Honda S2000
The Honda S2000 is where two clichés collide: “You are what
you drive”; “Clothes make the man.” This is a car that you wear
while you drive. The two-seater, while not the smallest of
sports cars, is certainly snug by comparison with even the Honda
Insight (from which it seems to have borrowed the speedometer).
The fact that this is one quick car cannot be denied. And it is
solid (although part of the solidity comes from a cross-car beam
that actually forms a rectangular lump in the carpet in the foot
well area, which I suspect is a slight compromise that S2000
owners take in stride—although I must say that it doesn’t
facilitate what is already difficult ingress and egress for
people over 30).
The Honda S2000 is where two cultures collide: the one of
fairly serious drivers and the one of those who look for
amenities in their vehicles. The symbol of the former is the red
“Engine Start” button on the left side of the instrument panel
(you must first engage the ignition key—which I found somewhat
difficult to locate on the fixed steering column, and I should
confess that I’ve actually owned several Hondas, so I am not
completely in the dark here). The symbol for the latter are the
audio controls that adjoin that start button in the limited real
estate on the IP. (Yes, there is a beverage holder, which seems
to be more of an acknowledgement of a beverage holder than
something that one might actually use to drive and sip.)
All of these are, of course, readily overlooked once the
engine has been started , the six-speed manual engaged, the
aluminum accelerator pedal pressed, and the 2.0-liter, 240-hp,
16-valve, DOHC VTEC engine permitted to do its stuff.
That’s what this car is all about. I would have liked to
have had the chance to drive it with the top down, but the
on-going Detroit winter—I mean unseasonably cold
spring—prohibited it.
Curiously, I discovered while driving the S2000 that young
guys driving Mustangs seemed to be most annoyed by the car.
Invariably, they’d race me away from stoplights. I’m not sure if
it had something to do with the color (“Spa Yellow”), but for
whatever reason, they sure seemed to see red.
