2004 Honda S2000 in Seattle

Las Vegas—

When the S2000 debuted four years ago, it screamed its way into automotive enthusiasts' hearts with a racing-derived engine singing a 9000-rpm song, a hyper-alert chassis, and a driver-focused cabin equipped with bespoke if somewhat bizarre instruments. We last spent time with the S2000 only three months ago, when we tested a 2003 model against the new Nissan 350Z roadster, the Porsche Boxster, and the BMW Z4 ("Four of a Kind," August 2003). During that comparison, the S2000 performed brilliantly on the racetrack, where it demonstrated sharper reflexes than Venus Williams and a ballerina-like ability to pivot about its axis, but the price for the high revs and the track-time smiles was a shortage of low-end torque and a surplus of road noise from the powerful but frenetic 2.0-liter four-cylinder. We deemed the wee Honda "a specialized car for specialized circumstances."

Overly harsh? Harsh is what happens to your eardrums after you drive the old S2000 for a couple of hours on the freeway, because the VTEC engine delivers the goods only between 6000 and 9000 rpm. Clearly, we were not the only people bothered by the flight of the bumblebees, because chief among a PowerPoint presentation's worth of changes for the 2004 S2000 is a bigger, quieter, calmer, and torquier engine. With an increase in the piston stroke from 84.0 mm to 90.7 mm, the S2000's engine now displaces almost 2200 cubic centimeters, rather than 2000, but the name is unchanged. Power remains the same at 240 horsepower but peaks at a slightly more peaceful 7800 rpm versus 8300 rpm.... Read full article