My brakes work........NOT!!
Why do we hate hybrids so much? Blame Toyota. No, really. Okay, Okay, half-way blame Toyota. My opinion has absolutely nothing to do with their current recall woes. It has more to do with the Prius and what that vehicle has accomplished. It wasn’t the first hybrid vehicle sold in the U.S. That accolade goes to Honda’s Insight.
I was not the first, but my older brother was
What that car did was fudge up our perceptions of what a hybrid is and should be. It was a car that was not engaging to drive. The car was too quiet and mushy to be fun. And what did Toyota do? They sold well over a million of these things to date. Can we really blame them though? They heard the loud sound of the cash register. They made hybrids wildly popular. Something Honda could not even do and still struggles with in comparison to ToYoMo. While Toyota takes half the blame, a lot of the buyers take up the remaining half. They’re responsible for taking the car’s image in a direction the company probably never dreamed of. It really has turned off sports car enthusiasts. Whether we like it or not, this is the direction sports cars are starting to go. If the first mass produced hybrids were fantastic/fun cars we wouldn’t be so skeptical today.
I will be the best of both worlds. Fun like the CRX and mileage like the Insight
Don’t tell me it can’t be done. Or I could just be totally wrong. Maybe most of us just hate hybrids because cool and everyone else is doing it. I hope that is unlikely. It has to be the way most of these things drive and that ridiculous perpetuated image. Anything can be made “fun.” It just takes time, patience, and excellent engineering. Just ask Lotus, BMW, Ferrari, Porsche, who are stepping up to the plate. First impressions are lasting and it will take some serious car companies to change the game. Thanks for this, Prius.
- Onehots2k
Images courtesy of Onehots2k, Triple-H & aashish2
NOTE: S2KI welcomes the opinions of its members on the S2000 and on all topics related to the S. Should you feel the creative urge to pen a few words then by all means do so and PM energetic, aashish2 or Onehots2k OR send us links to what you would like us to write about and we will feature you (or your community) on the S2KI Home Page.
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on Mar 2nd, 2010 at 7:53 am
“this is the direction sports cars are starting to go.” : Speaking in terms of our modern day sports car being rated as how many watts it has instead of horsepower. Nothing will ever compare to the feeling of driving a real sportscar. Theres not enough electricity in the world to satisfy my need for real horspower. Im sure there are hundreds of thousands more that are standing in the same shoes as I am and we will not conform to the new idea of hybrids being sportscars or anything close. They may be fun to whip around corners but will never compare to driving somthing like our S2000′s.
on Mar 2nd, 2010 at 10:36 am
All hybrid cars are ugly….. that is why I wouldn’t buy one. Make one that isn’t an eyesore and we will talk.
on Mar 2nd, 2010 at 11:17 am
http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/02/porsche-918-spyder-concept-is-the-most-beautiful-hybrid-weve-ev/
This is the hybrid we need.
on Mar 2nd, 2010 at 3:07 pm
are you kidding me?!? now you griping about hybrids!…there are reasons why we need hybrid’s…1.fuel economy…at the rate gas prices are going thats MAJOR factor cars that can get 40+mpg we need those for the 90% of people in the world that don’t make that much money and are on a budget and want to save a little bit of cash to put towards sports cars,life,vacations,etc! 2. whats wrong with driving your hybrid to work?!? park the sports car drive it after work or on the weekends don’t put extra miles on a beautiful car you love and save yourself some gas money to put towards upgrades to your sports car
…3. SAVE MOTHER EARTH!!! why, why, why do so many people neglect the earth and its beauty we need to stop global warming, stop the pollution, find more efficient means of fuel, stop destroying the world be for its to late!!!…so what if toyota heard the cash register Honda DID TO!!! ( insight/hybrids )…if someone offered me a free prius or insight or any hybrid heck I’d drive it everyday no matter how stupid I looked just to save my s2000 the drive to work!!! There will always be the realm of sports cars and the realm of hybrids they will never truly mix together. YOUR a hybrid hater Onehots2k not us!
on Mar 2nd, 2010 at 3:39 pm
@Bill- Your reading comprehension is lacking today, sir. I really do enjoy your spin on things though. 1.) I’ve actually been one of the members of the CR-Z forums for over a year. I’m pretty sure I have the most posts. My name is Onehots2k there as well. Feel free to look it up. 2.) I’ve brought up buying a future Honda Hybrid(CR-Z) at our local Orlando car meets to many people’s dismay. I just lost interest upon finding out the Ford Fiesta has higher MPG specs while likely being faster/better looking and more space efficient. I implore you to re-read the article. It is my theory as to why most sports car enthusiasts cringe at the thought of the word “hybrid.” If anything I support what they could become: much more than they are now. I consider myself to be one of those hard working folks that would like to have my cake and eat it too. Not think about it sitting in the garage.
on Mar 2nd, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Hybrid hater? He’s just stating that early hybrids have been stale pieces of machinery.
However I have one gripe as this seems generally aimed at Toyota (prius). Let’s not forget that Toyota is the first major manufacturer to produce a hybrid supercar; and it’s lesser-but-still-sporty cousin. The FT-HS and the FT-86. So while us who love “driving” might gripe about how stale the prius is, in the same sentence (not the next) we need to praise toyota for the aforementioned two. Perhaps the prius was Toyota’s ways of ironing out hybrid technology without having to also R&D with chassis’/suspension/etc.
This article is a double edged sword. The S2000 wouldn’t be here without the Model T, and well… would you enjoy driving that either?
on Mar 3rd, 2010 at 2:34 pm
O another thing…the search function has been down…AGAIN…for 2 days now…get on it…
on Mar 3rd, 2010 at 6:43 pm
I’m actually considering buying a prius to replace my stolen 2008 odyssey as the ‘family’ vehicle simply b/c I hate filling the huge tank! With that being said, a large part of me is drooling over these new hybrid sports cars, but then I get in my S2000, stomp on the gas and HEAR the sound of VTEC kicking in through my intake & exhaust along with the feel of vibration that comes with an internal combustion engine. I think it may have been Jeremy Clarkson who also said that you need to ‘smell’ a sports car. Unfortunately, those 2 senses go away with the modern hybrid/electric cars that I’ve driven! Sure, you get instant torque, but does it appeal to ALL your senses that a sports car should?
on Mar 3rd, 2010 at 10:45 pm
The hybrid drivetrain is a great idea, but the Prius is a sucky car. Give me a hybrid Mazda 3 and I’d love it forever. Put another 200hp of electric motors in my S2000 and I’d be ecstatic. (Find a way to make it weight neutral first though.)
on Mar 6th, 2010 at 6:24 am
One word: Tesla.
0-60 in 3.9 seconds.
The technique of the Tesla in the S2k chassis, maybe even 4 wheel drive with 2 motors.
A sportscar like the Tesla is something I could live with.
Because, at one point in time, I’m gonna HAVE to.
We’re running out of hydrocarbon fuel, that’s a fact.
Non of us S2k users can look in the mirror and say: “We conserved our natural resources”
on Apr 21st, 2010 at 4:47 pm
I’ve heard that the manufacturing of hybrid batteries is actually more damaging than the emissions from a regular car. The hybrids that we currently have available are still in the infant stages.
However, I like what Honda has done in researching alternate fuels like hydrogen and developing the FCX Clarity. 0 emissions and we have virtually an unlimited amount of it.
I liked what Jay Leno had to say about hybrids on Top Gear. Talking about how hybrids will be the savior of the sports car. Why drive your “fun” car in day to day traffic? You can drive your hybrid through the harsh bumper to bumper conditions that most of us go through and enjoy the speed and power of our sports cars on the weekends.