Jalopnik's top cars of the decade
- Source: Global Times
- [13:40 December 16 2009]
- Comments
Honda S2000
Years Produced: 1999 - 2009
Base Price When New: $34,995 (2009)
Engine: 2.0-liter I-4, 240 hp (@8300 rpm); 2.2-liter I-4, 240 hp (@7800 rpm)
Curb Weight: 2781 lb
Power-To-Weight Ratio: 11.6 lb/hp
It is a Honda: Legendary reliability. A four-cylinder that spins to ungodly speeds. An interior full of sensibly designed, relatively sturdy components. Parts of it feel expensive; parts of it feel cheap. In a nutshell, the S2000 is everything that Soichiro's minions know about building cars, albeit honed and sharpened. It's also a rear-wheel-drive relic, an homage to a time when sports cars required their drivers to pay attention.
The S2000 was launched to commemorate Honda's 50th anniversary, and it did so in one hell of a fashion – it combined a stiff chassis with an 8900-rpm four-cylinder and handling that former Car and Driver editor Csaba Csere once called "daringly neutral." The 2.0-liter four made its peak power at 8300 rpm, but an uber-slick gearbox and the joys of wailing VTEC meant that you didn't mind winding the piss out of it. Later cars gained displacement and various refinements but lost little charm.
