Hot Wheel! That's what the car reminds me of... be a great toy for a little kid to play with on the kitchen floor.

 

Bottom line... Everyone was desperately hoping for a true S2000 Type R from Honda with the Type R treatment, and based on what they (Honda) had described and hyped up this introduction, the CR has fallen WELL short of everyone's desires...

 

I have to admit that looking at pics of this car obssesively for the past couple days, I am finding things I like.....and lots of things I dislike about the CR.

Likes:

1. Suspension tweaks
2. Tire upgrade
3. Short shifter
4. Cloth seats (not the color - just the cloth option!)
5. Black chrome badges
6. Instrument Cluster
7. Hardtop

Dislikes:

1. That damn wing. It just ruins the lines of this beautiful car!! It makes me angry just looking at it. If you photoshop it out, the car doesn't look bad at all. I don't care how much downforce it adds, it gives the car a comical appearance. Not crazy about that tonneau, but I could live with it.

2. I don't understand why this car did not even get at least a modest bump in power (hell, even 15HP). Rumors of 260 HP in stock trim had me salivating, and honestly, if this car came with 260 HP, I think most would look past that god awful aero kit and fugly seats. I am fully aware that Honda states that this car is quicker in lap times and that it makes up for even a 50HP increase, however, why not bump the power and do the suspension tweaks simultaneously? We all know that with more aggressive cams (ex. Skunk2) and ECU tuning, the F22C has more in it. Hell, why not even a stroker motor? (ex. inline pro.com - 2.5 liter = 260HP) Honda stroked the F20C to 2.2 liters in 2004! If this car is indeed limited production, then a stroker motor, more aggressive cams, some exhaust work, ECU re-flashing, etc would make it well worth the extra cash it's going to cost. The lack of a bump in power disappointed me the most.

3. I dislike those wheels, but I could get used to them.

Ok, rant off. That being said, I will probably get used to the car, but I have no desire to own one. The things I like about the car can be added with aftermarket parts, so I don't consider them all that special. When the S2000 came out in 1999, it changed my life. I sat in one at the dealer and said to myself "Someday". I was just hoping for more with the CR...maybe I was hoping to feel the way I did in 1999

 

You got the addition right. What about the subtraction. Factor in all the money they saved on the parts they didn't add. Those mods are costing more than you think.

 

Perhaps this is honda's subtle way of telling us that the car will not longer be made as is...they are just getting rid of the engines and bodies leftover and we shall see a new car for 2009 in 2008????

porsche did it with the 914(no longer produced after 1976) leftovers and 911(which became the 911SC in 78) leftovers as the 76 912E, miata did it with the club racers it made and special edditions for some years, mustang with the bullit mustang, there are special edition cars that are hammered out at the end of a production run to just move out the old stuff???

again i would not buy this car, think the "improvements" are only for those who want a really special edition car which offers less for more, and think the changes can be made to any S2000 , they are all exterior and i hate the spoiler to the max, it looks silly on a production car, even a wrx or evo....

 

I thought I was dreaming, but I just saw a brand new miata (no plates yet) parked outside our building sporting the same exact wheels as the S2000 CR.

Very interesting.

 

Perhaps though I can't see a manufacturer of anything. building something ugly to signal the end of a production.

And Honda doesn't have a bunch of engines and bodies to *use up*. They build on demand. This is JIT manufacturing and while the Japanese didn't invent it, they sure as hell are the best in the world at it. (possible exception Dell Computers).

 

Why?

Actually this speaks volumes. The Honda engineers who I'm assuming, know more than anyone on this forum about the car and what can make it faster, wanted the car to go faster on the track. The didn't lower the car. Does that tell you anything?

Okay they clearly don't know shite about what makes a car look good... just look at it... but they wanted it to go faster... not look faster.

Lowered cars do not go faster.

 

I do N.O.T. like this Cocky Racer or Carriage Return spoiler thing that's strange RS-blue and even worse black badging outside with lemmon yellow ugly patterns and cloth inside. Nice colour combo But that's just my opinion, who am I to judge...

Why isn't it announced on april 1 instead of April 4? Give us a S2000 Type R with Comptech/Vortech/other blower and 350hp to celebrate the magnificent car and honour it that way. I would swap mine for one of those. Please not this version with 10 spoilers glued to it Think about the credibility of the existing S2000 owners please... And what about a manual folding softtop, huh? But the fuel/water temp is nicely done and it seems there were some leftovers from the old gear lever, should be nice in cold roofless moments Very sticky

But hey, the S2000 was to show the know how of Honda, especially in the F1 department, and like some other said... I choose Honda because they made Senna fly! So if I see the last efforts and results in F1, maybe the CR is not that bad. Hopefully the aerodynamic package is better at least, we know the engine, chassis and drivers are among the best.

Please at least beat Toyota in F1 this year

 

I hope it rivals the fun I've had poking fun at S2200 owners for the last three years.