Posted: 26 Aug 2009 08:15 AM PDT

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Steven Cole Smith AUTOMOTIVE - Orlando Sentinel

Posted: 23 Aug 2009 01:37 AM PDT

Steven Cole Smith AUTOMOTIVE

August 23, 2009

Ten years ago, Honda launched the S2000, a surprisingly traditional sports car from an untraditional company. The S2000 was rear-wheel drive, had a high-revving little engine and came only with a manual transmission. It was built in the image of the great old European sports cars, but it started every day and didn't leak oil.

Ten years before that, Mazda used that same philosophy for the Miata and still does. Honda figured there was a niche to be filled just up from the Miata. The S2000 was seven inches longer, two inches taller, more powerful and more expensive.

While the Miata survives, the 2009 model year is the last for the Honda S2000. Sales — never robust, but Honda never intended the S2000 to be a volume car — have tapered off to the point where the company figures it just wasn't worth building it anymore, and the fact that Honda sold only 68 of them in the U.S. in July supports that theory.

Even so, the S2000 remains one of the most invigorating, fun-to-drive cars you can buy at any price. The six-speed manual transmission is simply the best there is. Handling is taut, braking is strong and linear, and even though the 2.2-liter four-cylinder engine is rated at just 237 horsepower, it feels like a hundred more.

From the outside, the 2009 S2000 looks remarkably like that original 2000 model, and inside, changes have been similarly minor. The cockpit is snug but not cramped, though the seat doesn't go back far enough to suit drivers who are much more than 6 feet tall. Trunk space is shallow but adequate.

The original S2000's 2.0-liter engine revved to a motorcycle-like 9,000 rpm, which made in-town driving seem a little frantic. Several years ago Honda increased engine size to 2.2 liters, and while they actually trimmed the horsepower by three, it increased the torque, which is the measure of pulling power. Bottom line: You don't have to rev the engine as much to get going.

Fuel mileage, EPA-rated at 18 mpg city and 25 mpg highway, isn't bad for a car that is as much as home on a race track as it is on the road. But be aware that this is a genuine two-seater — if it won't fit in the trunk, it isn't going with you.

Base price of the S2000 is $34,995, but that's with every major feature offered except for a removable hard top, which adds $3,569 if you want one. I don't. This is a car to be driven with the top down, stereo off, preferably on twisty back roads that require a lot of shifting.

Fun? We don't talk about that so much anymore, but the S2000 delivers. For a little while longer, at least.

2009 Honda S2000
Base price: $34,995
Price as tested: $36,112
EPA rating: 18 miles per gallon city driving, 25 mpg highway
Details: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive sports car with a 2.2-liter, 237-horsepower four-cylinder engine and a six-speed manual transmission.

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5 New Middleweight Cruiser Motorcycles: Comparison Test - Popular Mechanics

Posted: 24 Aug 2009 11:55 PM PDT

Motorcycles have an alter ego. On the outside, a husky cruiser bike may look like the two-wheel equivalent of a gas-guzzling muscle car. But despite the big chrome pipes, fat rear tire and bulging V-twin engine, bikes are fantastically fuel-efficient machines.

Even the heaviest, most powerful models deliver hybridlike economy. The smallest ones sip fuel at a pace that would make a Prius owner jealous. So a cool-looking, fun-to-ride cruiser can become a very unlikely and appealing alternative to a hybrid. Who says motorcycles are just weekend fun?

The best-selling of these fuel-efficient cruisers live in the rather nebulous middleweight class. Broadly ranging from 500 cc to 1000 cc, these bikes all pack traditional V-twin engines, pumped-up styling and loads of comfort. The middleweights are lighter, lower and much easier to ride than the big boys. So they won't overwhelm first-time riders. Yet many are rewarding enough for old pros, too. Best of all, these bikes are some of the sweetest bargains in motorcycling.

We gathered up five middleweight contenders from Yamaha (Star), Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki, and rode them nearly 350 miles through some of Southern California's best roads and worst traffic. Professional rider Danny Coe ran each bike through our battery of acceleration and braking tests at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona. And we brought along a seasoned passenger to test each bike's capability for two-up touring. Often it takes big torque to turn our heads. But in this test, we found that the smaller bikes had enough power, efficiency and comfort to impress.