As I mentioned in my list of cars that did not make the Best New Cars of 2008 list, I'm really torn about the Honda S2000 CR. On the one hand, it's one of the most invigorating cars I've ever driven. The changes may seem minimal, but shedding 100 lbs and tightening up the steering and suspension make a huge difference in the way the car drives. On the other hand, while the CR is, technically, a new-for-2008 model, it's basically a modified version of a nine-year-old car.
So I've decided to let you, the readers, make the decision.
The question is whether the S2000 CR can be considered a new-for-2008 model. If the answer is yes, then it deserves a place on the list. If the answer is no, then it's simply not eligible. Cast your vote, and we'll see what the results look like in one week's time.
VOTE: Can the Honda S2000 CR be considered a new-for-2008 model?
- YES, it's new for 2008. Put it on the list!
- NO, the changes aren't significant enough for it to be considered a new model.
Comments? Statements in favor of or against the motion? Want to tell us why you voted the way you did? Click the "comments" link below and let's talk. -- Aaron Gold
Related:
2008 Honda S2000 CR test drive and review
2008 Honda S2000 CR photo gallery
Photo © Aaron Gold
I think the S2000 could be the best sports car built in the last decade for price and enjoyment, but it is time to really change it or retire it. Would be willing to kill to get that engine stuffed in the back of MR2 Spyder. Honda just builds incredible engines.
The S2000 is a great car that is made better by the CR suffix. I just don’t think that taking a sports car and removing features (weight) and adding better suspension and steering components, etc. makes it new enough. I realize that “new” is a flexible concept, (thus Aaron’s question) but adding and subtracting (relatively few)parts is a far cry from going through all the engineering steps it takes to produce a truly new model. It would be a harder question if they had also changed the engine.
Companies add new trim lines to older cars all the time, the CR hardly qualifies by the usual “new car” standards. If the weight specs from Honda are to be believed, it’s only 50 lbs difference, anyway. (2813 vs 2864. Get the CR w/AC, and it’s 2855.)
Heck, other cars have had more mechanical changes with no change in the title from year to year. What Honda did is not much different from what a backyard tuner might do to their own S2000.
J Kyle, you are (somewhat) correct — but removing the top brings total weight loss to 99 lbs. And the car just isn’t any fun with the top on! — Aaron
I have a close relative just purchased a Honda S2000. As a sports car enthusiast and owner, I can not for the life of me understand the attraction to this vehicle. It has a cheap pinball dashboard that complements a incredibly dull driving experience. You have to be a real Honda fan to appreciate this coma inducing vehicle.
This car needs some real updating or changes to make it qualify. Though I really enjoy driving the car, it just isn’t as satisfying as so many others in its class. Taking away creature comforts(like a/c) on a car, with few to start with, is not much of an improvement…especially to someone in South Florida.
I agree with Drew… I had use of a 2006 model for a couple of weeks last summer and found it to be VERY DULL..it just did not excite me when I took it out on the local twisties .. The power curve was just not large enough to enjoy the car… My comments relate to this ONE CAR ONLY …it needed different gears big time.
Bob G.
…And here’s where the line gets drawn in the sand. I actually rather enjoyed my seat time in my brother-in-law’s S2000. I think that many people (speaking to Bob G. and Drew here) don’t realize that, even though the S2000 slots neatly between an MX-5 and a Boxster, it really isn’t meant to be driven like either one. In order to truly enjoy a drive in the Honda, the revs must be kept up in the workable range (above 6,000 rpms). This makes the car seem difficult or awkward to use for those only looking for a slick drop-top ride. For those people, cars like the Solstice, MX-5, and Corvette exist. An S2000 owner/driver is a special breed of car enthusiast who likes driving hard and at the limit, keeping it on full boil, using all focus to work the car. But watch out…another reason to S2000 may be a bit extreme is its immediacy of a sideways drift with a mid-corner throttle tap anywhere near 7,000 rpms. If you have the patience and level of focus required, it can make an SCCA champ out of you. Or it can ‘chump’ you. I plan on heading to a Honda dealer as soon as spring hits just to check one out for myself.
Kris,driving around at 6000 RPM is not a really usable concept for a daily driver. I had all the access to S2000’s I wanted when I sold them a couple of years ago. It’s a car that’s fun to drive from time to time, but keeping it up at 6000 RPM’s is hard on the ears, wallet and will sure get a lot of attention from the police. If I’m plunking down 33k, I need a car that isn’t so unidimensional. I don’t always “live to drive”, sometimes I “drive to live” as well.
Don, I agree its not a daily driver…for some people. Never said it was. In fact my point was exactly that: it’s not everyone’s cup o’ tea. Some people enjoy the resonating sound of moving engine and transmission parts making their way into the cabin. Others would rather listen to their new Striesand CD. It’s similar to a Lotus Elise in that way; some people can’t drive it for more than 10 miles, while others never want out of it. I’m so happy for you and “all the access to S2000’s [you] wanted,” but that’s completely irrelevant if you didn’t buy one. I have access to every S2000 on every Honda lot in America…doesn’t mean I peek in every window or sit in every seat. As for police attention, I’m sure they’re more occupied with laughing at the car jumping and stalling from your inability to properly operate a clutch pedal. All that access to S2000s, and no skill to drive them properly…
To the original question posed by Aaron:
No, this is not a new model. This is no different than Nissan’s Nismo 350Z, or a Cobalt/HHR SS for that matter.
Funny no one mentioned my shifting at my Bob Bondurant School For High Performance Driving course, especially during the “heel ‘n toe” or “drifting” segments. Kris, your peurile attempt at insults betrays your age and/or insecurity. We’re not talking life or death here, just opinions about cars. You can wipe the spit balls out of the corners of your mouth now…and relax!!!
Oh please! I’m here to talk cars, not listen to you brag about being a so-called “High-Performance Driving” wash-out. So what team is it you race with then? Oh, the Mid-Life Crisis Racing League, I know that one! I’ve been with the Southeast Formula-D Limited Series for 4 years now, so your act is nothing special with me, sonny. Stop preaching about what you can do (or wish you could do), and stay focused on what this board is here for, talking about the CARS, not the DRIVERS. Keep your Straw Man tactics for the playground. We engineers know better…facts tell the story.
Wow what a venomous blog! I love being criticized for bragging with even more bragging back…”Formula-D Limited Series” and even better, “we engineers”. By the way, that was a “high performance” school not the “racing school”. Never said I was a ticketed racer (like you?). Just replied to your childish comment about someone’s shifting ability that you don’t know, but presume to. What I’m addressing here, is the unidimensionality of the car and that it lacks the every day graces for life beyond “fun driving”. Getting out of a hot car, all sweaty and going to a meeting in Miami, during its blistering 8 months of summer heat, is not a real world car to me. It’s must be nice to have such dedication and love of driving that everything else falls by the wayside, but alas, life is a road of compromises, something I would’ve thought you would know well in your world of engineering.
Okay, both of you knock it off. I come to comment on the S2000, and I see Don, once again, bullying somebody by criticizing them for having an opinion. Do you sit on these boards all day, waiting for people’s reactions, Don? It seems to me (and I’m sure everyone else that sees this) that Kris was trying to say that different people like or require different things, but you won’t have any part of that. No one cares about your personal experience, its not gospel to us.
All I have to say, is I love this car in blue. I don’t like the new racecar spoiler and stuff on it, but to each his own. (Kris, my husband has an Elise, and it is as rough as you say! I wish he’d get one of these)
Boys, boys, boys… play nice. It’s clear you both have different opinions on what makes a good sports car. If we all had the same opinions, the manufacturers wouldn’t need to make so many different cars. Why don’t you guys stop the arguing and do one of those “agree to disagree” sort of things, okay?
Aaron
Wow, this is a year old. I must say though, 6000 RPM’s too loud???? I have an AP1 and even at 9,000 RPM’s I find it way too quiet, if you are a car enthusiast you want to hear every bit of the engine and exhaust. To me, a Ferrari with a deafening F1 exhaust that sounds like a Banshee screaming to the point where you can’t even hear yourself talk is my idea of the PERFECT daily driver. Driving to work or to the grocery store is a pretty boring ordeal, I want to make it was fun as possible. To me, being in a quiet car with a comfortable ride is just plain boring, being low to the ground, feeling every bump on the road and hearing a screaming exhaust behind me makes me want to drive around even with nowhere to go.
Bottom line, if you think daily driving at 6k RPM is too much, this car is NOT for you, most true sports cars are NOT for you. I daily drive at 8-9k RPM and I absolutely love it.