Honda planning sub-NSX S2000 successor

Nine years separated the arrival of the original
Acura NSX and the
Honda S2000. By that time, the
NSX was closer to the end of its fifteen-year production cycle than it was to its beginning. The latest word has it that not only is
Honda planning a successor to the
S2000, but it’s not about to wait that long after the new NSX arrives before it’s rolled out.

While the S2000 was a front-mid-engined roadster, its successor will, according to the latest from
Auto Express (which we are taking with a grain of salt), be a mid-engined coupe – closer, in other words, to the NSX than the S2000. Power would come from a more potent version of the 2.0-liter turbo four developed for the upcoming new
Civic Type R, possibly as part of a
hybrid system derived from
Honda’s upcoming
Formula One powertain to develop over 400 horsepower.

Whether the new
sports car would revive the S2000 nameplate, and whether it would wear the Honda or
Acura badge in the United States, remain to be seen. As does its potential production site: while the previous S2000 was built at the same Takanezawa plant in Tochigi as the original NSX, the new NSX will be built at the new Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville, Ohio. The new
S660 roadster, meanwhile, is
set to be assembled at the same Yachiyo plant in Yokkaichi as the original
Honda Beat.