arguments for a Miata:
In my experience, cars that need cosmetic attention are never mechanically perfect either. The other thing to keep in mind is that cosmetic repairs tend to be more expensive than mechanical ones. For example look at the cost of a roof replacement on the S2000 compared to the roof replacement on a Miata. In general parts for the S2000 more expensive than Miata parts and if you happen to insist on OEM parts they are not always available anymore.
In reply to BoxheadTim :
Good thoughts. Not knowing exactly what his goals are prevents me from drilling down to the exact yes/no answers.
My gut feelings are ( based on the tone of his questions.) exact originality has little value. I suspect he'd ask me to straighten out the bodywork and use my equipment to give it a semi decent paint job.
While the Miata I'd need to install something that duplicates the performance he felt in the test drive of the Honda S2000. I've heard a suggestion to use the FM kit. I have no idea what that would entail money or time commitment.
Maybe it's just me but while I understand why people draw comparisons, I think the cars are so different that it's kinda apples to oranges. Miata is/was far less expensive and a fraction of the hp. I'm not really sure they're as easy to cross shop as it sounds. I have an NA, and have had many. I've driven both generations of S2000. S2000 is faster and more capable, IMO, but for the extra $$ I'd expect it to be.
JAdams said:I've done this debate with myself several times at this point and have gone back and forth between 4 s2ks (2 AP1s, 2 AP2s) and 6 miatas (5 NAs, 1 NB). At one point, nice s2ks weren't much more expensive than similar NBs and under those circumstances, I think the s2k was a bargain! These days though, prices on the s2ks have gone nuts and there are much better options for the money IMO. For the price of a nice s2k, a brand new ND can be had or very close. I'd much rather have a pristine Miata over a beat s2k though. Maintenance costs are much higher in the s2k and some parts are becoming harder to find and replace.
I built my current NA Miata using the s2k as a performance bench mark. The miata weighs 500-600 lbs less so you already have an advantage there. I boosted the Miata with a TDR Rotrex, MS3Pro, and flex fuel and it's much faster in a straight line. I also added Fox Coilovers and Wilwoods from FM and I'd be willing to bet it handles and brakes better as well. Even with these improvements in performance, it's probably still cheaper than a similar condition s2k.
If you have any specific questions comparing the two, feel free and I'll do my best as I have had one or the other for many years now.
Thanks for your insight. Are either of them anything the owner could rely on the local dealer to keep running? I'd rather not be the call he makes when problems occur. I have my own interests to consume my time. My thoughts are some time to deal with getting either in shape while he learns and helps. And then basically cut the cord.
I've driven an AP1 and NB2 Miata back to back and I liked the NB2 more until about 6k rpm then I liked the S2K more lol
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