7 Reasons Why the S2000 Was Discontinued
05-10-2017, 01:33 AM
#22
I actually suspect it was nothing more mundane than the ability to comply with worldwide emission standards for new cars.
As of September 2009 the Euro 5 standard came into force, which meant the death-nell to any car not able to comply being forced out of production for all of Europe. Obviously with dwindling sales and an entire large sector of the market effectively removed from the equation, this was undoubtedly the last nail in the coffin for the S2000, as making it emission compliant would have required a full redesign of the engine (direct injection / iVTEC etc), so it was just cost effective to discontinue worldwide production.
Unfortunately as ever stricter emission legislation has been introduced over the years, we have lost (great) cars, as it has been uneconomical for the engine of an "old" model to be be re-engineered to the new standards. Car models are planned well in advance, which allows engineers to design engines to the specific emission requirements, so you will see as each emission standard is phased in, it coincides with the "loss" of a particular car being phased out due to it's inability to comply. I remember with great sadness when Ford confirmed that the Escort Cosworth production was being ended in 1996, as they couldn't get it to comply with the then new Euro 2 standards.
If you check out the dates of when each emission standard was introduced, you will find that it coincides exactly with the date a particular car from that era stopped being produced.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe...sion_standards
Sadly it is these emission standards that are seeing more and more turbo cars introduced as each manufacturer has a total emissions target to reach, so as forced induction is such an easy way to comply, it will see the gradual phasing out of NA engines and more reduced capacity forced induction engines introduced (hence why the Boxster has gone from a large capacity NA to a small capacity turbo (as has the 911 range, which allows Porsche to still build some NA halo cars, as the "lower" spec models get them to their target).
As of September 2009 the Euro 5 standard came into force, which meant the death-nell to any car not able to comply being forced out of production for all of Europe. Obviously with dwindling sales and an entire large sector of the market effectively removed from the equation, this was undoubtedly the last nail in the coffin for the S2000, as making it emission compliant would have required a full redesign of the engine (direct injection / iVTEC etc), so it was just cost effective to discontinue worldwide production.
Unfortunately as ever stricter emission legislation has been introduced over the years, we have lost (great) cars, as it has been uneconomical for the engine of an "old" model to be be re-engineered to the new standards. Car models are planned well in advance, which allows engineers to design engines to the specific emission requirements, so you will see as each emission standard is phased in, it coincides with the "loss" of a particular car being phased out due to it's inability to comply. I remember with great sadness when Ford confirmed that the Escort Cosworth production was being ended in 1996, as they couldn't get it to comply with the then new Euro 2 standards.
If you check out the dates of when each emission standard was introduced, you will find that it coincides exactly with the date a particular car from that era stopped being produced.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe...sion_standards
Sadly it is these emission standards that are seeing more and more turbo cars introduced as each manufacturer has a total emissions target to reach, so as forced induction is such an easy way to comply, it will see the gradual phasing out of NA engines and more reduced capacity forced induction engines introduced (hence why the Boxster has gone from a large capacity NA to a small capacity turbo (as has the 911 range, which allows Porsche to still build some NA halo cars, as the "lower" spec models get them to their target).
Last edited by Mike RT4; 05-10-2017 at 01:55 AM.
09-15-2017, 10:47 AM
#23
So many of the reasons is that it was a real sports car, not tailored to hair dressers that want a sporty looking car with no top and an automatic 
I love it that Honda had the balls to do it and not drop a fun sucking auto into it just to sell more of them to folks not really into what the car is. Plus, I do not see anyone that would want an auto liking the high revving engine and zero tq at low rpm. I think they did exactly what they intended on this one without letting the marketing folks run too far with it. And God bless them for that!
And dont get me wrong, the Miata is a great little autocrosser (arguably as good or better in some applications) and track toy. The looks are meh at best to me and they are just not unique, which is some of the S2k appeal. Maybe because they offered automatics and a billion people bought them
I love it that Honda had the balls to do it and not drop a fun sucking auto into it just to sell more of them to folks not really into what the car is. Plus, I do not see anyone that would want an auto liking the high revving engine and zero tq at low rpm. I think they did exactly what they intended on this one without letting the marketing folks run too far with it. And God bless them for that! And dont get me wrong, the Miata is a great little autocrosser (arguably as good or better in some applications) and track toy. The looks are meh at best to me and they are just not unique, which is some of the S2k appeal. Maybe because they offered automatics and a billion people bought them
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