Daihatsu Sirion Roast

Right off the bat, I can tell you there's a couple of things wrong with this particular car. For a start, the colour, Pearly white is fine for wedding hire-cars and hearses, but for a punk-rocker like a Sirion Gtvi (v for variable value timing), the cake-icing white in Dudsville.

Then there's the tranny. Oh dear. If ever a car begged - no, screamed out - for slick-shifting six-speed manual (hell, five would do) this is it. So what do we get? A four-speed auto with a torque converter that gorges itself on Newton-metres. Newton-metres that could otherwise be pasted on the road surface.

Okay, so there are steering wheel mounted shift buttons, and there's total override, but it's still a slusher. Which means valuable Nms wasted.

Fortunately, the Sirion Gtvi is available in other colours and with proper gearboxes. Fortunate, I hear you ask? Yeah, because apart from those little niggles, there's actually quite a bit to like here.

Daihatsu built a gadget called a Charade Gti back in the late '80s. It used the standard Charade body shell with a turbocharged version of the charming little three-cylinder engine on board.
It went like a good 'un and was chock-full of attitude. The bad news is the latter-day Daihatsu hot-rod doesn't get the rumpy - pumpy blown triple. Instead, you get a 75 kW 1.3 - litre four with twin camshafts and 16 valves. Not a bad motor, just not as much fun as the oldie.

Performance? Well, you're reading MOTOR, so a 17.5 - second standing quarter won't flip your wig. But that's competition - squashing urge in the micro - car class and I'd have to be fair and say there's just enough straight - line stick for the Sirion to be good fun.

Opinions re the whole darn thing were split. Some people thought it was just too weird when what they probably meant was that it's a fraction contrived in some respects. But a mate, who has just talked a committed bean counter into 17 - inch wheels and a big exhaust for his company car, reckoned it was a breath of fresh air when he saw it parked next to the other trolleys in the staff carpark. I'm not entirely convinced but, basically, I'm with him.

Reproduced with permission from: Motor Magazine - October 2000
Story: David Morley

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