The current Honda S2000 is one the biggest cars in the tuner market and motorsports world by far, and that is why we are watching the development of the next generation S2000 with a very close eye. Japanese Performance Car News is reporting on some new S2K rumors that come not surprisingly, from a Japanese car magazine. According to the latest speculation, the new S2000 will be released for the 2010 model year and will be available with both a 2.4L four cylinder AND a 3.5L V6. Hrm…a V6 S2000 I mean "S3500"? Sounds a little strange to me.
The car is still very early in development so of course this speculation (and the rendering above) should be taken with a grain of salt, but is still interesting to think about what this car may turn out to be.
I remember hearing that next generation S2000 was to be scaled down in both size and price to compete more directly with the Mazda MX5. I'm not sure what happened to that plan. I thought it would have been cool to see a cheaper "mini-S2000" with a rear wheel drive application of Honda's wonderful K20 engine.
What are your thoughts on the next S2000?
-Mike Garrett
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I hope no v6 engines will be available for the S2000. Almost all popular JDM cars that have been released have increased displacements. For example, the new GT-R and the LF-A. Seems they are going the "exotic euro" path. Very un-Japanese if you ask me. Maybe the touge in the future will be filled up with these heavy exotics. A very undesirable sight.
Early this year (around January), while I was in Japan, I heard that there could be a possibility of a downsize engine (2.0 liter)....but who knows.
Having a 3.5 liter V6 means the engineers at Honda would have to struggle to keep that sweet 50/50 weight distribution.
I can understand the reasoning behind wanting to dump a V6 into the next gen S2K. Having it as an available option is going to increase sales. I'm sure there were plenty of non-enthusiast buyers looking for a sport-convertible that didn't even give the S2000 a chance because it "only had a 4 cylinder" despite the fact that it was a damn great motor.
BlackMagicGTO, you are correct, but...anyone who looks at a Honda and says it "only has a 4 cylinder" should be banned from driving them for life.
hushypushy, that mindset's great, unless you're trying to sell cars. dumb americans (i can say that, i'm american) want more cylinders.
honda is a company that sells cars, they'll do whatever they can to do it. hopefully it'll be a high-compression V6, which is still better than selling a turbo S2000 (i'll take response over torque any day).
it seems the day of the 2.0L has come and gone, let's just hope they don't mess it up as bad as mazda did with the newest miata, which was deemed an inferior roadster to pontiac's solstice,
it is hard to swallow the idea of a six cylinder S-car.
are all of the car companies just ditching their heritage and keeping nothing but the "spirit"?
don't get me wrong, innovation and constant development of new technology is paramount, but i feel as though the major manufactures are diluting their brands to the point of leaving their heritage behind.
does it even matter?
I don't know. Don't you think with the way things are going with US gas prices and the economy, you would think a smaller more economical car might sell better? It seems like Americans MIGHT finally be getting over the "bigger is better" mentality when it comes to cars and engines.
That's what I thought Mike. 4 banger is the way to go. Better MPG, and the F22C is still one of the most powerful engine for its size....
a V6 as a option is a good idea. widens the amount of ppl who will buy it. but the main model should still have a 4 banger. a version with a moderate size turbo is also good. more power without the turbo lag. a supercharger i dont like.
The next S2000 should be the same size, but Hard top. Just like the BMW Z, that started as a convertible and now is a hard top. Ohh and keep the K engine with at least 8000 RPM.