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Glenn Butler1 Jul 2003
REVIEW

Daihatsu Charade

Daihatsu is plotting its way back up the ladder with the new Charade

DAIHATSU CHARADE

OVERVIEW
Daihatsu powered into an emerging light car scene in 1980 with the cheap, cheerful and reliable Charade. In less than a year it doubled Daihatsu's Aussie sales, and was a key driving force behind the company's glory days in 1992 and 1993 - when Daihatsu outsold even Honda and Nissan.

Since then the brand has done everything possible to self destruct. Charade was dropped in 1997 and Applause, Feroza and Rocky suffered similar fates. Daihatsu changed tack, bringing boxy, characterless products like YRV and Cuore to market, and Australians responded with overwhelming indifference. Only the 4WD Terios managed to keep its head above water as the company's annual sales dived to record lows in 2000.

Now that parent company Toyota is taking an active interest in its subsidiary, Daihatsu is plotting its way back up the ladder and the new Charade is an integral part in the plan. An incredibly attractive price tag and a healthy features list are undoubtedly Charade's two strongest lures, its light-sipping engine is another. Thing is, this new car may wear a Charade badge, but it looks more like a boxy YRV or Cuore successor.

FEATURES
This generation Daihatsu Charade is a massive departure from the Charades Australians grew to rely on in the 1980s and 1990s. Its tall-boy shape has not proven popular; cars like the Suzuki Ignis, Wagon R+, Daihatsu Cuore and YRV never commanded massive appeal with new car buyers.

CarPoint understands that the styling of this car was primarily for the Japanese domestic market, and export markets had little say in the finished product. For Daihatsu Australia, something is better than nothing.

The 3-door Charade's biggest single drawcard is its incredibly roomy interior - perhaps a bit narrow, but certainly capable of accommodating four adults comfortably and easily.

Second on the list of desirables is Charade's fairly extensive features list for a car priced less than $12,000. It's standard with central locking, electric windows and mirrors, CD player and a number of safety features, including dual airbags. The only hiccup in the price for buyers is the extra $1500 needed for air conditioning - practically a necessity in the Australian summer.

Third, and arguably as important as the Charade's features is its very frugal - yet surprisingly spirited - engine. Sipping around 5litres/100km translates into 700km per tank or roughly $50 per month for the average urban Australian.

A less obvious feature of the Charade is its build quality - a feature usually only spotted when less than optimum. Consistent fit and finish, good quality plastics throughout and durable cloth trim are the highlights, a poorly fitting floor covering in the boot the only real negative.

MECHANICAL
The 3-door Charade is a front drive hatchback powered by a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder engine. It's relatively simple fare with four valves per cylinder and two overhead camshafts. Steel block and alloy head, the engine produces 40kW of power and 88Nm of torque.

That's hardly stonking, but in a lightweight body tipping in at just 720kg, it's more than adequate. Charade comes standard with a five speed manual transmission, a four speed automatic is optional ($1250 at launch in July 2003). The Charade's braking system - discs front and drums rear - also benefit substantially from the car's light weight, giving it impressive stopping strength.

The Charade's suspension has been designed to not only provide a good ride and handling compromise, but also with minimal cabin intrusion. Coils over shock absorbers up front and trailing arm shocks at the rear keep the Charade's 13inch Bridgestone tyres in good contact with the road.

Charade gets power steering which is road speed sensitive, said to make parking easier while also giving higher speed stability.

COMFORT
Charade is a surprisingly comfortable offering for a car so physically compact. We challenged a 6ft 4in (190cm) colleague to occupy the back seats - which he accessed with relative ease - with the writer's 178cm frame in the front seat. Neither bloke is likely to be accused of stinting on the food when seconds are on offer, and yet the Charade accommodated both quite comfortably indeed. Four up would not be a problem space-wise, though the not-so powerful engine may have issues with 400kg of humans onboard.

The driver's seat adjusts for slide, the seat back for rake and the steering wheel has tilt adjust. We had no problem finding a comfortable driving position, but there's no seat height adjust, nor does the steering wheel telescope - this could be an issue depending on your body shape.

The wing mirrors are electrically adjustable, and the rear view mirror has good vision past the rear seat headrests.

One issue with space inside is the very narrow body. The Charade is just 1475mm wide on the outside, translating into 1300mm of shoulder room at the front seats. Our two test dummies barely had room for John Grisham's latest between them.

The passenger seat tilts and slides forward to improve access to the back, made even easier by the doors which open to nearly 90 degrees. Bootspace is limited with the seats up, though a 60/40 split-fold allows a modicum of load carrying versatility.

SAFETY
Dual front airbags are standard on the Daihatsu Charade along with front seatbelt pretensioners and side intrusion bars. In addition to this the steering column is set up to collapse in a frontal crash, reducing chest injuries. Self locking doors - which lock when you move off - automatically unlock in a crash, and the car also cuts off the fuel system.

The Charade's rear drum brakes may initially look like a safety weak link, but are more than up to the task of stopping the 725kg Daihatsu. An Antilock Brake System is not fitted and is not an optional extra.

The bonnet, bonnet hinges, front wiper pivots and front guards have been designed with minimising damage to pedestrians in the event of a collision.

COMPETITORS
Major competition at this price is very limited, but add $1500 for near-mandatory air conditioning and Suzuki Ignis, Daewoo Matiz and Kalos, Kia Rio and Hyundai Getz hove into view. Stretch a slightly longer bow and Toyota Echo, Mitsubishi Mirage, Honda Jazz and Holden Barina also line up with similar space efficiencies, though slightly higher pricing and specification.

Equally stiff competition at this end of the price spectrum comes from the second hand market with everything from five year old Corollas and Commodores to ten year old Alfas and Audis coming into the $12-$15,000 price range. The Daihatsu Charade, and indeed every new car we mentioned above, has the not inconsiderable advantage of a new car warranty - in this case three years or 100,000km, whichever comes first.

ON THE ROAD
Competent, comfortable and creepy. Eh? Well, people stare at this boxy city runabout - and that's creepy. A Porsche, sure, a Ferrari, yeah, but a Charade? A car's looks may not massively influence its dynamic abilities, but they do have a subtle effect on how you feel when driving. Subtle but important, after all you spends ya money, ya wants to feel good, no?

The Charade's an extremely competent car. It's got an engine that comes across as surprisingly willing and responsive in the car's ultra-light body. Even the four-speed automatic version we test drove had no troubles playing stop light derby with the bigger boys in town, and it easily gets up to speed on the freeways and major roads.

The Charade's ride is good for such a light car, it's controlled and concise and not at all fidgety or uncertain on lighter ripples. Bigger bumps are absorbed and forgotten though the more severe potholes do slip through the defences.

The car's dynamic abilities are what you'd expect from a car primarily bought for practicality and price. It handles safely, pushing the front end wide when cornering speed is excessive, though the Bridgestones do try their hardest to hang on.

The weak link in the Charade's on-road manners is the steering. It's easy and light at parking speeds, but lifeless and artificial on the go. Sure, turn the wheel and the car turns, but the steering wheel and its electric power assist bear no relation to the work the front wheels are doing. Steering wheel effort feels not unlike that experienced on car racing games in arcades - and bears a similar amount of real world relevance.

This does not make the car dangerous, just more difficult to drive than it should be. And it's really only one bad mark in an otherwise very competent overall package.

Model tested:
Date tested: August 14-21
RRP: $11,950
As tested: $13,450
Road tester: Jonathan Hawley
Distance covered: 374km

BOTTOMLINE: Far from perfect, but a cheap runabout that's eager to please.

Here's proof that motoring writers don't spend all their days swanning around in glam Mercedes and Porsches. The Charade isn't quite Australia's cheapest car -– it misses that crown by $700 to its Cuore little brother –- but it comes pretty close.

This is a car with no delusions of grandeur. You get a tiny, 3.4-metre three-door hatch powered by a 1.0-litre, three cylinder engine producing a heady 41kW of power and 89Nm of torque. If that sounds like a recipe for tardy travelling, think again. The Charade weighs less than 800kg, and the engine itself is willing to rev so while performance won't scare off a V8 Commodore, there's more than enough to get it around at a fair clip.

On top of that it's extremely economical. There's no tachometer, but even with the engine buzzing away somewhere near its limiter most of the time, it takes an awful long time to drain the 36-litre fuel tank. It'll squeeze into parking spots Nissan Patrol owners wouldn't glance at, and pick gaps in traffic almost like a motor bike. If, like most Australians, you do most driving between home and office alone in a large sedan costing three times as much, it's all food for thought. Of course, not all is bliss. The uneven idle of the three cylinder engine actually shakes the whole car when it is sitting still, and underway there's plenty of raucous, but not wholly unpleasant sounds coming from under the bonnet. The gearing is quite tall so at highway speeds engine noise is just subdued enough (in a relative sense) to be overcome by excessive wind noise.

The driver gets fairly flat seats and an uninspiring slab of grey plastic dashboard to look at, but controls are sensibly laid out and there is plenty of storage space available. Areas like fit-and-finish of the glovebox, lots of un-trimmed painted panels and crashing rattles from the rear are not highlights of the Charade's construction.

There's a jouncing ride from the lightweight body and unsophisticated suspension, plenty of movement in crosswinds and a degree of understeer (or front-end push) through tight corners, and overly light and inaccurate steering.

Equipment levels are a lot better than expected for the price. The Charade not only comes with a rear window wiper, CD player and dual airbags, but remote central locking and power windows are thrown in as well. The big catch is that air conditioning is a $1500 option.

Should all these criticisms condemn the Charade? Not really. In a world where cheap inevitably also means nasty, the Charade actually has quite a bit going for it considering it costs next to nothing, and does the job asked of it –- getting around town with the minimum of fuss -- quite well.

What we liked
>> Killer new car price-tag
>> Tardis-like interior space
>> Great fuel economy

Not so much
>> Price really $13,450 with aircon
>> Overdone steering
>> Bland, boxy shape

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Written byGlenn Butler
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