Rejoice! The Honda S2000 is (Probably) Coming Back!
Is the Two-Door Crotch Rocket S2000 Making a Comeback?
My car ownership history is colorful, mostly consisting of bad GM cars from the early 2000s. But there was a shining beacon of light, all alone in the night. It was a 2004 Honda S2000. It was Silverstone metallic with the red and black two-tone interior. It was glorious, and one of the best cars that I have ever driven — even to this day. Nothing would make me happier for Honda to build a new one. It looks like that might actually be happening.
The S2000 was Honda’s birthday present to themselves. It celebrated the 50th anniversary of the company. It featured a high-revving, naturally-aspirated VTEC engine and rear-wheel drive. Everything was standard, including the 6-speed manual transmission — I haven’t driven a better manual to this day — and a limited-slip differential. It was fun. It was exciting. It was brilliant.
Our friends at Motor Authority are now saying that a new version could be in the works for the company’s 70th anniversary. Unlike the screamer that was in the previous-generation, this one might be powered by a twin-charged system with an electric supercharger plus turbocharging. It’d be a different experience, for sure, than the high-strung 4-cylinder of old, but it could still make for an interesting setup.
For horsepower, 325 seems to be the number that’s being thrown around. The previous car only had 237 on the new SAE testing procedure, and that was really just right for a car of that size and weight. Though I do remember riding in a Comptech supercharged version, and it was glorious. But as we’ve learned with the Miata, less is always more.
The pricing being thrown around is also a bit higher than the previous car, with a starting price around $50,000. Adjusted for inflation, the $33,000 sticker price of the car I purchased would be nearly $43,100 in today’s money. When that’s taken into consideration, $50k doesn’t seem like that much of a stretch.
Hopefully we’ll know more later this year. Heck, we should be seeing a concept before too long if Honda is planning the car for its birthday. We have the Civic Si and Type-R, and both appear to be fun. The NSX is back. Let’s bring back the glorious S2000!