The Squidd returns...and boy, does he ever return! This well produced and researched video will remind you that what we drive is passion perfected. And while you can do what you want to your s2000, respect the **** out of it.
You begin to wonder if Honda still has the passion to build cars like this- and while Honda likely does, regulatory bodies will continue to turn the world into a land of bland. Every day I am thankful to have an s2000 in my garage.


enjoy the drive!

darcy

 

Thanks! Most excellent!

 

With Soichiro dead, and Shigeru Uehara retired I'm of the opinion Honda has lost touch with their roots

 

You hit it right on the head, regulations. I give Honda a ton of crap, but frankly I can't blame them at all. You wake up one morning and say you know what, let's do something great, let's build another S2000. By the time you come out of meetings with accounting and regulatory compliance, you just want to crawl back to bed.

Btw, Tiff Needell is a global treasure.

 

But, but, how can staid, corporate, beaucraptastic, bailed out GM make the C8, especially the Z06/ZR1/ZR1X models and Honda can't conjure up one genuine sports car?

I saw a blue NSX (the hybrid newer one) yesterday near my house and I did a triple take. Even that car was pretty awesome despite all the crap most of us gave Honda when they first came out.

Yes, Tiff is epic.

 

Well I was taking a break from my usual Honda bashing, but GM does tend to make a lot of questionable decisions too, I mean when did they last made a normal sedan of note that could compete with an Accord. I wish the brain trust at GM got together with the brain trust and Honda and met in the middle, oh wait, that's called Toyota, lol.

The company that perplexes me is Dodge, they seem to know how to capture emotion with their archaic LX based cars like the Charger, but they just can't seem to get out of their own way with the rest of their lineup.

I'll offer this as an explanation, I think what made Honda exciting in the 90s was very much true to their core of these high revving, motorcycle like engines, in small lightweight yet low key highly engineered cars. But as regulations and such progressed, Honda could not stick to that formula. It's nearly impossible to make a small car, let alone one with an NA engine spewing unburned gas out the pipes. You gotta get bigger, turbo, etc etc, so yeah they could make a sportscar, but it won't even remotely look like a Honda anymore. In essence, they'll have an identity crisis.

I mean if Honda made an I4 turbo S2000, would it sell? Purists are gonna say nah needs an NA, the indifferent people will want more power from say a Supra or Mustang, so who are they really going to please?

GM tried to compete with the imports by offering non V8 sportscars, and while sorta successful, not really?

 

I stand by my previous post. Honda used to be the red headed step child. Ok with being the fuel efficient, small displacement, compact, rational, poor mans choice; while at the same time making the Super Car challenging NSX, the world's most adrenaline pumping Miata (s2000), pioneering variable valve control with vtec in the 80s (1989), putting sport car double wishbone on an $8k new civic hatch, the list goes on and on.

Honda was the badass punk rocker of jdm tuning pushing the envelope in directions others were scared to explore. Now they're just cutting cookies....

 

If it's around 3000-3200 lb with an 8000+ redline I say yes. In a world where the Mustang GT's V8 revs to 7800, I don't see "emissions" being a cop out excuse for Honda not being able to do that.

 

That's the thing though, that ethos worked when V8s were making less than 250hp in lead sleds, and the Italians couldn't make a car run for more than an oil change interval. It's kinda like what's happening with Harley, they've made things one way for a long time, but the market has evolved but they sorta dug their heels into doing it there way, and now their way doesn't quite fit. Honda when it comes to enthusiasts is sorta the same way, the good thing is that their efficient approach to car design still works well in their appliance offerings, but an NA 4 banger nowadays is simply outgunned. Remember, when the S2000 came out, it was faster than the Porsche Boxster and BMW Z3, and was in a completely different league vs the Miata. Even if they gave the S2000 300hp, it would be outgunned by the Boxster and Z4.

The emissions and mpgs excuse is largely for why they don't make high revving NA I4s anymore, turbo is necessary at this point.

You know, the more I think about it, the more I think you're right. If Honda made that and priced it under 50, I may actually put a deposit down today if they offer a hardtop. It'll likely be over 50k, but I think you're on to something. The Supra is going to bow out soon, the Z, well, it's the Z. The Porsche Boxster with an I4T and 300hp starts at 70k which is impossible to get at that price, realistically 90k, so there is a large void there.

The more I think about it, for me, why would I choose that over the Supra? I have more faith in a Honda drivetrain causing me less financial burden than a BMW, and I have more confidence that I can supplement some of the maintenance by doing it myself as well, points that largely keeps me away from the Z with it's V6 TT stuffed into a tiny engine bay. And neither the Z or Supra have a great sound to them anyway.

So yeah, I think there is a decent enough business case for it. I just wonder how emissions and crash regs will F it up, because the proportions of the S2000 is impossible to do today. If you look at how tall the ND's fenders are, it's strictly because of the crash regs.

 

In my comments I actually meant an I4 Turbo that revved to 8000 (didn't state it since you already mentioned turbo. I was going with that line of thinking but guess that was a bit too subtle!)

I think the hoodline could still be respectable, and far better than the Miata, if the engine is still behind the front axle line. At that point the high point for the hood would be the shock towers. With the next Supra rumored to be an I4 Turbo, as well as the possibility of a Celica coming back (also with I4 Turbo) I think the case could be made for Honda. And it doesn't need to be an expensive moon shot. Something with a 10 lb per hp ratio is fine with me as long as weight is kept down (think 3000 lb and 300 hp)