Next generation S2000 – Look out, MX-5!

FAR from abandoning its sports car roots, Honda is reportedly working on a radical successor to the nine-year old S2000 convertible.

Next year Honda is 60 years old, and speculation in Japan is rife that the company is preparing a 1960s S600-style convertible to challenge Mazda’s perennial MX-5.

To be built on a modular front-engine and rear-wheel drive platform that may also be utilised in heavily modified form for the next-generation, front-engined, V10-powered, AWD NSX supercar, the S2000 II will be a lighter and considerably less expensive car to build than the current model.

The two-seater roadster body will be under four metres in length, and will sit on a 2400mm wheelbase, making it slightly smaller than today’s S2000. It will feature a retractable hard-top rather than a soft-top, while motivation will come courtesy of a 2.0-litre engine.

Left: S600.

A development of a new family of four-cylinder powerplants, this i-VTEC-equipped aluminium engine is said to deliver up to 160kW of power. Reports suggest it will be mated to Honda’s new i-Shift clutchless six-speed automated gearbox that currently sees service in the new Civic Type R hatchback out of Europe.

Do not be surprised if a concept car matching this description is displayed at the Tokyo Motor Show in October.

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