REVIEW
Gavin Foster
Daihatsu YRV, R127 995
Funny little car, the Daihatsu YRV. It’s dinky. It’s fun. It’s quite lively. It’s very well equipped in some areas, with ABS and EBD, dual airbags, electric windows and an aircon as standard, but it falls down, rather unnecessarily, in others. Soundproofing could be better, the doors feel tinny, there’s no remote central locking and the plain steel wheels bear cheap plastic inserts to make them look like alloys. Not major gripes, perhaps, but in a 1300cc car costing well over R100 000 one would expect these things.
That aside, the YRV has a surprising amount of interior space. The back seats can be adjusted fore-and-aft, and their squabs can be removed in seconds, allowing the backrests to fold flat. This increases the luggage area to more than 850m3. Head and leg room front and rear are good, and the four high passenger doors make clambering in and out a pain-free exercise.
The YRV’s four cylinder 1298cc twin-cam 16-valve engine produces 64kW at 6000rpm, and 120Nm torque at 3200rpm. Acceleration to 100kph takes about 13,5 seconds, and top speed is a shade over 160kph. The car handles acceptably for what it is, with spirited driving introducing a fair bit of understeer into the equation.
The test car was the four speed auto with Steershift two Formula One style buttons on each side of the steering wheel allow the box to be shifted up or down at will. We were pleased to discover that the system works well.
When the time came to return the Daihatsu YRV we were genuinely sorry to see it go. Of course, our affection was flavoured by the fact that we didn’t have to cough up the asking price of R127 995 (R117 995 manual) before we could enjoy the car.