Kei Cars in Depth - Vol. Four : Daihatsu #blogpost

I’m back in it again with another Kei Cars in Depth, and this week it’s Daihatsu! The brand I always want to talk about ( you can sense that from my username ).

To the rest of the world, Daihatsu is just a boring manufacturer making numb cars. To Japan, they’re like the Kei Car Specialists. Today, all Daihatsu cars in Japan are actually kei cars. There are a few normal cars, but they’re all just re-badged Toyotas. But Sadly, most modern Daihatsus don’t have the excitement of their predecessors, so don’t really expect many mentions of excitement from their latest cars. But let’s just start on it.

1. Daihatsu Mira TR-XX Avanzato L200/ Mira TR-XX X4 L210S

The L200S and L210S Mira, like the Alto, they bring mixes of practicality and driving enjoyment. Powered by Daihatsu’s EF-JL engine, a 3 pot turbo with 63hp and 92.2 Nm, the Mira TR-XX was there to compete with the hottest of the kei cars. Much like the Alto, it weighs 680kg, and 710 for the 4WD version. But unlike the Alto, the FWD Mira Avanzato can actually come with 4WS, which is oddly great. Despite being cheap, the Mira comes packed with enough gadgets that my car doesn’t even have, like automatic wipers, automatic headlights, and 4WS. This really is the car for everyone. It’s cheap, fun, respectably fast, practical, and economical. Not to mention being Japanese, it should last longer than you do. Even Jeremy Clarkson loves the Mira, I found a video of him reviewing 3 kei cars, one of them is the Mira, and he loved it. You guys should check it out.

The driving, well it’s very nimble around town, and it’s reasonably quick if you put it against some other sports cars in the 90s, and it gives a lot of thrills due to its size. Driving kei cars gives a different sensation as you’re cramped inside something so narrow. And the best thing about the Mira is that it’s available outside of Japan. Like the video above, some went to the UK, and there’s a twin made in Malaysia, called the Perodua Kancil. Same engine, same chassis, different brand. There have been tuners who converted a Kancil to a Mira Avanzato.

When size isn’t the main priority, the Mira can just be one of the best cars you can buy. And it’s not like the car is utterly small and there’s no boot. It does everything well, and that’s the thing with kei cars. If you only look at the brochure, it’s pretty much s**t. Start to drive it, and you’ll sense that it’s a great car. It’s sensible but at the same time, it can put a big smile on your face.

2. Daihatsu Tanto Custom

Looking for a luxurious city car? Well look no further, because Daihatsu has your answer. The Tanto Custom is what you get when a mercedes V-class and a Daihatsu Mira had a baby, you get a kei car that is not just spacious, but also luxurious. I’m not even going to mention power here, because it doesn’t really matter. This tiny car has the legroom of a premium sedan, the interior height enough for a kid to stand, a sliding door without b-pillars which looks awesome, and storage spaces, lots and lots of storage spaces. For 13k pounds, you can buy yourself a car with enough gadgets to match a 40k mercedes. I mean seriously, the tanto comes with the apps much like your smartphone, a TV, 6 airbags, and emergency braking. Maybe you’ll start to think why you bought that Astra.

But it’s not all good stuff though. As it is boxy, handling won’t be good. And as the sliding doors, it won’t be very fast. But really, you won’t be driving in the streets of Hakone with this car. The Tanto is really best in town, where you can just enjoy the comfort of the car. And that’s really the point of the car. It’s just luxury at a bargain.

3. Daihatsu Copen ( First gen )

The Copen is widely known worldwide, partly because it’s sold directly by Daihatsu in Europe, and also Gran Turismo. Powered by a modest 659cc turbo 4 pot, the Copen makes 63hp and 110 Nm, which means it has the most torque in the kei car group, beating the new Copen and the S660. With the car being 810kg light, the Copen takes about 10.3 to 100 km/h. That doesn’t sound much, but with the driver cramped inside and with the car being close to the ground, it feels a lot faster than what you are actually doing.

With an aluminium top that folds to the boot, like a mini SLK, the Copen is more like a car to be driven in the empty mountain roads of Wales, rather than tearing the track in Silverstone. The chassis is playful and the engine loves to rev, and the car will sing up to 8500. The engine will feel just about fine to be trashed around mountain roads. And the best part, it won’t break the bank. With the same amount of money, the only performance car you can get will only be no-so-hot hot hatches, and that’s not really fun. The Copen is really a proper roadster, but it can also be practical. With the roof attached, the boot is big enough for a golf club, which means it’s also good for a weekend trip, unlike the S660 which fits nothing to the frunk. Surely it’s cramped and not comfortable for longer journeys, but once you start to drive where it belongs, you can let go its drawbacks, because it makes a driving experience most cars can’t make.

And despite only making 63hp stock, the Copen’s JB-DET engine is actually a very good engine. It’s not about what the car does at the moment, but it’s about what it can do with a bit of tuning. Spend about 670 pounds, and you can get a new ECU from D-Sport, which increases the horsepower from 63 to 86hp, because it ditches the kei car rules. And those extra horses come at a higher rpm, so the car can sing even more happily. It also comes with no limited speed and 500 extra rpm to play with. It’s really an upgrade worth paying for. Without the kei car rules to limit the Copen, it can really be a killer. The Copen’s JB-DET has a sibling engine, the JC-DET, which is put in the Storia X4. It’s basically the same engine, just with a longer stroke, making 53cc extra displacement, which puts it out of the kei car category. The result? Well it makes 120hp, from a 712cc engine, stock from the factory. That’s nearly twice the power from 10% extra displacement. And that’s why I love the Copen. It has a lot potential to be released, it’s just held back by the kei car rules.

4. Daihatsu Copen ( Second gen )

Coming to the second generation, the Copen doesn’t change much. They ditched the high potential JB-DET, for a more efficient KF-VET, which makes less torque and makes the car a bit slower. On the bright side, you can fully change the appearance of the Copen in a day, because the car has removable plastic panels, much like a smart car. Despite using lighter panels, the second generation Copen is actually a bit heavier than the old one, with the manual version weighing 830kg.

Unlike the first generation Copen, the second generation is more of a fashion statement rather than a driver’s car. I’m not saying it’s terrible to drive, but there are just no significant improvements. It’s still a hell lot of fun, but the upgrades from the first generation are mostly about the exterior, which to me, the new Copen has a crazy customization. There are 3 different styling, the Copen Robe, which is most known, the Copen X-Play, which looks like a crossover, and the Copen Cero which looks back to the old model. They all look good, but that’s about it.

And that’s why I’m kinda disappointed with the new Copen. I will love it if I don’t look back the the first generation, but sadly I did. It just isn’t that different from the first one, and it will lose to its competitor. Take the S660, well it is loaded with lots of handling kits to improve the driving experience. Hell, there’s even torque vectoring like what supercars have today. It’s not like I’ll never buy the new Copen, I probably will, someday, it just won’t be on the top of my list.

( Edit ) 5. Daihatsu Midget II

Daihatsu Midget, a single seater pickup truck that actually stands out from the crowd. The concept of the Midget started back in the 50s, when the first 3-wheeled midget came out. It’s not actually a kei car, it’s considered as an auto-rickshaw, which puts is in the class of the tuk tuk. The first Midget was a very cool vehicle, and it was very iconic. There was not much like. It combines the “comfort” of a car with the ease of rickshaws. In Indonesia, where I live, Midgets actually became public transportation, even until today, although only in the iconic parts of Jakarta. There are even some restomods for the Midget if you want to drive a good one.

The Midget II was released in 1996, with the same concept from the first one. Unlike most kei cars, the Midget isn’t made to be close to the limit of the kei cars, it’s actually very small even by kei car standards. I mean it’s less than 3 meters long and less than 1.35 meters wide. The driving will be like a 4 wheeled tuk tuk. The design of the car itself is actually very good, it stands out from the crowd, which is odd for a commercial car. Nevertheless you can notice it from the distance. The small size is the main reason why the Midget II is made. It’s not fast, powered by an engine that makes 31hp, and why would it? It’s no performance car, and it has no willing to become one. It’s a boring working car that can actually catch the eyes of some people.

Well that’s all from me. Daihatsu really makes some unique kei cars, from downsized luxuries to back to basic roadsters.

For next week, I’ll bring up the kei car trinity, AZ-1, Beat, and Cappuccino, all as one. 3 different cars that do one purpose, so stay tuned if you want to hear some more.

Just in case you missed, here’s last week’s Kei Cars in Depth, talking about the kei cars from Suzuki.