Palmateer

In an era when designing cars like the S2000 starts "with a clean sheet of paper," Detroit is still thinking like the bad old days:

"Hans Demant, an Opel board member, said the automaker is looking at developing a new rwd platform or modifying an existing front-wheel-drive platform to accommodate rwd." - from Autoweek story about whether the Pontiac Solstice is feasible.

WestSideBilly

Comparing GM to Honda isn't really fair. Honda is one brand with about half a dozen platforms to choose from - none of which would have suited the S2000. GM is a conglomerate of 12 brands plus 5 or 6 partnerships - and they probably have 30 car platforms to choose from, if not more.

GM adapting a platform to a car is much less expensive than going with the clean slate approach - even if the results of the latter generally will be far superior to those of the former.

Remember, cost is the #1 issue when designing a typical production car - not performance, not features, not appearance.

Palmateer

The point is, GM saves COST by scrimping on the chassis. Honda saved S2000 COST by leaving out non-performance-related frills.