Cars in America vs Other Countries?

So me and my friend are having a big Debate over this. He's a big Honda buff and says the S2000 is the greatest car ever made. Yet every single official report online says that the car can only hit 149-157mph top speed. But there's videos of supposedly "stock" s2k's hitting 281kph.

I refuse to believe that a stock s2000 can hit 175 with the standard 2.2l 240hp 4-cylinder engine without any turbos or super charger.

The only thing though, is that the cars in the videos are measured in
Kph so I know they're foreign. Would an s2000 in say Germany be more powerful than one in America at stock?

No. Yes.

The problem is that the USA fuels have lower octane numbers than European fuels, so the exact same car would go faster running on European 'premium' fuel.

Actually, if you ship a car over (either way) it is a good idea to have the settings adjusted, other wise the higher / lower octane fuel can cause problems.

Sad 1 - good car though it WAS the S2000 will not rank anywhere near the top of most peoples lists of best cars
Sad 2 - that someone can be so wrapped up in judging a car by its top speed capabilities.

Cars are often de-tuned for the American market compared to those sold elsewhere to meet US emissions regulations but in the case of the S2000 this was not done - same world over.

SAD - 3 if anyone thinks 240bhp can make a 1300kg car do 175 mph then they are dreaming

It's a great car and has the most powerful normally aspirated 2 litre engine ever fitted to a production car. Having owned one from 2005 to 2007 I'd dispute that it's the greatest sports car ever made. The Porsche Boxster handles far better at all speeds and has far more luggage space.

Mine was totally stock and on a German autobahn (no speed limit) the most I saw on mine on a level road as per the sat nav was 156mph. The speedo was indicating an irrelevant and inaccurate 167mph. On a long downhill gradient the satnav indicated 165mph; I didn't see what the car speedo said as I was concentrating too much on the road ahead but based on earlier inaccuracy it could certainly have been reading over 170mph incorrectly.

A US-spec S2000 would never achieve that. The emissions controls restrict the car and the different front and rear bumpers are heavier and less aerodynamic.

Take what you see on YouTube with a touch of salt and never trust the stock speedometer for accurate measurement.

S2000's will never hit 175 if they are stock… Not fuel, gradient or chipping would make it go that fast.Pretty sure its top speed is 157-163.

Hi so the issue is simple 281kph is 185mph. So changes maybe if the nut behind the steering wheel has magic powers.