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Written by Drew Gross
Mar 31 2006

Honda executives in Japan have stunned the automotive community with the declaration that 2006 will be the last year for the current S2000. The announcement was surprising coming from the usually tight lipped Honda brain-trust, and is most likely a response to Nissan’s recent announcement of the new Skyline GT-R. (Honda is aggressively pursuing a higher profit margin vehicle.) Whether the car will be released in the United States under the Honda or Acura moniker is still being debated, but the new car, which shares the platform of the S2000, (not the Acura RL as previously speculated) will be built at Honda’s Suzuka plant which will make it necessary to discontinue production of the venerable S2k to insure production capacity.



“We are very excited about the new XGA. It combines all the elements consumers desire in a luxury sport coupe along with traditional Honda performance and reliability. At a price significantly lower than our most recent NSX offering greater power and handling, we expect the XGA to quickly dominate its class.” said Honda spokesperson Reiji Tanaka at the press conference unveiling the new design. “We are sorry to see the S2000 go, but when first introduced, it was only supposed to have a two year model run. Now we are very excited at the new direction Honda will be taking with the much more refined XGA.”

The new model will be a 2+2 hardtop with a 3 litre V-tec 6 cylinder powerplant developing 320 HP at 7500RPMs. (again, not the V8 or V-10 reported in Road and Track) It will feature the Honda SH-AWD system, GPS navigation, an eight speaker stereo system with an in-dash CD changer and XM satellite radio, and an information system that displays trip, gas mileage, service intervals, and other pertinent data. The sport tuned suspension will have five settings to adjust between comfort and all-out performance. The 18” forged alloy wheels will come equipped with Bridgestone’s newest Potenza sport tire with 255/35 series in the front and 285/30s in the rear. The new interior will be much plusher than the S2000, and offer many additional options to the buyer than the one-flavor fits all approach of the S2000. Power will be delivered to the wheels through either a six speed manual transmission or a five speed automatic with a clutchless shift option. The base model is expected to retail in the $43k range, but options can push that figure to more than $50k. The new models should start appearing in Tokyo showrooms sometime in the spring of 2007 with a US appearance a short time after. As soon as more photos/info is available, we’ll be sure to post it right away. The S2000 is very near and dear to all of us here at S2ki, and while the news is quite disturbing on one hand, we’re excited to see what Honda has in store for us next.

Stay tuned…

taken from http://www.s2ki.com/Home/content/view/252/6/

Before you shout "April fool's", see http://www.roadandtrack.com/article....age_number=5


S2000man01 : You are a regular on s2ki.com -- is there truth in this article or is it a lame April 1st joke?

 
Rep Power: 330

i dunno about that, doesn't seem like it will be the pure sports car that the s2k always was.

 
Rep Power: 583

im pretty sure its gonna be a sports car through and through, but much of the appeal of the s2000 is that its a drop top roadster. the s2000 was the one car that really gave the miata a run for its money, and honda is just gonna take it away? thats kinda dumb.

im not sure why honda would do this, maybe they dont feel like competing with the tidal wave of roadsters (solstice, sky, the opel gt, boxster, and of course the redesigned mx-5), i dont know. but theyre definitely going to give up a solid place in the market place.

 
Rep Power: 370

Looks exactly like an S2000 with a hardtop
Instead of doing that, they should have redesigned the current S2k and dropped that motor in They also should have kept it a converatble!!!

 
Rep Power: 338

I hope Honda sticks with the S2K...... 43K for a base model is tough to swallow compared to a new S2K 35K price tag. They should build them side by side....

 
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so it's gonna lead its segment? what segment is that? if its the 50K sports car segment, then it's gotta contend with M3s and C6 corvettes which will destroy it in every category. If it's in the sport luxury category, then it's goin up against Z4s and SLKs. I think Honda's small, heavy & (relatively) slow car loses.

 
Rep Power: 336

they should have dropped in the 3.5 from the RL or that leggend maxx 4.0

 
Rep Power: 320

From something that looked like a super car, to this.

 
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My opinion about this will be determined by one number and that is weight. If it is over 3000 lbs this car will be a blasphemy

 
Rep Power: 583

even accessories, the s2000 is a sub $40k car. the m3 starts at $49k. and even then the s2k will most likely beat the m3 on an auto-x course. the vette convertible starts at $52k and although a capable car, is also not a match for the s2k in the twisties. also, the vette is a typical american car, plastic inside, very cheap feel. the s2k is much more refined.

the z4 is closer to the s2k than the others, but it still has 20hp less and doesnt handle quite as well. the slk is a completely different class of car. its luxury, not sports.

the s2000 is in the segment of affordable, performance oriented roadsters that are reliable and handle like on rails and right now its right there at the top of the charts.

thats funny, because this is the same thing all the miata guys were saying about the new nc. weight was the one thing everyone was worried about. hehe

 
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It's a car. All it does is move weight around, of course weight has always mattered. The question is whether in the new car weight will matter less or more than in the S2000.

What I feel is that the XGA is more of a GT touring car : think GPS navigation, satellite radio, electric everything and two seats in the back, much in the G35's category, whereas the S2000 should definetly keep being made or redesigned, if need be. Little (or not so little) cosmetic changes ought to keep buyers coming.

I believe that the new X and the S2000 target two totally different markets and fit different purposes, even if they both haul weight. It's all in how you haul that weight!

And by the way, for whoever said they want to move to Canada:

50 000 Canadian dollars = 42 995.95 U.S. dollars

which is the price of a new S2000 presently, here up north.

 
Rep Power: 400

it was a photochop and a practical joke.

there are many dead giveaways. such as "it was only supposed to be a 2 year run". Honda stated FROM DAY ONE back in 1995 when they started R&D on the S2k, that they'll sell them for as long as people keep buying them. also, honda has also stated from day one, that the S2k will NEVER be a hard top. it's a roadster, and was always meant to be a roadster. not a coupe.

 
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^^ what he said. theres many threads in s2ki.net about this and all point to a practical joke.

 
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Ah good to know it was a prank...


I had a few problems with their 'prototype'
- way too many new things for Honda such as BMW SMG-like transmission
- fitting two more people on the S2000's frame without changing its outside appearence
- its uncanny similarity to an S2k

 
Rep Power: 338

oh thank God!!! I was actually worried! although from the pic, it looked too much like a S2K with a hatch

 
Rep Power: 360

Honda made a hard top addition to the S2000 so that arguement kinda goes out the window. They realized now that it would be a good hard top car too.

Anyway I don't understand why everyone is caught up on something that was said in 1995 or a bit later that they would not change direction to keep with the competition and the times.

 
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so... is this a joke or not. i must know.

 
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incorrect. honda has still said to this day the S2k is a roadster, and NOT a coupe, nor will it ever be. that would change the entire definition of what the car was built for in the first place. you're logic is flawed, as the hard top was NOT designed to "make the car into a coupe". it was created and offered for functionality and for racing, since many tracks do not allow only the soft top and roll bars.
because the things they laid down as the foundation of what the S2000 is, still remain today, and will remain. the roadster market is a hot commodity, so keeping it a roadster is "keeping with the times".

this has been discussed ad nauseum on s2ki, and in fact, we have had honda engineers who worked on and designed the current AP2 weigh in on the matter. the S2k is and always will be a roadster. period.

<sigh> did you read the friggin thread?

 
Rep Power: 330

(if you were talking to me)
I am logic is flawed?

i had to

 
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Although making it a 2+2 would lower its damn insurance wouldnt it? I know this is whole thing is a bust, but wouldnt it?

 
Rep Power: 266

Yeah it would lower insurance. I would still like to see Honda make something to compete with the G35 coupe even though this was a hoax

 
Rep Power: 400

holy crap im retarded.

actually, when i went from a civic to an S2k, my insurance barely went up. S2000 insurance is not that much more than a civic or accord. I pay $80 a month for 250/250 deductibles and full coverage.

they have competition for the G35 coupe. it's called the Acura TL. (though it's not available as a coupe, it's considered direct competition for the G35) The S2000 is nowhere near being anything like the G35, hard top or not.

 
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like I said, I'd like to see competition for the G35 coupe. A nice Honda/Acura with a 6, AWD (doubt they'd do RWD, but can't be FWD), and 2 doors

 
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AWD for a sports car... Not in my book since they only see dry asphalt normally, thus RWD is preffered.

 
Rep Power: 360

ok but what i was getting at is that the replacement is NOT a s2001 or something. if awd with a v6 its simply not an s2000 anymore

 
Rep Power: 266

whew, i almost cried for all the money i've saved up to buy the 34k s2k. 43k is way too much for an s2k, although it feels like it should be worth more...heh

 
Rep Power: 348

i hope it a joke