The frenetic little S is something of a cross between a hummingbird and a rollerskate. It flits across the landscape in a fury of engine revolutions, not exactly speedy, but poised on its fully independent suspension, and pivoting on its skinny tires.
This effervescence was the spirit Honda's engineers wanted to recapture for the company's 50 th anniversary. The concept took the conventional front-engined, rear-wheel-drive layout of Honda's ancestral S-cars, and mixed in a five-speed automatic gearbox taken from the NSX, and a five-cylinder, valve engine that spun to a projected rpm.
The production S that launched four years later made the SSM look unambitious. The styling had been refined by Honda designer Daisuke Sawai into a classic and angular shape that continues to age gracefully.
The headlines, however, were all about that powertrain. The first generation of S, called the AP1 internally and by Honda fans, received a 2. It produced a peak of hp at rpm, with the redline set at rpm. At the time, and to this day, the S could boast the highest naturally aspirated power output per displacement of any production car. The all-aluminum block was sleeved with fibre-reinforced metal, and the piston skirts were molybdenum-coated for friction reduction.
Honda's bulletproof VTEC dual-camshaft profile system worked on both the exhaust and intake to allow for exceptional breathing at higher rpms. The car is tractable but not particularly special below rpm, but changes completely as the revs climb.
Paired with this jewel of a four-cylinder was probably the finest manual transmission built by Honda, and thus one of the best gearboxes ever.
The cliche is to praise the S's rifle-bolt shifter precision, but in actuality it's both more surgical and more satisfying. That's handy, because with just lb-ft of torque on offer, the S demands to be thrashed into the stratosphere just to feel special.
Which it loves. The engine and gearbox are Honda at its best, proper race-derived engineering in a road car. Even Fernando Alonso would have to grin at the sound as the S's digital tach spikes red. As for the S's chassis, there were a few teething issues. Some owners complained of twitchy handling, particularly a sensitivity to mid-corner bumps. Setting an early S's alignment to European specifications is also supposed to tame the handling somewhat.
Further, the lack of torque required a frenzied driving style that wasn't suited to a casual Honda fan. The later model, the AP2, received a four-cylinder with increased displacement to 2.
The suspension was also retuned for more compliance. But overall, it wasn't that the S was flawed as much as it was highly sensitive to inputs and a bit demanding.
The early cars especially didn't flatter novice drivers. View Photos. Making a Comeback. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses.
You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below. By comparison, the NB-generation Mazda MX-5 developed only horsepower and pound-feet in its most powerful iteration. The S was more powerful than the Mazdaspeed version too, rated at just horses and pound-feet. Mazda redesigned the Miata in , but the NC version did not generate more than horsepower and pound-feet of twist. A facelift introduced in increased torque to pound-feet, but output remained locked at horsepower for the U.
Following several successful years with more than 10, units delivered per year globally to , sales of the roadster began dropping dramatically in , and the crisis made things worse for the nameplate. With only around 4, examples sold in , the S was discontinued in June Overall, Honda sold , roadsters, around 66, of which were delivered to the United States. Source: Forbes. The much-anticipated revival of the Honda S could happen on the nameplate's 25th anniversary.
More importantly, it will incorporate more aluminum than before, but also carbon-fiber, as Honda wants to keep weight below 3, pounds. The engine in question might be the four-banger in the Civic Type R, rated at horsepower and pound-feet of torque. Ciprian Florea. Senior Editor and Supercar Expert - ciprian topspeed.
Ciprian's passion for everything with four wheels and more started back when he was just a little boy, and the Lamborghini Countach was still the coolest car poster you could hang on your wall.
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