This week is the New York Auto show, and recently I was reading an article about it. One interesting thing I noticed, was that everyone’s biggest want from the show was for Honda to release another RWD—rear wheel drive—vehicle. Then it dawned on me. Honda hasn’t released or produced a RWD vehicle in over 8 years now. Oddly, their last RWD car was one of their best ever.
In 1999, Honda decided to release a 2 seater roadster to take on the Mazda Miata and the BMW Z3. They released the S2000, and my god it was it fantastic. Not only was it a RWD, two seater, and a convertible, but it was more powerful than both the Miata and the Z3. It sat cheaper than the Z3 and slightly above the Miata, but it was well worth the money.
It was one of the first cars to offer a digital speedometer, as well as a digital tachometer. The tachometer is the gauge that measures the RPM for those who don’t know. That’s another thing that makes this car special, it’s redline. The red line marks where the maximum RPMs of the car can safely sit. On an ordinary car its around 5,000-6,000.
On an S2000, its at 9,000.
That’s close to bike territory which is ridiculous. Not only is it’s redline ridiculously high, but it revs insanely fast. It can go from idle to peak power faster than a traditional gauge can even measure, which is why it’s digital.
Aside from that, the S2000 is a cult classic when it comes to being an enthusiasts car, because the car is more or less a blank canvas for modification. The car can become quite literally whatever you want it to be based on your personality, good or bad. It came with mounts so that you could lower the car if you wanted to, and the wheel mounts were also super standardized so replacing them became really easy.
Below are photos of my cousin’s S2000, and it matches his Middle Eastern Douchebag personality perfectly.
In 2009, Honda ceased production of the S2000, and with it, its last fun car. Recently they released the new Civic Type R again, but that’s more of a rally car than a sports car. Toyota and Subaru and killing the market right now with the Twins, and Honda is sitting idly by. Acura is once again losing money this year with it’s lackluster lineup, and Honda needs to do something. Very rarely will a company actually make money off a sports car, but the rest of their lineup will make up for the slack.
Honda makes an insane amount of money of their Civic, Accord, and CRV but instead of making cool sports cars for hooligans like me to buy, they decide to buy themselves Rolexes and give themselves bonuses. That may be great for Takahiro Hachigō, but it leaves a question of legacy. Since the company’s inception, Honda has been the face of youth auto enthusiasts, but now they are becoming the face of Robert the divorced science teacher who is looking for a raise.
S2000’s are an anomaly in that the older they get, the higher in value they become. In fact, if Honda keeps on their current track, it’d be a smart investment to buy a clean S2000 and then sit on it for a few years before flipping it.
Or you could enjoy it.
It’s a win win.
“middle eastern douche bag” rofl. Still like classic Fords but some of these look kinda cool.
That is definitely one Hon-damn cool car! I especailly love the look of your cousin’s gray one. So cool! I also greatly apprecate how you defined a tachometer. I would have had no clue what you meant.
this car is pretty nifty. Not as nifty as the prius but hey you do you
That’s a really cool fact that the cars revs up too quickly for an analog gauge, necessitating the digital one. It’s neat how new technology forces even more new technology to be developed.