Honda S2000 Successor to Get AWD and Hybrid Powertrain?

Hmmmm.. might have something here.

and oh yeah 1st!

Hopefully they will be able to make use of more aggressive regenerative braking with the use of the AWD system before resorting to the calipers.

Looks like the Eclipse. Terrible.

It does look like the Eclipse, which is definitely not a good thing. The powertrain sounds pretty good though, hopefully it doesn't end up looking anything like this.

I hope it's not the upcoming 2+2 Acura coupe they're talking about. It seems to have the same physical description and powertrain requirements, except that the Acura version is slated to have rear suicide doors for the back seats(like the RX8). Either way, the Acura coupe is supposed to weigh between the TL and the TSX. Pretty heavy for a Sports coupe.

Com'on are you kidding me. A hybrid powertrain? This is a sports car, people. I like hondas, I own one but where is the logic in this?

i actaully think its a not bad looking car. I think it looks more closely to the 370z than an eclipse

I'm going to echo what Jason said: weight.

Between the AWD drivetrain and associated components, and the hybrid components, this thing could wind up in the 3500lb range. If not more.

Why didn't Honda just rework the S2000 every few years and stick with it? Just like the CR-V (yeah, i know. Somewhat odd comparison, but they are very close in age), they would have a somewhat larger and much more popular RWD/AWD sports car with room for a 6-cyl powerplant. It's obvious they weren't able to eat into Mazda's Miata popularity. Why not jump up a peg to the mid-sized sports car? Not many contenders there.

On the side: It's good to see Honda didn't entirely forget how to make a sporty looking vehicle. The Acura line has certainly jumped the shark with the bottle opener grille, and even the Honda vehicles are getting a little too aimed at the "missionary position" crowd lately.

Sounds to much like something to compete with the Genesis... and I agree a hybrid powertrain makes little sense in something that is suppose to be sporty...

Yeah you can make a sporty hybrid, but the cost of the more exotic layout will drive the price way up...aka Tesla.

I have to disagree with a bunch of you. Electric powerplants are ideal for sports cars, you just need to think about a different type of hybrid than you are used to.

Unlike a conventional fuel saving hybrid where the car is programmed to run on one engine at a time, a sports car hybrid would allow both engines to operate at the same time. So let's say that we throw a 200lb/ft electric engine on the S2000, since that's the car mentioned.

Ask anyone who's ever driven a S2000, you can't launch the car quickly without risking the tranny. You have to rev the engine to almost 6000 RPM and dump the clutch, which as you can imagine, is not good for the car. Electric engines make their maximum torque just off zero RPM. So if we used the electric engine and the gasoline engine off the line, we might have 350 or more lb/ft of torque to spin the rear wheels, instead of the 150ish that the gas engine has on it's own.

This would probably knock a solid 0.5 seconds off the car's 0-60 time. Since we are 'only' dealing with 200 lb/ft of torque, if they could divert the power to the fronts and rear wheels (just like they are considering), the 0-60 time will drop even further.

If you are driving with a really light foot the hybrid system can act like a fuel saving hybrid, and get you decent gas mileage as well.

Yes, Honda will have to keep the weight of the electrical engine down, or the car will be an absolute porker. If they use the electric engine as a performance booster rather than the primary source of power the battery pack will be smaller than any of the current hybrids on the market, which will save a bunch of weight, and reduce the cost as well.

sh-awd is FWD biased...

I don't think (ok opinion) the s2000 broke into the miata market because it was a little too pricey, so I'm not that interested in a hybrid that will only add to the expense of this thing. It can perform admirably with just a gas engine if they keep the weight down, and sell better (especially in these times) if they keep the price down. I'm split on the style, but who knows what the production version looks like. Maybe they'll make a targa, stupid Miata is all that seems to be available in the inexpensive roadster category once Pontiac and Saturn die.

@ muscleoverrice

The FWD bias is just under normal conditions. I'd think/hope Honda is able to rework the system to at least give an equal bias if not RWD, with minimal effort.

I think Honda has proven that they wont do it. The Acura TL is over 40k, and is FWD biased. That is a heavy RWD dominated market.

They talked about doing this +/- 5 years ago for the next NSX, it's nothing new. They cancelled it because they couldn't keep the weight down enough to get good handling.

The idea is actually pretty good since no internal combustion engine can produce the same amount of instant and steady torque that an electric motor can. Unless you're talking about a track car that will see constant mashing of the accelerator, the batteries should be able to hold enough juice for at least a few 1/4 mile runs. Even most teenage guys won't do more than that in a day.

The main problem I see is Honda throwing a torque-less 1.8 or smaller in there so when the batteries are out you're stuck with a slow, slow, slow, "sport car". I have a Honda myself so I understand the "torque sold seperately" motto that Honda seems to abide by.

Now if you could easily swap that motor and battery system out for something more powerful then Honda may end up creating another new tuner segment. I may be dreaming, but it seems like the perfect time for Honda to create a new segment since they obviously cant compete in the current sport segment in any way shape or form.

@muscleoverrice:

Most AWD systems on the market today are FWD biased. The only exceptions I can think of are the Nissan GTR ATESSA system, and the Mitubishi system in the Evo. I supposed we could add the Porsche system, and the Lamboghini system as well.

Even the Halcon system in an Audi is still FWD biased, it can send up to 60% of the torque to the rear wheels, but it still launches as an FWD car. Fact is most AWD systems on the market for a non specialty car (which both the GTR and Evo would be) are FWD biased because corporate lawyers suck, and understeer is safer than snap on oversteer.

hmm..not sure about the audi one, but the systems in bmw caddy and infinity is all rear biased...

At least for infinity, it's a 50/50 split, so if you think it's RWD bias it might as well be FWD bias.

@muscleoverrice;

Yeah, the Inifiniti system in the G37x is the ATESSA system from the old R34 GTR. I'm not sure about the caddy though. Many of the systems can send over 50% of the torque to the rear wheels, but they start as FWD, which makes launching a b*tch.

Ferrari announced yesterday that they were developing a hybrid awd system for future Ferraris. Two electric engines drive the front wheels, and the large gas engine drives the rear wheels.

I don't want to say "I told you so", but come on, if Ferrari is actually going to put a hybrid system in it's cars, it's sure not doing it for gas mileage.

The two best cars that Honda ever produced were the NSX and the S2000. Instead of creating new replacements for them which look like crap, they should simply reintroduce the same design but with a larger displacement with more cylinders.

The two best cars that Honda ever produced were the NSX and the S2000. Instead of creating new replacements for them which look like crap, they should simply reintroduce the same design but with a larger displacement with more cylinders.