Honda Super-N review

Japan has been building kei cars for almost 80 years, so it’s no surprise to see that the Super-N is brilliantly packaged. Of course, you only get four seats, but there’s plenty of headroom in the front and a 6ft passenger has more than enough legroom to fit behind the same sized driver. Headroom can be a little tighter in the rear though as the seats are mounted so far back.

Honda also fits its ‘Magic Seats’, so if you haven’t got anyone in the rear the bases of those seats flip upwards to reveal a very handy flat storage space.

What if I need more boot space?

Given its tiny footprint, you might not be surprised to hear that boot space is only 162 litres with all the seats in place. The larger, cheaper Dacia Spring offers 308 litres. The Honda’s rear seats fold completely flat though and its sill is extremely low, so you get a useful 967 litres of square carrying space.

How is it up front?

Honda has fitted the Super-N with some surprisingly sporty heated front seats with an asymmetric design and chunky bolsters that might be a little too tight for some Western hips. They do hold you in place well though, and the heated steering wheel is leather trimmed with some funky blue stitching.

You get a 7.0-inch driver display behind said wheel that changes colour depending on the drive mode, but the rev counter it offers up when you want manual gearshifts is far too small, and navigation instructions cover it completely just when you’re about to smack into the virtual redline. D’oh!

Speaking of navigation, that’s not built in but relies on you connecting your phone wirelessly with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. We’ve no issue with that, and the Super-N’s 9.0-inch central touchscreen is generally very responsive and easy to use. Of course, that’s helped by almost all the major functions being controlled by proper, physical buttons. Well done Honda!

How’s the fit and finish?

Close the extremely thin door and you’ll immediately notice that some of the materials in here are a little bit cheap and plasticky, but it’s an affordable car so that's to be expected. Plus, some of the fabrics are made using recycled plastic bottles blended with old Honda work uniforms. We’re assured they’re washed before use.

We’d like a slightly cleverer storage solution between the two front seats with space to store a phone, but you do get a proper glovebox and plenty of cupholders and spaces for water bottles dotted around. You also get a hefty Bose eight-speaker sound system as standard with a large subwoofer mounted under the boot floor. See, it is a car for yoofs.