100%! Totally reminds me of the Solaris!!

 

new s2k should be:

-most likely 2 engine choices, 4banger and v6 with good power
-rwd (prob no awd)
-2 small rear seats included
-6 speed prob, but no shock if auto/manual with paddles (not new nsx type)
-fwd design thinking
-well sized rims with lowww pro tires
-convertible...who knows??

 

I have to say if they bring 2 powerplants to the S2000...then it will truly be a SAD, SAD day.

The S2000 Community has been so strong because ALL OF OUR CARS ARE EVEN from the point of production. The only thing that makes ANY of our S2000s different is because of something WE did to them... All of 'em are the same out of the gate...price-wise and power-wise, feature-wise...you get the idea.

None of that anamosity because someone got a brand new "base" S2000 for $30k when you bought the "fully-loaded" model at $40k. I think this is why we are a bit stronger in the car community...we are the same from the get-go.

Wow...I used a lot of hyphens in this post.

 

Plus, this is a SPORTS car. We shouldn't need a two engines - one mild, one sporty. The fact that the current car is only available in one trim with no options screams to me, a car that was designed with one purpose in mind. Its the 'take it or leave it' attitude of the S2000 that I just love.

-Non-adjustable steering wheel
-Non-adjustable suspension (set on rock hard 100% of the time!)
-Non-adjustable throttle response (set to lightening quick)

The list goes on... the current S2000 is a focused car designed for a focused driver, and the fact that the car comes in only one flavor, leaves the drivers to duke it out on the track.

This OSM is VERY VERY nice, and as a small hybrid, fun to drive roadster, it would work well. However, as a replacement for the S2000 it probably wouldn't. However, I don't see WHY people on this forum and others are billing it as a replacement for the S2000.

The S series of roadsters has ROOTS. They were all high revving SOBs with roadster chassis, and hard-core personality. Its not like Honda will change the formula all of a sudden. Not to mention, Honda has ALREADY stated that the OSM IS NOT THE S2000 replacement.

At the end of the day, Honda will use feedback from the OSM model to study various styling elements - some of which may be incorporated in a future S2000 successor.

 

The OSM may not be an S2000 replacement, but who said Honda was going to have any replacement at all? The OSM is an indication of where Honda is looking - and its looking at its traditional model from the past 40 years - fwd, small engine cars.

The S2000 is not a money maker for Honda (well, maybe now it is) - it was a loss leader from the beginning. Looking at today's automotive environment and where things may be in 5-10 years, Honda may very well shutter rwd convertible production and simply make Civic convertibles - not to replace the S2000, but to make money selling a more popular car that shares components with other products. The S2000 was conceived during a time of cheap gas and gangbuster economy - the OSM comes amid expensive fuel and a weak economy.

You have to remember, the S2000 is left field for Honda. I don't know why we all expect Honda to make a new sports car, its not Ferrari or Porsche. The one glimmer of hope we have is the NSX replacement, but that car is fundamentally different from the NSX and is not a replacement for it.

 

I agree with some of the above posters. I like that in the S2000 I didn't have to choose between a hardtop or a convertible. The decision was already made for me. Otherwise I would feel that I was the one who compromised between fun (convertible) or performance. Sometimes having too few choices makes the decision easier. S2K FTW.

As for me I'd like the S2K to look like some of the designs around the web (I like the headlights and taillights), while still retaining the long hood, RWD, 2 seats. It'd be nice if they could even shed off 100 lbs and give it some 20-30 hp.

 

Hioryuki Yoshino, CEO of Honda a while back, once made a statement that the S2000 was profitable after only six months of production. That was possible from the "small born" plant setup they can utilize for small volume productions

The only references I can find after all this time, however, are on pay-for-access industry sites.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%...no+s2000+months

 

Everything I've read on the subject indicates that Honda lost money on every S sold, and its kind of hard to believe that factory retooling and development over 5 years could be recouped in six months - didn't Honda only make about 10k cars in 1999?

 

Unless I ever end up getting an NSX (the real MR NSX, not the new one), the S2000 will be the last Honda I own. This saddens me, as I love this car, but Honda/Acura is heading in exact opposite direction of what I want. Rather than producing a lightweight, focused, manual transmission RWD sports car, Honda seems to be heading in the heavy tech-laden flappy-paddle-gearbox FWD hybrid direction.

IMO, as much as nobody wants to admit it, Honda no longer cares about the enthusiast segment of the market.

 

they should just stop productions...