The car of nine thousand memes. And nine thousand revs. Which is a lot.
The Honda S2000 was quite a special thing when it debuted in 1999, taking Honda’s VTEC system to the max, and fitted with a naturally-aspirated engine delivering a higher specific output per litre than anything that had gone before. Supercars included.
It also had rather spiky handling and a gauge cluster from a 1980s microwave, but none of that mattered when you reached peak power output at 8,800rpm.
This one was discovered by one of our Elves on Flickr, and comes from Mihail Rakovskiy who has captured it near perfectly in brick form.
Take it to the 9,000rpm red line via the link above.
Those of you with good memories will known that Simon Przepiorka‘s excellent slighlty-larger-than-Speed-Champions-scale Honda S2000 has appeared at The Lego Car Blog before. Back in March Simon’s model featured here sporting an Amuse bodykit, about which we wrote “Whether you like that addition or not will be a matter of taste (TLCB Elves and TLCB staff differ somewhat here…)”.
Simon has now updated his AP1 S2000 for those of us who aren’t TLCB Elves (or aged seven), by removing the aforementioned bodykit, lightly modifying the fenders, and fitting a great looking black hardtop.
As before Simon’s Honda includes opening doors and an opening hood, under which sits an easily removable F20C engine, famous for its bolt-activated high-lift cam system and 9000rpm redline. He’s also made instructions available should you wish to build your own version of his design and you can find the link to them, plus see all of the superb imagery, at Simon’s Flickr photostream. Click the link above to take a closer look.
Honda’s S2000, built from 1999 to 2009 during the company’s peak, was a gloriously unhinged machine. Its 2-litre engine made an astonishing 240bhp without turbocharging, and it took Ferrari to finally beat the S2000’s highest-output-per-litre record for a naturally aspirated engine with the 458 Italia, a full decade after the S2000’s launch.
Honda achieved this engineering witchcraft through the most Japanese of approaches; revs. The S2000’s F20C engine could rev to 9000rpm, with VTEC only engaging well above 6000rpm. It engaged with a bit go a bang too, and as the S2000’s handling wasn’t quite up to Porsche levels it meant that more than a few cars ended up travelling backwards through hedges.
This wonderful Technic recreation of Honda’s legendary sports car comes from previous bloggee and TLCB Master MOCer Nico71, who has done an incredible job replicating the AP2 series S2000 inside and out.
Not only does Nico’s model look the part (helped by 3D-printed wheels and a few well chosen custom stickers), it’s packed with technical detail too, including working steering, accurate double-wishbone suspension, a replica F20C 4-cylinder engine driven by the rear wheels, opening doors, hood and trunk, and a working convertible roof.
There’s lots more of Nico’s superb Technic Honda S2000 AP2 to see on Brickshelf or at his website by clicking here, including the complete image gallery, full build details and yes – instructions! Click the link above to feel VTEC kick-in yo!
Honda’s late-’90s to late-’00s S2000 was a riotously amusing car. With a 9000rpm redline and the most powerful naturally-aspirated engine by capacity in the world, it even spawned its own meme.
This excellent small-scale recreation of the Honda S2000 comes from serial bloggee Simon Przepiorka, who has fitted his version with a full Amuse bodykit. Whether you like that addition or not will be a matter of taste (TLCB Elves and TLCB staff differ somewhat here…) but either way it’s a brilliant build. See more on Flickr at the link above.
A visit to a car video on YouTube is becoming a perilous affair. The comments are increasingly full of ‘fanboi’s, fanatically raving about cars they’ve probably never even sat in whilst proclaiming all others are vastly inferior.* Few cars seem to suffer from this affliction more than this one, the amazing Honda S2000.
Launched in 1999 Honda took the lightweight roadster formula re-started a decade earlier by Mazda’s MX-5 and, well… Hondarised it. Honda were at the top of their game in the late 1990s and the 2litre, 240bhp, 9000rpm naturally aspirated engine they fitted to their new sports car was an absolute triumph.
The numbers from the engine were astonishing, which – frankly – the rest of the car wasn’t quite able to match (as anyone who experienced VTEC kicking in half way round a wet roundabout found out…), but nevertheless the S2000 became a cult car overnight, a status which – partly thanks to the aforementioned YouTube commenters – shows no signs of abating.
However despite this revelry the Honda S2000 remains an unusual car to be built in Lego form. In fact a delve into the murky archives here at TLCB Towers suggests it has only ever appeared here once before. Previous bloggee Simon Przepiorka, who’s making a name for himself here at TLCB with his brilliant slightly-larger-than-Speed-Champions sports cars, today doubles our S2000 count with this excellent recreation of the first generation ‘AP1’.
Not only does it look fantastic accurate inside and out, Simon’s model includes an opening bonnet under which lies a realistic ‘F20C’ engine, a superb interior, and posable ‘steered’ wheels too. There’s a whole lot more to see of Simon’s superb Honda S2000 AP1 on Flickr – Click the link above to feel VTEC kick in yo!
*Although said comments will likely surmise this in far less syllables.
Today’s Japanese double features two of the best sports cars of the last decade, the brilliant Honda S2000 and Mazda RX-7. These cars are now stars of the tuning scene, and the builders of both today’s models have included popular real-world modifications to their Lego versions of the famous sports cars.
First up (above) is Aaden H‘s early S2000, suggested to us via the Feedback and Submission Suggestions page. Aaden has ‘stanced’ his model to replicate the common tuning trend that, er… thoroughly ruins the ride and handling. It looks cool though…
Second (below) is another yellow Japanese legend, and one we’ve actually featured here before. So what is Rhys’ Pieces’ RX-7 doing here again? Well, much like the owner of a real modified car, Rhys can’t resist tinkering with his pride an joy, and he’s added a crate-load of further modifications to his original creation. He was also one of the readers that suggested Aaden H’s S2000 above, so his own model featuring too is a bit of good karma!
You can check out each model on Flickr at the links above.
