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" There are rumors swirling around Japan of the possible return of the Beat, Honda&amp;#039;s slick mid-engine sports kei car that was produced from 1991 to 1996. Deemed too small for the U.S. market, the Beat was essentially a miniature NSX, with a 654-cc engine mounted amidships powering the rear tires. However, there are no guarantees that the new Beat will be MR (Mid-engine, Rear-drive) because our sources say that Honda is leaning towards making it a front-engine, front-drive car. The argument for this centers around: cost (an FF car costs much less to build); the popularity of the Copen (Daihatsu&amp;#039;s class-leading sporty kei car is also FF), and history (Honda has built a reputation on producing sporty FF cars). There&amp;#039;s also talk about making the Beat slightly larger than the previous version, so the chances of the U.S. getting an example are better than before. Power is expected to be around 80 bhp coming from a 654-cc inline-3. The car will weigh about 1800 lb., so despite the meager output, it&amp;#039;ll be fairly quick, while fuel economy will be excellent. The details are still being ironed out by the execs at Honda, but we hear that they&amp;#039;re aiming to introduce it in 2012. Let&amp;#039;s hope they keep it an MR and ship it across the Pacific. The new car is expected to cost around $15,000, significantly more than the original Beat&amp;#039;s $13,000 price tag in 1991. Related posts:  Honda EV-STER: An Electric Beat? \u2013 2011 Tokyo Auto Show First Look: 2012 Honda CR-V 2012 Honda CR-V Concept Unveiled  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/future-cars/news/a357/2012-honda-beat-7973/>