When having a conversation about the purest sports cars, the Honda S2000 is bound to come up. Built from 1999 to 2009, the S2000 was a lightweight roadster built around one thing: the driving experience. Its focus was on how much the car engaged the driver rather than record setting speed, but don’t misunderstand this to mean that the car was slow.
What makes a pure, driver focused car anyway? A lot of factors come into play. Much of it boils down to personal taste, but some requirements are generally agreed upon.
You need a car that’s very light, with suspension tuned to handle corners. It has to have an engine with personality that’s eager to deliver its power. Finally, you’ll want it to have a manual transmission.
A manual transmission? Yes, that’s right … remember that weird old system of changing gears yourself?
Once upon a time, it was the “go to” option for enthusiast cars like the Honda S2000.
But are all S2000s manual?
The short answer is “Yes”.
However, read on to find out more about the S2K and its transmission.
Row, Row, Row Your Gears!
All S2000s came equipped with a close ratio six-speed manual gearbox. What this means is that the transmission had 6 forward speeds (plus reverse), and the gearing was such that it kept your RPMs high after each shift. This was important in the S2K, as it made most of its power at the top end (237hp at 8300 RPM!) On the flip side, due to the high revving nature of the engine, the torque output was modest. Low RPM grunt was not its forte.
就像车的其余部分一样，传动的意图是尽可能轻巧和僵硬。这是已经完成的，所有都没有牺牲本田的知名可靠性。它包括内部油泵，以保持在高速和横向G部件期间润滑的所有运动部件。这可能听起来像一个毫无脑子，但考虑到大多数手动齿轮箱依靠齿轮自身循环油。S2K还使用了用于第二档的三重锥同步，以及第一，第三和第四的双锥体。对这样的细节注意，这导致了众所周知的变速器的平滑变速性。
在S2000的10年运行期间，传输本身并没有改变太多。2004年，全陆有一些变化。这是底盘代码AP2变体。实际上，在发送到差异之前，AP1和AP2的额外总齿轮减少了AP1和AP2。对于AP2版本，这种减少比AP1略短。AP2上的齿轮5和6本身略微更长，以补偿这一点并保持巡航RPM合理。
There’s a bit of mystery surrounding who designed the S2000’s transmission. After lots of digging, it seems the general consensus is it was designed entirely by Honda themselves. This is evidenced even by Honda’s press material about the car from 2001, although some forum communities still argue it was an Aisin model that was tweaked to Honda’s specs.
To whoever did design it: well done! It’s known to auto enthusiasts everywhere as one of the best shifting manuals you can get your hands on. This brings me back to what I mentioned earlier about the purity of a good sports car like this. Driver engagement, feeling the car respond to what you’re doing, these are all qualities highly sought after in a sports car. To many, a manual transmission is an essential part of that.
Love Isn’t Always Automatic
Still, Honda… What gives? Lots of sports cars have had an automatic option for decades, and not just any sports cars. Corvettes, Miatas, and curiously, even Honda’s own NSX all could be equipped with an automatic gearbox. These are all big names in the auto enthusiast world, so why didn’t the S2000 have the same treatment?
让我们来看看一些事实。20年前的自动变速器是可怕的。你很少能找到一个超过四种速度的速度。结果，传动装置必须长，这将使低扭矩高转化的四缸感觉非常缓慢。更糟糕的是，其中许多仍然机械控制。即使是电脑控制的自动化在其换档逻辑中也非常原始，并且大多数都没有在现代汽车中的许多移位器上找到档位上下功能。
Paddle shifters? Yeah right, not unless you could afford a Ferrari.
Any ONE of these limitations can put a serious damper on the joys of driving. Imagine having all of them combined.
We also need to consider that not all sports cars are created equal. I brought up three different cars just now that can all be had with an automatic. In fact, two of them now only come in automatic (albeit, the fast shifting, dual clutch type). Any one of them with a manual is a fantastic driver’s car, but with an automatic they become something else: accessible. They also target an audience that is… shall we say, not exactly concerned with the driving experience. What we find is that the personality and meaning behind each car changes, too. The midlife Corvette-crisis. The cute, gas saving Miata convertible. The executive sports car that is the Honda NSX.
We have to conclude then, that the coolest part about the S2000 is the exclusivity. When you see an S2K, you know the owner bought it simply to enjoy driving to the fullest. It seems that Honda weren’t interested in sales numbers or accessibility. It would appear quite the opposite is true. They wanted to create a special car for driving enthusiasts, and only for driving enthusiasts.
所以,都是本田s2000马努al? Yes. That’s clearly how Honda wanted it, and to lots of us, that’s how it should be.
Make sure you read ourHonda S2000 history and buyer’s guidehere for more information on this legendary car.