Dollywobbler's Daihatsu - MOT of fail

[skattrd]

If you're ever around Lincs DW give me a shout and I'll take you for a spin in my X4, it's not boring.

[dollywobbler]

Four-pots can be quick, but they never sound as good as a three-pot.

[Partridge]

To drive the Lupo, you need to change your name to Gemma.

Daihatsus are for winners.

[garethj]

Not sure what to do with the roof. It looks like this at the moment.

 

 

Only drive past people who are shorter than the roofline?

 

 

View from my office window. 

 

And move to a ground floor office

[Six-cylinder]

I think the Sirion is a good choice, my wife thinks they look cute and mentions them now and again in a silly not very convincing Japanese accent. I am not sure if my wife talking about them means I am suppose to come home with one, one day as a surprise? A good local winter car to add to the fleet but I am not sure about long trips?

 

Yesterday afternoon I unexpectedly had to drive to Hampshire a 160 miles round trip most of my cars were blocked in so I grabbed my wife’s Xantia V6 and was pleasantly surprised by the ease it did the job of cruising the motorway and inching up the A34 at commuter time. Add a Xantia V6 and you have a very full and useable fleet.

 

[dollywobbler]

You'd be surprised. 80mph is 4000rpm, but the engine is near silent at that speed. Bit of wind noise but pretty comfortable. It's hugely better than my old Daewoo Matiz was. If you want longer legs, the dready 1.3 four-pot is probably better, but I doubt it's as much fun. I will concede that a Xantia V6 probably trumps it for effortless cruising though, but one won't be joining the fleet anytime soon.

[barefoot]

Bizarre, my 944S is 83mph at 4,000rpm, but I suspect mine will hit the limiter in 5th!

 

I have always been intrigued by these things since reading how fast the 1.3 is.

I don't get the acceleration vid since he seems to be changing into 4th to hit 60

That can't be quick.

[dollywobbler]

That was my vid. I accelerate to 60 in first, second and third, then change to fifth once 60mph has been reached. I didn't use fourth at all. 0-60mph time is about 15 secs. Not quick, but it's fun getting there!

[skattrd]

The 1.3l Sirion rally 2s do 0-60 a bit quicker, I think it's between 7-8 seconds.

That sounds like damn low gearing on the 944 barefoot, I'm pretty sure mine was longer geared than that.

[barefoot]

It's the 944 - S that is stupidly low geared.

3,400 at 70 mph in top and double that, 6,800 on the limiter at 142 flat out.

I've not done that, but had 125mph on the limiter in 4th

Your normal 8 valve 944 has far more sensible gears.

 

& sorry, missed the block change in the 3 pot Daihatsu.

[dollywobbler]

I've now clocked up over 290 miles in this car since Tuesday. I have found that after many hours at the wheel, I do get a slight twinge in my right knee. It is very easy to find in a huge car park though. It's also surprisingly good at overtaking, which is good as dawdling twats, horseboxes and caravans have been much-blighting my journey. Kudos to the farmer with the livestock trailer who seemed to be the only person with working mirrors. He pulled over after a bit to let everyone past.

 

In fact, I feel more comfortable overtaking in this than I did in the Golf, possibly because the engine sounds faster, even if acceleration is probably on a par.

[oldford]

Get it booked into your local Daihatsu dealer, it's still got a warranty campaign outstanding for fuel inlet pipe corrosion, campaign number EW11001.

[Junkman]

You have an inclination to buy the wrong cars and you should really work it out with yourself.

That Ami would have been such a better buy, it's unreal.

Get rid of that woeful J-tin before it is too late. You should not throw good money after bad one.

[dollywobbler]

Oh shut up. I'm not going to be told which cars I'm allowed to enjoy. I've sold the Golf, bought something for half the price that I really enjoy and have actual money to play with. 

[privatewire]

I agree with DW, surely the essence of being an "Autoshiteist" is that there are no "wrong cars"

We buy whatever we fancy at the time, or just have had a hankering for, or what we have the cash for.

The fact that whatever choice we make leaves other motorists shaking their heads or looking pityingly at us just makes it more right somehow.

[Mr Livered]

I like it. But if it felt as though those if us who appreciate cars like this were in the majority, I'd go off it pretty quickly.

[Lukas]

Welcome to the land of automobile racism!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

'SEND THEM ALL BACK' etc

[Mr Livered]

'SEND THEM ALL BACK' etc

Speaking of which, I hope you had a good holiday.

[warren t claim]

 

Taken today.

 

[dollywobbler]

There's a Daihatsu sign still up at a garage near me actually. Sadly not a Daihatsu dealer anymore (a handful around the country still do parts and servicing) as they now sell Great Wall Steeds instead. Must go and get a shot of the car in front of that sign at some point.

[michiel]

I like a big part of this thread.

 

Will be taking my 1.3 (way too many horses if the road is anything but bonedry!) on a 1500+ km Amsterdam - London - Norwich (and back) trip at the end of october with my three bandmates and their guitars etc...

 

Last year gf and me did a 2500km trip to and through Wales, excellent small car on Welsh roads I'd say!

[Six-cylinder]

OK I am convinced I want a Sirion.

[Junkman]

Oh shut up. I'm not going to be told which cars I'm allowed to enjoy. I've sold the Golf, bought something for half the price that I really enjoy and have actual money to play with.

I did not mean it is the wrong car by type, make and model, or to tell you which car to buy you are allowed. Actually, I'd quite fancy one of these myself.

But the way I understood you is that after the acquisition it turns out that condition-wise it has more issues than you anticipated, that's what I meant with it being the 'wrong' car to buy. There might have been a better example out there for similar money.

If you saw it as the project it now turns out to be from the onset, then I was wrong, of course, based on not having understood you correctly.

However, I think the car sounded a lot better in the sales ad, too.

[dollywobbler]

Ah, ok. That's more understandable. I'm just getting a bit annoyed with the flack directed at me for buying it - and not just on here. 

 

I don't buy a £370 car expecting no work to be needed. Importantly, it seems mechanically in pretty fine fettle. Yes, the state of the rear arches was a bit of a surprise, but it has a long MOT and it was cheap. I'd decided a Sirion was what I wanted, but finding one relatively near home was a challenge. This one was still about 100 miles away. A cheap car suddenly isn't cheap if you spend days driving all over the country checking each one out. The next cheapest one I'd found was one for sale with what seemed like a home trader in Manchester. That was £550 and was a boring colour.

 

So, I'll just run it as-is and see how I get on with it. If I decide I still like it, then I'll invest in some proper body repairs. If not, it'll be lobbed in Ebay or something.

[hairnet]

cardealer.jpg

 

Taken today.

are they still in ashley - do they still do mitsubishi

[Pillock]

It's bright bloody yellow, was covered in hand-drawn cartoons, and is a make and model that passed 98.3% of the population by without them noticing it existed.

 

Of course you bought the right car.

[greengartside]

I think you've bought a great little car - it was certainly one that was passed by from the general public, including me. Very surprised at the stats on these and the actual looks of the car as I only remember them when they were in abundance 10 years ago. Great colour and great 'graphics'!

[warren t claim]

are they still in ashley - do they still do mitsubishi

Yes and yes.

[warren t claim]

I may be wrong but weren't these a playable car in one of the Gran Turismo games?