2000 Honda S2000

Saturday, November 27. 1999

It seems like a dream, the one car I've anticipated for several years now is finally parked in my garage! Despite the high demand, Mr. Pflueger kept his word (made two years ago when the car was still called the SSM) and made it possible for us to get this wonderful roadster.

For the last few years I've had my eye on a new sports prototype from Honda that would be the company's first rear wheel drive car since the NSX debuted in late1990. Initially this new car was code named the SSM (Sport Study Model). Some of the first examples were powered by the 5 cylinder engine from the Acura 2.5 TL with a twincam VTEC cylinder head. Later the internal Honda designation would change to SSX, and speculation was the new sports car would be an addition to the Acura lineup.

Here inside the Diamond Head Crater the Federal Aviation Administration makes its home. There are hiking trails to the ridgeline where you can enter old W.W.II bunkers overlooking Waikiki (below)

Early this year it was announced that the new car would be sold worldwide as the Honda S2000. The first car Mr. Honda built was a small, high tech (for its time), 2 seat roadster called the S500. The new car was conceived as a birthday present to celebrate Honda's first 50 years as an automaker.

The S2000 is designed to be a sports car for the next millennium, it's normally aspirated (non-turbo) VTEC 2.0 Liter 4 cylinder engine puts out an amazing 240 horsepower and redlines at 9000! Despite these impressive credentials, the car meets strict standards for exhaust emissions and is classified as a Low Emissions Vehicle (LEV) .

The chassis of the car was designed to be a race car for the street. The steel backbone frame provides a sturdy mounting point for the NSX inspired suspension. This double wishbone suspension and 4 wheel disc brakes give this car remarkable handling and control. This instills in the driver a feeling of confidence few cars can match.

From a styling standpoint, the car exhibits the classic roadster proportions of a long hood and short tail. Viewed from the front, the most striking feature is the High Intensity Discharge headlights. Powerful and slightly blue in color they project farther down the road that conventional halogen lights can. Viewed from the back, the car has large round brake lights, with the turn and reverse lights sharing another round pod: the amber half-moon turn signal over the half-moon reverse lights. I hope you enjoyed more pictures from around Oahu, I sure enjoyed the driving it took to get to these places!

On the way to the Pali lookout I took this shot in front of Queen Emma's Summer Palace.
The road to the lookout twist and turns its way up Nuuanu. Before the tunnels were built, this was the way to the windward side of the island. (either that, or you went around the island)