Car & Driver reports the born-again S2000 was originally set to use the turbocharged, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine found in the Civic Type R’s engine bay. However, a source familiar with Honda’s plans explained the company has changed its mind.
“Sure, the Type R’s 2.0-liter turbo is a great engine. But by 2018, that would be old news. We need to take things forward. As a celebratory model, the sports car must be special, so it must have a new powertrain and a unique chassis,” revealed the insider, who asked to remain anonymous.
Instead, Honda’s next roadster will sport a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine fed with both an electric supercharger and a conventional, exhaust-driven turbocharger. The four will send 320 horsepower to the rear wheels via an eight-speed dual-clutch transaxle, a setup that will give the S2000’s successor near-50/50 weight distribution.
The original S2000 was introduced in 1998 to celebrate Honda’s 50th birthday. Car & Driver has learned its successor will debut in late 2018 to commemorate the company’s 70th anniversary. It will most likely debut during the Los Angeles Auto Show and go on sale in time for the 2019 model year, though nothing is official at this point. Pricing will start in the vicinity of $50,000.
Honda isn’t the only Japanese automaker reinvesting in sports cars. Toyota has teamed up with BMW to develop a new Supra, and industry rumors indicate Nissan will preview the next-generation Z car with a close-to-production concept scheduled to debut later this year at the Tokyo Auto Show.
Editors' Recommendations
- Honda puts VR tech on wheels with its personal mobility device
- MediaTek wants to bring its phone tech to cars, and Nvidia’s going to help
- The Sony Honda Afeela car is peak CES, and I’m totally here for it
- Twitter just fixed one of its most annoying problems
- Blaseball: Short Circuits takes the absurdist sports game back to its roots
