Honda Car Forum

From AB





There's a joke phrase from a popular movie that gets tossed around the
Autoblog offices when ever a big change or announcement is coming:
"Hold on to your butts." It's usually accompanied by a video
of Samuel L. Jackson. That's the advice we'd recommend for reading
this article. GTChannel is reporting that a new, small, lightweight,
quick successor to the Honda S2000 is being "seriously
considered."

Citing an unnamed source within the Japanese automaker, GTChannel goes
on to list a few interesting tidbits about the new vehicle. From the
sounds of it, though, if Honda is planning a new roadster, it's in the
absolute earliest stages of development.

What's apparently being discussed is a car that's smaller than a Mazda
MX-5, in terms of its dimensions. Under hood would be a VTEC engine,
displacing anywhere from 1.3 to 1.5 liters, with GT Channel making the
apt suggestion that the 1.5-liter, 132-horsepower mill from the Honda
Fit could make its way into the new roadster. Curb weight would be in
the realm of 2,000 pounds, which would make a 130-odd-hp engine seem
absolutely heroic. Rear-wheel drive would be a given, although we
aren't sure about the site's suggestion that a five-speed manual will
be on offer. Styling could draw from the N-One, a popular,
Honda-badged kei car.

As if this isn't all sounding too good to be true, the source also
claims that Honda is targeting the $20,000 price point. The potential
MX-5/Toyobaru fighter could be ready by 2015 or 2016. Now, we've
checked our calendars, and April 1 is still over seven months away,
but we'd still advise you take this with a rather large grain(s) of
salt. Rumors of a new Honda roadster have appeared and disappeared
with tide-like regularity since the moment the S2000 died, and none of
them have come to pass. The NSX revival was followed by nearly a
decade of will-they, won't-they rumors and telephone-game whispers
before Honda actually buckled down and built something. It seems like
the same thing could be happening here.

On Tue, 17 Sep 2013 19:37:08 -0500,
mummycullen@gmail-dot-com.no-spam.invalid (MummyChunk) wrote:

>From AB
>
>
>
>
>
>There's a joke phrase from a popular movie that gets tossed around the
>Autoblog offices when ever a big change or announcement is coming:
>"Hold on to your butts." It's usually accompanied by a video
>of Samuel L. Jackson. That's the advice we'd recommend for reading
>this article. GTChannel is reporting that a new, small, lightweight,
>quick successor to the Honda S2000 is being "seriously
>considered."
>
>Citing an unnamed source within the Japanese automaker, GTChannel goes
>on to list a few interesting tidbits about the new vehicle. From the
>sounds of it, though, if Honda is planning a new roadster, it's in the
>absolute earliest stages of development.
>
>What's apparently being discussed is a car that's smaller than a Mazda
>MX-5, in terms of its dimensions. Under hood would be a VTEC engine,
>displacing anywhere from 1.3 to 1.5 liters, with GT Channel making the
>apt suggestion that the 1.5-liter, 132-horsepower mill from the Honda
>Fit could make its way into the new roadster. Curb weight would be in
>the realm of 2,000 pounds, which would make a 130-odd-hp engine seem
>absolutely heroic. Rear-wheel drive would be a given, although we
>aren't sure about the site's suggestion that a five-speed manual will
>be on offer. Styling could draw from the N-One, a popular,
>Honda-badged kei car.
>
>As if this isn't all sounding too good to be true, the source also
>claims that Honda is targeting the $20,000 price point. The potential
>MX-5/Toyobaru fighter could be ready by 2015 or 2016. Now, we've
>checked our calendars, and April 1 is still over seven months away,
>but we'd still advise you take this with a rather large grain(s) of
>salt. Rumors of a new Honda roadster have appeared and disappeared
>with tide-like regularity since the moment the S2000 died, and none of
>them have come to pass. The NSX revival was followed by nearly a
>decade of will-they, won't-they rumors and telephone-game whispers
>before Honda actually buckled down and built something. It seems like
>the same thing could be happening here.

Yah, tell me about the NSX when they go on sale.

CAN Honda or anyone build a 2,000 pound car that will pass US safety
regulations? I mean short of a carbon frame?

IF they built something like that, I hope they would also have a
hybrid option that added another 30hp all the way up to the top end
road speed, that's what Ferrari and Porsche are doing now, and what
Honda *almost* tried in the hybrid Accord 6-cylinder of a few years
back, of which they sold maybe a dozen copies - the electric boost did
not work at speed, did it?

J.