The Return of a Legend: Honda S2000 Makes a Sleek Comeback

Japan is known as the powerhouse of lightweight roadsters. Among various models, the Honda S2000, produced from 1999 to 2009, is a rear-wheel drive roadster with particularly unique characteristics. In particular, Honda is famous for not making rear-wheel drive vehicles, and among Honda’s vehicles released so far, this is the last FR (front engine, rear-wheel drive) vehicle.

Although this model is exceptionally demanding, its performance is considered the best, and it is known as a sports car that many people like. Of course, it is currently discontinued, but recently redesigned predictive rendering was unveiled leading to people looking forward to it again. So, how was it designed?

A Refreshing Approach

To understand the design more easily, it is necessary to understand Honda’s lineup for the Chinese market. Currently, Honda plans to launch electric vehicles based on its new EV platform, including the Ye P7 and Ye S7, and sell them in China. The rendering of the new S2000 was created with Honda’s Ye as a motif.

Looking at the front part, the straight DRL is especially noticeable, and its straight appearance highlights a more masculine appearance than the curve-oriented previous S2000. In the case of the Ye P7, we can see that the rear part is low in the form of a fastback. On the other hand, in the case of the S2000’s rendering, the roof was removed and the rear part was trimmed to be more sleek, giving it a roadster appearance.

If launched, it could compete with Mazda’s Miata

Throttle, a professional designer who created renderings of the Honda S2000, named the model Z2000. The designer revealed that he gave it the meaning of succeeding the existing S2000 and at the same time giving it the meaning of a pure electric roadster. Additionally, the designer revealed that it could be a rival to the Mazda MX-5 Miata.

Meanwhile, the Honda S2000’s engine is a DOHC in-line 4-cylinder naturally aspirated engine and can reach a maximum speed of approximately 150 mph. Additionally, the time it takes to reach 62 mph is approximately 6.0 seconds. It looks like an ordinary high-performance sports car, but because it uses a high-revving engine, it is difficult to drive, as mentioned earlier.

As the era of purely enjoying the pleasure of driving and the performance of a vehicle is fading away, it feels like it is very meaningful to reinterpret and consistently mention the future-oriented appearance of these luxury vehicles. Could Honda’s rear-wheel drive roadster be relaunched in this design?