One of the cars enthusiasts would love to see make a return is the Honda S2000. However, a new high-revving naturally aspirated engine is unlikely to happen what with increasingly stricter emissions regulations. It's one of the main reasons a 123-mile, US-spec Club Racer was recently sold at an auction for a whopping $200,000. This isn't a low-mileage example, nor is it NA anymore as it has been turbocharged to extract ludicrous amounts of power.
Indeed, forced induction has taken this 2000 example to an impressive 520 hp, thus more than double what the 2.0-liter engine used to make in the original turbo-less configuration. As expected, torque is also substantially up, at a staggering 510 Nm (376 lb-ft). For the sake of comparison, an untouched S2000 used to make 208 Nm (153 lb-ft) back in the day.
You can tell by the sheer size of the rear wing this isn't your ordinary S2000. YouTuber AutoTopNL with his unquenchable thirst for speed drove the little Honda that could on an unrestricted section of the Autobahn. It's still a rev-happy car with a manual gearbox, one that happens to go like stink on Germany's glorious highway.
From the way it sounds to how quick the gearbox reacts to the changes, this S2000 must be a real hoot to drive. It's unclear what sort of changes have occurred under the hood – aside from the big turbo – but this small Honda sports car delivers some furious acceleration. Flat out, it managed to reach 166 mph (267 km/h), but getting there seemed to be more fun than the outright top speed.
Let's keep in mind the S2000 is a tremendously light car by today's standard, weighing only about 1,250 kilograms (2,756 pounds) in OEM guise. With 520 hp on tap, the power-to-weight ratio is excellent and the fact you can take the top down makes the car even more enjoyable. With a stick shift and rear-wheel drive, it's hard to beat it in terms of desirability.
Fans can take comfort from knowing the MX-5 is still around and Mazda has already promised to maintain the Miata's formula for the NE generation coming in a few years. Forbes speculated a couple of years back about the possibility of a Civic Type R-powered S2000 for a potential 2024 launch, but we'll believe it when we'll see it. With the EV shift, we have a hard time believing it will happen.
