Honda will begin sales of the all-new Honda S660, a 2-seater open-top sports car, on April 2, 2015, at dealerships across Japan. On the same day Honda will begin sales, in a limited quantity, of the S660 CONCEPT EDITION, a special model that commemorates the market launch of the S660. Only 660 units of this special edition will be sold in Japan. Under the keyword of “Heart Beat Sport,” the development team pursued a full-fledged sports car that offers excitement and a heart-throbbing experience in everything about this vehicle and strived to realize the joy of driving that only Honda can create.
The Honda S660 adopts the mid-ship engine/rear-wheel drive (MR) layout and realizes a low center-of-gravity as well as the optimal 45-55 front-rear weight balance, in order to realize excellent cornering performance, which the development team emphasized to maximize the fun of turning. The S660 features an open-top body that achieves both high rigidity and lightweight at the same time. This body developed exclusively for the S660 creates an open-air cabin space that enables the occupants to feel the wind, see the sky and enjoy an extraordinary experience while also enjoying a cabin space that enables the occupants to feel enveloped and being used with the vehicle.
The driver’s seating posture, hip point and the location of the accelerator and brake pedals are optimized to realize a driving position that gives the driver a feeling of driving a go-kart. The S660 features a steering wheel with a 350mm diameter, the smallest diameter among all Honda mass-market models, enabling the driver to enjoy brisk driving. To ensure comfortable driving in all seasons, the S660 features a fully automatic air-conditioning unit with the mid-mode for which new air outlets were added to blow the air to the thigh to waist-high areas. The rear center glass that goes up and down was also featured to realize a comfortable cabin space even when the top is open.
As for the transmission, the S660 comes with a newly-developed 6-speed manual transmission, making the S660 the world’s first mini-vehicle equipped with a 6-speed manual transmission. In addition, the S660 is also available with a CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) with 7-speed paddle shifter that features a sports mode. The passenger’s i-SRS airbag system installed to the S660 adopts the world’s first internal pressure holding airbag system, which can hold internal pressure for a longer period of time compare to a conventional airbag system, enabling further improved occupant protection performance. Honda S660 will be available in Japan at a price starting 1,980,000 yen ($16478) approximately.
