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2019 Honda S2000 roadster rumors swell

Our friends over at Car and Driver have been speculating about a possible S2000 roadster from an unnamed insider source. While there's not much to go on, it certainly squares with a steady drumbeat of sporty car innuendo surrounding the company. Let's briefly connect the dots and see if a Honda S2000 might be on the way by 2018, as the rumor says. The little roadster pictured above? Definitely not what a new S2000 would look like. That's the S660, which is sold in Japan and shares some components with the N-Box and N-One microcars. As we told you last year, after some hints that it would come to the US, Honda's brass decided it was too small. That was disappointing, but probably the right call. On the other hand, Honda finally brought out the 2017 Acura NSX, which may have its flaws but still represents a unique platform that the company spent a great deal of yen building ( in Ohio, by the way). It's that bit that the rumor hinges on: Honda's willingness to develop unique platforms for its sporty models. It'd need that for an S2000 revival, because there's certainly no Honda model that could donate its underpinnings at this moment. Honda execs have been clear that the company is under pressure from dealers over the lack of verve in the company's lineup. American Honda Executive Vice President John Mendel told Automotive News last year that dealers "want anything in the sports car world. They're going, 'Gimme a sports car.' They want a retractable hardtop; they want a high-horsepower $20,000-sports car. Because that's the nature of what they do." Honda is allegedly going to utilize some sunk cost by employing the new Civic Type R's engine in this roadster. That 2.0-liter turbocharged four makes 306 hp in the Civic, and would make slightly less than that in the S2000, according to the rumor. At this stage, these rumors are mostly wishful thinking fanned by the flames of dealer pressure for sporty models. We hope Car and Driver's insider has it right, because the S2000 was a phenomenal car that deserves a follow-up – and Honda deserves more fun cars in its American showrooms. Related Video: Featured Gallery Honda S660: Honda Meeting 2015 View 15 Photos News Source: Car and Driver Rumormill Acura Honda Convertible Performance roadster honda s660 rumors

2020 Acura NSX Road Test | The cerebral supercar

The 2020 Acura NSX is the kind of car you’re pumped to drive. You think about it the night before. You read up on it. You tell your friends and family. You notice passers-by admiring it in the driveway. They try to be sly. Some gawk. ThereÂ’s anticipation. But is there satisfaction? The NSX immediately raises two questions. Where does it fit among its contemporaries and does it measure up to its legendary predecessor? Seeking the answers, I slip behind the wheel on a sunny morning. The NSX is a welcome respite from the cares of the world and concerns of the coronavirus. IÂ’ve got a few hours ahead of me in a $203,000 supercar. ItÂ’s a good time to reflect. Immediately, I have a sense of deja vu. I drove an NSX in 2017 at Pebble Beach, but my senses take me farther back, to the fall of 2014 when I drove a 1991 NSX. I had the same anticipation, nerves even, as I prepared for that drive. Getting situated in the 2020 model, IÂ’m struck by the simplicity of the NSX. A McLaren or a Lambo take a minute to figure out, but everything is easy to read and use in the Acura. Like the ‘91 NSX, it looks striking on the outside, but the inside is almost plain. IÂ’m OK with that. Simple works for Porsche, which will happily sell you a six-figure 911 with a spartan interior. IÂ’m underselling the NSXÂ’s cabin — which is actually quite nice inside — understated yet cool. My tester has a black interior with carbon-fiber accents and semi-aniline leather seats with Alcantara, though the big steering wheel is the focal point. Looking to my right, the infotainment anchors the center stack, and thereÂ’s a knob for tuning the drive modes and the push-button gear selector. The outward visibility is outstanding. Driving a supercar can be intimidating, and being able to see things is helpful, especially when youÂ’re inches off the ground. I accelerate onto a surface street where the speed limit is 45 mph. ThereÂ’s a low growl, and then the NSX gets a bit angrier. ItÂ’s never quite uncouth, even when the revs spin up on the expressway. ItÂ’s surprisingly gutsy low in the band, around 2,000-3,000 rpm, and the soundtrack gets louder and better from there. Anticipation building, I near the onramp to Interstate 75 in DetroitÂ’s northern suburbs, where I run into cones. And blockades. Construction work is a staple of summer in Michigan. More time on the suburban slow road, and I find myself growing more comfortable in the NSX.

1997 Acura SLX gets 350 actual Acura horsepower for Radwood

For the Radwood Orange County, Calif., car show, a show themed around 1980s and 1990s cars, Acura is bringing a variety of its original models including a 1991 NSX and a 1986 Integra. The company is also bringing something obscure, a 1997 Acura SLX, the brand's first SUV, offered from model years 1996 to 1999. In some ways, it's something Acura might not want to highlight, since it's really a rebadged Isuzu Trooper, just as the original Honda Passport was a rebadged Isuzu Rodeo. But this SLX is special; it has real Acura power under the hood. The project was led by Acura engineers and Pikes Peak racing drivers James Robinson, Paul Hubers and Jordan Guitar, and the frame and body restoration as well as the powertrain swap was done entirely in-house at Honda R&D in Ohio, according to Acura rep Andrew Quillin. The team pulled out the original naturally aspirated 3.2-liter V6 that made just 190 horsepower and 188 pound-feet of torque, and dropped in a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four from a new Acura RDX. That engine also received a new intake, exhaust, turbo and ECU tune, which brought power up to an estimated 350 horsepower and 340 pound-feet of torque, similar to the Graham Rahal Performance RDX. Not only that, but the old-school four-wheel-drive system and live rear axle were dropped in favor of the RDX's indpendent suspension and torque vectoring "Super Handling All-Wheel Drive." "Dropped in" is a mischaracterization, though, as Acura had to weld new subframes front and rear to the existing frame to get the transverse engine and modern suspension to fit. Acura was careful to keep the SLX looking as close to the original as possible. On the outside, Acura repainted the SLX in a modern red paint available on the RDX, but retained the champagne lower moldings. The stock wheels were replaced with 17-inch Fifteen52 wheels, but they have a very similar design and finish to the original wheels. A hard-shell spare tire cover was added, and a simple "SH-AWD" badge on the back is the only hint at what's under the body. The interior was restored at the company's L.A. design studio, where the upholstery was redone in a gray "gathered" leather like you would have seen when it was new. A bit of gray wood trim updates the interior slightly. The RDX's push-button starter and shifter buttons have been added to the center console, shift paddles behind the original steering wheel, and an aftermarket instrument cluster mounted to the steering column.