Photo: Stefan Baldauf/SB-Medien
Kei cars are an unnatural sight in Europe, but Nissan took a couple of its Dayz to the Old Continent for research & development. Heavily camouflaged from head to toe, the city dwellers both feature the V-Motion grille and boomerang LED signature of just about every other Nissan, including the Micra subcompact hatchback.
Tall, square, and riding on ridiculously small wheels, the Dayz leans a bit while cornering because of the high center of gravity. A curious combination between the aesthetics of a van and layout of a hatchback, the Nissan features drum brakes at the rear axle and right-hand steering.
The Japanese microcar mirrors the angled design of the side glass at the back from the previous generation, helping the light get into the cabin as much as possible while increasing the structural rigidity of the vehicle in the case of a crash. As far as dimensions are concerned, Nissan won’t stray too much from the current Dayz’s 3.4 meters (11.5 feet) in length and 1.62 meters (5.3 feet) in width.
Speaking of the outgoing model, the Dayz is based on the Mitsubishi eK, launched in 2001 at 910,000 yen. The two-letter name stands for excellent KeijidMsha, with the latter word standing for minicar. The second generation of the eK was released in 2006, then the third and current model followed in 2013.
Be it the eK or Dayz, this fellow comes with an inline-three engine with or without turbocharging technology, a continuously variable transmission, front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. The 659-cc powerplant with 55 horsepower on tap can manage 25.80 kilometers per liter of gasoline, translating to 3.9 liters/100 kilometers or 60.7 miles per gallon of the U.S. variety.
Even more impressively, the four-seat kei car tips the scale at 830 kilograms (1,830 pounds). For the sake of comparison, the Mazda MX-5 with the 1.5-liter SkyActiv-G engine comes in at 1,061 kilograms (2,339 pounds).
A reveal is expected sometime in the second half of 2019, which means the Dayz would go on sale in Japan for the 2020 model year. At the time of writing, pricing for the Dayz is ranging from 1,088,640 to 1,641,600 yen, which works out to $9,800 and $14,780 at the current exchange rate.
The Japanese microcar mirrors the angled design of the side glass at the back from the previous generation, helping the light get into the cabin as much as possible while increasing the structural rigidity of the vehicle in the case of a crash. As far as dimensions are concerned, Nissan won’t stray too much from the current Dayz’s 3.4 meters (11.5 feet) in length and 1.62 meters (5.3 feet) in width.
Speaking of the outgoing model, the Dayz is based on the Mitsubishi eK, launched in 2001 at 910,000 yen. The two-letter name stands for excellent KeijidMsha, with the latter word standing for minicar. The second generation of the eK was released in 2006, then the third and current model followed in 2013.
Be it the eK or Dayz, this fellow comes with an inline-three engine with or without turbocharging technology, a continuously variable transmission, front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. The 659-cc powerplant with 55 horsepower on tap can manage 25.80 kilometers per liter of gasoline, translating to 3.9 liters/100 kilometers or 60.7 miles per gallon of the U.S. variety.
Even more impressively, the four-seat kei car tips the scale at 830 kilograms (1,830 pounds). For the sake of comparison, the Mazda MX-5 with the 1.5-liter SkyActiv-G engine comes in at 1,061 kilograms (2,339 pounds).
A reveal is expected sometime in the second half of 2019, which means the Dayz would go on sale in Japan for the 2020 model year. At the time of writing, pricing for the Dayz is ranging from 1,088,640 to 1,641,600 yen, which works out to $9,800 and $14,780 at the current exchange rate.
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