‘Charade’s dictionary meaning is ‘An absurd pretence’. Frankly, until recently, I gave Daihatsu nothing more than a passing glance simply because some joker, without a proper understanding of English had chosen such a stupid name (the other dictionary meanings are not much better when it comes to imagining what sort of car the Charade would be). This is certainly forgotten after spending a wheel-twirling couple of hours on the local roads in the car’s latest incarnation.
Enjoyment, reasonable acceleration and speed in an attractive body
In the Charade one discovers a ‘toy’ that measures 3,785mm by 1,695mm with 1,530mm of height, a car that carries five adults in comfort and with its 1,329cc engine developing 100bhp at an encouraging 6,000rpm while developing a very reasonable 132Nm of pulling power (torque) at 3,800rpm it reaches the magic ton (100km/h) in 11.7 seconds and almost reaches 160km/h flat out in normal circumstances.
This little car looks good as well. The bonnet line slopes gently with a relatively low amount of unsprung weight while the back slopes enough to be interesting, but it has even less unsprung weight to carry around.
This is important for handling and just shows that manufacturers don’t automatically need to have a flat, uninspiring rear end to provide a decent five-seat car, with good looks and a boot than can carry quite a few pieces of soft luggage.
Small cars have always figured largely in a life where size mattered, when it was more satisfying being able to use country roads safe in the knowledge that the car would not strike protruding walls; where it has been important to be able to park in urban sprawls and where all-out acceleration and high top speed were secondary to the actual journey times that were often far faster than friends driving big, powerful machines.
This Charade really fits into that scheme of things and provides enjoyment, very reasonable acceleration and speed in an attractive body fitted out with no less that three decent glove compartments, and the cream on the top, a height adjustable driver’s seat. Really, there is absolutely no excuse for not being comfortable and at ease driving the new City Super Car.
With the vehicle stability control aligned with anti-locking brakes, the car feels very, very sure-footed even when venturing round corners with verve, enthusiasm or even a touch of bravado. She performs with a touch of sparkle and élan, more normally encountered when sampling the products from certain French manufacturers, and this from a solid Japanese work base. Mind you, the Japanese developed the sport of ‘Drifting’ motorcars from a hobby to something that has found its way into mainstream Europe.
Our test car had a manual gear change (it could just as easily have been an automatic change as both are available) and the real surprise was that it was set up with six forward speeds. This was a cunning plan originally hatched by Fiat so that youngsters would purchase the slowest in the range and then be constantly changing gear to get the best out of whatever performance was on offer.
With 100bhp on tap, the Charade was certainly not on the same footing, and the two upper gears were rather like the old time ‘overdrive’ which was often on 3rd and 4th, allowing a high-speed low-revving motion, thereby saving quite a lot of petrol. OK, if the City Super Car was able to go above the paltry 80km/h speed limit over here 5th and 6th would be of far more relevance, but what the heck, some drivers (me included) simply love playing around with the gears.
This highlights the fact that we have a real problem over here with motorists driving far too slowly for the existing road conditions. Often the lead car is a large, potentially very fast car holding the rest back to a miserly 50 km/h. This is not a good cruising speed for cars with small engines as they will either be fooling around in second gear at about half revs, or tooling along in 4th gear doing immense damage, long-term, to the engine. Every engine has an economical, least damaging cruising speed, and 50 km/h is not it.
The Charade has electric power steering, remote central locking, radio CD, front electric windows, airconditioning, ISO-fix child seat, split rear seats 8 SRS airbags, rev counter, electric Mirrors, six years anti-corrosion warranty and three years labour and parts.
If you want it from new go to the agent here, and if you want a second-hand vehicle look no further than the local market.
Verdict
Comfort
Carries five adults comfortably.
Performance
In class.
Cool
A really funky car.
Quality
This Japanese car is absolutely up to scratch.
At a glance
Top speed
Approx. 160km/h
0-100km
11.7 seconds
Economy
5.4 litres per 100 kms.
C02
119 gms/km
Engine
4 cylinders, 16 valves, petrol, 1,329 cc displacement
Power
100bhp at 6,000 rpm
Torque
132 Nm at 3,800 rpm