From the classifieds: Honda S2000

Honda’s S2000 might have faded in terms of sales volumes, but it never failed to do anything but impress with its chiseled sports cars looks and driver-focussed, comfy interior.

But the thing that impressed most of all was the S2000’s fabulous normally aspirated 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine. Its phenomenal power output rated it among the most powerful normally aspirated cars of all time in terms of kilowatts per litre. And its ability to rev was more in the realms of high-performance motorcycles than regular road cars.

The S2000’s redline went way beyond what even the most exotic car-makers dared to tread -- 176kW at 8300rpm was a stupendous figure for a normally aspirated 2.0-litre... Well beyond the once-magical 100bhp per litre that was usually considered a decent effort in highly tuned racecars.

Even more impressive is that, driven at middling speeds, the S2000 was perfectly docile –208Nm of torque may not at first sound in synchronisation for the kilowatt figure, but is actually as much, in Nm per litre terms, as you’d expect to find in normally aspirated Italian exotica.

And, even if that figure came in at a towering 7500rpm, it is important to know the S2000 engine wasn’t doing badly at all lower in the rev range. By 2000rpm it was already producing 175Nm -- about as much as you’d expect of a regular two litre at its maximum.

Okay, so there’s always going to be some disparity between 176kW and 208Nm, but the fact is the S2000 always proved to be entirely tractable, with a demonic second dimension once engine revs passed precisely 5850rpm where Honda’s full VTEC technology kicked in. From there to 9000rpm the S2000 was in a realm of its own .

The good thing about all this is that the rest of the car upheld the expectations of the engine. The six-speed manual transmission was a sweet shifter and the chassis and brakes dealt very well with what the engine dished out. A 50-50 weight distribution and well-sorted suspension worked in concert with the engine to deliver an exhilarating sports car experience. In later years (2008) the S2000 bowed to safety dictates by making Honda’s VSC stability control part of the package.

One of the things that helped define the S2000’s character was the minimalist instrumentation offering a curious mix of digital displays for road and engine speed (the bar-graph tacho actually worked quite well, but not the digital speedo). The absence of a clock or anywhere to store in-cabin paraphernalia other than in a small, lidded centre console – delivered a motorcycle-like message too. The boot, at least, was quite big for a sports car.

Sales of the S2000 were quite strong in the first three or four years of its life in Australia (596 were sold in 1999), but from 2003 to its discontinuation in 2009, the figures were down to a dribble. Honda sold just 15 in 2008.

Buying a used S2000 today, as with any car carrying its high-performance badge so blatantly, is something that should be done with a little extra caution. Prices vary from below $20,000 to well on the way to $40,000 depending on condition, year and mileage. As so few were sold from 2003 onwards, there simply aren’t too many late models to choose from.

That is why we were attracted to this 1999 example that looks a little over the odds at an asking price of $33,500 until you look at the kilometres – just 34,808 at the time of writing.

The S2000 was bought from a Honda dealer by its current owner around eight years ago and has shared garage space in Clontarf, Sydney, with cars wearing spinning propellers and three-pointed stars. It was essentially used as a weekender by he and his wife.

It was bought as a successor to a Porsche 968 convertible after the owner arrived from the UK and was a little shocked at the prices of equivalent cars in Australia. A little research had him thinking the S2000 represented the best value for money in true sportscars and he has not for one moment regretted his purchase.

The decision to sell came from the not unfamiliar realisation that it had become one too many cars in an already well-stocked garage.