Seen as a successor to the early ’90s Honda Beat kei car, the new S660 roadster, which will go into production in 2014, was introduced at the Tokyo Motor Show. The midengined car, as the nomenclature indicates, is powered by a 660cc three cylinder turbocharged engine driving through a seven speed paddle shifted transmission. While kei cars are meant specifically for the Japanese domestic market, there is a possibility that it might be sold, with modifications in other countries. Honda senior designer Ryo Sugiura, when asked about selling the little roadster outside of Japan, said, “I cannot tell you if it will or will not. It’s a secret. The car would certainly need some re-engineering.”
While 660 cubic centimeters is probably too small for even Europe, let alone the United States, the engine is thought to be tuned relatively mildly, creating the possibility of higher performance versions for export markets. Also, it’s rumored that the engine bay of the S660 is large enough to take the 105 hp 1 liter turbo three that will power the next generation Honda Jazz/Fit.
Sugiura said that the production version will be almost identical to the concept.
It could be *just* entertaining enough with the 1.0 L turbo…not likely to win many dragstrip races, but I’d imagine that with its relatively light weight, there could be enough smiles produced to make it a fun toss-about car. We’ll see if Honda ponies up to bring it to the US.
It would be cool.
What it really needs is the CBR bike motor. It might need a rebuild every so often, but a 13K RPM redline would be worth it.
A naturally aspirated 180hp 1.0L in this thing definitely could be interesting. At 85 lbs-ft of torque, it would almost be reasonable, too, at least until you notice that peak torque comes on near 8500 RPM.
Turbo CBR motor?
I’m reading on other sites that the turbo 1.0L will be at least 127hp and 147lb-ft tq. I can’t imagine this weighing any more than 2000lbs, so the acceleration should be pretty decent.
This could be a great city car, but I can’t imagine this being sold in the U.S. Isn’t about the same size or even smaller than the Fiat 500?
Yeah, but as a mid-engined 2 seater it’s not a city car so much as a mini-Elise or Miata competitor.
1 litre turbo, roughly 1 ton weight, could be a ball…
At a low enough price a 1.0 could be very popular with desirable demographics that Honds has seen drift away from them.
If I was on one of those sites where people post JPEGs instead of writing then this is where I would post the “take my money” JPEG.
I mean Honda, if you don’t bring this over I will just buy an MR2 Spyder or 914. So I’m not going to beg. But if you do bring this over I will buy it.
The fact that Sugiura-san knows that it will take some re-engineering proves that he is already working on it. To me anyway.
Can somebody photochop the pix with Civic steelies and CRZ front end to see how this car would actually look in production?
I’m less concerned with the question of the engine bay is large enough, but if the driver seat is large enough. I am unable to fit into MX-5, which is a shame.
So is this the Japanese take on the old MGs?
Think of it as an updated Del Sol. Apologies for the misspelling for all that own/had/wanted one.
The MR-2 was well-loved by the owners, in both boxy and oblong editions.
If it comes here and is available with manual, I’ll find a way to get one
Just wonder if a B-series could fit in the back
Request – We need a Creative Commons licensed image of the S660 for Wikipedia. If anyone has the photographers’ contact information and can point me at them, I would appreciate it. Thanks.