1968 Honda S800 next to an early S2000

[sca037]

I had an awesome opportunity to drive a friend's Honda S800 over the weekend, which is something that was on my fingers-crossed checklist for quite a while now.

I though it interesting to compare one of the later (1968) S800's to an early ('00) S2000, sort of a 'generation gap' analysis.

What a cool little car, powered by essentially a 80hp water cooled motorcycle engine sporting an 8500 rpm redline.

Brian
<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/R6tkkAeXnnDPYbdp62vMwLOxE7clo4FY4JlK1FKiz2Y?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-zdj3WijG1-U/U7qUJRvhoqI/AAAAAAAAADw/K-lteIPmxq8/s800/S800%252520%252526%252520S2000%2525201.jpg" /></a>

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/uXafQ3H_9-fh_jywa_jPxDMAiX0mSD9FJwphhpJ6A2w?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--GJzi5C4uL0/U7rVsmehDTI/AAAAAAAAAEI/xDZfyMxGRMk/s800/S800%2520following%2520S2000.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a>

 

[Vanishing Point]

Nice pictures sca037......... what were your impressions of the two cars in comparison? I've driven an S800 and hope to add one to my collection sometime in the near future.

~Steven

 

[Ko-nsx]

I had the pleasure of meeting a gentlemen with one at the Houston cars and coffee. He bought the car new and it was in excellent shape. Neat cars indeed!!

 

[sca037]

Nice pictures sca037......... what were your impressions of the two cars in comparison? I've driven an S800 and hope to add one to my collection sometime in the near future.

~Steven

The 'generation gap' was pretty large, as you might expect.

The cockpit in this tiny car was, well....tiny, but egress wasn't too bad once you navigated around that large wooden steering wheel.
Honestly, the steering was so light and engaging I don't understand the need for such a large diameter wheel in the first place.
Also, the steering column is shifted a bit to the right, with the outer edge of the wheel closer to the dash than the inner (packaging?)
The 4-speed transmission shifted fine, but of course pales in comparison to the rifle-bolt 6-speed Aisin unit in the S2000.
For a under 2000lb car, the approximate 80hp on tap got it moving along pretty well.....but of course just like the S2K you really had to wind it out to stay on the pipe.
No VTEC yet, that remained a couple more decades off in the evolutionary cycle ;^D
The brakes seemed like the weak point in the package, but they worked just fine for our spirited little tour.
The gas tank is in the front of the trunk, so there was a fair amount of storage available for such a little machine.
I have driven RHD cars before, but if it had been LHD I think I would have adapted to it (especially the shifting- all synchromesh BTW) that much quicker.....but never muffed a gearchange regardless.
These cars I believe were sold new in Japan, Australia, England and (in LHD) Germany.
I have to believe that if these early "S" cars were ever sold in the US, they would have had a significant impact on our sports car culture in the 1960's!

Brian
<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/cxtVz5zSG6OkwSlPsG0VFhw8txd6U7YEZUnVc1hh0Oc?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jFfCbPe0R94/U7rc0jmuVtI/AAAAAAAAAEg/9KOlD3eB2AQ/s800/S800%2520%2526%2520S2000%25202.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a>

 

[davidf]

Wow, it hugely resembles a motorcycle engine yet, I can't remember any watercooled motorcycles until mid 70's Suzuki GT750 water buffalo.

 

[sca037]

By the way, if anyone knows where a set of original (or even aftermarket alloy) wheels is available, my friend would really like to pick them up!

Brian