LOL at 7:43. For a moment, I thought I was watching Scotty Kilmer's channel. BTW, I just love your channel. You introduce me to cars that are never seen in the United States. Also, I like that you typically focus on common cars that ordinary people owned, but through the passage of time are now as rare as the exotics. Cheers!
I've had two Daihatsu Charades and I can fully support the comments about fun - the 3 cylinder engine has a lot of go, the bodywork is so light and both had aircon - parking's a breeze and you can carry four people in comfort - what's not to like? A great shame Daihatsu withdrew from Europe but there's still loads of low mileage models available, usually owned by elderly people who kept them in good nick and had them properly serviced. Dealers often have no idea how good they are and sell them for a lot less than they are really worth, also they never get stolen because they have no 'sex appeal'. An alternative is the Subaru Justy, which is a licence built Sirion with better spares back up. Give a Daihatsu a go, you won't be disappointed!
"it does make a rather unpleasent noise if you get it air born like that" i cant help but feel that daihatsu didnt have mid journey flights in mind when designing this car
I'm very proud to say, that, I own one. It was my father's car. We bought it new, at 1999. It still runs fine. And believe it or not, it has only 193.000 Km on it since 1999 to today!
Just bought a 2001 1.3 Sirion automatic for £595. It’s an absolute blast to drive. The engine is really smooth, after 90,000 miles! I think it’s the engine that the Yaris used as well so it’s not surprising. Great little car that seems happy anywhere.
I like the Mk.1, and forgot there was a 3-pot option, sounding wonderful. Drove the Mk.1 around in Gran Turismo 2 but it was only the four cylinder version. One amusement about the Mk2 is that i believe it was called the Daihatsu 'Boon' in Japan.
Great sounding wee motor, looks a right laugh to drive. Older (I refuse to believe cars from 1998 as old yet - I'm 27) city cars/superminis were unpretentious and not trying to be big cars which was such a part of their charm.
Inanimate objects cannot be pretentious lol but I would take the spacious and comfortable city cars of today over the tiny sardine cans of yesteryear any time of the day.
My wife and I own a 2006 Sirion 1.3 se, extraordinary reliable, but has a rather stubborn first gear. It goes very well and is a lovely blue colour. Coming up for 130000 miles, had a new water pump at 98000 miles. New brakes and rotas at 115000. We are running it till it dies!
Got to love the sound of a 3 cylinder I used to have a fiesta 1.0 ecoboost ( I know not really a hubnut sort of car) but I absolutely loved the zingy feel and sound of the 3 cylinder.
I like these older vids, Richard Hammond absolutely slated these cars for being “Beige”, meaning only pensioners drove them, I still don’t understand his line of thought, it’s people like him that probably helped the car sell poorly, because people will take note of car critics opinions! Personally I liked this model of the Sirion.
We Hired one in Cyprus many years ago, when we drove away from the sound I thought it was running on 3, to my surprise when I opened the bonnet I laughed to myself, it was a bloody 3 cylinder! I don't think anyone made a 3 cylinder engine at the time, we had it for a couple of days and it was very easy to drive and frugal, brilliant.
I had a 2003 facelift 1.3 for a while, managed 105 in it. It had cupholders and 2 gloveboxes! Unfortunately I had to scrap it due to typical Daihatsu rust.
I owned a Daihatsu Cuore 2009 (last model). It had more room for passengers than a BMW 7 series! I could stretch my legs on the back bench. No room for Luggage though. I made it on vacation over the Alps (warping 2 brake discs). The Cuore had such a long ratio that it would not engine brake. Also it was very difficult to reverse without choking the engine because of that. I liked the engine a lot. But to be fair, it drove not very well otherwise. Not true about the Cuore 1989! That thing drove like a kart. Ah, so much fun….
Little 3 cylinders are so much fun to drive; being half of an I6 they basically make the same noise. Given the Sirion didn't weigh much at all the 50hp is probably just as comparable to today's econoboxes, which weigh around a ton and push out only a little more power.
They were a great little car. Still a few knocking around here Ireland- were solid Japanese reliability and technology. Daihatsu is the small car wing of Toyota
Your reviews are so refreshing because you examine the car from a different point of view that most other car channels. You look at it through a person who buys these cars for the uses they were intended for. Who cares if it takes 12 seconds to go 0-60??? Who cares if it doesn't have a lot of luxury?? You mention all the real points of interest like the great fuel economy and the standard air conditioning that people will love. Daihatsu's were only sold in the United States for a couple of years and most people shunned them away as garbage little cars. Nothing could be further from the truth. We didn't get the Sirion model but manufacturers need to know that a lot of people want small econobox cars to get from point A to point B. Great review Ian!
It's a toyota basically with some stuff stripped. My grandpa had an 89 Daihatsu Applause for about 20 years from new until it rottted out urecoverably. It was just the right car for him and he loved it only real flaw was that it lacked AC and the automatic might have been 3 speed.
the great thing about city cars of the 1990's was that the one litre cars were all 45 - 50 bhp and fast enough not being burdened with all the gubbins modern cars have that just add weight. As a result they were frugal too - my personal favourite was the Uno - in 903cc ohv or 45 Fire OHC guise it was a lively economical great to drive motor - robust too - I had three of the bleeders over about 10 years - wee smashers
Great review Ian, I remember these cars when they came out and thought they were quite quirky with the styling, just a little thank you as for the last 3 years I have been watching the back catalogue of Hubnut Videos and this video marks the end of me watching the back catalogue and these have kept me entertained, especially in lockdown along with the Hubnut Goes Global, I love the ethos of Hubnut to celebrate the average, #powerlessismore
My brother lives in great dunmow Essex and he has sent me some great pics of the snow but here in sittingbourne Kent, we are getting the pound stretcher version of snow, it's not settling, it did over night but it then rained and washed it away and now it's not settling
I remember there being a rally version of this car that did fairly well on the circuit. Though, Daihiatsu's collaboration with Toyota certainly helped as they were often contracted to build their lower volume cars and had access to a lot of their big brother's purchasing power as a result. They always did interesting. But, when that got underway they somehow became more so.
My son has a mk2 1.0 sirion that we believe ha been breathed on by a previous owner.It is very quick but not as economical as another siriion I owned, so the extra power is paid for. Yes the 3 pot engine is brilliant and so involving. Pete UK
Just bought one 1999 Toyota Duet (the Japanese version with bells and whistles) 2 airbags, digital odometer and (as Scotty Kilmer would say) freezing cold air conditioning. And it still gets 18km/l can't beat it..
Thank you for this great review! I'm actually looking for a car which doesn't cost much for maintenance. Unfortunately today owning a reasonable car for many people today means to bring it to the mechanic three times a year.
I bought a Toyota Yaris 2003 a couple of days ago! I love it. P.S. I heard that the Daihatsu Sirion and the Toyota Yaris have the same engine. Is this true?
@@wildinthewild3704 It depends: in the Yaris' first generation the 1.3 litre engine was the same (but with a different hp output), the 1.0 litre engine was totally different; the starting petrol engines in the Yaris' second generation were the same of the Sirion's second generation. In Japan this Daihatsu Sirion was sold as Toyota Duet also and the next generation as Toyota Passo: the badge was the only different thing!
Another great video. Anyone else get a rager from the boot reveal? Thank god no knees or I’d have knocked me Royal Doulton figurines off the mantle! Well I’m not made of stone am I.
I used to own one of these. Unfortunately it dropped a valve at approx 150,000km so I had it written off -nasty to drive with 2 cylinders!. 17km/l with aircon on constantly or 48mpg. From what I see on the road today I am confident that the 1.3 Sirion is a lot better for long term reliability.
I had a 1.3 and it was a great little car. very gutsy and 100mph no trouble at all. Fuel consumption not in the same league though. As I understand it they were based on the previous generation Toyota Corolla and the specs played with a bit.
The Sirion experience can be had for $450 at the moment,there's a white one on the internet here,it's clocked up 305,000 km's (about 190,000 miles) and is still going..albeit on 2 cylinders which when you only have 3 to start with might be a problem..just saying..lol.thanks for the great videos.
Ahh yes it reminds me of the sort of power levels I struggled with in my 954cc Peugeot 205. I don’t think I managed to get any feeling of acceleration which was a shame
What is it with these small, light three cyl boxes? I got an Alto this Jan although it hasn't been used a lot thx to the lockdown, it is stupid fun at the back roads without losing a license.
RU-vid randomly recommended this to me. How did I not see this yet? Considered buying a Sirion before but rust issues are massive so I ended up not doing that. Still, I like the Sirion. Pity about the firm ride. Sounds like it could do with a 1.3, but that wouldn't be a 3 cylinder so that spoils all the fun. Hope there's a version without power steering 3, 5! Who needs fourth gear anyway :D. I am secretly looking for one now. Damn you Ian!
@@adhub3971 - Stolen?! Lol.... Toyota own Daihatsu. And it's not the same engine. It is *based* on this Daithatsu engine but has VVTi added, and a completely different gearbox, with those loooooooong Aygo gears.
Not sure about that. Daihatsu was able to get 100bhp from 993cc way back in the 1980s (Charade GTti)! And some of these modern tiny turbos seem very unreliable...
Good little cars and very reliable . just remember to change the cam belt ! have you reviewed the BL "Prinny" yet ? another underrated car that should have done far better as so much room and comfort . thanks for posting .
And now in 2024 its definitely a classic , I dont get why 3 Cylinder Engines are not mandatory now ? As they sound better than 4 Cylinder engines are more fun to drive because you have to thrash them just to get to the 60mph speed limit and also they are more Green and Clean for the environment , My old Colt had the 1.1 3 cylinder engine same as in the Yaris and it was hilarious ,my neighbour used to call it a rally car because of the way it sounded lol
I can make my 2015 C1 make that sweet roar too, if I want. Basically the same engine but a much nicer ride. Fun to drive - you just have tone down your expectations...
i always secretly wanted one of the mark 1 sirions'. Even as a 30 year old man. I have a strange predilection for "old peoples cars". It just has an enormously comforting shape - like a drive-able telly-tubby(?). Like it should be full of home baked puddings and hand knitted dolls for a charity shop. As a nissan leafer - the days of engine lubricants and fanatical belts is now behind me. Or is it.....? Could anyone recommend the best place way to get a nissan leaf serviced and by whom? I only purchased it a couple of months ago but like to plan ahead. I have this unnerving feeling that very little servicing is needed but the bill will be the same. Hub nut. I haven't seen the MK1 renault clio on your channel yet. Another favourite car of mine. Remember to keep those mobile phones AWAY from direct contact from your head. I'm hearing from people in the know - that the numbers of brain cancer related to years of doing this are dramatically increasing. Young people are especially vulnerable. Spread the news and the solution is simple: use your speaker phone.
Hi dude, sorry to bother you but my 2005 Saab 93 engine does not get up to operating temperature and as a result the heater in the car doesn't work, can u advise me? The aircon works and blows sub zero air out into the car, but no heat and the temp have for engine shows cold, do u think somebody has removed the thermostat?
Similar to the Mitsubishi Colt the newer model is a laugh to drive with a 1.1 3 cylinder engine it pulls like a train 75bhp in a car that weighs the same as a piece of paper lol
I have a parts car anyway because that thermostat comes with the whole housing and sensor which is about 60 pounds, a bit steep before Christmas, il endever to wake up! In the morning and swap them over/ see how I get on/ I may take the matrix hoses off too and flush it with the garden hose, I even have a spare matrix because I have a complete car as mentioned, but don't really fancy taking the dash apart if I can help it, I'm sure it is the stat for the reasons u just mentioned, il let u know
I do have a garage with fluorescent lighting like yourself but sadly no heating, bit nippy out at night and going to wife's work doo this evening so il leave it for tomorrow and never a good idea to take your car apart when drunk!
Color the bonnet Matte Black, put a door lock on the driver's door, and there you have it! I will buy an automated one since i can't find a manual, do you advice me to get a 2003 Sirion for a mildly busy highway or is that dangerous? I am a very calm and self aware driver, i need a fuel efficient vehicle for long distances, and i don't have budget! This video is actually a good review of the car, especially showcasing it on wet terrain, thanks!
