“Wow, it’s really small.” Now under normal circumstances, hearing those words from a female would be the death-knell to any guy, something that he’d never get over for the rest of his natural life. However, thankfully for me, the girl in question was a fellow motoring-scribe, and she was referring to the Honda S660 in front of us…
“Yeah, (snigger) it is”, was all I could muster, while stifling a guffaw, which she also picked-up on, and proceeded to turn beet red. I spared her the fall-out of such a loaded statement (a.k.a. an open goal) and proceeded to inspect the S660 instead, after snapping that photo above with my phone, as a visual size-comparo. She did not follow. Well, she’s right actually, the S660 is absolutely tiny, and parked next to that blue Honda Jazz (or Fit in Japan), you can really see just how small it is.
But you know what, it’s an illusion. Thanks to Honda’s “Man maximum, Machine minimum” design and build credo, the S660, despite its exterior looks, is quite the opposite once you get in. I measure in at 190cm head-to-toe, and believe it or not, I can fit quite comfortably in the cabin of the S660, which of course is a strict 2-seater.
This is actually the second time I’ve squeezed my butt into a S660, the first time was in 2015, when it was first launched in Japan, and you can read about that here.
So what’s changed in 2-years? Nothing. It’s still powered by a high-revving, tuned and turbocharged in-line 3-cyl, DOHC VTEC 658cc engine that puts out 62bhp and 104Nm of torque, mated to either a CVT or 6-speed manual transmission that sends power to the rear wheels.
Once sat in the S660, one thing becomes very evident almost right away; Honda didn’t need to make this car, they just wanted to. And in that same vein, it’s not a car that you’d buy because you need to, it’s a car you’d buy because you really want to.
There’s a huge difference between the two. The S660 was made for fun, as you can see in this quick video I shot while driving it in the vicinity of the Fuji Speedway in Japan…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uy-mrOZ8Fs&t=11s
If you could not tell from my face, I was having a ball. The S660 does everything it promises to do, and the main thing that it promises is fun, or a ‘Joy to Drive’ as Honda puts it. In that respect, this car delivers.
You may be sniggering at the 62bhp and 104Nm at this point, admittedly it’s not a whole lot, but anyone who’s ever tried both a 4-stroke go-kart and a 2-stroke go-kart will know what I’m alluding to now; this little roadster puts the power down on tarmac like you would not believe. Have a look at what the view is like from the driver’s seat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTatkPG-BZA
It’s extremely light (830kgs) and agile, it has amazing amounts of grip (a beep emanates if you exceed 0.5Gs in a corner, the car beeped incessantly), it revs like there’s no tomorrow, and really makes the most out of every ounce of power from that little mid-mounted 3-pot turbocharged engine.
And that’s it really, there’s not much else to say about the S660, except this: It’s very likely that Honda Malaysia is planning to bring this car in sometime in the near future. Wait, what? Am I sure? Of course not. Death and Taxes are the only sureties in life, but given the fact that we all had a second go at this amazing little roadster after the initial impression two-years ago, I think it’s a fair chance that the next time I drive the S660, it’ll be on home-turf. – Chris Wee.
Honda S660 Photo Gallery…
