Ever since Honda announced that production for the S2000 will end, there have been rumors about another coming. Some called it an AP3, yet others were looking forward eagerly to the arrival of the NSX. Rendered images flooded the internet and Honda too fueled the speculation with the OSM concept, and by starting to test the NSX prototype.
Photo courtesy of Airgate
All seemed to bode well for us Honda faithful until, the global economic crisis put paid to such expectations. Honda announced that their dream is dead – well, not quite, but you get what we are saying.
The CR-Z, until then a relatively lower profile project, acquired star level status with Honda according it full priority. The hype built up around it as word leaked out that it’s handling was benchmarked against the Mini Cooper and that the Lotus Elise was the inspiration for suspension tuning. The CR-Z has now launched globally, and has met with mixed reactions. There has been guarded acceptance as well as lament on the fact that Honda lost its mojo, from press, public and forum fanboys alike.
That said, Sam Mitani of Road & Track magazine has just posted a blog post about Honda’s plans for a drop-top based on the CR-Z. Per Mitani, Soichiro san’s spirit lives on at Honda, and there are voices expressing the need for a sports car to uphold Honda’s image. The supposed plan is to build a roadster based on the CR-Z that may eventually be followed by a RWD hybrid sports car. This roadster is expected to be FWD but making more power in order to keep up and compete with the Miata. A part of me feels bad seeing how Honda went from competing with the Porsche Boxster & BMW Z3/Z4 to building a car to keep the Miata on its toes. Yet another part of me feels happy knowing that there is some positive buzz about sporting and sports car tradition and hope springs eternal that we will have another S2000 like car from big H. What do you guys think? Click through to read the blog post from Road & Track and see the rendering of the CR-Z roadster.
SOURCE: Road & Track Magazine
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on Sep 26th, 2010 at 1:48 am
There are rumours of a CR-Z Type R…having driven the GT recently, a 200bhp unit with the battery assist would be an interesting proposition.
on Sep 26th, 2010 at 4:25 am
Please see my post I posted months ago, there is a better “concept” picture where you can actually see the CR-Z front end…. http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=797259
on Sep 26th, 2010 at 11:17 am
There will not be a worthy successor to the S2000. Ever. The formula and corporate mind set that founded such a car that could more than hold its own against cars costing 10′s of thousands more and embarrass those cars at Honda is either dead or taking a VERY long nap. Honda took aim at Porsche, BMW and Mercedes and made them take notice with the S2000, to paraphrase Car & Drivers road test remarks:
“The Miata was not included in our test because the S2000 would eat it for lunch and not even bother to spit out the bones”.
I realize “times have changed” and many car manfacturers follow along, there are exceptions and Honda used to be such a a builder, the NSX and S2000 prove that.
I will be clear on this, I will not buy a hybrid Sports car no matter how technologically advanced it may be. A well balanced, light weight, high revving FRONT engine, rear drive two seat coupe or roadster is a Sports Car. A drop top front wheel drive CRZ is nothing less than a step backwrads for a once forward looking company like Honda. The fact that Honda is taking aim at the Miata proves that.
on Sep 26th, 2010 at 11:42 am
@01YLWS2k – Concept pics are the property of the magazine or site commissioning them. We may have issues with copyright by using that.
Also the link you posted is from June. The article we based the narrative on was published two days ago. Nevertheless thanks for sharing and it bodes well for all of us looking forward to something sporty from Honda
on Sep 26th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
I personally feel i will always admire and enthuse a very specific generation of cars, and simplly, nothing else.
on Sep 27th, 2010 at 6:08 am
I think we should give it a chance, the sales, or lack of, with give honda something to look at, and perhaps we will be seeing a rebirth of something worth driving again
on Sep 27th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Honda is death
they don’t have sports car anymore and even the civic typeR is comming to its end … nissan have 370Z and GTR , mitsubishi have EVO X and honda have the almighty CRZ !
on Sep 30th, 2010 at 9:27 am
I agree with S2kx2. I own both an S2k and a Civic Hybrid — both are far different animals; each has their niche. IMO, there’s ZERO sportiness to be extracted from electric assist. The only reason to incorporate IMA into a vehicle is to increase MPG – period. Honda tried to increase “sportiness” of the hybrid image and while I can appreciate that, what they actually accomplished is building a vehicle that doesn’t do ANYTHING particularly well. Its not that quick and the MPG is truly abysmal for a hybrid platform. I admire Honda’s spirit of looking at things differently, but a drop top FWD CR-Z is not, and never will be a sports car.
on Oct 8th, 2010 at 12:38 am
Shigeru Uehara is retired and the company is withdrawn from F1. I don’t have any higher hopes for Honda than any other manufacturer. Right now it is a barren wasteland for purists.