The Life emerged as the successor to the Honda N III360. The Civic also had an advantage of size, making the car safer in a collision. At the time, the Life was ¥350,000, and the Civic was ¥400,000. The Life was only produced for four years, as the Civic proved to be much more popular both in Japan and internationally, and when the decision was made to cancel the Life, it ended Honda's production of a passenger kei car until 1985, with the introduction of the Honda Today. The two-door N360/600 continued on sale alongside. This version of the Life was exported to a few markets such as Australia, where the four-door version (same specs as in the Japanese version) entered the market in the middle of 1972. Production of the Life coincided with the larger Honda Civic with both vehicles having introduced a timing belt (rather than chain) for the operation of the overhead cam. Another improvement was that the gearbox was separate from the engine, unlike in the N-series where the gearbox was in the sump (as for the original Mini). The change to a water-cooled engine also eliminated the smell in the heating system commonly associated with air-cooled engines that drew the heated air into the passenger compartment. The engine was called "refined" in period tests, and was considered to be as quiet and smooth as some four-cylinder engines. The engine was also installed with a balance shaft to reduce vibration. A pickup version of this was later added to the lineup, but had minimal impact on the market. In September 1972, the tall and curiously shaped "Life Step Van" was introduced, with either three or five doors. The sprint to 100 km/h (62 mph) came up in 34.9 seconds in a period test. The top speed of the sedan is 105 km/h (65 mph). which began as the air-cooled engine borrowed from the Honda CB450 motorcycle. The entire Life range had a water-cooled Honda EA 356 cc engine, usually producing 30 PS (30 hp 22 kW) at 8,000 rpm. The wheelbase, at 2,080 mm (82 in), was eight cm longer than that of the predecessor. Compared with the previous Honda minicar series, passenger comfort was improved to make this a better family car - indeed, Honda's target was to make a kei which was as habitable as a period 1-liter car. The original Life range was offered as a two-door or four-door hatchback and in a three-door wagon model (also sold as a commercial van), replacing the Honda N III360.
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