Will There Ever Be Another Honda as Great as the S2000?
The S2000 is one of the best cars to ever be mass produced by Honda. It is popular in almost every form of racing series and a great car that is driver focused, but it’s a car we will look at with rose tinted glasses in years to come.
Weight
Cars just keep getting heavier. Simply put, if they do offer a car that is equivalent to the S2000 in the future, it is going to tip the scales noticeably fatter. This is a trend that can easily be seen over the last few decades. Sure it will have more power, it will probably handle great, but there is nothing that makes a car better than being lightweight. The final version of the S2000 came in around 2,864lbs. The 2017 NSX which is a flagship car is 3,800lbs.
Price
In general, sports cars have gone through the roof when it comes to cost. Not only are they getting chunkier, they’re getting more expensive! Going back to the NSX for a moment we can see the aftermarket for Mark 1 and Mark 2s coming in around $50,000 to about $80,000 for select models. What does the new one cost? Almost triple! It’s happening across the board with some other companies like Toyota with the Supra. If a new S2000 comes out I would guess it costs upwards of $50,000. For this reason, the AP1 and AP2 will become highly sought after in my opinion in the future with unmolested examples fetching a pretty penny.
The Government
Call me old-fashioned, but I think the government is ruining sports cars. Traction control systems are becoming mandated. How long until autonomous features are as well? More complexity, more things to go wrong and more electronics will all add to the cost of ownership and take away from the simplicity of former icons like the S2K. The reason old 911s are coveted and desired isn’t that they faster than their modern siblings. They are better to drive because there was less on them. Cable throttles, no ABS, and no traction control all made for visceral experiences. The same will be said in 30 to 50 years about cars like the S2000.
F20C: Lost and Forgotten?
Everything is about efficiency now and I don’t see that letting up anytime soon. How long until the high revving low displacement engines are a thing of the past? No matter how good they are will they ever really feel like the F20C or F22C? Let’s be honest for a minute: the S2000 stock isn’t a rocket ship, but the way the motor revs gives the driver exhilarating feeling. The sound when the cam switches over and VTEC activates is very memorable. It’s a great engine that revs and revs and revs. They are very involving to drive and engage your senses like few modern engines can.
The Total Package
When you consider all of these points: lightweight, high revving naturally aspirated motor, cheap affordability, reliability, trusted Honda engineering, an ocean of aftermarket possibilities and an ever-increasing government crackdown on emissions and safety features I think it is unlikely we will see another S2000. I hope I’m wrong and in 20 years we all look back and say how absurd it was for me to take this opinion. Watching the trends I can only think we have witnessed not only the death of the S2000 but the passing of what the car represented as more than just a machine.
Is that all?
Perhaps the sports car is moving in a different direction and Japanese cars from the 1990s and early 2000s will become today what Porsches are for guys in their 50s and 60s. If you ask me…they already are. We just don’t know it yet.