How the Honda S2000 Ripped Up The Rulebook

The advanced roadster which redefined the sports car

In 1999, Honda launched the S2000 to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The two-seat roadster revolutionised the way sports cars were made, resulting in one of the most thrilling driver's cars of the era.

Camera shot of the top of a red Honda S2000.

Here's the tale of how the S2000 ripped up the rulebook.

Sketch of two purple Honda S2000 vehicles, one a front and top view and the other a back view.

Honda and Pininfarina: a dream team

At the 1995 Tokyo motor show, Honda dared to dream, revealing a radical concept car called the Sports Study Model. It had been designed with Pininfarina, the famous Italian styling house that worked with the likes of Ferrari, with a view to building a production model in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Honda. Less than four years later, the S2000 was launched, with the SSM’s look refined by Honda designer, Daisuki Sawai. More than 110,000 went on to be sold.

X marks the spot

The backbone of any sports car is its chassis. The S2000 put into production the acclaimed ‘X-bone frame’, shown here in blue, which was lighter yet stronger than contemporary roadsters and sports cars. The engine was positioned behind the front axle line, helping achieve perfect 50/50 front-to-rear weight distribution, and with double wishbone suspension and power sent to the back wheels, it would become the choice of purist drivers around the world.

On cloud nine

Where contemporary sports cars had six-cylinder engines, Honda’s engineers believed a compact but powerful four-cylinder motor was vital to creating an agile sports car. At the heart of the S2000 was a 2-litre, four cylinder VTEC engine that could rev to 9,000rpm. Fans of the roadster described driving an S2000 as like being on cloud nine. Its engine boasted a peak power output of 237bhp, and in turn Honda boasted that it had the highest specific output of any naturally aspirated engine in production – in other words, no engine developed more power per litre than the S2000’s.

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It pressed all the rights buttons

Did you know that the Honda S2000 was one of the first modern sports cars to be fitted with a button to start the engine – something that has been widely copied since? Coloured red and marked ‘ENGINE START’, it was positioned just a finger-stretch to the right of the steering wheel, on UK cars.

The world's best gearbox?

Ask owners for their abiding memories of living with a Honda S2000 and after the engine most will mention the incredible gearbox. The six-speed, manual unit had a short lever topped with a titanium knob and gave one of the best gearchanges going.

White S2000 parked on a road next to fields.

GONE IN SIX SECONDS

They say the secret to a great roadster or convertible is its roof. The Honda S2000 had a brilliantly simple mechanism; after releasing a pair of latches, the driver could lower it or raise it at the touch of a button in just six seconds. That’s as fast as opening a sunglasses case and putting on a pair of shades!