DrivingEnthusiast » Honda S2000

1999: Gan-san drives the S2000 prototype at Nurburgring

DrivingEnthusiast — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:13:42 +0000

Those were the days, back in 1998 when Honda was testing it’s prototype S2000 at The Nurburgring.

Kudos to Honda for developing the car in the first place, and especially for doing development work at this great track. I remember reading an issue of AutoWeek back in the 1998 timeframe, and seeing a spy picture of a test car in a garage there with a giant stack of exhaust systems that they were testing. I wish I had that picture in my collection of S2000 paraphernalia, which numbers about 200 items at the moment.

Will we ever see this type of effort from Honda again? In their current condition, without a single sporting vehicle in production, it’s hard to see how or when they could ever do this again. What a disappointment the company has become. We have to wonder what Gan-san thinks about it, especially since his beloved S2000 replacement was cancelled. Rumor has it that he was under contract by Honda to assist in the development of the new car. Now we’ll never know.

Another “New S2000″ rumor…?

DrivingEnthusiast — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 20:12:28 +0000

This time it’s Motor Trend pulling the fire alarm… getting our hopes up. But there may be something to it.

Exactly three years ago in 2008, Best Car Magazine in Japan published the following two pictures. We commented on them at the time. Back in those days it was well known that an S2000 replacement would be coming, and since then it became known that it was cancelled for economic reasons.

The gray car is a clay or fiberglass styling buck that was photographed being hauled into a Honda building in Japan. Somebody got very lucky, because shots of future models are very rare in Japan compared to North America and Europe. The light-yellow drawing is the guess of the magazine as to what a production S2000 replacement would look like based on their belief that the gray car was the styling buck for it.

Only problem is that they were dead wrong. Look at the distance between the front wheel wells and the door in the gray car: only a couple of inches. Their speculative drawing in light yellow shows a completely different car with completely different proportions - which is obviously an S2000-type front/mid engine rear wheel drive car. The current S2000 measures 18.5″ at the wheel centerline here. That kind of room allows the engine to be set well back into the chassis, contributing to the legendary near 50/50 fr/rr weight balance.

So the light yellow car below and the gray car are two different cars entirely. But the gray car existed at the time as a styling buck, so the big question remains: “what is it”?

We may now have an answer. Now take a look at the sketch below from the new Motor Trend. Yes, it’s clearly the gray car in it’s current iteration.

Why? Look at the same measurement up front, then look at the back of the car. The rear overhang would be the same, and the area immediately behind the seats (storage for the top) is identical. The headlights are a variation of current Honda corporate styling themes, and the grill is the new Honda styling theme that is currently developing. The hood is the minimum height required to meet the stringent European pedestrian impact regulations (which the departed S2000 did not and could not meet).

An image like this in a magazine is usually nothing more than speculation. The car magazines are full of them. However the new news is a patent that Honda has filed in Japan. Motor Trend interprets it as “mid-engined” but that is where they are probably wrong. Using a “subframe from a current car” more likely means that a transverse front wheel drive drivetrain was simply moved to the back, as Toyota did for years with the MR-2 and MR-S. Technically, “mid-engine” means a lengthwise mounted engine with the transmission at the back, behind the engine. The dimensions of this car clearly do not support a true mid-engine layout, so this is obviously a rear-engine rear wheel drive car with a transverse engine. That would also provide an economy of production, because an existing FWD engine architecture and transmission would be used, whereas the other architecture would require a unique transmission. “Orphan” parts like unique transmissions are not possible in this day and age.

Motor Trend’s next supposition is that this car would replace both the Beat and the S2000. Maybe Honda could put such a spin on it… but we hope not. The S2000 was a classic sportscar, and that means a mid-mounted front engine and rear wheel drive and the handling dynamics that provides. As was it’s predecessors the S500, 600, and 800. The dynamics and balance of all previous Honda “S” models were outstanding, in a way that a rear transverse engine could not support. If we had a vote in this, we’d say to forget replacing the S2000 until it can be done the right way, with the proper architecture, expected dynamics, and the expected power-to-weight ratio. And it doesn’t have to offer a hybrid powertrain solely for the sake of being a hybrid (as everybody in Japan seems to be blindly running to these days). If Honda can create a hybrid powertrain that is oriented towards performance, then use it. But we don’t believe they can – yet. Even Toyota with their FT-HS prototype, is unable to blend a gasoline engine with a hybrid system without adding several hundred pounds in the process… negating the entire purpose.

So as usual our hopes were raised.. and very quickly dashed.

S2000 CR – what’s the point?

DrivingEnthusiast — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:03:01 +0000

Controversy remains amongst S2000 owners: is the CR worth the extra cash, or could you build something better yourself from the vast S2000 aftermarket? The same answers apply to any factory built “track” car.

The answer is yes and no…

Yes, because better parts exist.
No, because very few people have the experience to correctly match springs, dampers, and sway bars properly. “Very few” is perhaps one tenth of one percent of the potential buying population for this particular car. This tiny subset of potential owners probably has a race track to test the car on, but not the equipment to incrementally measure the differences and improve the overall performance. You won’t beat the factory engineering team for instrumentation and testing.

Yes, because better parts cost more money than most production car buyers will tolerate.
No, There are very few car buyers that will tolerate a set of $3000 coilover shock absorbers, even in this tiny subset or buyers.

Yes, because most aftermarket parts offer a greater range of springs and damping choices. A set of Clubsport KWs for the S2000 would improve handling even more, if setup right.
No, because few people will take the time to learn how to adjust compression and rebound, much less ride height adjustment and the required suspension alignment to match.

Yes, because the factory track car has to meet Federal regulations, safety standards, and more. Examples abound, including factory seats that have to meet crash standards (more fore/aft in a crash, side impact, knee placement and lots more) and incorporate an airbag. These seats inevitably provide less support than would be ideal for a car that will be used on the track.
No, because the best seats for the track are the worst seats for the ride to and from the track, as well as for your daily commute. Try turning your upper body around to back out of a parking spot with race seats.

So here we have a factory track car, carefully tuned by factory engineers on their own particular test track, and with compromise rates and settings chosen to meet their goals as well as the required Federal regulations (such as ride height). It’s a necessary set compromises, but nonetheless a major improvement over the standard car for that tiny subset of buyers who are looking to take their S2000 to the track.

If you are looking to buildup a track S2000, and are committed to the long term, this would certainly make a nice starting place. With a set of stainless brake lines, fluid, and pads your first track day would be 100% productive. The S2000 CR will provide:

excellent tires from day 1 (versus the compromised base RE050s)
the rare factory hardtop, which is all but a requirement for track groups these days (since convertibles are being phased out of most groups due to safety issues)
faster steering gear (from the earlier S2000 AP1)
a platform with about 8 years of continuous improvements, such as reinforced front upper control arm mounts and improved rear suspension pickup points – both missing in the earlier AP1 models. And a transmission that has been considerably improved from the earliest models.
Improved aero, which experience has shown is an important improvement on this car.

All in all, in our humble opinion (having tracked S2000s for 11 years), a bargain at the price.

Whatever happened to the 2JZ-GTE S2000?

DrivingEnthusiast — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:23:43 +0000

The original video we first showed on this site a few years ago has been removed… apparently the folks in Florida and their website are gone.

But thanks to YouTube, we can still enjoy the video:

Our concerns remain: the transmission has to be a Supra TT tranny or nothing, and the rear end has to be replaced. And that’s in addition to some serious cooling work. Anything else will never work for more than a few – very fun – weeks.

Evasive Motorsports / Voltex S2000 Super Lap Battle Finals, Buttonwillow FR Street Record 1:56.7

DrivingEnthusiast — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 15:30:30 +0000

The S2000 continues to impress us, and win it’s class in events. This is the car featured int he current issue of Super Street, with a well written article on how the car was prepped for track battle.

Buttonwillow CW13 Config… Evasive Motorsports S2000: equipped with Voltex Aero, Evasive Spec Tein SR-C, Volk Racing RE30 wrapped in Yokohama Advan AD08. Driven by Robert Walker, Evasive Motorsports takes 1st place in the FR Street Class (and overall win in street class) with a time of 1:56.7 (New Street Tire Course Record).

11 Years of S2000 sales: 66,457 sold

DrivingEnthusiast — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 21:25:10 +0000

And they’re still selling, even though production ceased last year. How many are left? Honda hasn’t said.

The S2000 is a true drivers car and will be sorely missed. Honda cut both it and the NSX out of it’s product plans… there are no replacements.

Honda S2000 CR with Acura 3.7 liter V-6

DrivingEnthusiast — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 11:27:41 +0000

Edmunds Inside Line has all the scoop on a unique one-off S2000 with a transplanted Acura TL 3.7 liter V-6 engine.

Read the complte story here: http://blogs.insideline.com/straightline/2009/12/honda-s2000-with-acura-tls-37l-v6.html

This is an interesting combination built by Honda Performance Development, yielding approx 307 HP and 270 torque, more or less. The chassis easily handled the increase. Several parts had to be fabricated, along with the electronics, so this isn’t something that could be done easily at home. Not that electrical hook-ups ever stopped a true Honda enthusiast anyway.

Performance figures are not available, but would be impressive. What is already a 2800 pound car probably gained an extra 100 pounds, all up front. However, the engine is shorter than the standard S2000 F22 engine and is located entirely behind the front centerline. Change to the standard 50/50 weight balance is probably negligible (and some people will tell you that 1 or 2 percent more over the front wheels would provide better turn-in and help maintain a 50/50 balance in the turns as the weight shifts).

In our opinion, while this might make for a good car, the V-6 engine is a weak link. This engine is considerably out of date and far from state-of-the-art. With a single overhead cam (allowing cam phasing, not independently variable timing for both the intake and exhaust) and a single exhaust port cast into the head as a rectangular port, breathing is less than stellar and modification potential is nil. As you can see in the picture, MAP-based engine management was used again, instead of moving up to MAF measurement and the greater accuracy and flexibility that provides. So this was a parts swap with minimal new engineering.

Honda, a company that used to be known for it’s engines, has fallen considerably behind in engine technology. Nissan has the most widely recognized best V-6 engine and it has everything except direct injection (except in the home market). Ford and (lowly) GM have the next best set of V-6 engines. Ford’s EcoBoost is getting great press and is just starting to appear in aftermarket builds (and Ford recently supplied one for a prototype to a small-scale European sportscar manufacturer).

We think that a more viable and satisfying mod would be the installation of a KraftWerks supercharger. We’ve driven one of these on the track back to back with a Vortech supercharged S2000 and a Greddy turbocharged S2000. The KraftWerks car is far superior, providing over 350 horses at the wheels, and is emissions compliant (which is required in our county). Potential easily exists for well over 400.

And if your local emissions laws would allow it, several S2000s across the country are packing a twin-turbo Supras 2JZ engine swap: http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/?p=2281 That’s truly crazy – and we truly want one.

More information:

2JZ engine swaps: http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/?tag=2jz
engine swaps catagory: http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/?cat=374

V-6 S2000

S2000 sales keep going and going

DrivingEnthusiast — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:42:38 +0000

Another 20 sold were last month, with about 80 more left in stock at dealers across the country. Production ceased several months ago, so this is it forever. The end is near, and the final tally of S2000s sold will be clear in a few more months.

Honda S2000 wins T3 class at SCCA Nationals

DrivingEnthusiast — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:13:46 +0000

Honda, Acura Drivers Claim Five Titles at SCCA National Championship Runoffs

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Sept. 29, 2009) — In the first SCCA National Championship Runoffs since Honda Racing/Honda Performance Development [HPD] announced the Honda Racing Line program of support for grassroots racers, Honda and Acura drivers won five of a possible seven titles this past weekend at the famed Road America circuit in central Wisconsin.

Bob Boileau highlighted a weekend of outstanding performances by Honda and Acura drivers at the Runoffs, winning the Touring 3 race Saturday in his Team Honda Research-entered Honda S2000.

Ohio S2000 owners contribute to the Mid-Ohio IndyCar event

DrivingEnthusiast — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 22:39:42 +0000

Ohio S2K owners supplied the cars for the Mid-Ohio IndyCar race today: http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=714542
30-35 owners were needed to drive the race drivers and other VIPs around the track just before the event started. IndyCar supplied special decals for their cars several weeks in advance.

Driving around town for those weeks helped promote the race. And you never know who you are going to run into before an IndyCar event:

Each participating member also gets tickets to the event and a special parking area for their cars throughout the event.

Retro: May 2002 S2000 event at TWS

DrivingEnthusiast — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 19:03:18 +0000

After an event at Texas World Speedway sponsored by John Eagle Honda on May 18 and 19, 2002, I was asked to drive a couple of demonstration laps for a video. Problem is that the air temp was over 110, the surface temp was over 150, and over the course of the very long weekend I’d already done well over 500 laps (3.1 miles each) in my own run group, driving other people’s cars in their run groups, and instructing my students in their own cars. That’s 4 out of 5 ~22 minute run groups, repeated 8 times a day, for two days. Needless to say, there wasn’t much left of me by then.

But what the heck… one last lap. Onboard is a videographer from the “Temple of VTEC” website, who edited this film and added the music overlay.

We did two laps after the event ended. The S2000 was flawless (as always) and wasn’t adversely affected by the temperatures. However after a very long weekend of well over 500 laps I’d had enough!

Image: my car going over the start/finish line. Shadowed by a bizarrely taped up S2000 on a very low line (who must of had a Miata instructor, unfortunately).

Video: the finished product – unfortunately without the original in-car sounds. The wonderful scream of the F20C engine bouncing off it’s fuel cutoff at 9000 RPM is certainly more enjoyable than the lame teen-angst overlay that was added. But if you haven’t seen the track yourself, this shows the way around. It’s a great place and with the new owners has an even better future.

Carscoop misinterprets purported S2000 picture

DrivingEnthusiast — Tue, 26 May 2009 20:32:45 +0000

Another month, another S2000 rumor. Putting aside the fact that Honda confirmed that the cancellation of the successor to the S2000, all the rumors to the contrary so far have all been either wrong or (as in this case) a gross misinterpretation. This is not an S2000 successor – in fact it isn’t even rear wheel drive. Look at the location of the engine in the chassis – if this were rear wheel it’d have the worst possible weight balance from the far-forward engine placement. This is a front wheel drive car.

It’s obvious that this is a nothing more than a styling buck – one of many that are gone thru and discarded or selected to be taken further as a normal part of the design process. Yes, it is a convertible hardtop coupe, which fits in with earlier thinking that a convertible hardtop would make the car more appealing to the up-market

S2000s at the Nurburgring 24 hour endurance race

DrivingEnthusiast — Mon, 25 May 2009 10:48:34 +0000

S2000s were also competing at the 24 hour race this past weekend. They were entered by CarDiff Motorsport of Germany.
Follow this link to the homepage of the team: cardiff-motorsport.de

Honda of Europe S2000 Ultimate Edition

DrivingEnthusiast — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 13:48:32 +0000

The S2000 Ultimate Edition was announced in January and went on sale in March exclusively in European markets. The 2 liter powered S2K special package consists of dark grey painted wheels from the US S2000 CR model, black badging from the CR model, a hardtop from the European S2000 GT model, black badging, and other minor changes.

This means that Honda has made availabel a special model in each major market to celebrate the end of the S2000 line:

Europe: Ultimate Edition (2009)
Japan: S (2008-2009)
United States: CR (2008-2009)

The S2000 section of the Driving Enthusiast network has made available all materials from this new model for the sake of posterity. Visit s2000.drivingenthusiast.net for high-res images and the press release.

Honda of Europe Press Release and selected ilmages (out of a total of 26) follows:

EMBARGO 29^th January 2009 8:00am CET

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Honda S2000 Ultimate Edition

Honda has announced that the Honda S2000 Ultimate Edition will go on sale from March 2009 in Europe. This limited edition has been produced to mark the end of production for the award winning sports car.

The Ultimate Edition retains its highly acclaimed 2.0 litre 9000 rpm VTEC engine and combines it with a Grand Prix White body and graphite coloured alloy wheels. The shade of the paint evokes the colour first used on Honda’s 1964 F1 car and many sporting models since. The exterior colour combination with the dark metal alloy wheels and unique black S2000 badging gives a fresh look to the timeless shape of the roadster body.

The white exterior will be matched with a red leather interior and complimented by unique red colouring for stitching on the gear lever gaiter. Ultimate Editions will be marked out by their unique numbered plaques on the kickplates, denoting their position in the series.

The 2-seater sports car may now be almost 10-years old, but its 240PS 2-litre is still one of the highest output per litre and highest revving engines ever made. In recognition of its incredible power output, the Honda S2000′s engine has won the International Engine of the Year category for 1.8 to 2.2 litre engines five times in its lifetime.

As the name suggests, the Honda S2000 Ultimate Edition will be the last version before global production of the model ceases altogether at the end of June 2009. Since the introduction of the Honda S2000 in 1999 until the end of 2008, Honda has sold 110,673 units worldwide – 19,987 of those in Europe.

The first viewing of the Ultimate Edition will be the 2009 Geneva International Motor Show starting with the press day on the 3rd March.

Honda S2000 sales for March 2009

DrivingEnthusiast — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 13:16:36 +0000

It’s the last year of S2000 sales, and they are still showing their seasonal trends – although numbers are way down. The data Honda provides shows only sales, not numbers of cars sitting on lots. So if you plan on getting an S2000 while the are still available, it’s best to buy now while they are still available. The dedicated assembly line at the factory will shut down for good in only a few months.

Road & Track says goodbye to the Honda S2000

DrivingEnthusiast — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:55:24 +0000

Road & Track takes the S2000 out for one last spin – at Laguna Seca !

Follow the link: http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=10&article_id=7918

Lots of photos and video!

S2000 sales for Feb 2009 take a terrible drop

DrivingEnthusiast — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:11:15 +0000

As our readers know, Honda will end S2000 production this summer. Sales have dropped over 60% from the expected ~200 and are about a tenth of the peak years 2001-2002. Not a good sign… get yours while you still can!

New blog: Honda S2000 Electric Vehicle Conversion

DrivingEnthusiast — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:45:23 +0000

Here’s an interesting and detailed new blog covering the conversion of a 2003 S2000 to full electric power. The builder/owner has the car fully up and running. 130-140 HP and 220 ft-lbs torque. No final data yet on range or performance.

Overall the conversion is entirely professional and the nicely done blog makes a very interesting read.

Links: suggest and

Blog: http://s2kev.blogspot.com/

RSS feed: http://s2kev.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Video: Walk-around

Video: Drive

701 rear wheel HP S2000: how much is too much

DrivingEnthusiast — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 18:00:59 +0000

How much is too much? The answer lies in the specs of this car: 100% stock engine, transmission, and differential. That’s too much for a stock S2K engine: this engine *will* blow up. The only question is when – if it’s not dead already it will be soon. Like so many other conversions seeking a big number and a few fast pulls, no thought was given to doing it right. Which would have meant a sleeved and blueprinted block, a stronger tranny, and a new differential. Far more than literally slapping on a few parts.

Dumb… kid stuff, and it’ll be trashed very quickly. Oh well, there’s always Mom’s hand-me-down Accord.

Enjoy the video.

Amazon.com Widgets

R.I.P. S2000

DrivingEnthusiast — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:21:26 +0000

As we reported on the day it was announced, Honda will end worldwide S2000 production with the 2009 model year. We will dearly miss the S2000, but it has earned it’s place in history.

The S2000 was originally conceived as a limited production-run model and wasn’t intended to last 11 years (available since 1999 in Japan). We’re glad that we’ve owned two of them, and still own the very classy Grand Prix White (with tan interior) 2003 model. It’s probably the best year of the production run and the most desirable color for collectors. But S2000s won’t become garage queens: S2000s are meant for driving and that’s exactly what we do with ours.

S2000 sales have steadily declined over the past several years. The car is not for everybody – it is a very serious and pure drivers car with nothing in the way of frills (our 2000 MY S2000 came with an 8-watt radio!) but everything in the way of great driving dynamics. It’s a blast to drive, it’s very visceral, and here in Central Texas with all the fabulous back country roads it’s the only thing to own.

DrivingEnthusiast » Honda S2000

1999: Gan-san drives the S2000 prototype at Nurburgring

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Another “New S2000″ rumor…?

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S2000 CR – what’s the point?

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