Filed under: Convertibles, Sports/GTs, Honda
First Drive of 2008 Honda S2000 CR pops up
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Honda recently invited select members of the automotive media to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to sample the track prowess of its new 2008 Honda S2000 Club Racer. We'll just assume our evite got lost in the ether. Though driving impressions were supposed to be embargoed until 8/15, someone jumped the gun. It wasn't Inside Line, but we refer you to their account of the car since it's the only one we can find now, and we just want to know what the S2000 CR is like.
According to IL, the S2000 CR is "the most tightly focused, single-minded performance roadster on the market. Even a Lotus Elise has air-conditioning." That last charge against the S2000 CR is really the crux of the matter, as Honda has stripped the S2000 here of all manner of civility. No soft-top, no radio, no A/C. In their place goes a curb-scraping front chin spoiler and a rear wing that will blot out the sun.
[Source: Inside Line]
Gallery: Honda S2000 Club Racer
The S2000 CR features the exact same engine as the standard S2000, a 2.2L four-cylinder that produces an amazing and sickeningly sweet 237-hp (don't ask about torque, there isn't much). The suspension, however, gets worked over pretty good, with stiffer dampening, bigger anti-roll bars and extra bracing added.
In the end, only 1,500 examples of the S2000 CR will be sold, and they'll all be bought by people who spend more time on an actual race track than the average Joe. Using any other metric to judge this car than a trip to the track would be silly, as it truly is a single-purpose piece of machinery.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
srivendel 2:04PM (8/09/2007)
Strictly for the hardcore. This is cool as a track car and weekend toy (for those months below 85 degrees), but very few people could use this as a daily driver without A/C or a folding top. It's nice to see Honda focusing on performance again. Now how about bringing us the Japanese Civic Type-R?
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naggs 2:14PM (8/09/2007)
all the hard core changes are kind of silly considering that the car is so horribly compromised from the ground up, being a convertible and all. i mean how much weight does a stereo and AC add to a car? compare that to its most intrusive 'luxury feature', the fact that it has no roof.
make it a coupe and ill be interested. and no, a convertible with a hard top put on is not a coupe...
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Cidny 2:23PM (8/09/2007)
Check out this (coup) new racer from toyota... and did I mention its a hybrid?
http://cardevotion.com/Article/186/NewsFlash__Toyota_Hybrid_Races_to_Victory_in_24_Hour_Endurance_Event.html?ref=gc
Hwins 2:27PM (8/09/2007)
naggs; if you think the S2000 is horribly comprimised by being a convertible you simply have no idea what you're talking about. why not look into the innovation behind the frame just a little before sticking your foot in your mouth again?
cidny; that toyota is a on-off purpose-built race car that really has absolutely nothing to do with anything toyota has ever built. irrelevant to all.
R 4:09PM (8/09/2007)
Actually the x-bone monocoque design that went into the s2000 resulted in a very rigid frame, nearly as good as a closed-body design.
R 4:17PM (8/09/2007)
Oh yeah, and I guess you didn't RTFA, but "A/C and a stereo are on our necessary list. And the 42 pounds saved by their omission doesn't seem worth the discomfort factor."
42 pounds on a track car? Significant.
naggs 4:31PM (8/09/2007)
"naggs; if you think the S2000 is horribly comprimised by being a convertible you simply have no idea what you're talking about."
lol, you have fallen for some marketing gimick and confused that for some kind of tech breakthrough. the simple fact remains that the car would be lighter, faster, stronger, safer, more aerodynamic, better looking and cheaper had it been a coupe. put your foot back in your mouth dumass
"nearly as good" sums it up perfectly. just like it would be nearly as good a track machine if it had AC and a radio...
R 5:03PM (8/09/2007)
Yeah, and "nearly as good" is far different than "horribly compromised."
42 lbs savings is going to be more significant than the difference in rigidity between a coupe design and the monocoque design.
cheezwiz 5:34PM (8/09/2007)
Naggs:
You clearly have never driven one, so stop making grand pronouncements. I suppose the lotus elise is also "horribly compromised," too.
I guess not all cars can be as purpose built for the track as that SUV you undoubtedly swear by.
Thanks for the laugh, smart guy.
naggs 7:15PM (8/09/2007)
please cheezwiz, spare me the baseless accusations and generalizations. you know as much about me and my interest and experience with cars as i do about you and yours. which is to say, nothing.
oh and thanks for reminding me... lotus too knows to make its hardcore version, the exige, only out of the superior body style. you clearly have never driven one or you would know not to use that as an example... smart guy.
my orginal point is this, that the small changes that they made for this special edition (removing AC and radio ect) have no where near the performance gains that simply removing the mandatory 'feature' of unlimited headroom. in sports cars, the starting point counts and in this one way, this sports car, as hard core as it might be, is flawed. the fact is it would have been a better sports car had it had a roof. notice that i never said that is wasnt good or even that it wasnt great. only that it could have been much better...
no one has said anything to even remotely challenge that basic fact...
anyone else want to put their foot in their mouth?
Doglet 7:27PM (8/09/2007)
Naggs is right.
If you look at it from this point of view, that the convertible top is a mandatory feature that adds literally hundreds of pounds, harms aero and safety, then yes, the car is compromised from the ground up. Features that add tens of pounds are being tossed for the sake of speed but not the biggest and most detrimental to performance...
Personally, I would be much more likely to buy a s2000 coupe, were such a product to ever be made, than the CR as is. In fact, I would be willing to bet big that a s2k coupe without all the features stripped out would be faster and a more entertaining drive than the more hard core stripped out convertible. (assuming same track suspension ect)
Convertibles are just lame...
Hwins 12:14PM (8/10/2007)
naggs, for all your trolling about a hypthetical coupe vs actual, here's a simple, simple fact, perhaps even simple enough that you can understand.
A from-the-start coupe version of the S2000 would gain so little that your driving abilities wouldn't even to begin to notice the difference between the two cars. That is why "nearly as good" counts for something. That is why you're dead wrong about making the car "much" better. That is why it's your foot-in-mouth, not mine.
And no, I don't need to know you any better than I already do to make this claim.
Steve C. 2:15PM (8/09/2007)
Sorry -- tacky. Fairings behind the head rests and that boy racer wing really cheapens this car. Too bad.
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Aetius 2:19PM (8/09/2007)
I agree. It's too tacky.
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Don 3:04PM (8/09/2007)
It's for the track...who cares if it's tacky?
JayP 2:31PM (8/09/2007)
A real track junkie wanting an S2k would buy one used in the mid teens, buy some R's and get a cage installed... all for way less than a new one. And no spoilers...
Then again a real track junkie would want a coupe, right?
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StinkyPete 2:36PM (8/09/2007)
No radio, no A/C? What are the pictures showing us? I'm curious to see what the dash looks like un-knob-ulized.
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Honda Lover 2:38PM (8/09/2007)
Oy, some of you anti honda nitwits are missing the point of the S2000 CR. First, they aren't mass producing it. Those that will buy this will do so because they will get an awesome track car for less than $40k. That's the point. Someone who wants a great track can get a tuned S2000 from Honda and not have to spend a boat load of money.
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icu812ru469 2:57PM (8/09/2007)
No AC is more the power drag that it would have even by just spinning the compressor, not the weight. I think it's just a think piece of rice paper separating the cabin and the engine bay now, so make sure you don't kick too hard.
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Jonathan Webb 3:24PM (8/09/2007)
I've got a 02' for $16,500.00
http://www.utilitymtairy.com/2002HondaS2000.htm
$40k, no thanks.
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