Every car is an argument about what matters, and the Daihatsu Wake makes its case with Petrol engine and 38 kW. Daihatsu built from 2014 to 2021 — as electrification stopped being an experiment and the crossover took every market.
The story
The Daihatsu Wake (Japanese: ダイハツ・ウェイク, Hepburn: Daihatsu Weiku) is a kei car with sliding doors sold by Daihatsu between November 2014 and August 2022. The vehicle was previewed by Deca Deca concept cars that were shown at 2009 and 2013 Tokyo Motor Shows. The microvan version of the Wake, intended for commercial use, was called the Hijet Caddie (ダイハツ・ハイゼットキャディー, Daihatsu Haizetto Kyadī) and was available between 2016 and 2021.
The Wake was also sold by Toyota as the Toyota Pixis Mega (Japanese: トヨタ・ピクシスメガ, Hepburn: Toyota Pikushisu Mega) between 2015 and 2022. The Wake had an interior cabin height of 1,455 mm (57.3 in), which was the highest in kei car segment. The Hijet Caddie had a permitted maximum loading capacity of 150 kg (330 lb).
What is underneath
Power comes from Petrol engine; 38 kW is the published figure; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 990 –. Work it out per tonne and you get about 38 horsepower — leisurely, which for a car of its age and purpose is the point. It shifts through a CVT. The wheelbase is 2455 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Daihatsu Mira Van (Hijet Caddie); its successor was the Daihatsu Tanto#LA650 / Daihatsu Tanto (LA650) (Wake, indirect) / Daihatsu Hijet#S700 / Daihatsu Atrai (S700) (Wake, indirect) / Daihatsu Hijet#S700 / Daihatsu Hijet Cargo (S700) (H; assembly was at Nakatsu, Ōita (Daihatsu Motor Kyushu), Japan. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Datsun Go, the Suzuki Hustler, the Honda S660 — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Daihatsu catalogue sit the Daihatsu Applause and the Daihatsu Atrai.