Kei Cars in depth - Vol. one : Honda #blogpost

I’m going to start to post some kei cars and their details and my thoughts on them And here are the first 5, with the Honda theme. Why Hondas? Simply, Honda’s kei cars are mostly iconic. Their tiny cars makes success through out time and it’s best to know them better. So here is goes.

1. Honda N360

So, the N360, one of Honda’s first kei cars, and first passenger kei cars. Powered by an air-cooled 360cc 2 cylinder, the N360 makes about 31hp and revs to a fantastic 9000rpm, with maximum power coming at 8500. The car sounds a lot like a tuk tuk when it runs, and it surely is as small as one. Amazingly, the car still carries 4, and does 79 UK mpg, in 1967! That’s thanks to a body weight less than half a Fit. The N360 is equivalent to Japan’s MINI. And Honda said it has sports car handling to match the MINI, and some say it’s true. With a small dimension to play with, less than 500kg to carry, and no 21st century safety features, there’s no doubt that the N-One will be a great car to drive. Some cars even come with a sunroof for better styling.

2. Honda N-One

Fast Forward about 45 years, and you get an equivalent to the New MINI, yes, it’s the Honda N-One. So what to we get in 45 years? Good space for 4 adults, nearly twice the engine displacement, twice the power, twice the weight, twice the doors, optional 2 more driven wheels, a turbo, one extra cylinders, and enough optional extras to match the MINI. The N-One looks back to the old N360 like the New MINI look back to the old MINI. It’s not the same car, but it has the DNA. It’s still a kei car, it still has the iconic design of the N360, it still has enough space, and it’s still cute to look at. The base model comes with a more classic styling, closer to the N360, while the top of the range Premium gets a turbo and a more modern look compared to the base model. The roof can be painted in a few different colors, and the body comes with many colorful colors too. Unlike the New MINI, it doesn’t have the uniqueness of the interior, but what can you expect? It’s made by the same people who built your granny’s car. But as a kei car, this car can live up to the N360.

3. Honda S360

You may not have even heard of this car, so let me introduce you, to Honda’s first sports car that didn’t make to production, the Honda S360. Only 12 were ever built at first, with one replica made about 50 years later. Unlike the N360, the S360 is actually powered by a 4 cylinder engine, driving the rear wheels. Yea, a 4 pot with 360cc of displacement. It makes 33hp at 9000, but it sounds absolutely sick, a lot better than the N360. Like the N360, the S360 is light, weighing 510kg. Even though the S360 didn’t make to production, it started the whole S-Series. How? Well the car didn’t make it for a reason, it was not good enough for outside of Japan, so they made the S500, and it went on a success.

To know more about this baby, click my old post below about the S360.

4. Honda Beat

You guys are more familiar with this car. The beat is the first production MR Kei-sports-car that came to production. Powered by a mighty 656cc naturally aspirated 3 cylinder making 63hp, the Beat was and still is the most powerful naturally aspirated Kei Car. This thanks to Honda’s Multi Throttle Responsive Engine Control and individual throttle bodies, which others didn’t have that time. Jeremy Clarkson reviewed the Beat on the old old top gear, and he said that the Beat isn’t really fast compared to the turbocharged Mira and Dangan, but it surely is loud. Well yeah, it’s revs to 9000, the engine is right behind your back, and it has no roof so you can hear the engine even more clearly. In Japan, the Beat faces the Cappuccino and AZ-1, making the 90’s Kei sports trio, and they even have their own club in Japan, named ABC ( AZ-1 Beat Cappuccino ). The funny thing is, the trio is a lot like the holy trinity. They’re are all good in their own ways. The beat with its sharp response and linear power, the AZ-1 with it’s unique gullwing, the the cappuccino with its layout and weight distribution. At the end of the day, nobody lost, the trio made to success, even though only the beat had a successor.

Fun fact : The Beat is designed by Pininfarina

5. Honda S660

Last but not least, the mini supercar, it really is. While it is the Beat’s successor, the S660 ditched the N/A setup, going with a turbo. And the evolution doesn’t stop there. The S660 is like what the GTR did to the Skyline GTR, it went full modern. The S660 has brake-based torque vectoring, optional active aero, a design which looks like a baby Mclaren or NSX, and vehicle stability assist which can’t be turned off for some reason, which is odd. The thing is that the S660 isn’t as sensible as other Hondas. It has no boot, it seats 2, the rear visibility isn’t good, so why bother with a very sensible always-on stability assist? But let’s get off the tech, and see the mechanicals. First of all, it has all 4 discs and 4 independent suspension ( unlike the rival, the new Copen ). It sits on Yokohama’s finest tyres which sizes are specifically made for the car. It has 6-speed manual gearbox as standard, and one of the highest torque in the kei car class. People say it has a very good handling, which makes it seem underpowered with the the amount of grip it has. Despite that, it’s still the perfect kei sports, with one option that can ruin it totally. Yeah, Honda will charge you to ruin the car, with a CVT gearbox. It really isn’t a car to have that as an option. Honda may do CVT to basically every other car on their lineup ( well except type-R and NSX ), but why the S660? I mean it’s like a miata, it’s built to be enjoyed, not to be cruised in the streets of las vegas like a supercar, or to have a comfortable ride like a GT, because it’s far for comfortable.
Funny thing is, most S660 buyers are actually middle-aged, despite the designer being 20-ish. Perhaps old people just want to have a weekend blast at the streets of Hakone in a tiny S660.

That’s all for now mates. Stay tuned for my next post on Kei cars. Next : Subaru and Mazda.