Honda executives in Japan have stunned the automotive community with the declaration that 2006 will be the last year for the current S2000. The announcement was surprising coming from the usually tight lipped Honda brain-trust, and is most likely a response to Nissan’s recent announcement of the new Skyline GT-R. (Honda is aggressively pursuing a higher profit margin vehicle.) Whether the car will be released in the United States under the Honda or Acura moniker is still being debated, but the new car, which shares the platform of the S2000, (not the Acura RL as previously speculated) will be built at Honda’s Suzuka plant which will make it necessary to discontinue production of the venerable S2k to insure production capacity.



“We are very excited about the new XGA. It combines all the elements consumers desire in a luxury sport coupe along with traditional Honda performance and reliability. At a price significantly lower than our most recent NSX offering greater power and handling, we expect the XGA to quickly dominate its class.” said Honda spokesperson Reiji Tanaka at the press conference unveiling the new design. “We are sorry to see the S2000 go, but when first introduced, it was only supposed to have a two year model run. Now we are very excited at the new direction Honda will be taking with the much more refined XGA.”

The new model will be a 2+2 hardtop with a 3 litre V-tec 6 cylinder powerplant developing 320 HP at 7500RPMs. (again, not the V8 or V-10 reported in Road and Track) It will feature the Honda SH-AWD system, GPS navigation, an eight speaker stereo system with an in-dash CD changer and XM satellite radio, and an information system that displays trip, gas mileage, service intervals, and other pertinent data. The sport tuned suspension will have five settings to adjust between comfort and all-out performance. The 18” forged alloy wheels will come equipped with Bridgestone’s newest Potenza sport tire with 255/35 series in the front and 285/30s in the rear. The new interior will be much plusher than the S2000, and offer many additional options to the buyer than the one-flavor fits all approach of the S2000. Power will be delivered to the wheels through either a six speed manual transmission or a five speed automatic with a clutchless shift option. The base model is expected to retail in the $43k range, but options can push that figure to more than $50k. The new models should start appearing in Tokyo showrooms sometime in the spring of 2007 with a US appearance a short time after. As soon as more photos/info is available, we’ll be sure to post it right away. The S2000 is very near and dear to all of us here at S2ki, and while the news is quite disturbing on one hand, we’re excited to see what Honda has in store for us next.

t will feature the Honda SH-AWD system, GPS navigation, an eight speaker stereo system with an in-dash CD changer and XM satellite

ORIGINAL: Gambit26

That is one sweet lookin' ride. That price will probably drop im sure, cuz it sure as hell gots ta go!! I love the look and all, but does it remind anyone else of the RX8?