RWD.

the Solstice weighs more than the S2000. Solstice - 2860lbs, S2000 - 2755. the Solstice is weaker 170hp and teh S2000 is 240hp. the Solstice has a bit more torque specially around the low end area though. Solstice - 170ft-lbs, S2000 - 153ft-lbs. the S2000 has a nice 6 speed gearbox which i believe should be better than the Solstices 5 speed gearbox. also the S2000 revs really high :twisted: .

yea, the s2000 had me really excited. it seems unbelievable on paper. but after reading a bunch of stuff on it, it seems like its just made for the track. apparently its loud as hell (to be honest, im fine with that, i like the sound of engines but i also think it cruises at 4500 rpm on the interstate that is unacceptable - my dads 1966 mgb is like that, but a 2003 car shouldnt have to do that) as far as daily driving im not so impressed anymore, i mean you only have 3000 rpm once vtec hits to have any fun at all and to do that you have to be way up at 6000 rpm, below that its a pig - its roll on (5-60mph) is ungodly slow at 7.6 seconds. thats just ridiculous for a car at that weight and horsepower and roll on starts are much better indicators of what a car is like during daily driving. its chassis is very good, and everyone praises it for its neutral chassis, and great gearshift, but then again the solstice is built on a brand new rwd platform and can pull .90 g on its shitty eagle rsa stock tires. put some decent tires on there and it will hold even high than .90. thats very very good for a 20000 dollar car. i dont know, im a little dissapointed with the s2000 now; it still deserves a test drive but im not as psyched as i was :cry:.

oh yea, the solstice gets almost all of its torque below 3000 rpm. it seems to be a very good engine.

I quite like the Miata and the S2000 myself. I've had some good moments with them.

I agree completely. I drove the S2000 and the Z3 3.0i back to back - to cut a long story short I bought the Z3.

I drove the S2K a week ago or so, as much as I love the VTEC my feelings haven't changed. It's useless below 6000rpm. It was a relief to get back into the (turbocharged) Saab and make torquey progress at low revs.

Look at the 30-50mph and 50-70mph times rather than 0-60 times if you want a flexible torquey motor.

yea, i have so much more fun dropping a gear or two and pulling away (the 30-60 stuff) than the 0-whatever stuff. its no where near as hard on your car and tires either. i wish i could get a z3 3.0i but i dont think i can with my price range. i love the z4 also but thats definitely out of my range.

if teh s2000 dropped its redline to 7000 and vtech to around 4500 even if it lost 20-25 hp i would like it more. thats how much the nature of the engine bothers me, i would be fine with a weaker engine as long as it was more useable day to day.

Hey guys, why bad mouth the miata. I think that they are great handling cars. Put some thicker anti-rollbars on it, and some racing wheels and tires, and they will scare the shit out of you in a corner. Throw on a Turbo or a Supercharger and you can get well over 300 reliable-hp. And that will beat a lot of cars on track days. Thow on a body kit and you wont look like the other "gay" miata drivers. You can probobly do most of this for under 20000

Get a 240sx for about 1000 and then but some work into it. Like a new engine...SR20DET or if you are really brave a RB26DETT or any of the RB engines. Doin about 15K of mods to this little car will but you well over 300bhp

the miata just seems so bland to me... there are so many of them, but i might end up test drving a msm at some point. just seems like even though i dont like it that much, i owe it to myself to give it a shot. its sold so well for such a long time. as far as getting a junker and putting thousands and thousands in mods on it... i dont think that is what i want. i need something with a warranty and everything. i cant have something break and then have to find money to fix it. i need need need a warranty. so the modding thing is pretty much out :cry: .

i just noticed i can get a 2002 wrx sti for around 20000. does anyone know how reliable this would be and expensive to own?? i know it has virtually slick tires stock so i realized tires will be an expensive thing but im not going to put huge miles on this car so i can deal with that.

I know I am biased and its not your requirement, but I would look at some other, older cars too.

For instance you can buy a late 80's, low mileage Porsche Carrera. '87 - '89 is best.
You may be able to pick a good one up for around $15k. (Anolder SC like my car is about $10k-$15k)
$5k can do a lot of repairs if needed. Although a good example should not need much. A lot of service parts are shared with older Mercedes and other German cars, so its easy enough to get.
If you are like me and do your own brakes, filters etc. You can cut cost a lot.
Fuel consumption can be heavy depending on your driving style.
Also you will not lose any money on the car. They appreciate, so its an investment.

Another older car I would never disregard as a student car is a nice E30 BMW 325i('89-'91). Even a cabrio should be cheap, but I have no idea about US prices for those.

im just afraid of insurance and service costs with one of those... but it would be cool. 8)

uhmmmmmm there were no 2002 WRX STi's for America. only Asia and Europe and dont know about Aussie land/

yea haha, i figured that one out, i was looking on ebay and the guy was bullshitting, at first it seemed odd but i didnt think much of it. on the same topic, the 2004 sti are around 23000 right now which is pretty cheap i think.

A 2004 STi for 23,000 would be beaten to shit and I wouldn't trust it too well.
According to Kelly Blue Book a 2004 STi with 20,000 miles and only a good condition rating is worth $25k from a private party and 28 from a dealer.