Is the S2000 Slow by Today's Increasingly High Standards?

Falling Behind?

One could argue that we live in the golden age of performance, given the fact that we can buy a number of new vehicles that accelerate to 60 mph in well under three, and in some cases two seconds. Heck, even SUVs are fast and powerful these days, to the point where some can outrun serious sports cars built just a few years ago. All of which raises the question - is the Honda S2000 getting to the point where it's slow by comparison, and if so, does it even matter?

Photos: Honda

Proper Revelation

When it burst onto the scene over two decades ago, the S2000's F20C powerplant was a proper revelation. The inline-four cylinder powerplant featured quite a bit of technology borrowed from Honda's racing efforts, including Fiber-Reinforced Metal cylinder liners, metal injection-molded rocker arms, molybdenum disulfide-coated piston skirts, forged aluminum pistons, and an aluminum block, to name a few.

Photos: Honda

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Record Breaker

The F20C offered the highest specific output per liter for any mass-produced, naturally aspirated vehicle priced under $100,000 when it arrived on the scene. Total output came in at 240 horsepower and 153 pound-feet of torque, with a sky-high redline of 9,000 rpm. The inline-four retained its title of most horsepower per liter until the Ferrari 458 Italia came along in 2010.

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Lackluster Performance

However, despite its fantastic power to weight ratio and healthy horsepower future, the S2000 was never a stoplight dragster, even when it launched for the 2000 model year. When it was tested by car magazines at the time, the roadster managed a 0-60 time of around 6.8 seconds and a quarter-mile of 15.1 seconds - lackluster by any measure.

Photos: Honda

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Getting Quicker

The F22C1 arrived in the AP2 in 2004, and offered up more torque and better performance, going 0-60 in 6.4 seconds and covering the quarter-mile in 14.4 clicks. Still, nothing that would exactly set anyone's hair on fire back then, let alone today. But as it turns out, none of that matters to rabid S2000 fans.

Photos: Honda

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Vintage Experience

The S2000 was never designed to be a drag racer, after all. Rather, it's a balanced, enjoyable platform that provides a stellar driving experience. It may not accelerate like a greyhound, but it rewards you with amazing sounds, perfect chassis tuning, and weight distribution, stellar feedback, and a truly vintage sports car feel.

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Full of Soul

There's no denying that the S2000 is slow by today's lofty standards, but it's by no means too slow to keep up with modern traffic. And in our humble opinion at least, we'd rather tool around in something that rewards us rather than be stuck behind the wheel of a more powerful yet soulless crossover any day of the week.

Photos: Honda

>>Join the conversation about the S2000 aging right here in the S2Ki forum