The latest rendering to hit the internet is of the next generation rwd Honda sports car, supposedly called the S3000. A Honda insider has confirmed that the Japanese car maker is in the process of building such a car but wouldn’t go into details.
The design of the car is obviously similar to that of the OSM (Open Study Model) seen recently at the London Motor Show, but that was just a drop-top version of the CR-Z hybrid sports car, the apparent successor to the notorious CR-X that enthusiasts have come to appreciate and love. Anyway the design is likely to differ, the OSM was penned by Honda’s European design team, the ‘S3000’ will definately be another Honda-darling so there will be much more input and influence from Japan.
This rendering was created by the guys over at Road & Track. They digitally melded the OSM together with the CR-Z and a mysterious prototype sports car near Honda’s R&D headquarter in Japan. The mystery car shared the same proportions as the OSM, so with bits of design from all three cars merged, you have a car with the profiles reminiscent of the current S2000, long hood included.
As to the engine of the car, rumours are abound that Honda may equip the car with a V-6, perhaps a new 3-liter or a 3.5-liter currently powering the Acura TL. But with Honda’s current environmental push, engine size may be brought down to 2.2-liter or 2.5-liter inline-4 of course. There is even talk of a simple hybrid system.
So the rumours on Honda’s upcoming sports car seem promising and it’s looking to be quite a car but I doubt it will be called the S3000. The S2000 was so named because Honda built it to celebrate its 50th birthday which also happened to fall in the year 2000, it’s quite unlikely that Honda will dub it the S3000. But then again, it could be powered by a 3000cc engine, pouring some sense as to why Honda would want to call it that. We’ll find out in 2010.
Source: Road & Track
