Tokyo Auto Salon’s S660 Selection

There are always so many expectations with a show like Tokyo Auto Salon. Quite simply, too many people expect the tuning world to be rewritten every time the event rolls around at the beginning of the year. ‘What’s the craziest car you’ve seen?’ ‘What’s the next style?’ ‘Tuners haven’t been working hard enough.’ ‘Over-fender this over-fender that.’ – these are some of the questions and statements you often hear being thrown around.

While there may have been nothing particularly groundbreaking at TAS 2017, the show was packed with interesting builds, noticeable trends and an obvious evolution for the whole aftermarket world. You can’t expect the same buzz that TAS had in the old days, and for the simple fact that Japanese manufacturers aren’t giving us exciting and affordable sports cars like they did in the ‘golden years.’

The Honda S660 is the perfect example of what the JDM world needs. It may only be a kei machine, but even if it’s a small speck in the Japanese domestic market its success within the aftermarket is all the proof you would ever need that tuners and enthusiasts out there are craving for these sort of cars.

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Makuhari Messe was full of these little Hondas over the weekend, all modified in different styles and every one of them hinting at the fact that people still want cars that tickle their senses. To illustrate this fact, I’ve put together an S660-only post packed with spotlights of the coolest examples I came across during the event.

I’ll start with the Stance Magic car as it just ticked so many boxes. It starts off with the aero, which visually boosts the S660’s exterior with the must-have over-fenders and a series of carbon parts.

Stance Magic has done away with the S660’s stock fabric roof, replacing it with a lightweight carbon hardtop.

The first thing you notice in the cabin is the Recaro driver’s seat and the roll-cage added for a boost in rigidity and a bump in safety. It’s also hard not to notice the massive carbon fiber scoop which rams air down to the intercooler. This car has been fitted with the HKS GT100R turbo upgrade kit which consists of a GTIII turbine that can boost output from the stock 63 or so horsepower to over 100hp depending on supporting modifications and engine tune.

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More carbon fiber can be found in the lower section of the rear bumper and of course the rather unmissable GT wing.

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Mugen surely wasn’t going to skip doing something with its own little baby sports car and came to TAS with the curiously styled ‘Garu’ concept.

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Given the lack of information on the mechanical side of the car, we can only guess that this is a purely aesthetic exercise, Mugen pushing the boundaries of complete transformations by creating a car that’d look more at home at an international motor show rather than a tuning event like TAS.

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Pretty much every single panel has been altered, modified and restyled. The result is probably best described as a futuristic take on the S660 platform.

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We haven’t seen Mugen go this wild on a car since the NSX-RR, and that was eight years ago. To refresh your minds, here’s a feature I did on that car back in 2009. There’s a good chance that this car and its parts will never make it to market, but it’s nonetheless fun seeing Mugen do exciting things like these. Now, guys, please give us a new-gen Mugen NSX!

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Despite Kansai Service having big-power GT-Rs in its TAS booth, it was this S660 that took centerstage. The demo car very much follows the philosophy that you would expect to see in any other car from the famed tuner, with everything based around performance and an overall balance of handling, braking and of course functional looks. That’s why the exterior wears carbon under spoilers beneath the front bumper as well as a pair of redesigned skirts. The Advan RG-D wheels are fitted in a 15 and 16-inch staggered setup and are shod with Advan Neova AD08Rs. Through the spokes you can also spot the Endless Micro-6 6-pot brake calipers.

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The little 660cc S07A engine has been boosted to 110hp thanks to an HKS GT100R turbo kit, Legamax exhaust system and a ECU remapped by Kansai Service.

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While RS Pantera is a shop most would identify with rotary tuning, it did have a few interesting non-Wankel cars at the show, one being this S660 sitting on white RAYS Volk Racing TE37s.

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Aside from the pretty comprehensive aero, the car stood out for its twin scoops protruding through the engine cover.

While one is still a dummy and will eventually feed the air box, the second directs air towards the custom enclosure built around the intercooler. The motor in this car also sports the HKS GT100R turbo upgrade kit, boosting power to 110hp.

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Only after snapping a few pictures of the white S660 on the Top Fuel booth did I realize I was in fact walking right into a little talk show. Not to worry, the guy on the mic sitting in the car gave me a thumbs up and I continued to grab some shots. He was actually going through the car’s spec and the whole idea about it, and like all the other examples we have seen thus far, this car also runs 110hp thanks to the HKS turbo kit, but does so with a CVT transmission. Honda probably knew that pretty much every owner out there would modify their car so added extra strength to the continuously variable transmission (aka scooter gearbox!)

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Despite employing the most annoying and hated form of gear shifting (yes, I know, there are no gears), the car still looked great thanks to a full Mugen aero kit and Advan RZ-II wheels – 15-inch up front and 16s at the rear.

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I like how the engine looks stock yet hides quite a significant bump in performance.

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But that’s not it from Top Fuel; it had another S660 on show, a more focused track version which really piqued our interest.

Visually, the engine was sporting quite a few more mods, starting off with a Top Fuel Power Chamber filter and intake. The engine was then mated to a custom turbo set up, big capacity injectors and a high-flow fuel pump to really push the motor to the biggest power we’ve seen out of an S660 to date: 135hp. That’s more than double what the stock engine can muster and a guarantee of some serious fun.

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The staggered wheel setup of the S660 remains, but on this car it was sporting 16-inch Advan RZ-IIs up front and 17s at the rear.

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88G is a new brand born especially to create tuning parts for the S660, and its demo car stood out for a pretty different sort of design language. This one is slightly more extreme than what we’ve seen so far, with a big protruding front lip spoiler, roof and side scoops.

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Located pretty much in front of the Speedhunters booth was Spiegel, a company synonymous with small cars and one you may remember from previous years with their GT3 RS-themed Daihatsu Copens. This year it went full-out on the S660 and this is the result.

I was loving the tight fitment of the Work Meister M1s and the aggressive yet subtle aero additions.

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I definitely like something as simple as a ducktail spoiler at the back of the S660 rather than the obligatory JDM GT wing.

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Want to go wilder? Spice has got you covered with what looks like a body conversion inspired from GT race cars.

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There’s even a wing with swan-neck stays and a comically over-the-top quad-exhaust system.

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Noblesse may have been one of the few booths to have a new-gen NSX on display at TAS, but its S660 was getting just as much attention.

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While the car may have been more geared towards looks than performance, the quality of the parts it was fitted with made it stand out. I rather liked the titanium exhaust system it was running.

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Seeing the S660 presented in so many guises made it obvious that the tuning industry in Japan is really lusting after something exciting to devote their R&D towards.

It doesn’t matter if performance is your main philosophy, or like this Lynx Works demo car, more focused towards the aesthetics – the S660 is a big win for Honda and the aftermarket world in general.

Now Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Subaru, Mazda, Mitsubishi – please, give us more interesting (and affordable!) cars to play with. The masses may like CVT minivans and hybrid crossovers, but don’t forget us enthusiasts!

Dino Dalle Carbonare
Instagram: speedhunters_dino
dino@speedhunters.com

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1

New mitsubishi lancer evolution plssss........... Onegaishimasu!!!!!!

2
taskforceranger117

Hope there will have Pandem bodykit for S660

3

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4

The S660 was definitely the star of the show for me. Really want to take one for a spin (especially one that's been warmed up by Top Fuel)!

5

Thank you so much for this article! The S660 is probably my favourite car that has come out in the last years!

6

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7

This is awesome. Makes me want one of these so bad. Legit is a baby NSX. Love that there's a big showing of them in TAS too. Love this so much.

8

I love the way the cars are aesthetically modified. They really remind me of the early 2000s cars, albeit more refined and cleaner.

9

I wish i could own an S660, but i gotta say Mugen's take on it is absolutely hideous lol.

10
speedhunters_dino

taskforceranger117 Soon, I'm sure!

11
speedhunters_dino

LonelyCrawler Now all honda has to do is make an S2000 successor. They are on the right road...

12
speedhunters_dino

Gasosphere Yeah, doesn't serve much of a point. Just a styling exercise...

13

spiegal car looks so cool

14
AsepAhmadSastrawidjaja

Awesome!

15

Noblesse is gorgeous!

Honda seriously needs to release this car in America.

16

speedhunters_dino LonelyCrawler Absolutely!

17

I hope Honda drops in the 1.5 turbo and brings it to North America. But probably not. We need cheap sports cars here as well. I can see this being popular from tuner kids to gray hairs going for canyon cruise. I guess I'll wait till I find a gray hair give up their stock low km s2000.

18

Front end looks like an Audi

19

Honda should have some kudos for letting a 25 year old design a new car. for the company. More JDM car manufacturers should let the "under 30 year old" engineers create something new and exciting.

20

I wish I could drive these!

21

Apparently, Tetsuo Iwamura, the president of Honda's North Amerian division, is interested in bringing the S660 to the US market if people are interested, being quoted as saying, "I would personally fight for it."

22

I know they can be usefull but apart the spice version, I found the "scoop" things a bit ugly on this little Honda.
Except that detail, nice to see those different variations.
A pity that it can't come in Europe (or may be not given the modifications that should be made to follow EU regulations)

23

In a certain way, this car reminds me of the smart roadster. It was also a great piece of kit, with a small motor, but loads of fun. I loved to drive it, except in a traffic jam between trucks, that was scary U0001f631. And then you also had the brabus version, enlarged fun!!!

24

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i honestly love the looks of the s660 very much. might be low on power, but it's small and light, so perfect for canyon carving. honda needs to bring this to america, with the 1.5 turbo sold in the civic here, and it could be an excellent miata competitor, since the market for these cars needs some more saturation.

27

HKS must be making a bit of money out of their GT100R kit judging by this post.

28

it appears Spiegel has the precious

29

I'm not sure Noblesse is a badge I'd have on my car. Pretty sure there would be a lot of "non-car" people laughing at me, especially whilst driving one of these.

30

So, we Americans can have motorcycles, and drive Jeeps with no doors, but we can't have these because some frat douche in a brodozer MIGHT flatten one at a stoplight in West Bumfuck at three in the morning on his way home from a kegger?

The "safety" rational loses a bit of steam here, methinks.

31

MPistol That's Spiegel, not Smeagol.

32

JakWhite The opinions of non-car people - regarding cars, at least - aren't valid because they have no knowledge base to work from.

Non-car people would want me confined to a mental institution for wanting to build this thing. 

Lotta car people too, come to think of it.

But I don't care, because I love this car.

33
speedhunters_dino

CyborgGT They really really do

34
speedhunters_dino

LucasHubmann So much fun, even in stock form. I really got to jump behind the wheel of one with 100+ HP

35
speedhunters_dino

nightrift97 Hope he wins the fight

36
speedhunters_dino

Jocky Yeah not too sure it would be popular in Europe. US on the other hand it will do well

37
speedhunters_dino

3nigm4 Yeah they got in there quick and everyone is going for it. At $2300 all in it's not too expensive either. Mind you if you look at the price the car sells at, it's actually pricey lol

38
speedhunters_dino

Ice Age That made me laugh. But yeah, that could potentially make it hard...

39

speedhunters_dino 3nigm4 How much does the s660 sell for in japan?

40

awesomefearwave Yeah, it's a latter-day first-gen MR2.

41

RoK1981 I was literally just thinking exactly this, my stepdad had the coupe one, fun little thing!

42

Awesome coverage of the car. An affordable sports car that looks like a mini NSX, what's not to love about this car. America needs this car.

44

truhidden Last I heard they were developing a 1000cc turbo for it. Could be fun with 90hp or so.

45

When you see the reactions to GT86/BRZ (wich is less «radical» that the S660), I think you're right unfortunatly.

46

beill Sadly we will never get it because of all the hate the CR-Z got and also the fr-s. They know it's not worth there time if people will complain all over the internet that it doesn't have 300hp.

49

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TheRickster beill >white people

53

Fall in love with Spiegel's S660.
The color, the clean look, the wheels, the drop.. Aaaah~♥

54

speedhunters_dino LucasHubmann It's shame that they don't sell these in Europe. The envy is real xD

55

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Gianluca FairladyZ

the blue one looks pretty fresh!

58

Len145 Agreed! It's like Honda brought the Del Sol back to life! I still drive a 1995 Del Sol every day. Love that car. They would make a ton of money selling these in the US.

59

This is a car I definitely wish washed up on North American shores, I can only imagine how much fun a MR kei car would be that small.

60

speedhunters_dino Gasosphere personally i'm wondering if those are electric hub motors behind each wheel - Rocket! - then the futuristic styling makes sense - looks like a scale model of that Audi in the WIll Smith iRobot movie. Would also explain the lack of info on the drivetrain...

61

speedhunters_dino Gasosphere Also explains the lack of venting in the rear...

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An I the only one that gets a little Audi TT vibe from the stance magic car? Something about the way the paint plays with the body lines.
Those are some beautiful little cars. Wish we got them stateside.

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I'm still waiting someone as crazy as Amemiya-san made something like RE Amemiya GReddy VI-AZ1 out from Honda S660 ... K20/K24 powered, all custom suspension, lower wider longer ... should be interesting.

74
deleted_120958518_Gabman

So y'all race with these things, huh? Cute little toys.

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