Honda S2000 [Paperback]

Dan Carney (Author), Daniel F. Carney (Author)

Book Description

Series: Motorbooks Colortech | Publication Date: February 15, 2001

With its 2.0-liter, naturally aspirated engine delivering an astounding 240-horsepower, the Honda S2000 more than lives up to the groundswell of publicity it generated on the 1999 auto show circuit - it gives the BMW Z3 and Porsche Boxster a run for their deutschmarks. This exclusive, blow-by-blow account follows the design, testing, and development of the two-seat S2000, from the first conceptual drawings and the prototypes unveiled in 1995 to the promotional campaigns and production models that hit U.S. streets in late 1999. Lavish colour photography and never-before-published images from Honda bring to life the evolution of a stunning new, limited production sports car and a dynamic period in the company's history.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dan Carney is a freelance automotive writer and a frequent contributor to Popular Mechanics. He lives in Herndon, Virginia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Motorbooks International (February 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076030906X
• ISBN-13: 978-0760309063
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,102,169 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Read. Great Price., July 5, 2003

By 

Wooyong Ee "ewoo" (Louisville, KY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Honda S2000 (Paperback)

Carney isn't a particularly good writer but he did homework when he wrote this fairly in-depth book about the Honda S2000. I really enjoyed the introduction and history about Honda. And especially enjoyed the chapters discussing the development of the engine, chasis and transmission of the S2000.

If you've ever read in-depth books on specific automobiles published in Japan though, you'll see that this book's discussion is rather cursory. However, since there aren't too many such books--written in English on Japanese autombiles--this one does fine.

Overall, the book satisfied my curiosities about the wonderful car but, it also left me wanting to read more in two areas. First, I wanted to know more about the specific technical decisions made by Uehara and his team (stories and anectdotes and such). Second, I wish there was a chapter showing the complete performance specs of the car--and comparing it to its competitors.

Buy this book. It's a pretty good deal.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars S2000 is a modern marvel, August 6, 2001

By 

J. Ustica (Nevada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Honda S2000 (Paperback)

This is a fantastic book, covering all facets of the S2000. From the development and prototype drawings, through the testing of the car, and finally, discussing the production models, this book is a complete overview of this great convertable coupe. The driver even has head to head comparisons with the S2000's competitors (ie BMW Z3, Porsche Boxster, etc.), which are actually quite fair, pointing out strengths and weaknesses of each car vs. the strengths and weaknesses of the S2K. Very enjoyable and enlightening book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent on-the-surface review of the S2000, would have preferred more depth, February 21, 2011

By 

J. Cottrell (South East PA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Honda S2000 (Paperback)

I purchased this book in 2011 while doing research for my next fun car. I have spent years in the Miata world and I had no idea how spoiled that community is in regards to materials published on the model.

While there are no glaring faults in this book (keep in mind it's publish date - very early after the S2000 was released) it lacks the depth that I have enjoyed in many other motoring books (from C1-C2 Corvettes, through muscle cars, early BMW and up to and including Miatae). While I don't have the patience to actually count, I would estimate that the author refers to the S2000 as a 'race car' or 'race car for the street' at least once every other page. Overall, I would have much preferred a more in depth review of the design and development process, concept drawings, etc. (there is a section on this, it could have been about two or three sections). Since it is so early in the production run, there are not too many year-to-year changes to focus on, and I would think that the access to the development information would have been as easy to get as it was ever going to be.

In my opinion (keep in mind I am cross-shopping) the most useful and honest part of this book is the end where they review the S2000's competitors and give a fair assessment of each vehicle. Too often you see enthusiast publications disregard any other model, it is refreshing to see each car given credit for its strong points, esp. in comparison to the S2000. For what it is worth, throughout the book it is obvious that the first generation Boxster is the S2000's target, it is interesting to see how different the cars that Honda and Porsche created for basically the same slice of automotive pie.

Given the choice, I would have assigned 3.5 stars, but paying much more than sticker in 2011 for a so-so book was a little disappointing, I have to give it three stars.