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Honda S2000 Civic Type R: Why the VTEC Turbo Would Make a Good Sports Car

With the Civic Type R enjoying success even toward the end of its life cycle, it's easy to see that the right VTEC wrapped in a suitably bold body will always be victorious. Yes, it can even be a VTEC Turbo.
Honda S2000 Type R: Why the VTEC Turbo Would Make a Good Sports Car 11 photos
Photo: superrenderscars/Instagram
Honda really wasn't taking any risks when it developed the 2.0 VTEC Turbo. Its naturally aspirated engines had reached their full potential, and turbocharging was the best way to add extra performance. Sure, we ended up with a Civic Type R that doesn't rev like crazy, but it's still an extremely focused car, arguably the best in the world at its FWD job.

However, Honda has built a bunch of other VTEC icons, and the S2000 is arguably the one that's most worth reviving. The Toyota Supra has clearly shown there's still interest in rear-wheel-drive sports cars, especially if they're rich in heritage.

The S2000 was a true sports car, a lightweight roadster from the Japanese company that brought FWD to the masses. Honda may have been getting its money from Civic and Accords, but it didn't forget the spirit of the company founder, who pioneered the S500 in the early 1960s. It launched domestically in 1999 with the famous F20C engine, which had advanced aluminum construction producing 234 horsepower out of two liters of displacement.

For many years, it was the most power-dense naturally aspirated engine in the world. However, we now have forced induction, so Honda engines don't need to rev to 9,000rpm. Using the same displacement, the Civic Type R delivers 306 horsepower.

That's only about 10% less than the 2020 Supra (on paper), despite that one having two extra cylinders. Toyota also makes a 2.0T version of its sports car, and the setup honestly feels pretty good. So we wonder how a modern-day S2000 would compete against its Japanese rival of Bavarian underpinnings.

As far as the looks are concerned, this image by superrenderscars is just here for the laughs, as it combines the front end of a Type R with a blue BMW Z4 body. Honda may have actually planned a new S2000, but it should have taken the form of a mid-engined coupe, as seen in these patent images.

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Editor's note: Real Honda S2000 shown in photo gallery.

About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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