Driving with the top down. The wind sailing over your head. The raw sounds of the engine alive in the wild. Those factors give a sense of speed that heightens the driver’s mind. With the mind suddenly turning outward, the light, wind, and smell of the seasons calm your heart.

The open-top S2000 allows you to become one with your surroundings, and through it, it tells you many things. To experience ultimate one-ness with your environment, we believe that the world of the S2000 must point outward. A wide range of driving capabilities. A character that allows for it to become one with its surroundings. In other words, the open-top was a must as the S2000 concept was being developed. In order to experience such one-ness, one would like to drive with the top down as often as possible. Keeping that in mind, much body-tuning was done through numerous wind- tunnel tests. Wind noise and whip-around was minimized, and only smooth, comforting breezes make it to the driver’s seat. In addition, to allow you to enjoy the open-body all year around, the HVAC gets a special tune. While the base is a powerful cooling system, we introduced middle air outlets to heat the knees and hips during colder conditions. This allows for open-body driving even in colder conditions. Controls allow for you to select "open-mode," to take into consideration that your top is down. From closed to open. The S2000’s electronic top is opened by releasing the two locks above the windshield, and simply pressing a button. In addition, opening time is a convenient six seconds. While being electric, the unit is extremely light, keeping in mind the battle between weight. It’s important to raise a fuss over "constant contact items" - areas where your body constantly touches the car - seat, steering wheel, pedals, and shift knob. The wide, bucket-type seats allow for grip during turns, but also has an even weight distribution to allow for minimum body stress during long trips. The 360mm, leather-wrapped steering wheel is optimized for ease of steering, and the leather wrap has small holes for grip enhancement. The core is made from magnesium. With the center offset at zero, the compact airbag was customized to reduce overall inertial momentum. This allows for a light, but direct steering feel. "Ease of use" is number 1 for the sportscar’s cockpit. Driving information must return to the driver swiftly and correctly, and it should support the driver while the proper input is made. Keeping this in mind, the main readout was made into an oversized digital readout that emphasizes the rpm region above 6,000rpm. Because of its compact size, the digital readout can be clearly seen even through the 360mm steering wheel - which all add up to the joy of sportscar driving.

Photo: The Honda DVD Navigation System is Optional