At last...a honda

Hi, my name is Jim and I have Automotive ADD.   For those that know me this comes as no surprise.   With that in mind and something north of over 150 cars owned lifetime it may come as a surprise that I have not owned a Honda.  Well there was one, which was driven to my house by its former owner and never moved until I sold it a month later so we won't count that one.  I've got nothing against them, but there has never really been one in the lineup which piqued my interest.   Except....the one I couldn't have.   With the 25 year rule that all changed so I tucked it in the back of my mind that I would get one eventually.

Well I shook up the fleet a bit during quarantine, selling my suburban and CTS-V and replacing them with an H2 (no mocking, I love that beast) and then sold off my Corvair convertible.   This left a "fun car" gap in the fleet and some cash in my pocket.   I was perusing the offerings at Duncan Imports which would be my closest JDM importer when I stumbled across a local add for my quarry.   

1991 Honda Beat

93,000km (~58000 miles), BC coilovers, Fujistubo Exhaust and Mugen body kit

Brought to the state by a young marine who decided it was time for something more practical and a deal was struck

Not sure how much of a build thread this will be as there's not much I want to change about it.   A quick disconnect for the steering so my fat ass can get in and out easier, and eventually the parts store brake upgrade (swaps the front brakes to a larger vented disk and allows you to use off the shelf parts in the US) The brakes themselves are more than adequate but being able to use readily available parts will be desirable.

Its a hoot to drive, like a miata's angry little brother.   Until I drove this I was having trouble pinpointing exactly why I was unhappy with the CTSV.  But now I see its the old "slow car fast" theory. It is more fun to drive a slow car on the ragged edge than to have a fast car that you cannot utilize to its full potential. This thing has all the fun that the NA miata had for me. Its tossable, its simple, it feels fast even though it isnt. I took a quick run down the road when offloading last night and Im blasting through the gears hitting 8k rpm, Im thinking wow this is a lot faster than I thought, look there goes 60! We're flyin!.....ooops 60kph (@35mph) but it felt fast anyway.

Love it!    

Awesome car! I always weirdly liked these. I know what you mean about slow car fast. My slightly modified zx2 isn't exactly a sports car, but it's fun to rev it out and toss around corners. When I had my WRX it got disappointing at times I "couldn't" go full throttle all the time..

I'm going to buy one of these at some point.  Enjoy.

Wow, that golf cart size comparison is great/surprising. 

John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:

Wow, that golf cart size comparison is great/surprising. 

That's why I did it, next to the H2 most things look small so it wasnt really capturing the size.   Same length too

So good. Congrats!

So good! 
These and the Cappuccinos are massively appealing to me.

Just curious, would a 6'2" person fit? I'm thinking no? At least with the top up

In reply to spandak :

Im 6' and um....heavy.   I fit with room to spare.  I have seen reviewers up to 6' 4" driving these with the top up without issue.   Best thing you can do is try to find one local and give her a test fit.   If you're ever near Mt Olive NC swing on by :)

For no particular reason, if you happen to have the suspension apart would you mind measuring how much travel this bad boy has?

Those zebra print seats rule.

Congrats!  Looks like fun.

On a side note...  I didn't need to know about Duncan Imports... A JDM Mini has a good chance of being my next automotive purchase. 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:

For no particular reason, if you happen to have the suspension apart would you mind measuring how much travel this bad boy has?

Those zebra print seats rule.

I hope not to be tearing that far into it anytime soon but if the opportunity arises I will check.   I case I hadnt noted it elsewhere I am without garage since the move so I dont get to do as much work as I used to (that will be remedied sooner or later)

The zebra (or according to lore actually some kinda snow tiger) print is iconic for these so I do want to keep it but the bolster on the drivers side is ripped.  So far no on reproduces this fabric but I may steal an idea I saw on another car and have the bolsters redone in leather and keep the zebra centers.  I have to check with a local upholstry shop to see how bad that would be.

Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:

Congrats!  Looks like fun.

On a side note...  I didn't need to know about Duncan Imports... A JDM Mini has a good chance of being my next automotive purchase. 

https://www.duncanimports.com/  There are plenty of other companies doing the same as well.  Duncan was just the closest to me so it was going to be my first stop.

In reply to JThw8 :

Yes, I know.  Especially since we're rapidly approaching the year when all classic Minis will meet the 25 year rule. The silver car on their site in TN is almost exactly what I want and the price seems reasonable these days. 

Let the modding begin...kinda.   My quick disconnect showed up today so I put that in.  Makes it much easier to get in and out and as a bonus bumps the wheel out a bit.  Since I have the seat all the way back getting the wheel a bit closer seems more comfortable, time will tell.    

Absolutely hate the steering wheel in this thing.  If anyone has a 320mm or smaller momo kickin around for a reasonable price please let me know :)  Also...longshot, but Im looking for a voodoo magnum shift knob in the honda 10x1.50 thread pitch.  Looks like they aren't currently producing them.

lol kph 

JThw8 said:

Those seats are like totally rad, dude.  Killer.

I love everything about this, and the juxtaposition of this and the H2 in your stable.

The seats in this car can't be beat! 

I'll show myself out....

Once you've had some seat time please let us know how you like the Beat!

I've driven some Kei trucks around the campus at work and it was fun to wring out the 3-Cylinder engines and drive them like a hoon.  I don't know how I would like driving one on the open roads of America.  It might be a better back roads or city kind of car.  My commute is 15 minutes shorter if I take the highway and run down the road at 70mph but I don't know if these are the right kind of car for that.  Super cool, and reasonably affordable too.

Nitroracer (Forum Supporter) said:

Once you've had some seat time please let us know how you like the Beat!

 

Well I got plates today, I expected a bit of hassle at the DMV but the old lady there has gotten to know me and just smile and nods and enters my data so it went smoothly.   So needless to say I went for a lot of "errands" today to play with the car.

Total hoot to drive.  Need to readjust the left seat mentality as I find myself drifting toward the centerline a lot.   Whenever I get back to it I have about a 45 mile commute but its all back roads and farm roads, I don't do highways anymore so this should be perfect.

Steering is go kart levels of responsive.  By the time you've thought about turning its happening, could be really twitchy if you aren't ready for it.   Surprisingly torquey for a car with no torque.  Sedate reasonable driver in the 4-5 k range but will willingly and joyfully rev to 8k and makes all the good sounds doing it.

As previously noted, I hate the aftermarket wheel that's in it but that's a preference thing.  It will get a momo soon enough. Also has a crap aftermarket shifter which is going to get replaced with a good weighted shift knob.  I was hoping for a voodoo since I loved them on my miatas but that's a no go it seems but on other recommendations I ordered a Skunk2 weighted shift knob.   Should set that right.

Definitely wouldn't really want to do cross country highway trips in it but its pretty awesome for all the local backroads here.

How to make a tiny go-kart car feel even more like a tiny go-kart.   Added a nice weighted shifter and a 300mm momo wheel.   Both made a real improvement in driveability.  The shifter is much more precise now, the throw bewteen gears is very small so extra precision is very nice.   The wheel makes it much easier to fit in the car and with the quick steering this has to begin with it's really very quick now.   Sadly the momo didnt work with the quick disconnect I had installed, I could make it work if I fiddle with it but honestly with the smaller wheel (previous wheel was a 330mm) its easy to get in and out around the wheel now.  It does block some visibility of the gauges but not so much as to be a problem.   Took it out for a 60 mile jaunt today and had all the fun.  Bonus to our southern move is that its still very much convertible season here :)

Ok, so here's the warning you dont usually get when you buy a Kei car.   It becomes a bit of an addiction, and hey, they're small so you can fit more right?   So the Beat needed a friend or something like that.

1992 Daihatsu Atrai with the cosmic roof (that's what made me fall in love with it) 33,000 miles, 5 speed, 2wd, functional AC.  This may actually become my primary DD if I ever stop working from home.

I love Kei cars.  My '76 CVCC is probably close in size & the slow car fast definitely is accurate except now with the D16Z6 it's more faster. 

Nice, that looks like so much fun. I always liked the Beat, maybe one day I can mange to add one to the fleet.