Daihatsu’s Sirion has always been a serious contender. It’s long been one of the best built and best equipped in its sector of the market, providing excellent value for money. Now it’s even better.
Aggressive drivers will probably regret that the factory saw fit to replace the previous generation’s 75kW 1,3 litre engine with a new unit that produces 11 kW less power, although torque remains the same. But the drop in quantity is accompanied by an increase in quality, with both power and torque peaking at far lower revs. Where the earlier car dished out 75 kW at 7 000 rpm and 120 Nm of torque at 4 400, the latest version produces 64 kW at 6 000 rpm and 120 Nm at 3 200. With a mass of just 925kg (manual) and 940 kg (auto), this makes for a lively little car that doesn’t need to be revved overly hard to get moving, but lacks the outright sporting feel of the earlier model. But that doesn’t relegate it to the B Team in the budget sector of the market. The 0-100 km/hr dash still takes well under 12 seconds and top end is around 170 km/hr. Handling too is excellent, without the chronic understeer apparent in some other small cars when driven hard.
The new Sirion is a stylish little car with a funky interior that takes a couple of cues from the new Mini and a few more from Daimler-Chrysler’s smart. The instrument pod with its large speedometer is mounted on the steering column, while the rev counter is a stand-alone device atop the dash. There’s loads of interior space, despite the car’s small dimensions, and the rear seat’s tilt can be adjusted for comfort. Its squab can also be slid forward while the backrests are folded to increase luggage capacity from 225 litres to 630 litres.
The Sirion’s build quality is excellent, and spec levels are very high for a car in this price range. There’s a frontloader CD player/radio, air-conditioning, rear window demister and wiper, electric mirrors and windows, dual front airbags, power steering, ABS brakes with electronic brake-force -distribution (EBD) and central locking.
The Sirion is available with five speed manual or four-speed auto transmissions, the latter unfortunately lacking the steering-wheel shift paddles of the previous model. Daihatsu’s manual override system worked better than that of most cars costing many times its price, allowing the driver to exercise total control where most of the others ignore driver input if they don’t agree with the way you’re doing things.
The manual and auto Daihatsu Sirions are each available in Standard and Sport guises, with the upmarket versions offering alloy wheels, big rally-style fog-lamps and a rear spoiler. Pricing starts at R99 995 for the Standard with a manual transmission, with the Sport manual and the Standard auto each costing R10 000 more. The Sport auto retails at R119 995. All cars come with a three year/100 000 km warranty and a two year/45 000 km service plan, with services spaced 15 000 km apart.