Domesticated Wheels
onDecember 11th, 2024
Last year, while shopping for cars, one model I had seriously considered was the Daihatsu Mira e:S. This small vehicle is a familiar sight across Japan, often praised as a practical choice for young drivers, salespeople, and seniors. What drew me to the Mira e:S was not just its bright yellow option or the nostalgic commercials featuring Bruce Willis but also its practicality. Replacement parts are inexpensive and readily available nationwide, making it a reliable choice for any car owner. At the time, I couldn’t test-drive the car as I was still in the process of obtaining my driver’s license. However, fate recently provided me with an unexpected opportunity to get behind the wheel of this ubiquitous little car.
On Monday morning, I stepped outside to a frustrating sight: a flat tire on my yellow Copen. As any driver might, I went through the standard motions. First, I grabbed the small pump from the trunk, plugged it into the 12V adapter, and began inflating the tire. After twenty minutes, the tire was only half-inflated and stubbornly hissing. Resigned to the situation, I used a puncture-repair canister to create a temporary seal, hoping it would be enough to get me to the dealership.
With a great deal of patience and prayer, I pulled into the Daihatsu service centre one town over and explained the situation at the counter. They asked if I wanted to have the leak properly repaired, but that didn't seem like the most logical solution. In just 14 months I've managed to put almost 36,000 kilometres on the odometer. While the tires still had some tread, they were clearly getting a little thin. I asked how much it would cost to replace all four tires with new ones and was given a price that was painful, but fair. Unfortunately, the dealership did not have a full set in stock, and I was unwilling to drive home with a bum tire. The car would have to stay at the dealership, leaving me without a vehicle for a couple of days. Fortunately, they provided a loaner: a barebones, red Daihatsu Mira e:S.
The dealership staff was courteous as they handed over the keys. The salesman walked me through a few basic expectations: the gas tank should be filled before return, any accidents would need to be covered by my insurance, and pets were not allowed in the car. All fair requests. I thanked him, got into the Mira e:S, and immediately noticed the difference.
After spending a year in my compact Copen Cero, the Mira e:S felt surprisingly spacious. The novelty was hard to miss: there were back seats, the windows seemed enormous, and the stick shift was positioned next to the steering wheel rather than between the seats. Even the ignition required a traditional key—a quaint throwback in today’s age of push-button starts.
Driving home was an experience in contrasts. The familiar route felt almost foreign as I adjusted to the quirks of this car. My left hand, accustomed to resting on the stick shift, found no such comfort with the Mira’s layout. The larger windows all but eliminated blind spots, a stark difference from my Copen. However, acceleration felt sluggish, and the steering seemed overly light, as if the power-assist was trying too hard to compensate. Even turning corners lacked the satisfying precision I’ve come to love. By the time I reached my driveway, the Mira felt less like a car and more like a well-designed toy.
Later reflecting on the drive home raised an immediate question: how different would this past year have been if I had bought a Mira e:S rather than a Copen Cero?
The Mira is very much a domesticated vehicle designed for utility and practicality over fun. It's obvious that I would not drive it the same way as I do my sporty two-seater, but would I drive it long distances at all? Would Ayumi and I have visited Kashiwajima in southern Kōchi prefecture? Would we have camped at all? Would we drive along narrow mountain roads? Would I have participated in car shows? Would I have created videos for YouTube? So many of the fun things that Ayumi and I have done this past year has been a direct consequence of buying a Daihatsu Copen.
At the tail end of 2023 I wrote a blog post that noted how life seemed to follow a domino effect, with every decision relying heavily on those made in the past. It's hard not to see how picking a more practical model of Daihatsu would have contributed to a very different set of circumstances today.
With any luck, my sporty yellow car will be ready for pick-up tomorrow afternoon. While I'm grateful for the luxury of a loaner car, there's no denying that the only vehicle for me right now is a brightly-painted, cramped, two-seat convertible with plenty of pep.