S2000 successor with e-AWD tech from Pikes Peak CR-Z could slot in between S1000 and NSX in mid-engined Honda sports range
Why do we keep coming back to what Honda’s doing? And why should we care? Because with several high-profile launches under its belt and more to come, Honda is by far the most happening Japanese car-maker right now.
Emerging from a long performance product hibernation and several painful recalls with a bang, Honda last year launched a ground-breaking new Accord Hybrid and 660cc N-Box mini-car, followed by an all-new Legend flagship. Sadly, only the Accord Hybrid will be sold in Australia, from mid-June.
Then, earlier this year, Honda not only made its long-awaited comeback to Formula 1, but launched new versions of its Stepwagon and Grace mini-vans, and Japan’s hottest ever mini-car (kei-car), the turbocharged S660 sportster.
As we’ve reported, Australia can look forward to a meaner-looking, gutsier 1.0-litre turbo S1000 packing around 95kW by late 2016. Honda has also just started a world tour to introduce its radical new business plane, the HondaJet.
At this year’s Tokyo motor show in October, Honda will finally reveal the production version of what it claims will be the world’s fastest front-drive coupe, the new Civic Type-R, which used its 228kW 2.0-litre turbo four to set a new front-drive production car lap record of 7:50 at the Nurburgring in Germany.
In an effort to stagger its hero-car launches, expect to see the final production version of the four-wheel drive hybrid NSX supercar in early 2016, after its official unveiling at the Tokyo show.
From what we’re hearing, that’s just part of the story. Honda is currently working on two other cars that kind of sit neatly between the NSX and S660 in terms of performance and price.
Yes, we are referring to reinterpreted versions of the CR-Z and S2000, and if these two artist’s impressions from Japan’s Best Car magazine prove accurate, the CR-Z successor (pictured in blue) and born-again S2000 (white) should take Honda’s street cred to a whole new level.
With its mild 1.5-litre hybrid system, the previous CR-Z might have looked the real deal with its sharp, wedge-shaped styling, but it did not deliver on the performance side. Honda plans to change all that with a radical new CR-Z prototype destined to blast up the legendary Pikes Peak hill climb in June.
Japan’s third largest car-maker has taken a current model CR-Z and fitted it with four electric motors — technology inherited directly from the Legend’s rear-motor SH-AWD (Super Handling All Wheel Drive) system, but now extending to motors on both the front and rear axles.
Entered in the Challenge Exhibition category, the Pikes Peak CR-Z “is a prototype that Honda has created to test how electric drive handles when pushed to the absolute limits,” says a source inside Honda.
This is nothing new for Honda, which introduced the electrified SH-AWD system in the Legend and will also incorporate it into the front axle of the NSX.
Honda’s e-AWD technology will eventually permeate all of Honda’s sports models, but the system that powers the Pikes Peak CR-Z will not be a pointer to the production CR-Z.
“Do not expect to see the new CR-Z as a road-going version of the Pikes Peak car,” said our source. “We are only using it as a racing test mule for an all-wheel-drive electric powertrain, one that will most probably not be used on the next CR-Z.”
Boasting an updated version of SH-AWD, the Pikes Peak CR-Z will feature independently operating electric motors that not only distribute torque to all four wheels depending on demand, but also offer a new generation rear-wheel steer function that is said to enhance cornering speed.
It’s understood Honda is currently evaluating a petrol-electric powertrain incorporating the same turbocharged three-cylinder 1.0-litre engine that will power the S1000, paired with an electric motor to develop a total power output of 162kW.
Such a powertrain would be ideal for the CR-Z, but a replacement for the discontinued compact coupe appears far from certain.
“Truth be known, our engineers might be working on a more efficient electric four-wheel drive system in the Pikes Peak CR-Z, but that will not directly lead to a road-going all-electric CR-Z. We still need to evaluate exactly where a new CR-Z would fit into our sports car hierarchy,” said our insider.
“I should tell you that while we are looking at the potential of electric 4WD in the Pikes Peak CR-Z, the powers that be in our R&D section are leaning strongly towards channelling development funds away from the CR-Z and into an S2000 successor.”
We’ve written about a mid-engined replacement for the original S2000 before, but if it eventuates it would slot perfectly between the NSX at the top of Honda’s line-up and the S660 at the lower end, filling the hole in between and giving the company a direct rival for mid-size sports cars like the Porsche Boxster and Cayman.
A born-again S200 would also make Honda the first car-maker to offer a threesome of mid-engined sports cars spanning such a wide price band, from about $30,000 for the S1000 to potentially over $200,000.
While the NSX will knock horns with the Porsche 911 and the S1000 would give the Toyota 86, Mazda MX-5 and Alfa 124 a run for their money, a reinterpreted S2000 could take the challenge right up to Stuttgart’s mid-engined sports cars, as well as the Audi TT, BMW Z4, Mercedes-Benz SLK and Nissan 370Z.
The reincarnated S2000 successor would employ a mid-mounted four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine to drive the rear wheels but it’s now believed it will, like the NSX, also incorporate a twin-motor system up front, making it all-wheel drive.
But what would power a new S2000? Our insider says engineers are currently evaluating a detuned version of the Civic Type-R’s 2.0-litre turbo, but he adds that a smaller, more efficient 1.5-litre turbo engine/motor combination married to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission would generate at least 300hp (221kW) and bring the total cost to somewhere between $55,000 and $75,000.
Whether Honda gives the production green light for an S2000 successor — or indeed a new CR-Z — will, according to our insider, depend on how Honda’s sales progress in the world’s two major markets: the US and China.
Another senior Honda engineer we spoke to recently says he really wants to make a mid-engined S2000. Here’s hoping the company is successful enough in those markets to allow it to push the button on a born-again S2000 and create a tantalising mid-engined sports trio from Honda, or at least offer an affordable, more serious CR-Z.
Images: Best Car magazine
