Rev Up Your Dreams: 2024’s Sizzling S2000 CR Debuts for Honda Enthusiasts
The 2009 Honda S2000 CR: A Sports Car That Transcends Time
The debate rages on: is there a replacement for displacement, or is there a replacement for lightness and engagement? While big horsepower enthusiasts may tout the former, we’d like to offer a counterpoint: the 2009 Honda S2000 CR. This rear-drive roadster represents a historic high for Honda, and its combination of a 2.2-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine and one of the best-feeling manual transmissions in the world makes it a truly unique driving experience.
A Car That Feels Alive
The S2000 CR is a sobering reminder of what we’ve lost and what we could’ve had. In his retro review, former Staff Writer Chris Rosales wrote, "Romance wafts from every crease, stitch, and pixel. It’s intoxicating, the thought of returning to the ’90s when this car was new and exciting. Before the benefit of time, experience, and the internet added influence and comparison—when something could exist as a singular idea. It’s a car that left an imprint so strong that it’s one of the few memories from my single-digit years that vulcanized itself into my brain. And it’s a car that sidesteps the trope of being flawed but lovable. How could it be flawed if it was conceived to be exactly this?"
A Car That Transcends Time
The S2000 CR does the thing that the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring does now: feel special at all speeds. The difference is that the S2000 was an everyman’s car in its time. There is no truly affordable car made today that vibrates, hisses, and overwhelms the senses like the S2000 does. For that, you’d have to brush with death in the $100,000 Lotus Emira, slide around in the $350,000 narcissist’s machine that is the Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica, or experience the 9,000-rpm, valve-overlapping howl of a $200,000 911 GT3.
A Car That Deserves Its Flowers
Yep, Honda once built an completely-attainable sports car that delivered a driving experience that can only be rivalled today by six-figure halo vehicles where the engine sits behind you… and we all just let it die on the vine with a whimper. We’re sorry, Honda. We didn’t know what we had until it was too late. And that’s why we’ve decided to give the S2000 CR its long overdue flowers as our Drive of the Year in 2024.
Specifications:
- Engine: 2.2-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder
- Transmission: 6-speed manual
- Power: 237 horsepower
- Torque: 162 lb-ft
- Weight: 2,855 pounds
- 0-60 mph: 5.5 seconds
- Top speed: 149 mph
Photos:
[Image: A close-up shot of the S2000 CR’s engine]
[Image: A shot of the S2000 CR’s interior]
[Image: A shot of the S2000 CR’s exterior]
Conclusion:
The 2009 Honda S2000 CR is a car that transcends time. Its combination of a high-revving engine and a manual transmission that feels like an extension of your own hands makes it a truly unique driving experience. It’s a car that feels alive, and one that deserves its flowers as our Drive of the Year in 2024.
