Daihatsu Mira e:S

The Daihatsu Mira e:S (ダイハツ・ミライース) is a kei car manufactured by the Japanese automaker Daihatsu as the successor to the original Mira. It was previewed by the "e:S" concept car at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show. The car was introduced to the Japanese market in September 2011. It was also sold by Toyota as the Toyota Pixis Epoch (トヨタ・ピクシスエポック), which was released on 10 May 2012 and by Subaru as the Subaru Pleo Plus (スバル・プレオプラス), which was released on 21 December 2012.

The moniker "e:S" stands for "Eco (Ecology, Economy) and Smart".

Overview


In response to the recent rise in environmental awareness and low priced cars, the Mira e:S has been developed with the concept of "the third eco car". It is the mass production version of the "e:S" concept car.

The existing technology owned by Daihatsu was reviewed, and by using the "e:S technology", the fuel efficiency has been improved by 40% compared to the conventional engine by reducing the weight of the vehicle, improving the transmission, improving the engine, among others.

The engine improves combustion efficiency by improving the compression ratio and the injector spray atomisation, etc., and by using the "i-EGR system", the mechanical loss is reduced to the utmost by making improvements over details. Furthermore, by adopting cooperative control by the electronic throttle, the most efficient state is maintained according to the driving situation. The CVT also reduces emissions by increasing the efficiency of the oil pump and improves the power transmission efficiency by lowering the CVT control pressure. As a result, the engine load was also reduced by optimising the transmission gear ratio (high gearing).

The body is made streamlined while maintaining the safety and a comfortable ride. The weight reduction has been made to the interior parts such as thinning of resin parts such as instrument panels, seat frame and CVT for idling stop. The air resistance has been suppressed by improving the shape of the front corners and reducing the flow velocity under the floor, and the rolling resistance was also reduced by improving the aforementioned weight reduction, bearings and brakes.

The "Eco Idle" idling stop mechanism that is installed in some grades of the Move and Move Conte is also equipped as standard for all vehicles, but the system in Mira e:S is the world's first for CVT vehicles with petrol engines. By applying the brakes and automatically stopping the engine when the speed is 7 km/h or less, the fuel consumption is improved by increasing the idling stop time. In addition, by reducing the number of dedicated parts, it has achieved weight reduction and "compactification".

With these technologies, JC08 mode fuel consumption achieved a fuel consumption of 30 km/L for front-wheel drive models and 27 km/L for four-wheel drive models.

The cost of the vehicle was reduced by reducing the number of parts and reducing the weight of the vehicle by approximately 60 kg by reviewing the component layout, shape, material selection and specifications.

The Mira e:S is assembled at Daihatsu Motor Kyushu in Nakatsu, Ōita.

First generation (LA300; 2011)
The first-generation Mira e:S was released on 20 September 2011. At the time of its introduction, it won the Good Design Award on 3 October 2011.

Both the Mira e:S, Pixis Epoch and Pleo Plus received a facelift on 19 August 2013. The engine of the original version produces 52 PS at 6,800 rpm; this dropped to 49 PS at the same engine speed when the engine was revised for better fuel economy in July 2014. The new engine runs on the Atkinson cycle and has an even higher compression ratio of 12.2 to 1, vis-à-vis the earlier 11.3 to 1.

Second generation (LA350; 2017)
The second-generation Mira e:S was released on 9 May 2017, alongside the second-generation Pixis Epoch and Pleo Plus. The engine was the same, Atkinson cycle three-cylinder with 49 PS as used in the previous generation since 2014. Thanks to significant weight reduction, fuel economy increased marginally, from 34.2 to 35.2 km/L for the lightest, two-wheel drive models.