I got to drive the new Honda S660 mid-engine roadster
 

So yesterday I got to test drive a very rare, and very special (for those who dig the car) Honda S660. I thought you guys might be interested in this new car, and since it's not available in the US, I decided to post a thread about it :) This is not a road test, but more of a "potential buyer" take on the car.

To kick things off, the car looks INCREDIBLY small! I was shocked when I walked up to it. You know that it's small when you see pictures of it, but you have to stand in front of it to realize just how small it really is! You know it's small, because it's a kei car. But this is absurd. It's like a toy. It feels like it's a little bigger than a 12 year old's pedal car. It's TINY. It looks pretty good! From some angles, it does look a bit meh. But from some, it looks like a proper super car. Looks a lot like a baby NSX. Lots of fancy creases and curves. The headlights are LED, and are A LOT brighter than our cars. The air intake, is right under the red frame like thing behind the front left window (don't know what's it's called. Not a convertible fan :lol: ). I found that to be pretty cool. It looked like an exotic. It's the kinda car you could easily park next to a Ferrari 488... if it wasn't so embarrassingly small.

Second, there's literally no boot space AT ALL. Since it's a mid-engined car, you'd expect most of what's underneath the front hood to be the boot. But nope. It's just a skinny long storage box. About 12 inches tall, 30 inches wide and maybe 12 inches deep. Because of the odd shape, you can't fit anything useful in there. And it can only hold 10KG. Yeah. It's written on the lid. Yeah. Lid. It's a box :hahano:

When you pop the truck, you find engine, a turbocharged 660cc 3 cylinder. About 60bhp. Then you realize that there's so much of wasted space in there. You know when you pop the hood of the RX-8 it's jam packed. But the S660's engine bay is empty! So much of space on the sides. They could've made use of all that. Maybe add glove compartments.

Step inside, that's where things get cool. You sit incredibly low. It's suprisingly spacious inside, but even with the seat at its farthest point, I didn't have enough leg room to comfortably drive. Not by a lot. It was just a tiny bit less than "perfect" for me. The seats are nice and supportive. Good looking dash. Nice thick steering wheel. There's an aftermarket looking android tablet-ish display in the center. It has a boost gauge too lol. Good sound system. It was pretty nice inside. As soon as I started it up, I noticed quite a bit of vibration coming from the engine. That's when I realized that it's not a refined engine. Well, what more can I expect from a 3 cylinder. There's a lot of engine wobble going on. The sound was rough too. It did rev freely though, and it made a weird "tick" noise as I let go of the throttle. It was loud and we had no idea what it was. Wasn't coming from the exhaust. It sounded mechanical. Since it was a fairly new car (150 odd miles on the clock) we concluded it was normal. :dunno: Weird.

On to the drive.

Surprisingly quick for a 660cc car! 0-60 with 2 people in was around 12 seconds. The turbo kicks in around 2500rpm, though I gotta be honest, I didn't feel it at all. It just felt like a 1.5 liter engine. It's fairly fast up to 60mph, but slows down after that. The one I drove had a CVT with paddle shifters. In manual mode, it has 7 gears. How it works is it simulates gear changes. Pretty gimmicky. It didn't have a satisfying "shift". It just felt like the rpm dropped by 500rpm and rose up again. Very artificial. The steering was nicely weighted. Not as heavy as an RX-8 though. Think more Mazda 3-like. Good feedback. Very little kick from the steering. The suspension was fairly soft. Again, more similar to a Mazda 3, or a family car.

Handling was amazing though. Even though it only has 60bhp, it's extremely light. 1870 pounds to be precise, and the chassis is made out of diecast aluminum. I did get a lot of body roll, but it was so nice in the turns. Now I am no pro racer, but from what I felt, it handled pretty darn well. Compared to our cars, it's not that sure footed. It doesn't feel grown up. But it went around bends pretty well. Pretty good for what it is, and because it's so small, I was darting in and out of traffic like no tomorrow.

Overall, pretty sick car. I had a great time driving it. It's perfect for a Sunday afternoon drive. Which is exactly what I did haha. I've attached some pics of the car while it was at the dealer. I couldn't take any proper ones. A quick Google search should get you some nice pics, if you haven't seen it yet. Let me know what you guys think about the car :mdrmed:

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That thing would be a total flop in the US.

Hilarious car. Sweet midengine.
I'd love for it to be given a chance to fail in the US
Better than a SMART car!!

Yeah I wouldn't buy it, but it's such a cool car to take out for fun. It's not practical at all. But it's fun. Perfect for a chick haha.

Since my pictures are pretty crappy, here are some pics from Google, so you guys can get better look.

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the 125hp version might do well in the states and it looks kinda cool. plus we all know how big the aftermarket support is for hondas so i would imagine it could be a quick little car

It kind of reminds me of a Toyota MR-2.

no the turbo mr2 was a beast and when modded wanted to kill you every time you drove it. i loved keck03s mr2 and wish i could have bought it but was buying my house at the time. we were talking about that car this weekend

Yup, you needed to step back at least 3 steps, and then take your picture.
Great picture of the mirror, I guess.

Would have been nice to see a picture of something other than the HUGE Sport button in the interior, too.

Did the Sport button change anything in the way the car drove, or just the transmission programming? Maybe a bit more boost, or quicker throttle response?

BC.

I don't know about that.
Depending on the price point, I could imagine every teenage girl in the country begging their parents to buy them one. I think it would sell pretty good for the first couple of years.

Plus, think of the hilarity of a racing league full of these things battling it out.

BC.

You could be right, but I based my comment on thinking abut the FR-S/BRZ. 2 underpowered, overpriced sports cars. They can barely give those away anymore and this Honda is even smaller and less practical than those 2.

$26k shipped from Japan to US.

Honda S660 New 2016 Model in Japan, Import New S660 for Sale by Exporter and dealer

Wow I was hoping it would be lighter than 1870. That's close to NA miata and s2 Elise weight and they both have more power. I thought this would be 1600+ lbs.

Haha sorry man. I was trying not to look like a fool taking pics. It was supposed to be a serious visit. Normally the guys over here who come and take pictures, don't end up buying the car :lol: When you take pics, the dealer doesn't care about you.

Sport button kinda sharpened up the throttle. It held the gears higher. I didn't feel an increase in boost though. It's a pretty fun car to drive.

I know it's not the perfect car for the US, but yeah, teenage girls will be all over this thing! Guys will too, because look at it! From some angles it looks like a mini exotic. This car is supposed to be the spiritual successor to the Honda Beat, their mid-engined roadster from the 90s. It's just like an MR-2... only smaller :hahano: I'll attach a pic, for those who haven't seen it.

For 26k, it's a little too much. The S660 retails in Japan for 2 million yen. That's about $18,000. Would've been a pretty good deal for that price. If it was the same price here,

Honestly, I would've bought it for $18,000. I know it's small and has no trunk space. But it's fairly quick, turn a great deal of heads, makes a good noise and handles wonderfully. It just makes you feel happy when you crawl inside it, probably because it's so ridiculously small. But taxes over here are off the chart. That car was $50,000, so no :tear:

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