Civic Type R vs S2000

Hello everyone,

This is my first post so here's a short introduction.
My name is Yves, I'm 26 years old and I live in Belgium (Europe).
I've owned several sporty/sports cars over the years including; 2008 Audi TT 2.0T, 2010 Ford Focus RS 2.5T, 2016 Mazda mx5 ND and I currently own a 2006 Honda S2000 with 55000 miles and I daily a 2005 civic EP2.

Now on to the question.

The civic has pretty high miles, the suspension is crashy and it looks like shit so I don’t really enjoy driving it anymore.

I was looking for a replacement for my daily civic but every car I like costs upwards off €15.000 (requirements: decent power, good/sporty looks and max 2 years old)

My S2k will sell for around €22.000 where I live, so if you combine the two that puts me right in the new civic type R price range.

Now I’m having a difficult time deciding between the two..

I prefer the looks of the CTR. It just looks so aggressive.. I love it. The interior is really nice too. It’s faster and I’m sure it will be pretty fun to drive too.

However I’ve only owned my S2000 for about a year and I still really enjoy it. The engine is awesome and the sound that it produces oh god.. way better than the CTR in my opinion. I’m afraid I will regret selling this car..

Cost not being an issue which one would you choose?

Please share your thoughts, opinions, experiences with these two cars to help me decide #Firstworldproblems

I will say , without a doubt , I will do everything in my power to keep my own S2000. Owning both an R and S , I will say a boosted S would suffice. There is a fun factor that I instantly feel when I drive the S. The car is very responsive and your in complete control , like an extension of your body. I have not yet taken the R to a super windy road so I cant fully give a real world experience, but setup correctly I do not feel the R can out corner the S. Stock for stock is difficult , I'd say the R here is more of a performance machine with the boost. However , please don't let me talk you out of buying an R. If anything both have there perks, I just know in the end , if I had to give one up , it would not be my S.

I agree with Scrapdog.
I currently own a 16 ILX, 03 S2000, and a CTR. I sold my supercharged 9th gen SI to buy the CTR but if I had to get rid of the S2000 in order to get the CTR, I don't think I would've done it. The car is just so well built and such a blast to drive. Feels more engaging imo than a CTR and maybe even faster in the turns since I have aero and stuff.
The choice was either to supercharge the S or buy a CTR and I chose to buy a CTR because I didn't want to go through the smog crap every 2 years due to living in california and decided to just buy a stock fast car.

Now, if you didn't have a daily driver and only had a choice to have one car, the CTR would be the better choice naturally due to it being a hatchback and can provide more comfort/space.

Zooropa82 said:

Here's a question...

Would you trade your S2k for a new model if Honda releases it?

Click to expand...

If they release a new s2000? Nope.

i don't get why sound is so important. i get it and i don't, it's a paradox.

A lot of my S2K friends are waiting to see if Honda does build another car like the S2K. The pricing will be up there for sure. Seeing the cost for the CTR is about of the price of the S2K back in 2000. Would I trade my S for a new S that would be a hard one. Only time will tell. Right now I can enjoy both the S2K and the CTR.

I have a 2002 S2000 and now own a NEW Type R, I don't think you can even compare the two in anyway, they are completely different animals. I would never sell my "S", it's such a unique vehicle and it still stands out to this day, driving the "S" never gets old. I've only put roughly 5K on it every year and hope to have her for life. As for the Type R, I am daily driving it and hope to keep it for a long time as well, providing I have the space. Long live my amazing Honda's!!!!!

S2000Forever said:

I have a 2002 S2000 and now own a NEW Type R, I don't think you can even compare the two in anyway, they are completely different animals. I would never sell my "S", it's such a unique vehicle and it still stands out to this day, driving the "S" never gets old. I've only put roughly 5K on it every year and hope to have her for life. As for the Type R, I am daily driving it and hope to keep it for a long time as well, providing I have the space. Long live my amazing Honda's!!!!!

Click to expand...

I actually own an 02 Spa and the 06 Black. I daily the 06 and the 02 will be up for sale soon. The are different in a lot of ways. Don't know when I'll actually get the CTR on a track with it being so nice and new. It's is designed for the track but now isn't the time for that. I believe that both cars are special.

Zooropa82 said:

Here's a question...

Would you trade your S2k for a new model if Honda releases it?

Click to expand...

Probably not.. can't justify spending 40k or more on a "toy" car at the moment

Damn I wish I could have both like a lot of you guys do.. but since I'm planning to buy a house within a year or so that's just not possible financially

Bama Dave said:

I actually own an 02 Spa and the 06 Black. I daily the 06 and the 02 will be up for sale soon. The are different in a lot of ways. Don't know when I'll actually get the CTR on a track with it being so nice and new. It's is designed for the track but now isn't the time for that. I believe that both cars are special.

Click to expand...

Dammit Dave, you got one before me! Congrats.

To the OP, like S2000Forever and BamaDave, I will be keeping the S2000. It's the best of both worlds.

I currently own a 2001 S2000 as well as the Type R and will not be selling the S. Yes, the Type R is faster in every way but there's just a feeling that the S delivers that the R can not. The overall experience of the S at 9,000 RPM just can't be replaced in my eyes.

I sold my first AP1 quite a few years ago thinking that more horsepower toys would = more fun but I found out quickly that wasn't the case and I had made a huge mistake. It took me forever to find my current AP1 with only 40k on the clock and I've told myself no matter what she's not going anywhere, I won't make the same mistake twice.

If I had to choose though, one or the other... I think it would be the S2000. Knock on wood I get lucky and never have to decide between the two as I would end up beating myself up pretty bad over having to make that decision lol. It'd almost be like "which kid do you not love anymore?" haha!

nice to see theres a lot of owners of both cars and feel the same way I do

I currently own a 2006 gpw s2000 along with a 2017 Type R. Something about the s2k with the top down brings an experience the ctr can not deliver. But for daily driving purposes I've decided to sell my s2k. I know I'll regret this decision, but I will buy another one in the future.

Zooropa82 said:

Here's a question...

Would you trade your S2k for a new model if Honda releases it?

Click to expand...

The car would have to be absolutely phenomenal , so yes there are certain things, Honda would have to do for me to fork over the keys to the S.

In todays standards and using the R as a "ruff" reference , If the car had some sort of full "CR" functional body kit , custom wheels (not like the CR , even more rare) , boosted , and integrated GPS head unit , with brembos front and rear . And the styling was like no other , for example the car looks like NOTHING else , but follows similar "lines" and 9000 RPM!!! . Then yes, id trade mine in .

@boosted180sx are you the same boosted180sx on S2ki?? lol

I too have an AP1 and the FK8-R. My AP1 is older with more mileage, but I recently put in a recently rebuilt engine (40000km ish) with AP2 components along with Ballade exhaust and Greddy SE Exhaust. The car drives amazingly and sounds really nice especially with the top down. The throttle response is something that the CTR cannot compare with. You just get the instant push right away, albeit not a very strong push. I also got some bilstein PSS9 in pretty much the softest settings so my s2k rides fairly nicely too, though as nice as the CTR in sport or comfort mode.

As I just did the engine swap and added those extra mods early this year, I wouldn't sell my S2k. Another thing that the s2k is better is the shifter. IIRC, the shifter is just directly linked to the tranny in the s2k, so the feel for sure is just more direct and better than the CTR. It also helps that I've after market clutch and tranny mount so the overall feel is just that bit better.

I think if you have a family and you can only have one car, then probably the CTR is definitely better and more suitable. If you are single, but enjoy the latest infotainment technologies, a smooth/quiet ride with quite a bit of performance, the CTR is also better. But from a pure driving point of view, and assuming you don't need to drive your family around, then S2k would be more ideal. To bridge the performance gap, you can always go with boost or a stroker kit. I have driven my friend's AP1 with a TSX K24 stroker kit and ITBs. The throttle response is unreal and the added torque along with his Ap2 tranny and shorter final gear makes it feel very powerful.

With that said, the CTR's chassis is incredibly stiff and I think it's way stiffer than the S2k. This makes the car feels very solid and planted all the time. I guess that's why its performance is that good.