Honda S2000 test drive since 1999 Cabriolet

Catch the rainbow

Imagine that you saddled a storm or tornado. Legendary sportsmen give a chance to experience about the same feeling. Replenents in their ranks rarely happen, and even those who approached them always become in the spotlight. The name of the new event is Honda S2000.
This has not yet happened in the history of the automotive industry. Judge for yourself: 120 hp. From each of the two liters of the volume of atmospheric, without any turbines or superchargers, a motor. Impressive? What about the maximum revolutions that are limited by the 9000 mark? And the limit values \u200b\u200bof the moment and power are achieved respectively at the intelligible mind of 7500 and 8300 rpm.! That is, about half more than everyone else. And all this is at a sports, but still serial and accessible to many a car. It is noteworthy that the release of the S2000 was timed to the 50th anniversary of the company. A good way to celebrate the anniversary.
Click on the button ... The appearance of the machine coincides with the classic ideas about the so -called Dream Car - the dream machine: the arrow -shaped, with a huge hood and powerful muscles of the wheel arches Profile, small clearance, huge wheel discs. Inside, the huge red Start Engine button attracts the attention primarily, which launches the engine after turning the key in the ignition lock. Good designer find. It seems to be a trifle, but what is the psychological effect! A very special mood is instantly created. By the way, such a solution (starting the engine button) was also used on the latest Mercedes models, this is part of the new keyboard system-Keyless-Go. But there it is only a part of the necessary procedure, not a ritual, as in S2000.
A convertible with a raised top on a hot and sunny day is no less nonsense than a person in a black three on the beach. The awning is controlled by servomekhanism, which is turned on only in full statics and with a raised manner of a handbrake - a reasonable measure of precaution. A few seconds, and the blue sky above the head is open. However, this pleasant feeling slightly spoils the need to get out of the trunk and manually adjust the lid covering the compartment, where the roof itself is hidden ...
Red -haired rainbow. The car’s interior is traditional for the same Dream Cars: not narrow, but as if dense, where a small steering wheel with a leather rim, and perforated, in a purely sports style, made pedals, and the titanium knob of the gearbox are in their places. The only cars that do not require getting used to themselves are sports. Having traveled once on one, you can safely transplant to the next - they will differ in nuances, but by no means ideology.
Red button is pressed. With a tangible impetus and a muffled roar, the engine came to life. And then you see a rainbow. But not multi -colored, which everyone can see, but their own, aggressive red tachometer, the division of which pulses on the dashboard in the beat of powerful breathing of the heart S2000. With a bewitching predatory red eye of a digital speedometer under it.
In order to enjoy the spectacle in full and see how the rainbow of the tachometer describes the full arc, first you need to get out of the crowd of city streets, crawling from a traffic light to a traffic light at the speed of the turtle. And then the S2000 sports car presents his first surprise. Contrary to the assumptions that such a high -speed motor will create a well -known discomfort at extremely small speeds, it behaves exclusively flexible. What very light pedals, precision brakes, and in particular, are a significant gear shift with a literally millimeter stroke of the handle resembling a computer joystick, contribute to a large extent. With one difference - each inclusion is accompanied by a rigid sports fixation of the lever in the appropriate position.
The latest achievement of high Honda technologies is the S2000 motor: aluminum unit, magnesium head, racing aluminum pistons and a three -stage VTEC system of the latest generation. Forced to remain within 1500-2000 vol./Min., He gives out enough thrust for constantly alternating accelerations to take place softly and without any jerks. Moreover, the elasticity and consistency of the engine and the 6-speed checkpoint is so high that all this is easily done in third gear. But on the left, the window formed, the lever - on the second, and in a split second the car makes the jump literally sideways, taking a more profitable position. The rigidity of the suspension is obvious, but its characteristics do not cause at all, as is the case with all machines of this class without exception, analogies with domestic furniture.
Trained typhoon. Here is the line of the city remained behind, and we got on Wednesday, for which this Rogster was created and where it fully fulfills its main purpose - tightly clutching the road with wheels and give pleasure to speed. Only on the highway you can untwist the engine to maximum revolutions so that the orange arc finally reaches its critical mark, and a three -digit number is displayed in the speed window.
And so that this typhoon remains under control, the creators of the car have done a lot. Instead of the traditional hydraulic, they equipped the S2000 with an electric power steering, which, coupled with its maximum acuteness - only 2.25 turns between the extreme provisions - provides a continuous and pure connection with the road. Having facilitated the engine as hard as possible due to the use of light alloys, composite materials and the latest plastics, they placed it almost at the center of the base, behind the front axis, thereby achieving 50 percent weighting along the axes, thereby improving stability and handling.
The stiffness of the twisting body is also one of the important components of controllability, and in the S2000 it is provided by a powerful and lightweight X-shaped frame with cast aluminum elements integrated into the body. At the same time, a progressive lightweight and compact suspension, almost built into the wheels, is used in the machine.
At the red line. Is it possible to believe the algebra harmony? Never. Modern Salieri can arbitrarily measure the Newton of the lifting force, which acts on the rear wheels of the convertible, creating at high speeds, as they believe, risky situations. Because it is not an impositional movement from point A to point B under the conditions of absolute safety, and not the extravagance of style, namely the complete concentration of skill, attention and, of course, the risk - this is what men are looking for and find in real sportsmen.
Which will appreciate the pleasure of holding the rainbow S2000 in the red line.
Text Andrey Timofeev, photo Alexey Ilyin
 
 

Source: "Autopilot"