Toyota has been pummeled for years by the enthusiasts community, due to a lack of cars with an engaging driving experience. It wasn’t always this way though; the company used to have sports cars like the Supra, Celica and MR2.
In recent years Toyota has responded by developing the fantastic 2013 Toyota GT-86/Scion FR-S sports car and the 2013 Lexus GS. We’ve yet to see it play out in the mainstream, but we like what we’re seeing so far. At Honda the situation has grown similar to Toyota’s, with sports cars like the S2000 being eliminated completely.
Criticism of Honda’s mainstream models reached a fever pitch with the 2012 Honda Civic. The company quickly responded with an unprecedented update for 2013. In addition, reviews of the new 2013 Accord are coming in very favorably. Could the Honda’s mainstream models be back on track? Looks like it. But what about performance? Honda hasn’t signaled anything big so far. Interestingly enough though, the first indication of a change could be coming at the 2013 Tokyo Auto Salon…and it starts with the S2000. The S2000 was discontinued four years ago, much to the consternation of the automotive press.
The S2000 was tossable and fun to drive, featuring a four-cylinder that had a motorcycle-like redline. Instead of continuing with the car’s development, like Mazda has with the MX-5 Miata, Honda decided to kill it. Remember the part about the 2013 Civic redesign being unprecedented? Well here is another unprecedented development from Honda. The company has announced it will be showing off the S2000 Modulo Climax. The car is a lightly facelifted version of the S2000 from a few years back – this isn’t even significant enough to be in mid-cycle enhancement territory. It looked better before, but we’ll take what we can get. We aren’t sure what Honda’s plans are in doing this. Will they bring the S2000 back in this nearly identical form, or does this signal intentions for a new model? Either way, we’ll probably find out more when the Tokyo Auto Salon begins.
