Driving Honda’s S660 in Japan

It’s a bright Friday morning in October as I head to Honda’s HQ in the Aoyama district of Tokyo to pick up arguably the hottest small car currently around. To wit, the Honda S660.

Imagine a downscaled, mid-engined 660 cc mini sportscar and you have the S660, a direct descendant of the Honda Beat, which launched back in Japan back in 1991. Remember that one?

Call it inspiration or a distinct lack of imagination, but I decide to take the S660 over the exact same roads that I covered in the Beat when new and I was living in Japan (yes, it was quite some time ago now).

So heading out of Tokyo, pointing west along the Tomei highway, we eventually come to the legendary Atsugi-Odawara highway and then the even more storied Hakone Turnpike: a lovely, climbing, twisting, bewitching strip of road that’s featured in a thousand road tests yet still can always be guaranteed to deliver the enthusiast goods.

Being a 660 cc minicar, the S660 is strictly limited on size, power and top speed, just as it was for the Beat back in the day. Nonetheless, for the class of 2015, Honda has designed a completely new mid-engined chassis and this combines with the latest buzzy Honda three cylinder turbo engine, good for a meteoric 64 ps.

Weighing about 800 kgs, the S660 is not so light, but as a driving tool, it comes together really well. The key is that wonderfully stiff chassis, low centre of gravity and keen 45:55 weight distribution, coupled with simple-but-effective strut suspension and accurate, well-geared power steering.

The driving position is also spot on. Same for the layout of the pedals and the 6-speed manual box on the S600 is another peach.

Oh yes, ‘my’ S660 also boasted some pretty tasty Yokohama slick tyres – 15in at the front, 16in at the back. Grip, as I discover, it does not lack.

On the road, the Honda feels way more upscale and refined that you might expect. Japanese journalists told me it could easily handle more power, and they’re not wrong.  The ride is also excellent, braking sharp and yes, it genuinely does feel lively, quick and well sorted.

It’s certainly a lot quieter and more civilised than the Beat (as you’d expect, given the 24 year age gap). One thing I clearly remember from the Beat was the sheer level of engine noise as the revs rose. This was a naturally aspirated, throbby triple, red lined at a dizzy 8500 rpm. Today’s turbo S660 cuts off at 7600 rpm and is way, way smoother, but does it  talk to you in quite the same way as that classic Honda screamer did of old? Discuss…

The S660 comes with a roll away fabric roof (like an Elise), which you can store in the nose of the car (just), but that’s it for luggage space. Whisper it, but the S660 is seriously compromised in this department, so you really wouldn’t want to take it for the weekly shop at Waitrose, two up. Even in the cabin, there is precious little space for…anything.

Powering up the Hakone Turnpike, however (it’s like a mini Col de Turini, the classic stage on the Monte Carlo Rally), such rational everyday thoughts are far from your mind. This pointy and agile little Honda’s simply too much fun. Period.

At the top, with a cloudy outline of Mt Fuji in far off view, I stop and breathe in the glorious mountain air. Just as I did with the Beat which, coincidentally I tested (then) with an original Honda S600 from the ‘60s. Must be a fascinating exercise to bring all three cars together – S600, Beat and S660 – and right now, I wouldn’t like to say which the winner would be….

Or to put it another way, all stand as inspired pieces of technology and design in their period. What’s encouraging is that it’s all still continuing…

Price? The S600 lists in Japan for between ¥1.98 – ¥2.18 million (call it £10,600-£11,700), so well undercutting the latest Mazda Roadster (MX-5) which kicks off at ¥2.49 million (£13,369). But Honda has designed and built the S600 soley for Japan, so goes the word.

So will there be a bigger version, for a potential US and European market? It looks like a no brainer, to me. Just scale up the S660 and bring it over…