Archive for Daihatsu

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The new 2008 range of the Daihatsu Sirion in the UK will include a new top of the range 1.5 liter model called the Daihatsu Sirion SX, priced at £9,495 on-the-road. The 2008 Daihatsu Sirion gets new bumpers and grills, new wheel designs, revised, grippier front seats, plusher cloth trim and an improved rear torsion beam suspension for better handling across the range.

The 1.5 SX in particular has a deep front spoiler with a mesh grille (this is essentially the TRD bumper), front fog lamps, side skirts, a rear tailgate spoiler, a red trim interior, alloy wheels, climate control, power windows for all four doors, four SRS airbags, a radio/CD player and remote central locking. It also boasts Vehicle Stability Control, something not offered on any previous Sirion models.

The engine is the 3SZ-VE, something familiar to us already as it is the same engine used in the Toyota Avanza 1.5 liter, but probably slightly different in the Sirion installation as it will be installed in a FF configuration instead of the Avanza’s FR configuration. It also makes less power than the version in the Avanza 1.5, putting out 103 PS at 6,000rpm and 132Nm (138Nm for auto) of torque at 4,400rpm versus 109 PS and 141Nm. 0 to 100 acceleration time is rated at 10.1 seconds.

Will these new features, especially the Vehicle Stability Control trickle down to the Malaysian market and provide extra safety features for a new highest-line specification Perodua Myvi model?

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of New Daihatsu Sirion SX 1.5 liter

Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd has just announced the Daihatsu Gran Max, a new light commercial vehicle manufactured at P.T. Astra Daihatsu Motor in Indonesia, aiming to meet the increasing demand in Indonesia for light commercial vehicles.

The Daihatsu Gran Max comes in two body styles, a pick up truck and a minibus. The pick up truck rear can be configured as you wish - in the photos after the jump you will be able to see a classic pick up truck bed as well as a storage box.

The minibus body is the only one in its class with sliding rear doors on both sides. It also has class-leading load capacity.

Powering the Gran Max is either a 1.3 liter DOHC VVT-i or 1.5 liter DOHC VVT-i engine, which should be the 85hp K3-VE and the 107hp 3SZ-VE.

Perhaps this will be offered in Malaysia sometime soon too as a Daihatsu or a Perodua? Perhaps as a Rusa replacement.

More photos of different body styles and the interior after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 2008 Daihatsu Gran Max minibus and pickup

This concept vehicle is called the Daihatsu OFC-1 Concept, an open top K-car roadster that Daihatsu says was designed for adults who want to feel the wind as they drive. The convertible glass top consists of a 3-piece electromotive roof which opens and closes in less than ten seconds, while preserving trunk space even when the roof is down.

The engine used in this concept is a variation of the JB-DET 658cc turbocharged engine putting out 63 horsepower at 6,000rpm and 103Nm of torque at 3,000rpm, which is really not much power even though the car only weighs 820kg. This engine is mated to a CVT gearbox with a manual shifting mode that allows you to swap between 7 virtual gear ratios. The front suspension setup uses MacPherson struts and coil springs, while the rear suspension uses an economical torsion beam design with coil springs.

The 2-seater Daihatsu OFC-1 Concept most likely points us to what the next generation Daihatsu Copen might look like. More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Daihatsu OFC-1 Concept: next gen Copen?

Here is something amusing. While some Perodua Myvi owners in Malaysia have been visiting the bodykit shops with plans to convert their Perodua Myvi to it’s JDM Daihatsu Boon/Toyota Passo look, Daihatsu has decided that the Daihatsu Sirion it sells in Indonesia will use the Perodua Myvi’s styling!

It looks pretty much exactly the same as our Myvi like it’s curvier headlamps, front and rear bumper, rear numberplate location, as well as LED tail lamps. Even the interior uses the Myvi’s interior, with the shifter positioned conventionally in the middle of the two front seats instead of mounted on the steering column like the Boon and Passo.

Visit PT Astra Daihatsu Motor’s Daihatsu Sirion microsite.

This is the Daihatsu Mira Custom, a kitted up version of the latest generation Daihatsu Mira that was recently launched in Japan. It’s got some pretty high spec stuff for a K-car, including automatic tilting side mirrors for convenience during reverse maneuveres as well as a very BMW-like engine start/stop button.

Both the Mira and Mira Custom use the latest generation Topaz NEO 660cc engines - the KF-VE and the KF-DET. The KF-VE features 58 horsepower at 7,200rpm, and 65Nm of torque at 4,000rpm, a big improvement over our local Perodua Viva’s EF-VE 660cc DVVT engine that makes 47 horsepower and 58Nm of torque. Daihatsu says the KF-VE can manage 25.5km per liter with the 2WD drivetrain and CVT transmission.

The more exciting KF-DET engine makes not a huge amount of horsepower more than the KF-VE, but it’s 64 horsepower is gained at a much lower 6,000rpm. It shines in it’s torque figures though - 103Nm at a low 3,000rpm. Both the turbo and non-turbo variants of the Daihatsu Mira custom comes with either a 2WD or 4WD drivetrain and all use CVT gearboxes.

From the photos of these cars, perhaps some enterprising local bodykit designer can produce the first batch of cool kits based on Daihatsu’s work with the Mira Custom to spice up our local Perodua Viva cars.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Daihatsu Mira Custom

In the spirit of entertainment, Best Motoring pits a bunch of Japanese compact cars against each other on the race track. You have the Honda Jazz 1.5 VTEC, the Suzuki Swift Sport 1.6, Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart Version-R 1.5 MIVEC Turbo, and the Daihatsu Boon X4. The first two are naturally aspirated, while the last two are turbocharged, and the Boon X4 has the advantage of all-wheel drive while the rest are front wheel driven. Oh, and all the cars are stick shifts. Video after the jump!

Click here to read the rest of Best Motoring Compact Car Race

Daihatsu Japan has updated their Daihatsu Mira with a new model and guess what… the new facelift seems to sport headlamps that look like they belong to the Myvi family! A similiar design has been spotted on the new Perodua Kancil Replacement Model that has been seen doing testing rounds lately. Look after the jump for some comparisons…

Click here to read the rest of New Daihatsu Mira launched in Japan

UPDATE: Perodua has announced that a new Kembara will be launched in mid-2008. It is expected that the new Perodua Kembara replacement will be based on the Daihatsu Bego/Toyota Rush. Click here for more details.

The production of the new Toyota Rush and Daihatsu Terios will start soon in Indonesia, and both will be produced in Daihatsu’s assembly plant. Selling the same model under two different badges in the same country seems to work well in Indonesia, where the Toyota Avanza/Daihatsu Xenia have achieved sales of 200,000 units since 2003.

Now that Indonesia has the new Terios, when will Perodua update it’s aging Kembara model? The new Terios was recently awarded 4X4 Magazines 4X4 Of The Year 2007 Award. I already have a few friends holding back their car purchases in eager anticipation of the new Kembara, if it ever happens. With it’s mini RAV4 looks, I’m sure it will be a runaway success like the Myvi.

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The Toyota-Daihatsu siblings take economies of scale to a whole new level unheard of with the introduction of the Daihatsu D-01 Concept recently at the Auto China 2006 motor show. While Toyota calls it a “concept” for China, it’s actually pretty much the same ASEAN market Toyota Avanza/Daihatsu Xenia that’s been available for ages already, with a slightly different bodykit. The production version of the Daihatsu D-01 Concept will be introduced into the Chinese market in mid-2007.

One more rear view photo after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Daihatsu D-01 Concept - China’s Avanza

What’s this then, a mini Chrysler PT Cruiser? Daihatsu introduced the 2007 Daihatsu Materia at the 2006 Paris Motor Show, a little boxy mini-MPV-like wagon vehicle which is also known as the Daihatsu Coo or the Toyota bB in other parts of the world. The bB Concept was introduced as a preview to the successor to the Scion xB, a popular wagon sold in the US under Toyota’s Scion arm. While it might look terribly boxy and Gundam-ish to us, the Scion xB has proven to be quite popular in the US.

While the first generation Scion xB used Toyota’s 2NZ-FE 1.3 liter and 1NZ-FE 1.5 liter, power for this successor comes from either a 1.3 liter K3-VE engine, or a 1.5 liter 3SZ-VE, the same Daihatsu-based engines being offered in our local Toyota Avanza. This shows Toyota is moving towards using Daihatsu engines for it’s low displacement models across the board, whether the model is Daihatsu or Toyota originated.

Some models of the Daihatsu Coo in Japan has four wheel drive options, but it’s not clear to me right now whether the European Daihatsu Materia will have 4WD or not. Daihatsu expects to build about 1,000 units per month.

Click here to read the rest of 2007 Daihatsu Materia