Merc1

One for the Faithful, or for the Blind


If you're not already planning to purchase a 2008 Honda S2000 CR, then it's not the car for you.

We do not write this as a knock against this special-edition S2000. Indeed, it's a compliment.

We've counted the S2000, entering its eighth year on the market (yes, you're getting old), as one of our favorite roadsters since we first piloted one in late 1999. We've always praised its knife-edge dynamics, its simplicity, its utter lack of electronic intervention, its resolutely modern and anti-retro style, and six-way toggle switch of a shifter. The CR edition doesn't change any of that. In fact, the stripped-down CR, which stands for club racer, is an even more intensely pungent version of that same flavor.

And, after a day of hammering an S2000 CR on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, we found it to be the most tightly focused, single-minded performance roadster on the market. Even a Lotus Elise has air-conditioning.

Buyer Beware

In an effort to shave off bits of weight and wring out the last few droplets of performance that the standard S2000 leaves on the table, the CR version comes without a stereo, air-conditioning, sound-deadening material or a top. Take into account the heavier-than-stock components the CR adds, such as the rear wing, body strengthening and wider rear tires and Honda says the CR weighs 2,765 pounds — 99 pounds lighter than the standard '08 S2000. However, secure the standard aluminum hardtop in place and the CR's curb weight goes up to 2,765 pounds.

These are trade-offs only a few will be willing to make, and unless we're going to spend more than 50 percent of our time on a racetrack, we count ourselves among the majority on that matter. Hey, maybe you want a steaming-hot, music-free buzz box to advertise your commitment to performance, but A/C and a stereo are on our necessary list. And the 42 pounds saved by their omission doesn't seem worth the discomfort factor.

So we're soft. We'd also like a power-retractable soft top, too, but that's another story.

The thing is, saving weight is the only way to make the S2000 quicker. Honda has given up on improving the roadster's weight-to-power ratio on the engine side. The CR's 2.2-liter DOHC makes the same power (237 horsepower at 7,800 rpm) and torque (162 pound-feet at 6,800 rpm) as the standard car's motor.

According to Senior Chief Engineer Shingeru Uehara, there is simply no more power to be had from the four-cylinder without adding forced induction or failing to meet drivability and emissions targets. And Uehara knows from Honda performance vehicles, having birthed the NSX and the original S2000. A few within the company consider the CR a retirement gift for him. The gear ratios of the six-speed manual and final drive remain the same as well.

Super Happy Terrific!

If we're giving you the impression we do not like the CR, then we have failed. It is double-throwdown happiness — maybe triple. Driving it makes us feel like Ayrton Senna, the living version. And we're prepared to say that it carries the finest, most satisfying shifter we have ever used.

But all of those things are true of the standard S2000, too. The changes to turn a standard car into a CR are most evident on the racetrack. In fact, we would challenge anyone to pick up the differences in public road driving behavior between the two in a blind taste test.

The biggest changes are to the front and rear double-wishbone suspensions. The CR's spring rates are up 38 percent up front and 17 percent out back, compared to the standard '08 S2000 (which in turn has a slightly stiffer suspension overall than the previous year's car). Honda seriously tamps down body motions by increasing the monotube shocks' damping rates by 50 percent front and 32 percent rear compared, again, to the standard '08 S2000. The CR's tubular antiroll bars are of a larger diameter front and rear, although the wall thickness of the front bar is 19 percent thinner. The rear suspension benefits from a structural brace mounted where the soft top would stow on a standard car.

The effect in ride quality is, remarkably, not really very noticeable. How can this be? Well, Honda credits the CR's Bridgestone Potenza RE070 tires. The standard S2000 uses RE050. The CR's rear tires are also 10 millimeters (about a third of an inch) wider than the standard car's (255 vs. 245), but the aspect ratios and diameter remain the same.

Even the CR's quicker steering ratio (13.8:1 compared to 14.9:1) is tough to pick up on because both ratios result in systems with less than three turns lock to lock.

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M

monster

Give us a proper Honda S2000 Type R please ! All these additional front and rear spoiler just destroy the clean simple look of the original S2000. I want to see a simple hardcore S2000 Type R no this CR version.

Bruce

100% agreed. I cannot stand what they've done with the additional body parts.

ateekt

These additional body parts, makes you drop some extra grands with nothing in return, but name ...!