2006 Honda S2000 Review

Specifications

The Original Banzai Roadster

Theres much to admire about the Japanese and their precision. Youve just gotta love the swords, the high-tech electronics and even the cuisine. I mean, who else would dare eat a fish that, if not prepared properly, is spiked to the gills with lethal neurotoxins? It would have to be the same people responsible for creating the S2000, a car that was built on the cornerstone of precision, and a vehicle designed to celebrate the storied companys 50th anniversary.

Since the very start, the S2000 has been an edgy looking vehicle, and to this day it still hasnt aged a bit. Compared to pre-facelift models, the nose has a set of extra gills on the wide front intake, and the headlamps gain projector-lens HID headlamps. There are more changes to be found at the aft end of the car; the twin exhaust pipes have been squashed from circles to ovals, the tail lamps have been packed with glistening LEDs, and the bumper has been restyled with a fake diffuser to make it look closer to the ground. Also new are ten-spoke 17-inch alloy wheels. The steely-gray-silver test car also featured the optional ground effects body kit which adds a touch of street racer, a look that I indulge in every now and then. On the down side, it gives an already low car the ground clearance of a cigarette package, rubbing up against almost everything that isnt road surface (and even then the nose touches ground often).

Stepping into the S2000 out of a conventional car requires much wriggling and squeezing before youre able to strap on the seatbelt. Its a kind of pre-selection process made by the car - not everyones going to fit. In fact, it isnt for most people that arent between 56″ and 511″. The steering wheel adjusts neither for reach or rake, and it doesnt help that it essentially sits in your lap. The seats adjust fore and aft with tilt and no height, plus the range of motion is limited by the rear bulkhead. Its hard to think of a tighter car on the market and this is even after Honda scooped out the door panels to free up extra shoulder and hip room.

Even if you dont fit in, the S2000s interior is at the very least interesting to look at. Everything is intently focused around the driver, such as the climate control and stereo interfaces, which are housed in little pods around the instrument cluster. Theres a little head unit, housed behind an aluminum-look drawer, but best leave it shut as its dated-looking, awkward to operate and has tiny little buttons. The frisbee-sized steering wheel is every bit as wonderful to palm as it is comedic to look at, and the digital instruments, while garishly illuminated in amber and green are effective at communicating the cars vitals. Theres even an extra cupholder in the console under a sliding lid, but leave the Starbucks at Starbucks. This is a car that deserves your attention.

With the roof up, it is cramped, but the solution is no more difficult than removing the latches and then thumbing the stubby switch on the console. No more than ten seconds later (while in neutral) the roof is tucked away, albeit still exposed; a soft tonneau cover must be manually put in place. With the roof down, the S2000 is a snug place, and one thats not particularly blustery thanks to the deep inset cabin and built-in wind deflector.

In the S2000, theres a certain moment when the world around you stops turning, and that moment has everything to do with whats under the hood. Every motor has a certain character. Big block V8s pulse and throb, V12s waft on a cloud of silky smoothness and inline-fives warble. Superchargers deliver instantaneous punch accompanied by their shrill whine. Turbos hiss, and when they dont lag, provide insatiable boost. Rotaries rev, rev and rev - and on the odd occasion, sound like a washing machine with a spun bearing. High performance Honda VTEC engines are just plain manic (and they like to rev too).

Mind you, since 2004 the S2000 hasnt been as crazy, as North Americans found the bipolar nature of the first 2.0-liter I-4 more irritating than pleasurable. So, for our market the cars engine has been heavily reworked to cater to our tastes, while the rest of the planet carries on with the original engine. Total displacement has been increased from 1,997 cc to 2,157 cc by lengthening the stroke, the vertical distance the piston travels in the cylinder. This is also accompanied by a slight increase in the engines compression ratio from 11.0:1 to 11.1:1. Hondas best engineers also remapped the VTEC system to make the transition between the camshaft profiles a little bit gentler, but no less memorable.

With all of that work, the performance gains on paper seem too sparse, almost to the level of disappointment. Power hasnt gone up at all - not even by a single unit - and torque has only risen by nine pound feet, to 162 lb-ft from 153. Surface numbers are hardly the end-all to the story of the S2000s new engine, because theres a lot more thats happened underneath. The main reason why the bigger-engined S2000 doesnt make even more horsepower is because its VTEC system has been optimized for a broader distribution of the torque it makes. Between 1,000 and 8,000 rpm theres more grunt on tap, somewhere between four and ten percent. That doesnt seem like much, but it helps quite a bit.

The downside is that the little four can no longer pretend that its a motorcycle engine. The greater distance that the pistons have to travel means that it now redlines at 8,200 rpm, which is down from the riotous 9,000 rpm that it used to be limited to. Just to toss a couple of numbers to deepen those facts, the new 8,200 rpm redline is 100 rpm less than the old motors peak performance, and its now far off the mark of Mazdas Rotary-powered RX-8. Even the big, brawny 4.2-liter Audi FSI-V8 can rev up to 8,250 rpm.

To this, I must say: so what. I dont mind because the updated S2000 hits the nail right on the head in terms of making the car more livable on a day-to-day basis. On the low profile cam, the S2000 delivers the same kind of power that can be found in a four-cylinder Accord rather than out of the Fit; its relatively linear, if a tad unexciting. Theres more to be heard and felt though, so youre well aware of whats under the hood. The big difference can be felt when doing lane-changes or when passing, where the engine feels more responsive and more alive. Downshifting is still a fact of life in the S2000 because its power band is narrow, but at least theres less need to do so. And when downshifting occurs theres less of a wait for the engines revs to rise.

And when the engine crosses over that magical point to the high camshaft profile, theres still a sense of the surreal. Magically the pitch, tone and attitude of the car transform; the engine gains stamina with revs, screaming and screaming but never getting hoarse. There are cars that can make the hair on the back of my neck stand on end, but this is the only one that can do it with so few cylinders. In the automotive world, this is something you absolutely must experience before you die. If you dont do it now, tomorrow or even in a couple of weeks thats okay, just get around to it some time. If Honda cans the S2000, used ones will be sure to be around for some time, because this engine - like any other Honda engine - is built to last, and last, and last.

My fanaticism about the S2000s motor wouldnt be as great as it is without its one and only partner: its six-speed manual gearbox. It is quite possibly the worlds best manual transmission. Let me attempt to explain. Hondas gearboxes never seem to disguise the feel behind the shift action, an unfiltered crispness that cant be simulated. But what sets the bar apart for the S2000 is that it can maintain this without feeling clunky, or as if rigor mortis has set in. Honda saved their best work for the S2000 though, which I swear must be lubricated with Teflon. The throws are miniscule which adds to the fun, but the gates are so well defined that mis-shifts are nigh impossible to make, which might result in the potentiality of the engine turning into a grenade given the ratios are packed tighter than a you-know-what. If ever there was a car that deserved a titanium shift knob - as is available for $159 on the options list - this is the one for sure.

It really is the gearbox that plays a tremendous part of what makes the S2000 an enjoyable car to drive in town and on the open road. Its clutch is no heavier or less progressive than that of a Civic, which makes it just as friendly to drive in traffic. And as a part of its update, the first four gear ratios have been shortened which means more shifting, and the gearbox gains carbon-fiber synchromeshes in all forward gears. For once, more shifting is actually a good thing. Honda also added a clutch release delay to improve the durability of the drivetrain system. A downside is that quick gearshifts followed by full-throttle gives the impression of a slipping clutch.

Now comes the delicate, touchy part of the S2000 - the way that it drives. As a roadster, it has all the right specifications with perfect weight distribution, sufficiently strong brakes and sharp steering. On the road, the old model could be as demure as a Boxster or a Z4, but as the driver upped the ante, the S2000 had a reputation for biting back at the limit. Power oversteer wasnt a game the S2000 liked to play, which is odd given it had all the makings of the putty-like Mazda MX-5 and that Boxster.

Luckily Honda is an automaker with excellent listening skills, and therefore
has made changes to the underside accordingly. So as to reduce the number of soiled underpants per mile, Honda made several revisions to the S2000s chassis and suspension. One of the major modifcations is the addition of VSA stability control, now standard equipment, made possible by switching over to an electronic throttle from a mechanical linkage. But even without VSA, the S2000 feels more secure to drive. The sticky tires have been up-sized from 205/55R16s to 215/45R17s in the front and 225/50R16s to 245/45R17s in back. The springs up front are tauter, while those in the back were softened by ten percent, plus the cars rear sway bar is also 0.07 inches thinner. These changes give the back end more grip, making it harder to break loose, not to mention they make the progression to oversteer easier to detect. Theres also Yaw Control Logic which adds an extra couple of IQ points to the adept ABS-equipped braking system.

This time around the car is much more progressive, and thats a damned good thing because as visceral a sports car as it is, the S2000 still likes to hide things from its driver. The electrical power steering, which now has reduced assistance and an even quicker rack, is still a touch numb for my liking, and although the ride is as firm as just about anything else to stalk a winding country road, letting you know the thickness of the painted yellow lines on the road, in nanometers no less, it still doesnt feel as communicative as say, an MX-5. Its easy to be surprised at how quickly the cars limit can be approached, however, the transition from grip to slip is gentler, and it allows for you to punch the throttle on the way out of a bend without second guessing about what the back end will do next. Having VSA is really like having a second chance at saving yourself in a situation that could easily end up very nasty.

There will be a select few who will argue that the older S2000, despite its torque deficiency, is a faster vehicle on the track, and they will have a valid point. The sharper-edged nature of the previous car, with its twitchier tail, could probably carve its way around a winding circuit a few tenths quicker than the newer car in the right hands. But that takes the intuition and skill of an automotive samurai, something that I am most definitely not. Seeing as that particular breed of driver is few and far in between, the new S2000 is quicker in the hands of more people, more of the time with fewer mishaps in between.

Besides the likes of the MX-5 and Britains Lotus Elise roadster, there are few cars on the road that are rawer than this one, however, the number who choose to indulge in it declines year by year even though the S2000 is more complete than its ever been in the cars 8 year history. I think that this problem has a little something to do with the price of entry. Starting at $34,050, its a lot of car for the money, but money is still an issue. It neither has the badge prestige of its rivals, and although it can most certainly pummel base-level exotica, I have a feeling that those shopping for a second car are going to want more power, more performance, and a bit more by the way of compromises, in the form of more comfort, more storage space, plus more gizmos and gadgets. That said, how much longer the S2000 is destined for this world is unknown. Its days appear to be numbered.

But, like good sushi, the S2000 shows that even when raw, its possible to still have a very tasty product. Just let it be known, not everyone who tries it is going to like it.