ok so i just got my nov 08 Car and Driver in, and I thought i'd let some of you hear how it looks before it hits the normal news stands. I'll try to provide key info while not typing the whole article as u can buy it yourself if you'd like. The track that was used was still Virginia International Raceway.

the basic numbers: 22 Cars tested, all put into one of 4 categories, they list the base price and as tested price:

LL1 (>30k)
Cobalt SS (turbo)
Caliber SRT4
Volvo C30 T5 2.0

LL2 (30-60k)
S5
M3
135i
CTS-V
Vette Z51
Challenger SRT8
Civic Mugen Si
S2k CR ($37,970 / tested a $37,970)
G37 sport
IS-F
Elise SC
C63 AMG
Lancer Evo MR
WRX STI
R32

LL3 (60-120k)
Viper ACR
GT-R

LL5 (<240k)
F430 Scuderia
Mosler MT900S


What they said about the CR (prior paragraph talks about the S5 "But for all its style and speed, this car is not really happy on a racetrack):

"Honda's S2000 CR, on the other hand, is happy on the racetrack, which you'd expect of a sports car, especially one with initials that stand for Club Racer. However, this one wasn't as happy as we anticipated.
Like the Dodge Viper ACR, the Honda CR is a suspension and aero package concieved to make the car quicker without adding horsepower, albeit at a much more modest level. A few runs up VIR's climbing esses convinced us that perhaps the downforce-generating aero elements really do work - this was one of the few cars that allowed us to do the series of turns flat out, although it also was endowed with the fourth-lowest horsepower rating.
So why weren't our lap times quicker? The culprit was brakes. Racing has demonstrated that the S2000's brake system is first-rate, but the stock brake pads are not, and they faded almost out of existence after just two laps, never to fully revive." -C&D Nov 08 issue, pages 57-58.

Upon first reading the issue (i was, of course, cheering for a nice showing of our beloved S on the track, especially after it was snubbed in MotorTend's last handling test), I was first a little mad, until i realized they only talked bad about it because they were expecting so much from it. And as you'll see in the results, it still held it's own against a very tough field, and the only other "topless" car was the Lotus (though doesn't look like they did their testing of either with the top down).

Results (i won't give them all, but i'll point out major one's) around the 4.2 mile road course)
S2000 CR: 14th fastest lap time at 3:15.0 / 77.5mph. cornering grip @ 0.93
(in order)Cars it was faster than:
SRT8 Challenger
Elise SC
G37 sport
STI
SRT4
R32
Mugen Si
C30 T5 2.0

noted better performers:
LL1 Champ: Cobalt SS turbocharged: 3:13.0 / 78.3 / 0.89 G's
LL2 Champ: Vette Z51: 3:01.2 / 83.4 / 0.96 G's
LL3 Champ: Viper ACR: 2:48.6 / 89.7 / 1.10 G's
LL5 Champ: Mosler: 2:45.9 / 91.1 / 1.16 G's

handling ability (other than noted):
F430 1.00
GT-R 1.04
>CTS-V 0.92
M3 tied at the 0.93
C63 AMG 0.94
Evo 0.88
Elise 0.86
STI 0.89

i'm very suprised as the CR's ability over some of the competition, and would love to see how it'd do with a basic brake upgrade, let alone how it'd do if u added max upgrades while keeping it under a 60k total price (lotus as tested was 58k, 72k m3, 64k CTS-V, etc etc).

what do u guys think? Not bad for a car of this age, and also nice job reppin' the "premium convertable" category over the Boxter S or Z4 IMHO. People can talk what they want about being beat by "car A" or "car B", but what topless car beat it? None. the performance out of this ride is a reason i think we nearly all purchased one, whether we use it to its full potential (on track) or not (DD/cruiser/etc).

/sorry for the long write- up, but figured i wanted it to be informative

 

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