Car manufacturer press officers come up with all sorts of innovative ways to
promote the product to journalists, but perhaps one of the most daring
suggestions in recent months has to be the challenge that Daihatsu gave to
journalists leaving the Geneva Motor Show last week. Drive 600 miles back to the
UK, in one or two days, in the all new Sirion, the company’s five door supermini.
I really don’t have any masochistic tendencies only enormous faith that the
press office must know its product, so I took up the challenge! Except that the
press office probably hadn’t expected that France and the South of England would
be suffering from blizzard like conditions, with more of a need for four by four
technology than supermini pottering.
However, the challenge was set and the Sirion came up trumps!
The uppermost demand when sitting in a car for twelve hours has to be comfort.
The wide stance styling of the new Sirion gives it a ground hugging look and
masks the taller than average build, which is part of the Sirion’s secret to its
remarkable roominess. I and my co-driver were able to stretch out our legs and
with the benefit of firm supportive seats finished a day’s driving, still
feeling quite refreshed.
One of the outstanding benefits of the Sirion is the countless cubbies and
storage areas. A small area in the door arm rest held toll tickets and change,
the long utility rack below the instrument panel absorbed sweets, CDs, cameras
and everything else we needed for the long journey.
We had each picked up trolley loads of press packs from the motor show as well
as our luggage, yet the boot accommodated it all with ease. With both rear seats
up the boot measures 225 litres, compared to say 205 litres for the Toyota Yaris.
However, with the seats folded, this rises to 630 litres. All models have a
60/40 split folding rear seat with an unusual feature. The seat cushions rise,
hinge forward and then drop into the footwell. This provides a soft carrying
area for delicate items as well as a completely flat floor, considerably deeper
than would otherwise be possible.
The interior has certain surprise and delight features, which include a pod like
oval speedometer mounted on the steering column which moves up and down with the
standard height adjustable steering wheel.
Fairly empty French motorways enabled us to keep at a steady speed of 130kms.
There is little wind noise and we were able to keep up a conversation without
having to shout, although the higher than average revs – about 4000 per minute –
were slightly wearing. Average motorway cruising is about 3000 revs per minute.
As we travelled further North towards Reims the terrain became more wintry and
it was reassuring to know that the little Sirion has a wealth of safety
features. The door pillars and roof sides have special ribs which reduce
possible head injury while both the brake pedal and steering wheel have been
designed to avoid intruding during a frontal impact. Standard on all models are
driver, passenger and, unusually for the price of £6,995 otr, side airbags.
There is also ABS with EBD.
Other standard features include air conditioning, a radio/CD player, power
steering, four electric windows and remote central locking.
There are two engine sizes, a 1 litre and a 1.3 litre, which has an automatic
gearbox as well as 5 speed manual. Both my colleague and I constantly checked
the gear position, because we both felt the need to move up to a sixth gear,
which didn’t actually exist. The 1.3 litre we drove will accomplish 0-60mph in
10.9 seconds and goes on says Daihatsu to a top speed of 106mph. Engines are
both Euro IV compliant and CO2 emissions of the 1 litre are a class leading
118g/km. Combined fuel consumption for the 1 litre engine is 56.5mph, which is
excellent for such a long journey.
Every time we passed a large truck, we were sucked into the airstream and when
climbing steep inclines we lost momentum rapidly, which didn’t always warrant a
change down of gears.
Arriving in Reims we had to negotiate an underground car park at our hotel. The
Sirion which has a class beating turning circle of 9.4 metres, good visibility
and rear parking sensors on SE models, was definitely the best car to accomplish
the tight twists and turns into our allotted space.
Developed with parent company, Toyota, the Sirion, which is named after the
broad river in ‘Lord of the Rings’ surprised me with how comfortable it is for
long journeys and together with its class leading storage and flexibility as
well as fuel economy and low emissions, provides a challenge to the market that
will take some beating.
SUE COOKE
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