11/02/09

• Price28,142
• We like...Looks, power
• We don't...Noise, price

Honda's super-roadster ends production this summer after an 11-year run. Should you snap up one of the last?The S2000’s not for everyone. It’s been selling in the UK for 10 years now and over that time has notched up barely 8000 new-car sales. And Honda has just announced that, come the summer, it will stop making them... for good. The final ones will come as a limited edition with red leather seats and white paint.

Given tough times and low sales, we guess it was a decision Honda had to make But, it is a crying shame that it must go. Because, however you come at the car, the S2000 is an amazing thing. There’s the way it looks – muscular and confident ,but no show-off. Think of Mazda’s pretty MX-5 two-seater, put it on muscle-building stead muscle, and the S2000 would be what you’d get. And its performance capabilities are enough to make boys (and some girls) of all ages drool: 236bhp from a 2.0-litre engine and, no, there’s no turbocharger involved. It’ll reach 62mph from standstill in just 6.2secs. The engine revs so hard and high that it dsn’t give out its full urge until it reaches 8300rpm. It’ll go on to 9000rpm. Even its electric soft-top is fast – just 6secs from up to lowered.

Jump in and you sit low and snug, a big centre tunnel separating you from your passenger. Crank round the key, thumb the red stop-start button to your right and it gurgles to life. The dash is all-digital, so the speed appears as a big number ahead of you, while the revs show as shaded bars edging the left and top of the instrument panel.

The dash is clean and clutter-free, tucking an old-school radio-CD unit behind a metal-effect panel. Simple, effect thumb-switches for radio and heating/air conditioning are grouped at the edge of the instrument pod. It looks late-90s period and shows how cabin design has moved on since. We quite like it, though we can see that it looks a bit cheap, considering what this GT model costs.

On the move, the suck-n-rattle from the engine is refreshing and raw. It’s stiffly sprung and damped so the car crashes over potholes and patters across any surface that’s less than 100%. The short throw, closely spaced gears and twitch-and-it-turns-steering is thrill-a-minute. If you’re master of the Sega games console, you’ll love the S2000.

Rear-wheel drive and all that power could catch you out – badly – if you push too hard exiting a bend, especially if the going is wet or icy. But if you do feel the tail slide, it’s usually predictable enough to correct.

It’s no long distance, cruiser, though. Road and mechanical noise is ever-present on a motorway haul, making it a sunny days, short distances machine.

Should you buy one? The asking price, plus group 20 insurance and other big ownership expenses mean that you’ll need to want one badly, and be rich, to pitch for one. Second-hand ones tend to sell quickly – and for stiff money.

But, on the right day, top down, on the right road... there’s nothing else that’ll stir the senses so intensely.

To view new and used Honda S2000s, go to motors.co.uk

• Engines2.0-litre petrol
• Power236bhp
• 0-60 mph6.2secs
• Economy28.2mpg
• CO2g/km236
• Insurance groups20
• EuroNCAP
• Airbags2
• Seats2

Motors.co.uk value verdict: