TTAC Photochop: Honda Roadster
The S2000 will soon get a ten-candle cake, an excellent innings for any model. Unfortunately for fans of Honda's VTEC pocket rocket, continuously decreasing sales could make this anniversary its last. There have been numerous rumors about the successor of the S2000; the new one could be bigger, a four-seater and/or a coupe. Shots of a Honda test mule using an S2000 elongated platform fueled these murmurings. Others believe that a mext-gen Honda roadster could move downscale to compete with the Mazda MX-5/Miata. Personally, I'm going with plan B. I can see a future Honda S roadster with engines ranging from a cheap 1.6-liter to the high-rev 2.0-liter owners (although not our RF) enjoy so much on the current S2000. The photochop crystal ball provides an evolution of the S2000 design with the aggressiveness enhanced by the big air intakes and the high-tech optic units. Next year, Honda will celebrate their 60th anniversary. I bet the new S2000 (launched when they celebrated half a century) will be jumping out of the cake.
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I am very happy with my S2000 and don't see getting rid of it any time soon, but would like to see them finally redesign it. I do hope it does not disappear, especially if they are planning a hybrid version!
As full as Honda's plate is with must-do vehicles I doubt we will see a next generation S2000. The S2000 doesn't leverage Honda's mainline vehicle platforms and is thus a kind of one-off vehicle. Honda engineers who want to work on sexy go-fast vehicles can try to get on the Honda Jet project http://world.honda.com/HondaJet/. Otherwise they had better keep working on the corporation's money makers and expansion into developing markets. Mazda completely owns the cheap and cheerful modern roadster market with the Miata. It isn't a market big enough to support multiple suppliers.
I'm scared what Honda might do. A more affordable S2k would be the about the only thing to make me trade in my 06 Miata, but... Honda's latest offering have been horrible, styling wise, and approaching heffalump-like mass. An ugly, heavy S2k would be an epic fail.
While I absolutely love the S2000 (and all the cons that come with said package), it really doesn't fit Honda whatsoever.. It sticks out at a dealership as what-might-be-a-flagship-but-isn't-really... It's a niche car, no doubt, while Honda is purely in the more down-to-earth, mainstream camp. I'd hate to see it die!! In my humble opinion, Honda should "lease" this model to Toyota. Keep the new Subaru/Toyota car, throw this in to expand the sports car section, and spend zero on R&D. This assuming that Toyota really is trying to branch out a bit more and try to expand from being absolutely bland...