Daihatsu’s funky little Sirion has had a facelift, and the Sports model has been given a 15% increase in capacity to give it performance more in line with its name and image.
Ever since its launch in 2005, the third-generation Daihatsu Sirion has received favourable comment from the press. Although a diminutive hatchback in appearance, the Sirion offered loads of interior space, and came standard with just about everything you could expect in a car costing much more than the Daihatsu’s asking price of about R100Â 000.
Electric windows and mirrors, dual front airbags, ABS brakes with EBD, air con, a radio/CD player, rear demister, central locking, lots of stowage bins and cup holders, folding rear seats with squabs that could be slid forward to stop cargo falling to the floor — the Daihatsu had it all.
Performance too, though not stunning, was excellent for a mere 1,3-litre car, with the car being tested at about 11,5 seconds for the 0-100km/h dash, and a true top speed of more than 170km/h being easily attainable. Add to that a three-year/45Â 000km service plan and a miserly fuel consumption of about 7km/l, and the car was a winner.
Despite all this, the Daihatsu has never sold as well in this country as it deserved to — many people consider the brand a bit of a newcomer, although the company has existed for exactly 100 years. Any further doubts should be allayed by the knowledge that the company is today owned largely by Toyota, and the Sirion is sold in some countries as the Toyota Passo. A derivative is sold in Malaysia as the Perodua MyVi, and Subaru — also now largely Toyota owned — launched its new Daihatsu Sirion-based Subaru Justy at the Frankfurt Motor Show earlier this year. So much for new kids on the block …
The Sirion has always been available in two guises: the 1,3 CX and the Sport, which was mechanically identical but came with alloy wheels, a skirt kit, fog lights and a small rear spoiler, a price ticket R10Â 000 higher.
The fancy bodywork didn’t really justify the extra cost, so most motoring scribes recommended that buyers settle for the base model. That’s changed now, with the arrival of the facelift.
Where the standard version uses the same 64kW/120Nm, 1,3-litre engine to drive the front wheels, the new Sport version has been boosted to 76kW and 132Nm, thanks to an extra 200cc displacement. Alert readers will notice that the difference in power is about 17%, which is roughly the same as the percentage of power lost at reef altitudes. That means that a 1,3-litre Sirion driven at sea level will deliver performance very similar to the new 1,5-litre Sport in Johannesburg, and the new Sport at sea level will be rather a lively little number.
The factory claims a 0-100km/h time of 10,5 seconds and a top speed of 185km/h for the manual version of the Sport at sea level, with the auto (a R10Â 000 option) being slightly slower. That’s reasonably brisk at the price.
The facelift to the Sirion range is otherwise largely cosmetic. There’s a new front bumper, revised rear suspension geometry and a new instrument layout that does away with the large separate rev counter that was stuck on top of the dash, but now includes fuel-consumption information. The seat fabric has been changed and the service plan upgraded from two years/45Â 000km to three years/60Â 000km.