I Bought a Baby Honda NSX!

I bought this little Honda S660 from an auction in Japan. It cost me just under £11,000 all in to buy it, fees for buying it, to ship it, all the taxes and import duty and the work required to convert it for use in the UK and register it here as well. However, I've been having to wait for the relevant paperwork to come through before I can actually drive it on the road. But look, at last, it's arrived, which means that finally I can drive this thing. And so in this video, I'm going to review my very own Honda S660 and even compare its performance to one of the other Japanese cars I own. Hopefully, I won't be disappointed. What exactly is a Honda S660? Well, it's a little mid-engine sports car, a baby NSX. It was built between 2015 and 2022. This is actually a 2016 model year. Now, it was very popular in Japan. 40,000 were built in total. However, here in the UK, it's very rare. There are currently only three for sale online. Now, if you compare that to one of my other cars, my Porsche 911 GT3 RS, there are actually 28 of those currently on sale. So what exactly is a Kei car? A Kei car is a uniquely Japanese ultra-compact car category designed to meet strict regulations on size and performance. These cars offer significant tax and insurance breaks in Japan, making them very affordable to own and operate. Known for their nimble handling and clever designs, Kei cars like the Honda Beat, Suzuki Cappuccino, and Daihatsu Koban even made it to the UK market, where they're loved for their quirky, compact charm and fuel efficiency. And they all have one thing in common, their engine capacity. Look at this little thing. It's a 660cc three-cylinder turbo petrol, puts out a whopping 64 horsepower and 101 newton-meters of torque, drives the rear wheels only by either a six-speed manual gearbox, which is what this car has, or a CVT automatic. Anyway, doesn't sound like a lot of performance, really, does it? But the car is light, it weighs in at just 830 kilos. So what does that mean in terms of acceleration? Let's see how quick it can go from 0 to 60 miles an hour. I'm going to use my specialist timing gear. Here we go. Come on, little car! It's not quick! 11.24 seconds. Do you know what? This really doesn't feel that much quicker than my Suzuki Jimny. Actually, that gives me an idea. I'm going to drag race my little Honda S660 against my Suzuki Jimny to see what difference there is over the standing quarter mile. I'm hoping it's quite substantial, but I fear that it might not be. The Suzuki Jimny has a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine with 101 horsepower and 130 newton-meters of torque. It drives the rear wheels via a five-speed manual gearbox. The car weighs in at 1,135 kilograms. Now, before we race, I'm just going to do a quick sound check. So this is the Honda. It's actually all right. Let's listen to the Jimny. I don't really think this is any better. Hopefully, it's better in the drag race. It's off the line before me. Come on, S660! There's literally no power at the top end. I'm easing past. But there, this car just dies. Come on! I'm winning, but not by loads. Victory. Not the sweetest victory. The S660 did the standing quarter mile in 18.5 seconds, whereas the Suzuki Jimny took 19.4 seconds. So both are embarrassingly slow. But like with the Jimny, speed isn't what matters. A large part of the S660's appeal is actually its dinky cuteness. I think it's a really cool looking car. I like the front design. So narrow. Look, it's like one pace wide. It's also very, very low. You've got 15-inch alloy wheels at the front. These are diamond cut. Moving down the side, there's some fake venturi there. That doesn't really lead anywhere. You've also got a Targa top and contrasting roof bars there in black. You've got a vent there, which once again doesn't really lead anywhere. Then at the back, you've got a 16-inch alloy wheel. And actually, I'm going to do this. It is one, two giant steps long. Round the back, you've got these sort of flying buttresses. Reminds me of the Porsche Spyder RS. You've got this large light design here. It's all integrated with this light bar. And you've got a silly number plate down there. You get a single exhaust. Now, in 2020, they actually updated the design with some revised bumpers, front and rear, some new LED headlights, and some different alloy wheel designs. And really, other than that, it remained largely unchanged throughout its life. And I have to say, here in the UK, it absolutely stands out. And that's why I wanted one. However, one of the problems with this car being so rare in the UK is that if you want to buy a used one, you don't have much choice. That's why I actually imported mine from Japan. You have about 50 of them online on auction each day. And there's plenty of options in terms of manual or automatic and different trim levels. So I really recommend importing one like I did. And I used Autocom Japan. Now, their fees are really good. So it was £400 to import this car. Shipping was only £700 on top of their fee. And they did all the hard work. They found the car. They bid on it. And they organised for it to be taken from the auction to the port so it could be shipped to the UK. It was so easy. So I highly recommend using Autocom Japan if you want to import a car to the UK or wherever else you may live. Now, if you want to do that, follow the link in the description of this video or the pinned comment to go straight to Autocom Japan. Alternatively, just click on the pop-out banner appearing in the top right-hand corner of the screen. Or you can scan the QR code on screen now if you're watching on smart TV by using your mobile phone to go to their website. So this is a rather special car. A small mid-engine sports car. So super rare here in the UK. But the question is, does it actually handle like a mid-engine sports car should? Well, do you know what? It really does. Now, even though the engine is rather light and it's so close to you that you're pretty much wearing it like a backpack, you do notice the effect of its position. When you bung this car into a corner, especially if you're doing it on the brakes, you can feel the momentum of that engine just helping the car rotate and it just makes it feel agile and playful. This car proves that you don't need loads of power or to be going that quick to have fun. It delivers. Now, if you want, you can turn the stability control off and it'll probably go a bit sideways. Now, because it's got a short wheelbase, I'd be a little bit wary about that because it could quite easily just change ends on you. What's great about this car is just how small it is, so you can really play about with it on the public roads. And, you know, if you have tractors or buses or stuff coming down the other way down a narrow road, you don't feel worried because there's just so much room for you. Another thing about it is just the lightness that really does just influence the way this car feels to drive. It makes it responsive. It makes it feel agile. And you've actually got quite a lot of grip because the tyres aren't having to deal with a lot of mass. It really is good fun. And the steering is very, very responsive and direct. Though I've noticed that on my car, the steering wheel seems slightly off-centre. So while it tracks straight, look, when you're going straight, the steering wheel's at an angle like that, and it's a bit annoying. So I'm going to get that locked out. Another thing I've noticed, there's quite a bit of scuttle shake. So as you drive over bumps, you get the steering wheel kind of like shaking in your hands. The windscreen shakes a little bit because the chassis isn't all that rigid. Now, you're probably noticing it by some vibrations in this camera. That's a minor issue. And I can forgive this car for that because otherwise it's just such a joy to drive. And one of the highlights has to be the gearbox. So I think this is one of the very best manual gearboxes I've ever tried. It's better than the one in my MX-5. It's better than the one in my GR Yaris. I even think it might be better than the one in the new Porsche 911 ST. It's a little Honda. Also, what helps, the pedal position's spot on for heel and toe. So I end up just heel and toeing even when I don't need to. So I'll be like, I think I do definitely need to brake here and change down, even though there's no need. But I'm just going to do it anyway because lulz, lulz. Another thing, you use this gearbox a little bit more than you might otherwise because while it does show you that the engine will rev to 7,500 rpm, there's really no point going past 5,500 rpm. I mean, if you have a look at the torque curve and the power curve of this engine, you'll see it just drops off a cliff after about 5,500 rpm. That's one of the reasons I'm going to tune it. I'm going to fit an upgraded turbo to it to get 100 horsepower out of it and then make the car a bit more revvy. And to make sure you don't miss out on that video, subscribe to this channel. Okay, that video will be coming soon. But I don't mind as it is standard because you just short shift and you get to hear the blow off from the turbo. It's so much fun. It does make me wonder though, how much quicker is this car in a roll-on? Compared to my Suzuki Jimny? Let's find out. Now I'm going to test the in-gear pulling power of this car. I'm going to do a rolling race from 30 miles an hour in third gear over the half mile against the Jimny. See if there's much of a difference. Remember, I've got turbo torque. Let's get up to 30 mile an hour in third. Three, two, one, go. Oh, look, that's the turbo effect there. Pulling on that Jimny so easily now. So far ahead. I've hit the limiter. I am much happier about that than the drag race. But am I happy with how this car feels to sit in when I'm not racing? The layout in here is pretty sporty. If you look at the swooping dash design, the way that you feel cocooned as the driver, this main centre console here leading into the separation between you and your front passenger. And look, good old-fashioned buttons for the climate control, which are nice and easy to use. Then up here you have this digital screen. I don't actually know how you operate all this, but it does have something interesting on it. You've got your throttle position. You've got your brake pressure there. And that is a G meter, but you don't see many Gs being pulled by this car. Then you've got this driver's display here. So you've got a digital speedo. Then you've got a analogue rev counter around the outside of it. Then some other gauges. And if you press this button here to go into sports mode, even though it just says select, you then have your dials turning red. You get a little gauge for the turbo boost to show you how much boost pressure you've got. Plus it improves the throttle response, apparently. But not all is well here. You see, in certain places the quality feels a little bit cheap and scratchy. Not convinced by the fake carbon fibre here on the doors, nor here on the steering wheel. And then there's the fact that I have no idea what it says on the infotainment system. So you cycle through the different menus, but it's all in Japanese. And yes, I might have USB input there and HDMI and Bluetooth, but I don't know how to actually configure the phone. And if I want to listen to the radio, well, unfortunately the Japanese operate on a slightly different wavelength, a waveband to ours. So I just get nothing but... Then there's the amount of storage. So it's rather sparse in this cabin. So there's a cup holder there, which, look, it's actually okay for one cup. But when you're driving, it's quite hard to reach it and sometimes elbow it. There's a bit of storage there where you're gonna have to put your key. Also, while the glove box looks quite big from the outside, when you look inside it, there isn't actually that much space. Here's the manual, all in Japanese. I'm gonna have to use Google Translate to figure out what the heck is going on. And this is very Japanese as well. Watch this. Normally, your indicators would be on this side, wouldn't they? It's not, it's your wipers. Your indicator's on this side, which means that as I'm jumping in and out of different cars, often when I want to turn left or right, I end up just operating the windscreen wipers, which isn't very helpful to other drivers. Then there is the matter of the seats. So these seats are lovely. Very nice, very comfy. They're not too tight. They hold your body really well. But it is quite snug in here. So I can fit. But let's just try it with Lewis. Lewis is over six foot. So let me just get this camera. Right, Lewis, do you want to get in? See if you can get comfortable. You can slide the seat back and recline it. Does it go back far enough for you? Yeah, that's not too bad. So you can just about fit. But there is something toilet people might find problematic. Now, one of the things about this being such a small car is that your head is above the windows and not that much lower than the windscreen. The wind's been buffeting the top of my hair like that. And I'm not particularly tall. Taller people are going to have their head above the windscreen. And they're going to end up with a really bad hairdo. Now I'm going a bit slower. I can lower the windows. It doesn't matter so much. Not so much buffeting when you're going slower. Now, this does illustrate another benefit of this car's dinky dimensions. When you're just negotiating driving around town, it really does just help being in a smaller car. I think cars have just got too big. Also, the cutesy look of it gives you plenty of leeway with other drivers. They don't find you threatening. They quite like the car. And so they're more likely to let you out. It's easy to find a parking space as well. I'm going to go in a space that isn't a space. Look, plenty of room and still loads of space. You need to open the door. No, I'm not going to park it because you're not supposed to. But I'm just illustrating the point. And while it is a sports car, the suspension never feels overly firm. Just taut, just right. It doesn't bounce you about when you're driving over potholes and stuff like that. And the visibility is so good. It's so small. Let's just check out how manoeuvrable it is. I don't know what the turning circle is on this car, but we'll just test it. Here we go. I'd say it's pretty damn tight. Then there's the brakes. You see, because they're not having to slow a heavy vehicle, they just feel right and responsive, not grabby and just smooth. I'll tell you one thing. This car just teaches you what a negative effect weight has on a vehicle. But while the brakes feel good, are they actually any good? Let's find out. Now let's do a brake test against the Jimny. So we're going to get up to 60 miles an hour. And then when we reach the line for an emergency stop, see which car stops in the shortest distance. This should absolutely batter the Jimny. It is lighter and it's lower and its brakes just feel sportier. So there's 60. OK, here we go. That is a huge difference. But there is a benefit to that Jimny over this. It might not be large, that car, but at least you can carry stuff in it. Whereas this isn't so great when it comes to luggage. You see, the only real storage space you have on this car is underneath the bonnet. And it's in here. Though this is actually designed for holding the roof. So if you have the roof down, you cannot really carry anything with you. Question is, though, how long does it take to fit this roof? So what I'm going to do is show you that now. So start the timer. Don't know why I'm doing music. OK, I'll just pull this over here like this. On the slot, go in here. And then the last thing to do, I'll just whiz round and you'll see this. You just have to latch this little thing to hold it in place. So now let's find out what this car is like to drive with the roof up. It does feel quite claustrophobic in here. I've only got about that much headroom. People over six foot are going to be touching their head on the hood. Also, this bar here, this roof bar is rather close to the side of your head. And when you've got the roof up, you do notice the road noise quite a bit. It sort of reverberates around the cabin. And that's more annoying than the buffeting sound of the wind when you've got the roof off, because, you know, you can forgive it that, don't you? Because you've got the sun in your face and the wind in your hair. What's not so bad, though, is because you've got six gears cruising along at 50, I'm pulling just over 2,000 rpm, whereas my Jimny only has five gears, so its engine just feels strained whenever you go for 40 miles an hour. As for the economy, well, it's better than the Jimny. So it's averaging 8.5 miles per litre, which works out to about 40 mpg. To be fair, I have been driving this car quite hard. So I reckon on a cruise, I'll do about 50 miles to the gallon. Now, one of the things that you can do when you're driving along with the roof up, if you still want to enjoy the noise of the engine and the phew of the turbo, you can press a button to lower the rear window and then you can hear that noise. That's so much fun. But I have noticed another noise. Sometimes when I've got that window down, I notice that if I go over a sudden bump, there's like a metallic clonking sound coming from back there. I wonder what that is. Now, I reckon it's this. Hear that? It's kind of loose. I'm just going to open that up. So I wondered if it's because if you look on this side, you've got this here. You look on that side, you haven't. But then when I looked at videos of other S660s, they all appeared to be the same. And then I thought it might be this. Look, the paint has come off that, hasn't it? So I think it might be rattling about. So my solution, add a little bit of tape to that to make it a bit wider. Bear with me. You watch. I'll fit this. All right. I probably won't be able to get it open again. Put that round there. Give it thicker. It stops it. You ready? Job done. But there was another problem with this car. Do you want to check that you can still open it? Open's fine. Good. Good point, Lewis. When I bought the car, there was a chip in the windscreen. I was a bit worried about it spreading and right off the windscreen because I have no idea where I get a replacement from. Fortunately, though, I got someone to come out and fill the chip. So that should all be fine. But it does raise the issue of anything going wrong with this car. You know, how am I going to fix it? And that is reflected in the insurance. You see, part scarcity often means sourcing from Japan, which drives up costs and can leave your car off the road for longer. And that can rack up even more costs if you're getting a courtesy car. I got an insurance quote on my Honda S660 and it came back at £348, which was just £90 less than a quote for my GI Yaris with the same provider. Yet that car is worth about £27,000 and packs five times the power of the little Honda. To be fair, in actual real terms, the price difference in premium isn't massive, but it does illustrate a gap. A better example of this increase in premium is that my 1998 Mazda MX-5 cost 16% more to insure as a Mazda Eunos grey import from Japan, even though the cars have the same engine size and power as the UK version. And that brings me on to another problem, specifically with my very own Honda S660. The car only came with this one key, which means that if I lose this, I can't get into or even start the car because it has keyless go. So you press the start button to start it. Though I do like this. Do you hear that little Japanese voice? I think it's something to do with this. There seems to be some kind of like... I don't know whether that's for the toll systems they have in Japan. I would normally remove that, but it adds a bit of character to this car. And this car really is all about character. And that brings me on to my final verdict. I really love my little Honda S660. I've wanted one for ages, so I'm glad I finally got around to getting one. And importing it was super easy. So huge thanks to Autocom Japan. Do you know what? I actually think this could well be the coolest car out of all the cars I own. Do you agree with me? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the video. If you did, give it a like. If you want to watch some other videos such as how I actually imported this car, click on the video windows. And if you'd like to see what happens to it next when I tune it, make sure you subscribe to this channel. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.