1986 Daihatsu Charade Turbo 1.0
Summary:
A lot of fun... I'd have one again as a weekend fun car, if there were any left!
Faults:
Wiper blade arm came away from the motor.
Exhaust manifold rusted through.
General Comments:
A lot of fun to drive, but the ride was quite hard and the seats quite basic in their support. Great acceleration and braking performance, but I found that the gear ratios were a compromise: first, second and third were quite tightly bunched and designed to allow rocket-powered acceleration from a standing start... fourth and fifth were cruising gears, which it took forever to build up speed in. The gap between 3rd and 4th was especially something to pay attention to when joining a motorway; a couple of times I got caught with no revs trying to pass a slow lorry after coming down the slip road behind it.
All-round visibility was excellent, making parking and inner-city driving much simpler. Light steering and simple controls also helped. On the motorway it was quite good on long journeys; certainly superior to some other small cars I have driven since.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 11th March, 2015