(car engine) - Long face, no top, and
an exhaust note that drives fear into the hearts of
even the bravest men. (car engine and yelling) It was a rear wheel drive
car from the company who perfected front-wheel drive. A return to the roots
that showed the world Honda can still have fun. And just like a Summer fling,
the McPizza, and my old man it didn't stick around for long. Leaving us before we could
appreciate what we really had. This is everything you need to know to get up to speed on the Honda S2000. (fire crackling and music tone) (gaming music) Today, Honda's the name of one of the largest automakers in the world. But in the 1920's, it was just
the name of some mechanic. Soichiro Honda spent his youth fixing bicycles at his father's shop. Falling in love with
all things mechanical. One day, little Honda was walking home and he saw something that
would change his life and the entire car industry forever. Bouncing down the road,
came a Ford Model T. Honda had to know how it worked and soon he did what any
inquisitive child does. He dropped out of grade school
and moved out on his own to apprentice at a mechanic shop. When I was in grade school I dropped out and started learning how to yell at cars about cars. (musical chimes) And soon, he was a well-renowned mechanic with his own repair shop. Here he would build custom race cars and motorcycles in his spare time, dreaming of the day when he
could build his own vehicle. The Second World War
would delay these dreams becoming a reality as Soichiro began producing parts for the war effort. That is, until his workshop got bombed by the Allies and smashed by a earthquake. Once that happened, he decided
to sell the rubble for scrap, buy a water tank, and make some whiskey. This dude is awesome. That really happened. Google it. In 1949, Honda would make history by founding his namesake
company Honda Motor Company with the introduction of a
number of small motorbikes. - [Fast Robotic Voice]
Fast Forward to 1955. - Japan is starting to
recover from the war. The government is has put out a directive for what they call a "people's car." Four seats, cheap price,
and easy production. - [Deep Voice] That was easy. - Honda hired 50 engineers and got to work building a car suitable to bear his name. Despite being beat to the market by rivals Suzuki and Subaru, Honda and his engineers kept on working before finally revealing
the fruits of their labor at the National Honda Meeting
General Assembly in 1962. These cars were called
the S360, S500, and T360. Honda, who was told to produce a family friendly four-seater that can protect passengers from
the weather comes back with two convertible sports
cars and a minitruck. Boss! - [Game Character] Boss? - Well today, Honda has a reputation for making wrong-wheel drive cars. The company actually began with rear-wheel drive
Convertible Sports Cars. (car engine) Basically, the Honda S500 was a four-wheel tandem seat motorcycle. The engine was small and had individually carburetted cylinders
with a 9,500 RPM redline. It was a screamer. (car engine revving) It even used a chain-drive contraption to give power to the rear wheels. This tiny rear-drive roadster was everything Honda loved about cars. It was mechanical, it was
interesting, and it was fun. By 1970, the S500's engine had grown and the car was now the S800. As Mr. Honda became older,
he started stepping back from the operations of his company. As other business
leaders besides Mr. Honda gained more influence in the company, the focus began to shift
more and more towards fuel efficient family-friendly vehicles. For the next 30 years it would seem that Honda had forgotten its roots and the S line of roadsters
was dead and gone. Until one day, in 1995 a bright unexpected light appeared on the horizon. And no, I'm not talking about the day that Post Malone was born. It was the 1995 Tokyo Motor Show and Honda dropped a bomb
on the entire auto industry with their Honda Sport Study model. It was sleek, stylish, and most
importantly it was topless. This study was lead by
Daisuke Sawai and showed fans that Honda maybe hadn't forgotten the spirit of their founder. The concept featured a drop-top body powered by a two liter,
five cylinder, V-TEC engine. (yelling) This car would proceed to tease
fans for the next four years until the 1999 Honda finally
released their next S car. Nearly 30 years after the last one, the S2000 was born. (car engine revving) Released in Japan for the 1999 model year and the rest of the
world the following year, The S2K was truly a return
to form for the company The 2 liter engine, which
gave the S2000 its name. This engine, dubbed the
F20C, is absolutely filled with headline-grabbing
technology including: aluminum block, forged aluminum pistons, Dual-OverHead Cam, V-TEC ... (yelling) A timing chain rather than a belt, fiber-reinforced metal cylinder liners, molybdenum piston skirts
for reduced friction. Look out Dad, cause baby's got molybdenum. All of which result in a mean piston speed of 81 feet a second. That's fast! - So ... Fast... - All those big words mean
that the Honda S2000 makes 234 horsepower out of a 2 liter engine or 247 horsepower if you live in Japan, where they get slightly
higher compression ratios. These power numbers are achieved way up in the rev range at 8,300 RPM with the redline sitting at 9,000 RPM. Power is sent through a 6-Speed Manual to the rear wheels where
an LSD came standard. This put the F20C at around
125 horsepower per liter, which means it had the
highest output of any mass production naturally aspirated engine until it was beaten by
the Ferrari 458 it 2010. The S2000 landed during the perfect time to launch such a bold
nod to their heritage. Not only were they able
to capitalize off their recent CART and Formula 1 experience. Accessible Honda performance
was seeing a renaissance on public roads through the
launch of their NSX Supercar and the arrival of the titebar
nameplate on American shorts. Integritite bar, you ever heard of it? Check out this video. Oh, what a time to be alive. Except there was one
problem, Americans per-us. The S2K focused on making its power by reducing internal engine friction allowing faster engine
speeds and higher redlines. This meant the S2K made all of its power way, way, way at the top. V-TEC didn't even kick
in until 6,000 RPM yo. (yelling) To get the most out of the S2000, drivers really had to
work the transmission building and keeping engine speed high. Americans were used to big cars with large torque powerhouses. They didn't react well to the S2000 with its high-strung F20C. Hoping to change these reactions, Honda face-lifted the S2000 five years into its production run, launching the updated S2000 in 2004. Since the first Honda
was known as the AP1, this one was logically named the AP2. The biggest difference between
the two models is the engine. The AP2... got an updated... F22C1. Just like the Honda S
roadsters of the 60's this updated engine was
larger, stroked at 2.2 liters. The new motor was purely a
response to the American market and their distaste of
the high-revving F20C. The F22C1 produced a bit more torque, had a bit lower redline at 8,200 RPM, but had just as much character as before. Luckily for us, not only can
Honda build a wonderful engine, they can also build a
pretty rad car to put it in. With a long hood, clean lines,
and a road-hugging appearance the S2000 is a beautiful car. Something important to
any successful sports car. Even more importantly to a sports car, the structure of the
S2K is incredibly strong due to an X-bone frame which supports the engine and transmission
and everything else important. These good looks, Grade-A
chassis, and amazing engine all quickly put the S2K on the radar of many car enthusiasts. Many people were introduced to the S2000 and the idea of a fast Honda in The Fast and The Furious
when Jesse got smashed by Johnny Tran's $100,000 S2K. Too soon, Junior. As production neared the 10-year mark Honda knew the S2000 was
not longed for this world. They decided the best
way to send the car off was to release a few
special edition models. The most focused and hardcore version was actually reserved
for the American market. What? We got a cooler car
than Japan did for once? What the ... This model, called the Club Racer, or CR was Honda's nod to the enthusiasm shown by American drivers for the car. The CR included track-revising exhaust and suspension systems as well as CR specific
wheels and wider tires. On top of these added parts, Honda stripped the CR
of any weight it could. This included making the
radio and a see optional as well as deleting the folding roof. And the roof storage space
was filled with an X-spray and a sweet hard top was included. Well the CR is covered in special edition visual only mods like faux carbon fiber. Two editions which have a definite purpose are the front and rear spoilers. These aid in cornering speed
by providing downforce. This downforce combined
with wider rear tires make the CR slower in a straight line but faster in the twisties. With this special edition, Honda
wound down S2000 production closing down the assembly line in 2009. With the end of the
S2K, Honda's line up was for the most part... missing fun. - Boring. - CRV's, Pilot's, and Odyssey minivans filled Honda showrooms everywhere. Honda fans worried that
fun Honda's were gone. Today Honda is going through a repeat of what brought us the
S2000 in the first place. They're becoming more
focused in motorsport. The world has a modern NSX
and America has a Titebar Japan even has their own S roadster in the form of a cute lite S660K car. Honda is fun again. - Dang. - The S2000, a car that
seemed out of character for Honda almost 20 years ago may actually be the most Honda car that Honda has ever built. That's everything you need to know to get up to speed on the Honda S2000. Subscribe to our channel. Hit that button. The more subs we get, the more cool stuff we get to do with you guys. Thank you so much for supporting us. You're the only reason that I have a job. If you like Honda's, check
out our Up to Speed episode on the titebar. You wanna know how V-TEC works? Check out this episode of Science Garage. Follow me on Instagram @JamesPumphrey. Follow Donut on Instagram @DonutMedia. Go like our page. Go like our show page. I love you.
VTEC just kicked in yo!
It’s a fun video👍🏼
Loved this vid, super informal from donut media as always, good channel all around
My S2000 is smiling today.
This channel has some quality videos. Love that they did the s2000
I got emotional towards the end yo
this dude understands.
I listened to this while on the way to a meeting with a client. I was pretty impressed and enjoyed that he went more into the history of the vehicle, and Honda's roots, rather than just fapping over the 9k redline (which is an awesome characteristic of the car.. it's just not the only one)
I’m pulling my “for sale” ads now... can’t sell it.
Donut knocking it out of the park again!