The Honda S2000 and the Lotus Elise – two roadsters, both originally produced in the 1990s, both using high-revving four-cylinder engines and both symbolising long-held traditions of their builders.

Even so, the similarities of the two roadsters end there, one using a classic front-engined layout, the other combining cutting-edge construction and a mid-engined configuration. Of course, Honda and Lotus have formidable motorsport experience, and both channel this into their road cars and use it as a basis for their trademark engineering approaches.

Honda’s high-revving, naturally aspirated engines are justly famed. And Lotus is equally hailed for its lightweight, minimalist approach and application of innovative chassis technology.

The Honda S2000′s handsome, classical roadster proportions were matched with a simply incredible 2.0-litre engine capable of revving to 9,000rpm. A true drivers car, the S2000 gained a reputation for somewhat snappy handling that Honda has addressed with a number of tweaks and upgrades, most recently at the beginning of 2007 models – including Honda introducing traction control, which was a must for this lairy ‘rear end happy’ car!

But can an updated version of a nine-year-old car really take on Lotus’s latest and greatest?  The British corner being fought by the supercharged Elise SC. Weighing just over 900kg and powered by a supercharged 1.8-litre Toyota engine revving to over 8,000rpm, this latest Elise is a formidable package.

I think if these two roadsters were put together on a track, i think we can safely say it would be very entertaining and we would be standing back and watching the sparks fly…!

Lotus Elise Statistics 

Engine – 1.8 litre supercharged

Power (BHP) – 218 @ 8,000

Torque (lb/ft) – 156 @ 5,000

0 – 62 MPH (secs) – 4.6

Top Speed (MPH) – 148

Combined MPG – 33.2

List Price – £33,500 

Honda S2000′s Statistics

Engine – 2.0 Litre four-cylinder

Power (BHP) – 240 @ 8,300

Torque (lb/ft) – 153 @ 7,500

0 – 62 MPH (secs) – 6.2

Top Speed (MPH) – 150

Combined MPG – 28.2

List Price – £29,500

Land Rover was first introduced to the USA in March 1987. But the take up on the Land Rover in the US was slow, and when first introduced it took almost ten and a half years to sell the first 100,000 vehicles but they then became popular and it took only five years to sell the next 150,000.

And now with an expanded lineup and the Range Rover still stalking the countryside as the king of the luxury SUV pride, Land Rover North America has taken just two-and-a-half years to sell another 100,000 vehicles.

When a Range Rover Sport left the lot in Cerritos, California this month that totaled 500,000 Land Rovers bought and paid for. So on Land Rovers 60^th birthday they have officially sold 500,000 in the US – I think that deserves a huge congratulations!

The news at the annual Retailer Breakfast Meeting at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) convention in New Orleans, that the company reached a historic milestone recently when a Range Rover Sport Supercharged became the company’s 500,000th vehicle sold in the United States.

“Reaching this milestone demonstrates the strength of the Land Rover brand and is a result of a dedicated and passionate retailer network,” said Chris Marchand, Executive Vice President, Marketing and Sales, Land Rover North America.

“The Land Rover model line-up has undergone a complete revitalization and reaching this achievement shows the growth we have experienced over the past four years. It took us ten years to sell the first 100,000 vehicles and we have sold the last 100,000 since July of 2006.”

Land Rover takes its responsibility to the environment seriously. Emissions have been cut with all new models and, together with Jaguar, it is investing £700m on technology specifically aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions.  

Today it has been confirmed by Honda that the long-lived Honda S2000 will be no more from next year, the car was introduced in 1999 and although not to everyone’s tastes it has won over the hearts of many road testers, then S2000 is a true drivers car and ALOT of fun, trust me – i own one myself! (pictured)

Very sadly a replacement for the high-revving two-seater, bike technology sports car is in doubt as carmakers are scaling back on their niche products.

Car critic Jeremy Clarkson famously quoted his admiration for the Honda S2000 by saying, “If Dr Jekyll had owned one of these, he wouldn’t have needed a potion to turn him into a right nutter!”

“It is a sports car that papers over some less than ideal dynamic characteristics with a superbly high-revving VTEC engine and the sort of gearbox you can enjoy for hours without even turning a wheel, purpose built as a soft-top, the S2000 is definitely cooler than retrospective hatchet jobs like the heavy and ugly Nissan 350Z Roadster.”

The Honda S2000 is a sports car that papers over some less than ideal dynamic characteristics with a superbly high-revving VTEC engine and the sort of gearbox you can enjoy for hours without even turning a wheel

‘The S2000 is a sports car designed by enthusiasts for enthusiasts,’ said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. ‘It raised the bar for all future roadsters, and it’s already considered a classic by many Honda fans.’

The S2000 was only supposed to be a limited edition to mark Honda’s birthday but survived for ten years and production is due to end in June 2009. 

JE Design made a lot of improvements for this ride. They created a wide body kit, installed LSD Doors and 18? alloys. They modified this car’s engine to deliver 244 BHP and now this Seat Leon could accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 6.4 seconds.

Hardly six months since the release of the first complete conversion kit, JE DESIGN well-known as a Seat tuning specialist, is now presenting the highlight of its Leon suite – a wide body with wing doors. JE DESIGN also gives the new turbo-charged petrol engine an extra boost.

The Seat Leon makes a mighty impression after JE DESIGN has fitted it out with its wide body conversion kit. JE DESIGN starts off comparatively tamely at the front with a new front grille without a badge. However, on reaching the side-mounted body styling elements, it becomes clear that we are not dealing with just an ordinary tuning job here.

This is because JE DESIGN fits the Leon with a 10-piece wheel arch extension kit which enables the Leon to fill out any rear-view mirror that little bit more than usual. The knowledge of this effect magically compels the driver to sport a broad grin across his face when overtaking. 

JE DESIGN’s front spoiler and the boot-lid rear spoiler produce a lift-reducing effect. The rear view is rounded off by the JE-DESIGN rear apron attachment, which can be used both with the standard-fitted rear silencer as well as the awesome-sounding 4-pipe rear silencer specially produced in stainless steel by JE DESIGN. 

JE DESIGN has also been fit with a with a coil-over suspension, which allows the suspension to be lowered between 35mm and 65 mm to suit the driver’s individual taste.

The SLK 55 AMG is now even more dynamic: a new front apron and dark-tinted headlamps give this unique eight-cylinder roadster an even more athletic look even at a standstill. The handling dynamics of the SLK 55 AMG have also been sharpened.

For the first time the car features the new direct steering with variable servo assistance, which makes the 265 kW/360 hp two-seater even more agile and responsive. The SLK 55 AMG is also the only car in its class to feature a V8 engine, and a speed-shift transmission now offers even faster gearchanges.

The redesigned front apron with a more pronounced arrow-shape, the modified Mercedes star, enlarged air dams and a black-painted transverse fin on the lower section ensure a distinctly masculine aura. Large, round foglamps with chrome surrounds are now positioned further outwards, enhancing the impression of width. The specific AMG bodystyling also includes AMG side skirts, the muscular AMG rear apron with a black insert and the AMG spoiler lip.

New features also include dark-tinted projection-beam headlamps, LED indicator repeaters in an arrow design ensure more safety. New 18-inch AMG light-alloy wheels in a multi-spoke design, painted in titanium grey and with a high-sheen star, these provide interesting contrasts when viewed from the side. Outstanding deceleration values are ensured by the AMG high-performance braking system with internally ventilated brake discs all-round.

The ’Lada Revolution 3′ which was shown for the first time last year at the Paris Motor Show was thought to be the best ever in Russian supercars, but the new Marussia completely crushes that notion.

The Marussia is the brainchild of ADD-addled Nikolay Fomenko, who’s got his fingers in everything from racing to theatrical acting. The Marussia consists of a tube-frame chassis onto which composite body panels are attached.

The modular nature of the body means changes can be made easily to tweak the look of the car. That modular nature carries over in the engine bay, where the car will initially launch with a 240BHP to 300BHP version of the Nissan VQ V6.

Working is being completed on an all-electric version set for unveil sometime in the middle of this year which would debut a nanotech battery sourced from a mysterious “Russian construction bureau.”

This EV version of the Marussia would ticket for around $100k and run for a claimed 248 miles on a single charge and even work in Russia’s frigid climate. Even if an electric version never comes, and the gas motor version doesn’t exactly have barn-burning power numbers, it does look pretty cool.

Defending champions Ferrari have unveiled their 2009 challenger to the media, ditching the recent numbering system, the new 2009 Ferrari has been dubbed the F60, the 60th year of Formula One competition for the team, and was shortly afterwards shaken down by Felipe Massa at the team’s test track.

The car, initially dubbed the 660 during the design process, conforms to the 2009 regulations and features numerous innovations.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali explained the designated name for the new car, “We wanted a way to recognise the fact that the history… that Ferrari has always been connected in the presence of Formula One. So this is the 60th championship of the F1 and this is the 60th time that Ferrari is here in Formula One.”

As far as aerodynamics are concerned the modifications are a result of the Overtaking Working Group set up by the FIA in collaboration with the teams to produce a set of rules aimed at encouraging more overtaking.

The front wing has been developed mainly on its side elements and is now much wider than the past designs, the rear wing is higher and narrower and the diffuser has been moved rearward.

The new rules regarding aerodynamics have also led to modifications to the suspension and the whole layout of the car has been redesigned in light of the new rules and to achieve a balanced weight distribution.

The Porsche 959 is a sports car manufactured by Porsche from 1986 to 1989, first as a Group B rally car and later as a legal production car designed to produce a minimum number of 200 street legal units be built.

When the Porsche 959 was going through its production run, it was hailed as being the most technologically advanced road-going sports car ever built and a preview of future of sports cars: it was one of the first high-performance vehicles to use an all-wheel drive system and provided the basis for Porsche’s first all-wheel drive Carrera 4 model; and it convinced Porsche executives of the system’s viability so well that they chose to make all-wheel drive standard on all versions of the 911 Turbo starting with the 993 variant.

During its lifetime, the vehicle had only one other street legal peer with comparable performance, the Ferrari F40. The 959′s short production run and performance have kept values high. In 2004, Sports Car International named this car number one on the list of Top Sports Cars of the 1980s. 

In its day, this was the most technologically advanced road-going sportscar ever built. But just 337 were made, each with a 2.8-litre turbocharged flat-six out back.

Honda’s attempt to right-size its development schedule and cope with the economic downturn apparently extends beyond the cancellation of the next NSX. Honda changing its plans for the next two years, and that includes rethinking the development of a range of rear-wheel-drive Acuras, a new V8 and the S2000′s successor.  

Acura seems to be carrying the weight of the bad news, with its RWD 7-series rival, originally due out in 2015, cancelled indefinitely, along with development of a V8 engine that would allow the brand to compete with the best and brightest from Germany. 

Unfortunately, the cancellation of development also extends to Honda’s smaller offerings, Honda planned to release a drop-top version of its CR-Z after the hybrid goes on sale next year, but that model has been axed too. Even more disturbingly, 2009 will be the last year of production for the S2000, with no new model waiting in the wings. This will be very disappointing for Honda as these were exciting plans and it is very unfortunate that it is hitting them so hard.