The S2000 will soon get a ten-candle cake, an excellent innings for any model. Unfortunately for fans of Honda's VTEC pocket rocket, continuously decreasing sales could make this anniversary its last. There have been numerous rumors about the successor of the S2000; the new one could be bigger, a four-seater and/or a coupe. Shots of a Honda test mule using an S2000 elongated platform fueled these murmurings. Others believe that a mext-gen Honda roadster could move downscale to compete with the Mazda MX-5/Miata. Personally, I'm going with plan B. I can see a future Honda S roadster with engines ranging from a cheap 1.6-liter to the high-rev 2.0-liter owners (although not our RF) enjoy so much on the current S2000. The photochop crystal ball provides an evolution of the S2000 design with the aggressiveness enhanced by the big air intakes and the high-tech optic units. Next year, Honda will celebrate their 60th anniversary. I bet the new S2000 (launched when they celebrated half a century) will be jumping out of the cake.
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Love it!
I read RF’s review from 4 years ago. His two gripes are the interior and the engine note.
Given that he drives a Boxster, I am surprised RF didn’t gripe about the tail lights he must see so often.
;-)
It looks like the love child of an MX-5 and a Saturn Sky. Not very interesting, really, but looks aren’t the point with a cheap, nimble, high-reving roadster. Personally I hope they don’t move the S2000 downmarket, because it can’t be better than an MX-5 and it’s a unique product where it is now.
I like the picture. A little curvy perhaps, but then again, I’ve always preferred crisper edges on my cars.
Personally, I hope that Honda updates the S2k some time before it’s time to replace my copy. Keep it in the same price range/position, same number of seats, and add a folding hard top. People think that I’m mad for putting up with the stiff suspension and the road noise, but there’s nothing in its price range that I’d trade my S2k for. :)
With that positioning in the market, and engines starting at a 1.6, Wouldn’t that plan “B” be a new delSol ?
Flipper, only if they change it back to wrong-wheel-drive and make the unibody more flexible ;)
With gas prices going the way they are, I suspect fun cars will be looking a lot less like Corvettes or Wranglers, and more like Miatas and Sidekicks…
Fail! Not ugly enough. Honda management won’t approve. Need to add more Ridgeline/Pilot-ish ghastliness. (Oh, and it’s too Miata-ish.)
I am very happy with my S2000 and don’t see getting rid of it any time soon, but would like to see them finally redesign it. I do hope it does not disappear, especially if they are planning a hybrid version!
As full as Honda’s plate is with must-do vehicles I doubt we will see a next generation S2000. The S2000 doesn’t leverage Honda’s mainline vehicle platforms and is thus a kind of one-off vehicle.
Honda engineers who want to work on sexy go-fast vehicles can try to get on the Honda Jet project http://world.honda.com/HondaJet/. Otherwise they had better keep working on the corporation’s money makers and expansion into developing markets.
Mazda completely owns the cheap and cheerful modern roadster market with the Miata. It isn’t a market big enough to support multiple suppliers.
I’m scared what Honda might do.
A more affordable S2k would be the about the only thing to make me trade in my 06 Miata, but…
Honda’s latest offering have been horrible, styling wise, and approaching heffalump-like mass.
An ugly, heavy S2k would be an epic fail.
While I absolutely love the S2000 (and all the cons that come with said package), it really doesn’t fit Honda whatsoever.. It sticks out at a dealership as what-might-be-a-flagship-but-isn’t-really… It’s a niche car, no doubt, while Honda is purely in the more down-to-earth, mainstream camp.
I’d hate to see it die!! In my humble opinion, Honda should “lease” this model to Toyota. Keep the new Subaru/Toyota car, throw this in to expand the sports car section, and spend zero on R&D. This assuming that Toyota really is trying to branch out a bit more and try to expand from being absolutely bland…