Daihatsu Wake

2015 Daihatsu Wake

Well, this is new. This is a brand new kei car from Daihatsu and it's called the Wake. Looks like the kei car world is getting a wake-up call from Daihatsu's newest entry and for the Wake, it ushered a brand new category in the world of kei cars, although the Wake is served as the replacement to the aging Atrai. Ah, time flies...

So, what is it then?

This is unlike any other kei car you've ever seen because this box of a compact focuses more on space for those who like to take a weekend break or a holiday vacation. With the overall height of 1,835mm, this kei car is a lot taller than the Daihatsu Tanto. This is probably the tallest kei car on the market today and because it's so tall, you can fit anything you have.

What kind of people will buy such a tall thing?

The Wake's target audience is people who like to have an outdoor lifestyle. When it's day off, people like to go camping, fishing, climbing, cycling, surfing or skiing, whichever floats their boat. To accommodate such leisures, the Daihatsu Wake offers several options, which fits their lifestyle, in the form of a two-stage adjustable deck board with fixed hooks, utility hook, luggage compartment floor hook, and many others. That is called the Leisure Base Pack and that's an optional extra. Also, if you opt for the optional extra luggage board, storage gets more efficient as well.

It looks a bit boxy...

2015 Daihatsu Wake

Between you and me, yes, this car's very boxy in the design stakes but the Daihatsu Wake draws inspiration from last year's Deca Deca Concept. You know, the one we saw from the Tokyo Motor Show last year. The only thing that differs between the Wake and the Deca Deca Concept is the front face because it kinda looks like a Kia Ray in so many ways.

What about inside?

2015 Daihatsu Wake interior

Because of its tall exterior, the interior is indeed roomier enough to raise your hands at ease. On the driving position, it's like you're driving an LCV at some point but even though it's a tall kei car, the legroom is somewhat okay just as long as you don't let someone interfere with the front seats. If you notice that there's a tray on the passenger side, then yes. There's a tray that you can raise when you're going to take your lunch, play your gadgets, doing your homework or whatever you're doing on the go. Sadly, there's only one tray inside so you might expect your kids arguing for this. Bad mark for Daihatsu there.

Does it act like a city car?

2015 Daihatsu Wake

Even though it's a car made for outdoor purposes in mind, the Wake still acts like a city car especially when it's powered with a very fuel-efficient 660cc KF engine, which delivers 25.4km/L of fuel economy with the help of Daihatsu's game-changing e:S technology. The steering is rack and pinion, has MacPherson struts on the front, torsion beam at the back (for FWD models because 4WD models come with three-link), it still work as a city car and you can have as much fun as you want. It's like riding in a bumper car for some reasons but for safety reasons, it's loaded with Smart Assist, Vehicle Stability Control, and TRC. In case of what's what, Smart Assist comes with low-speed range collision avoidance support brake function, false start suppression control function, and preceding vehicle start notification function. Pretty smart, eh?

Price?

The Daihatsu Wake starts at 1,350,000 up to 1,873,800 Japanese Yen (around 14,000 to 19,000 Dollars) so it's expensive than the Tanto but you should know that the Wake's the tallest around here so you'll get what you'll pay for. Of course, there's one problem; it's Japan-only so if you want one, go pack your bags and move to Japan if you want to have one.

Available Colors: Pearl White III, Tungsten Grey Metallic, Black Mica Metallic, Plum Brown Crystal Mica, Tonico Orange Metallic, Festa Yellow, Offbeat Khaki Metallic, and Blue Mica Metallic.

Photo: Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd.