Manufacturer Honda Class Kei car | Production 2015-present Body style 2-door roadster | |
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Assembly Yachiyo Plant, Yokkaichi, Mie, Japan Layout Transverse mid-engine, rear-wheel drive | ||
The Honda S660 is a two-seat sports car which fits in the very small Kei car category. It is manufactured by the Japanese manufacturer Honda. The car weighs approx 830kg with manual transmission and 850kg with CVT auto. A prototype was shown at the November 2013 Tokyo Motor Show, the major Japanese auto show event. It is the successor to the Honda Beat. The naming convention of using the letter "S" followed by the engine displacement is a long held Honda tradition going back to Honda's first production car, the Honda S500.
Contents
Concept and prototype
The S660 is a very lightweight, mid-engined, roadster sports car. It shares a platform with the Honda N-One. Its dimensions, because of kei car Japanese legislation, is almost identical to the 1990s Honda Beat, and uses the same three cylinder engine with mechanical improvements.
The Japanese Kei car model is powered by a 660 cc motor with approximately 47 kW (63 hp) and 104 N·m (77 lb·ft) torque to meet Kei regulations. Its introduction signals a return to two-door sports coupes from Honda, taking the smallest position below the larger Honda CR-Z and the top level luxury Honda NSX. It is a modern version of Honda's first mass-produced car, the Honda S500 introduced in 1963.
The mid-engine design balances weight on the front and rear of the car to provide good handling qualities. The design is claimed to have 45/55 front/rear weight balance (exactly even between the axles).
Cars in this size range are not currently regularly sold in the United States. The S660 would be smaller and less powerful than the Mazda Miata, currently one of the lightest production sports cars available in the US.
The development team of the S660 was led by Ryo Mukumoto who beat out 400 other participants in Honda's in-house competition. Honda made him the youngest lead engineer in the company's history even though he had no engineering experience. He was 22 when he was chosen and was given 5 years to develop the sports car.
Reception
The prototype and proposed production announcement were widely covered in auto enthusiast news sites and blogs. Initial reactions to the concept were favorable.
The first driving review was a June 2015 review of a Japanese market prototype driven by Top Gear in Tokyo. The author felt the car was "supremely manoeuvrable" but lacked power, something he hoped an export model with a larger motor would cure. He felt that such an export model might be a potential Mazda MX-5 competitor.
First photographs
The prototype S660 was photographed by car enthusiasts at a wintertime car event in early 2015 and published in the Japanese car enthusiast magazine Mag-X, and subsequently republished in the US car blog The Truth About Cars. The pictures included several exterior photos and one of the engine compartment open.
Production
Honda Motor Co. president Takanobu Ito indicated that the S660 was planned for production in 2015. It is not clear if this referred to the Japanese market model or a world market version. American Honda Motor Co. president Tetsuo Iwamura was quoted as saying "I would personally fight for it," to come to the United States if the US market asked for it.
Specifications
The roadster measures 3,395 mm (133.7 in) in length, 1,475 mm (58.1 in) in total width and 1,180 mm (46.5 in) in height in order to be within limitations for Japan's Kei car. It comes with a choice of a 6-speed manual transmission or a CVT with paddle shifters, both options being offered on the two trims available (alpha and beta). Only one engine is available - the S07A borrowed from the N-One, although it has been modified to fit the S660's more sporting image.