Meet Daihatsu Mira e:S, a hot hatch for the fashion-conscious

Daihatsu has prepared a rather interesting vehicle for the Tokyo Auto Salon – a fully loaded Mira e:S wearing a sporty livery and a body kit from Toyota Gazoo Racing. It’s technically a concept car, but the company hints that production will hinge on how much interest it attracts at the show.

Starting with the body kit, it includes reshaped air intakes in the front bumper, some extra trim panels at the front, a revised rear bumper and blacked-out décor. BBS wheels were chosen for the build, and a special livery was designed for it as an homage to the Daihatsu rally car that participated in the domestic championship a while ago.

The Mira e:S is a Kei car, which means it has an engine capped at 660cc (0.66 liters) of displacement. It normally produces a meager 49 PS (48 hp / 32 kW), but this example enjoys a turbocharger upgrade that brings its output to 65 PS (64 hp / 48 kW). Not just that, but Daihatsu also decided to give it a five-speed manual transmission instead of the usual CVT. It looks like the suspension was also tweaked, but we have no details yet.

The automaker praises the project as a prime example of “an entry-level sports car making driving enjoyment available to everyone.” The way it sounds, a production batch or two may already have been scheduled.