Is Honda's Project 2 & 4 a New Side-by-Side? - Automobile
When I saw the plan view of what appears to be half an open-wheel formula car elsewhere on this website, under the headline “Honda Brings Motorcycle-Powered 2 & 4 to Frankfurt,” I immediately thought of the company’s old Side-by-Side. No, I’m not referring to the off-road four-wheelers that Honda’s motorcycle division sells under the same model name, but rather a small open-wheel formula car that Japan’s third-largest automaker built for its 50th birthday. (It was incorporated in 1948 and marketed its first motorcycle in 1949. ) You might remember another product of that celebration: the Honda S2000. Honda unveiled the single-seater in September 1997, a few years after its huge success as engine... It’s far too premature to celebrate the automaker’s return this year to F1 as McLaren’s engine supplier (though this race car is probably less costly than the Lexus LFA that Toyota built to “celebrate” its F1 victories). The Side-by-Side had perfect mid-engine balance, with a 742-cc narrow-angle, SOHC, V-twin engine placed to the right of the driver’s cockpit. Weighing just 860 pounds, the Honda Side-by-Side wasn’t fast, but it was fun -- as much as or more fun than I’ve had in any six-figure supercar. Source: www.automobilemag.com
