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• A near-9000-rpm redline, a manual transmission, and a droptop make this 2000 Honda S2000 a real catch on the Bring a Trailer auction site.• The AP1-generation S2000 was produced for model years 2000 through 2003. Later, AP2 models lose 800 rpm of revvability.• Bidding is open on this 2000 model until Monday, February 28, with current bidding at $19,700.There was a time not long ago when vehicles featuring the Holy Quaternity of Hooliganism—naturally aspirated, front-engine, rear-wheel drive, and with a manual gearbox—were abundant. So much so in fact, that even now defunct GM subbrand Saturn had an entry in the segment. These days, that luxury isn’t afforded to enthusiasts searching for something fresh off the assembly line. Sure, a few fantastic examples exist, like the recent 10Best-winning Toyota GR86/Subaru BRZ siblings, but do any of these newfangled machines have an engine that will scream its way to an almost 9000-rpm redline? Much to our dismay, they do not. Fortunately for us, clean, unmolested examples of the AP1 Honda S2000 still exist – like this 2000 model, open for bidding until February 28 on the Bring a Trailer auction site—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos.

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Car and Driver took the reins of a Y2K S2K back in ’99, and, to no one’s surprise, we gave it a glowing review. The obvious bit to praise was the engine, but that wasn’t the end of the story. The rigid construction, 50/50 weight distribution, and limited-slip differential made the S2000 a dreamy back-road companion. Its 0.90 g of lateral grip provided plenty of control when we wanted it, but the Honda’s tail could step out into a slide if poked and prodded just right.

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As for the transmission, the tight ratios on the six-speed unit meant the driver could keep the rpm up and in the power band, and we also praised the great shift action. But the main event here is the F20C inline four-cylinder. The S2000’s powerplant has an adrenaline effect: if your heart isn’t racing after consecutive redline shifts, please seek medical attention. Jokes aside, the intoxicating nature of the F20C is very serious. It’s a rather loud thing, too; we experienced 93 dBA at full throttle during our testing. A modern comparison? A 2021 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4, in our testing, tied that 93-decibel rating.

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This particular AP1 comes with a few extras: the original set of wheels with all-season tires (17-inch TSW wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires are currently installed), a Koyorad aluminum radiator, rear brake rotors, manufacturer’s literature, and more. The interior appears mostly in fine condition other than a bit of wear on the outer bolster of the driver’s seat and a tear in the carpeting. Some recent maintenance has been completed, most notably spark plugs in early 2020, a brake master cylinder replacement, battery replacement in November 2020, and the serpentine belt just one year ago. Anybody in the market for a riot of a driving experience should be looking at the S2000. With its wailing four-banger, fantastic shifter, and collapsible soft top, what’s not to like? Okay, sure, there are a few things not to like, but let’s not dwell too much on the lack of rear and cabin cargo space. What is important, however, is that the S2000 encapsulates all the hallmarks of a great sports car—and some lucky buyer is going to find out just how much fun it is. Bidding runs until late in the day on Monday, February 28, and as of Thursday sits at $19,700.

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Audi introduced a new 2022 Q5 40 base model with a less powerful engine.It has 201 horsepower compared with the Q5 45’s 261 horsepower.The Q5’s base price sits at $44,495, with the more powerful 45 now starting at $46,995.Audi quietly slipped in a less powerful base powertrain for the Q5 luxury crossover but has raised the price compared with last year’s base model. The 40 model now sits at the bottom of the 2022 Q5 lineup, starting at $44,495, a $100 increase over the 2021 Q5 45 base model. This new entry trim comes with a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four with 201 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque, versus the Q5 45’s version of this engine with 261 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque. The 45 is still available, but you’ll now pay even more than before to get the more powerful engine, as it now starts at $46,995—a $2600 increase over last year.

Like the 45, this new base Q5 40 configuration comes standard with all-wheel drive and a seven-speed automatic and is offered in Premium, Premium Plus, and Prestige trim levels. It’s not available with the Q5’s swoopier Sportback body style, which comes standard with the 45 powertrain. When we tested a 2021 Q5 45, it got to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds and ran the quarter mile in 14.2 seconds at 97 mph. While we’ve haven’t gotten our hands on a Q5 40, we can anticipate it will be a few ticks slower in those metrics. EPA fuel-economy numbers for the two engines are nearly identical, but the 40 does have a 1-mpg advantage in its highway rating.The Q5’s price increase is noteworthy, but it isn’t as significant as some models that have seen even bigger jumps for the 2022 model year. And the average transaction price of new cars has also risen as of late, reaching $47,100 in January.
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Following up on 278 complaints from consumers, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating the automated emergency braking systems in Honda’s Accord and CR-V.The investigation covers the 2017–2019 CR-V and the 2018–2019 Accord.The NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation will look into what it describes as “inadvertent activation of the collision mitigation braking system” in the two models.Honda has been working toward the goal of having its Honda Sensing driver-assist safety technology as standard on every vehicle, and that package includes automated emergency braking (AEB). Already in 2018, a million Honda vehicles were so equipped. Now the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced it’s launching an investigation into the system, after 278 complaints that the braking can happen unnecessarily when there is no obstacle in the vehicle’s path. Of the complaints, 107 involved 2018 or 2019 Accord sedans, and 171 involved the 2017–2019 CR-V crossover. NHTSA said in its initial document that six of these cases involved collisions and minor injuries. Honda calls its AEB system the “collision mitigation braking system” (CMBS).

Tesla has also come under NHTSA investigation this month over “phantom braking” in its 2021 and 2022 Tesla Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles, also involving an automated emergency braking system.

2017 Honda CR-V.
Honda

Honda was one of 20 automakers that agreed to a plan to make AEB standard on at least 95 percent of its vehicles by 2022, saying it intended to meet that goal two years ahead of schedule. Earlier this month Honda released a statement saying its full safety suite, Honda Sensing, “is now standard or available on all new Honda models, found on nearly five million Honda vehicles on U.S. roads today.” It is unclear whether the problem reported on the 2017–2019 CR-V and 2018–2019 Accord could affect other Honda vehicles or newer models of those two vehicles, but at this time those are the only ones that are part of the NHTSA probe.When asked about that, a Honda spokesperson told Car and Driver, “Each model’s ADAS [Advanced Driver Assistance System] setup is slightly different based on the inherent vehicle differences, and with each generation change, programming evolves.” The automaker also issued a statement saying: “Honda will cooperate with NHTSA through the investigation process, and we will continue our own internal review of the available information.”

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U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Perhaps trying to compete with Tesla’s Dog mode, Ford has filed a patent application for something called Pet mode, which would allow drivers to remotely control things including windows and temperature.If your dog is the kind of spoiled furry friend who has its own masseuse, Ford has also considered implementing a way for the car to play “relaxing music for the pet’s enjoyment.”Tesla started offering its Dog mode feature around four years ago as a way for drivers to make sure any animals left inside of one of the company’s EVs don’t get too hot or cold, and that passersby would see a notification that lets them know the car is comfortable for the pet.Automakers haven’t shied away from making their vehicles more pet friendly in recent years, from the Subaru Loves Pets campaign to Tesla’s Dog mode. Ford might someday join the pet party thanks to a new patent that describes a way to remotely create a pet-friendly automotive environment whether you’re leaving your dog in a parked car or just trying to make them happier onboard.

Ford’s patent application, which was filed in 2018 and published this past week, talks about ways to use the key fob or a smartphone app to make a parked vehicle more comfortable for a pet by, for example, lowering one or more windows, adjusting the temperature level, opening the sunroof or the trunk lift gate, and maybe tilting or folding some seatbacks down to give a pet more space. The pet button on a future fob could also be used to open doors and allow your pet to hop in the car. For the truly pampered animal companion, the system would also allow the car to play “relaxing music for the pet’s enjoyment.”

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Ford also throws a bit of shade against the old-school ways of driving with pets onboard. “Although some pet owners simply put their pet in a cage in the back of a vehicle,” the patent application says, “others wish to provide better conditions.” The problem, as Ford sees it, is that “the process of creating such an environment (e.g., lowering windows, manually tilting back seats) can be cumbersome.”As a patent application, the filing doesn’t get into every possible feature of some future Ford Pet mode option or exactly how the company might implement this kind of technology. Even so, we can learn about some of the things Ford is thinking about as it might try to make its vehicles more pet friendly. For one thing, the system might have an RFID sensor that tries to communicate with an RFID tag attached to a pet or it might use infrared sensors or a probabilistic model to determine if there is a pet inside the vehicle.The patent was first published by Ford Authority, which suspects that Ford is thinking of adding this technology to its electric vehicles. Tesla Dog mode operates in a manner similar to what Ford is proposing here, while being a bit more advanced. Dog mode uses the inherent benefit of having an electric vehicle with a large battery to basically operate as a little climate-controlled cabin for any waiting animals inside the vehicle. Anyone who has to leave a pet in the car can simply turn on the Keep Climate On setting on the car’s climate controls and, when selecting dog mode, a message is displayed on the large screen that reads: “My owner will be back soon. Don’t worry! The heater [or A/C] is on and it’s XX degrees.” If the car’s battery runs low, the driver will get a push notification on their phone to come and check on the pet.
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The Morgan Super 3, the replacement for the iconic 3 Wheeler, switches to a Ford 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine.The new car also features Morgan’s first monocoque structure.The Super 3 is on sale in the U.S. now, with first deliveries expected before the end of the year.While we loved the quirky Morgan 3 Wheeler, we always knew that it wouldn’t get to grow nearly as old as the English sports-car maker’s other long-lived models. That was because the S&S flat-twin engine that powered it, which defined both its frontal appearance and its driving behavior, was barely able to pass stringent European emissions standards back when the car was new in 2013. By the time it retired in 2020, its air-cooled engine had been strangled like a malaise-era V-8, its output cut to just 82 horsepower—early ones had made 116 hp—while the rising cost of the U.S.-made powerplant had pushed the 3 Wheeler’s price up to a hefty $59,000.

Which is why you’re looking at a new and substantially different three-wheeler from Morgan: the new Super 3. The biggest change is obvious from the first glance: the loss of the motorcycle engine for a water-cooled powerplant in the form of a 1.5-liter Ford three-cylinder engine. But the rest of the car has been substantially modernized, too, and we’re promised that the version that will be reaching U.S. buyers later this year will be cheaper, faster, and better to drive than its characterful predecessor.
The new engine has dramatically altered the Super 3’s front-end appearance. The Super 3 now features a mesh grille covering the bulkier motor where the old car’s cylinder blocks were on proud display. Morgan’s designers have chosen a much squarer design to surround the bulkier new powerplant. It stands in contrast to the curved teardrop shape further back, with an exposed cast metal crossmember acting as both a mounting point for the front suspension and a design element. Europe-market Super 3s will have their headlights mounted farther out, as seen here, but U.S.-bound examples—which are legally regarded as motorcycles—must have theirs mounted closer to the centerline within the grille aperture.
The Ford engine produces peaks of 118 horsepower and 110 pound-feet of torque and will work against a claimed dry weight of just 1400 pounds. Morgan is anticipating a zero-to-62-mph time of around seven seconds and a top speed of 130 mph. As before, power is channeled through a five-speed manual gearbox from the Mazda Miata; a six-speed was considered, but the extra ratio was reckoned unnecessary. This drives a bevel box to turn a belt connected to the single rear wheel, the layout meaning there is no need for a differential. Nor is there any power steering or ABS for the braking system, so Morgan hasn’t become too modern. The offset design of the thin front wheels, which will be available in both 13- and 14-inch sizes, has tightened the turning circle compared to the old car. For brakes, Morgan continues to use discs at the front and a drum at the rear.
The Super 3’s structure is another significant innovation for this most traditional of car companies, marking the brand’s first use of monocoque construction. That also means, even more shockingly, that the Super 3 doesn’t have its bodywork mounted to a wooden substructure, a feature that has been common to every previous Morgan since the firm’s foundation. Instead, the whole body is made from superformed aluminum. As before, there are no doors or roof, with different sizes of plastic windscreens being offered as options. External accessory rails will allow bags, carriers, and even cameras to be clipped on; their design is protected by the first patent Morgan has ever registered.The minimalist cabin is designed to be entirely weatherproof; Morgan says it is possible to clean the interior with a jet wash. Switchgear and the twin round digital displays in the center of the dashboard all meet the international IP4 standard for dust and water resistance. Seats are fixed, but the pedal box moves for different-size drivers. Material choice will include vinyl, saddle leather, and tough “adventure spec” fabric. Buyers will be able to choose from a wide range of colors, and, as with the old 3 Wheeler, some visually striking graphics packs.We don’t have finalized pricing yet, but Morgan promises the Super 3 will be both cheaper and better equipped than the P101 runout edition of the old car. The first U.S. customers will be getting their cars before the end of the year.
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