Originally Posted by
palebeachbum
...I held the throttle to the floor in desperation.
When you hold the throttle wide open while you are cranking a fuel-injected car, there is no fuel delivered by the fuel injectors (search the web for clear flood mode). So if flooring the throttle helped to get the car started, you likely had an overly rich condition. Based on the fact that your car belched out a cloud of dark smoke (unburned or poorly-burned fuel) when it started, it sounds like that's what is going on.
Definitely look into the ECU flash updates that Eggman mentioned.
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View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 52.2 mpg (US) ... 22.2 km/L ... 4.5 L/100 km ... 62.6 mpg (Imp)