On Track The Honda Super-One Is A Fantastic Little Go-Kart

I’ll be real with you all, I may have been a bit harsh to folks who were excited about the new Honda Super-One and said that there was no chance it was ever coming to America. In my reveal post about it a little while back, I may or may not have referred to you all as circlejerkers. Well, I was lucky enough to get some unplanned — and admittedly brief — time behind the wheel of a camouflaged Super-One Concept at Honda’s Research and Development center in Tochigi, Japan, and dammit, this little thing is wonderful.

There’s really nothing we get in America that even remotely compares to the Super-One, and while there are a million and one reasons why Honda would never bother to bring the car stateside, I now understand a tiny bit better what you’re all moaning about constantly when it comes to cars like this. The tiny Super-One is brilliantly packaged, adorable to look at in a retro-futurist sort of way, packs plenty of performance (sort of), and above all else is loads of fun.

Initially, North American media members weren’t supposed to get any seat time in the Super-One, but enough of us bitched and moaned that Honda’s team finally acquiesced and let us have a go. Let this be a lesson to you all: complaining always works.

Full Disclosure: Honda flew me out to Japan, and paid for my stay and meals while I was there, all so I could check out everything it’s working on right now.

I can’t tell you too much about the specs of the Super-One because, well, I don’t know them. Honda is keeping that information close to its chest. In fact, the only thing in the car’s entire interior that was blocked off was a little kilowatt readout. In any case, it’s not much power, but it will at least be more than the 63 hp maximum of kei cars like the N-One e: on which this car is based. But then, the Super-One isn’t much car. There are no exact weight details, but the regular electric N-One e: weighs under 2,300 pounds, so I wouldn’t expect this to weigh much more. All of this is to say, the Super-One isn’t fast, but it doesn’t need to be.

This car is all about the idea of having fun no matter the speed, and cornering like a go-kart, because, well, the Super-One isn’t that much bigger than a go-kart. Honda says the Super-One is all about the “joy of driving,” and it certainly feels that way. Even at 20 mph, the damn thing is a hoot. It’s just so silly, ya know? There’s barely any power, but the way it corners reminds me of clichés people use about the original Mini.

It darted from corner to corner on the little handling track Honda set up for us to test out the car like nothing I’ve ever driven before. Sure, there’s a lot of body roll involved, and there was even a whole bunch of understeer from the 15-inch tires, but the steering is so direct. Turning the tiny, two-spoke steering wheel immediately changes where the front wheels are pointing. It’s just too bad they don’t have very much to grip onto. My heart rate was bumping the second I got into the Super-One, and it didn’t come down (and my smile didn’t disappear) until long after I had gotten out.

Adding to that excitement is Boost Mode, which Honda designed specifically for this car. Hitting the little blue button on the steering wheel increases power to some unspecified level, but it also spins up a simulated 7-speed transmission and Active Sound Control to give the impression that you’re actually shifting gears in a gas-powered car. It’s not dissimilar to what’s found in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N and Lexus RZ 550e F-Sport. Up and down the “rev range,” gear shifts are delightfully snappy, and while they do little to make the car actually go faster, they certainly add an element of silliness that fits in with the rest of the Super-One’s vibe.

Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik

Honda engineers even went through the time of engineering in a slight kick from the drivetrain when upshifting and downshifting. I’m not smart enough to know how they did that, but it is a neat little trick nonetheless. Hell, it even has engine braking. What a machine this little not-a-Kei-car is. (Yes, I know it’s based a kei car, but it makes too much power and the added fender flares mean it’s actually too wide.)

I’ll be honest, the sound isn’t really anything to write home about. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not unpleasant or anything, but don’t expect to be fooled into thinking this is actually a gas-powered car. The fake engine noise is most definitely coming from a less-than-spectacular speaker. Maybe the production version’s will be better, but it’s unlikely I’ll ever drive it, so who the hell cares? In any case, it’s not offensive, and the noise is silly enough to fit in with the rest of the car, so there’s not really too much to be upset about here.

The two front bucket seats, covered in gray and blue cloth, offered more than enough support for my big American hips, and while the steering wheel was on the wrong side of the car, anyone who has spent even a second in a modern Honda would feel right at home in this thing, as it shares a ton of parts with other vehicles in the lineup.

Even though there’s no official pricing yet, the Super-One is based on a very cheap car, so that’s what you’ve got to bear in mind on the interior. There’s a ton of very cheap and very hard plastic, and very little in the way of the safety equipment we’ve come to expect from modern U.S.-market cars.

Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik

Still, the whole thing feels reasonably well screwed together, and you won’t be wanting for space. Despite the tiny size of the Super-One, another journalist who was well over 6-foot-5 was able to fit in the rear seat without an issue. The packaging on these cars is really something else, man. Up front, I found there was plenty of room for both me and the Honda engineer sitting to my left, and since the car was so small, I completely forgot I was sitting on the wrong side of the car.

Listen, I know it would be so incredibly sick cool for Honda to bring the Super-One stateside, but there’s literally a less than 0% chance that it ever happens. Because of that, I am fully aware that driving the Super-One was a bit of a pointless endeavor for me, but who doesn’t like the taste of some forbidden fruit every once in a while? The Super-One gave me a fleeting glimpse of what a different world we could live in if Americans embraced small cars.

Anyway, be on the lookout for my Cadillac Escalade IQL review, coming up in the next few weeks.