We went through with it! The wife and I took delivery on two '04 5AT Touring roadsters yesterday. I got black (see tag below), and she got a Pikes Peak White/Frost w/blue top and 17" wheels. Traded in her '02 Honda S2000 and '02 Civic Si Hatchback, and my '03 G35 Coupe 6MT.

Everyone thinks we're nuts, but thank goodness they are our lives, and "everyone" else doesn't have to live them. As might be expected, both of us had some trepidation. We certainly didn't dislike any of the cars we traded in, but my wife wanted a convertible as a daily driver, which she couldn't do w/the S2000, and she was tired of me asking to drive the S2000 all the time because I love the "open top" feeling as well.

You will also note we went from all manual cars to autos. I'll admit NOTHING (not even sex, at age 36) is as fun as the old informal "stoplight dragrace", or carving up the twisties, in a manual, but both of us simply have to spend too much time in stop-and-go urban traffic, while on the cell and/or trying to eat in the car, together w/the fact that EVERY interstate in Nashville seems to be under construction now, to really have much of an opportunity to enjoy a manual very much. To make matters worse, while we live WAY out in the country, on a tar and chip road, all the county mounties now have radar, and State Troopers have actually begun patrolling (and ticketing on) said tar and chip roads out in the middle of nowhere, so the once-taken-for-granted privilege of speeding through the twisties on all the rural blacktops is largely a bygone (they're freakin' everywhere now).

Anyhoo, I still wasn't sure about leaving behind my G baby that I ordered as one of the hottest cars in the land and waited to get for over 4 months, but the drive home cured any questions I had. Thrills galore, 5AT style! No regrets, whatsoever, for either of us. And for you G owners, I can now say that having owned both, I got to experience more of the "gawk factor" in one day in the Z than I got in a month with the G (afr0puff, take note).

Sorry for the length of the post, but I'm as fired up as I was when UT won the 1998 national championship (well, maybe not THAT fired up). Looking forward to getting to know you guys/gals.

 

Congratulations and welcome to the board.
Lips

 

I'm curious to learn what it was about the S2000 that prevented it from being a daily driver - just the manual gearbox?

 

No, only one reason among several. Much more buffeting than Z; incredible noise w/the top up; much harsher ride than Z; only one 12 v. outlet; much less storage space; worse wet weather traction than Z.

Don't get me wrong, the S was a great car, and frankly, I would certainly prefer it to the Z if my only desire was to carve up the country twisties on weekends you could put the top down. The fact was, however, that my wife only wanted to drive it on days the weather was warm, rain was unlikely, and she could put the top down. I LOVED the car, but it was just impractical for us.

 

I would love to have an s2000 in addition to my Z ! I hear they are the closest thing to a motorcycle on 4 wheels.

 

Congrats! Yes, you nailed it: "Gawk" factor with the roadster is incredible...

 

Exactly. We had an '02, w/a redline that went all the way up to 9K; the wife's vanity plate was "RPMZ". On a dry summer day it sticks like glue, and if you can shift consistently about 8500 rpm, thus keeping the engine from dropping below 5k, and out of V, acceleration is incredible.

If you're interested in one, now is the time to buy. '04 model was tweaked (more low end torque, better interior, more "predictable" handling, but lower peak rpm). However, because the '04 is different (slightly) and Honda is being coy about the possibility of a complete redesign, you can pick up a used '02 in great shape for under 25k.

 

You live once might as well enjoy it and do what makes u happy not everone else who thinks ur krazy.

 

Congrats on the two roadsters! Now you and your wife just need to join the middle tennessee z club. If you don't already know about us, check out our site @ www.middletennesseezclub.com

srm