Everything We Know About the Honda S2000 Revival

The Honda S2000 was a two-door, two-seat sports convertible that the company produced between 1998 and 2009. It was the latest in a long line of S sports cars, including the S500, S600, and S800. Like these other models, the S2000 takes its numbers from the displacement size of the engine. The car was popular for its class and earned plenty of awards, but Honda decided to stop making them when sales fell during the big financial crisis that hit the auto companies hard.

The Return

However, once the economy started to recover, Honda started thinking about bringing back the popular roadster. Just like how the original S2000 honored the 50th anniversary of the original Honda S car, the new version will mark the 70th year since the company experimented with putting a high-performance motorcycle engine in a car body. The details are still a little hazy, but Honda has let a few facts slip.

The Engine

Apparently, the engine was originally going to be the two-liter turbo that powers the Civic Type R, a new Civic trim with more than a few racing body mods, mechanical upgrades, and race-themed interior features. The engine gets an impressive 306 horsepower, but even that is too old and weak for an important sports car anniversary.

Instead, the new S2000 will use a new design that combines a turbocharger with a supercharger instead of the usual twin-turbo you see on high-end performance engines. This design will significantly reduce turbo lag and improve fuel efficiency, and Honda expects the horsepower to max out at over 320.

The Transmission

Automatic transmissions were stuck at around five or six gears for a while, but recent advanced designs have improved shifting speeds so new transmissions can offer smooth acceleration with 7 to 10 gears. The automatic transmission expected for the S2000 is one of these advanced gearboxes, an eight-speed dual-clutch design. Dual-clutch transmissions allow one clutch to always be ready for the next shift between odd and even gears, which means much less torque interrupt without the optimization problems of a CVT. At the same time, the S2000 will almost certainly offer a six-speed manual transmission as an alternative.

The transmission will also be a transaxle design, which means most of the weight will sit between the front and rear axles. This helps balance out the engine at the front of the vehicle so the S2000’s center of gravity will sit closer to the center of the car. Having the center of gravity near the middle is important for staying in control of the vehicle while making tight turns at high speeds.

Although rumors are flying around at breakneck speed, press sources don’t expect Honda to make its formal announcement until late 2018. This means the first model year of the S2000’s third generation will probably be 2019. However, the wait will be worth it for S2000 fans who want a power upgrade of around 100 horsepower and all the high-tech features that car companies like Honda have added in the past 10 years.

Image via Pixabay

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