Hi folks,

I'm gonna be racking up some relatively high kms for work in the next couple of years so am considering options for a daily driver. The Sirion GTvi caught my eye as being fun, relatively safe (well, in comparison to a Mk1 GTi), reliable, and light on juice. Have been eyeing off N15 SSS Pulsars too but have just done some sums on fuel and been a bit scared off.. will be doing around 30,000kms a year and the Pulsar will likely burn through an extra $1200 a year in fuel.

So my questions to anyone who's owned/been in one are - is the Sirion any more comfortable than a Swift on the freeway? I may well be getting old, but I'm looking for something noticeably quieter... Real life fuel economy seems better than the Swift - one bloke on this forum a while back reports getting in the 4s on the highway. Respect!! Most of the kms will be F3 freeway so comfortable highway running at 117km/h is a must.

Any opinions out there on what is really just a newer and softer version of a GTi? Does anyone have any other options they'd recommend? Have been looking at everything from Holden Cruze and Baleno GS or GTX (to keep it in the Suzuki family), Lasers/Mazdas 1.6 to 2.0, to the Pulsar SSS. Must be reliable, have at least an element of being fun to drive, free of known probs, be cheap to run and service (timing chains preferred), airbags, ABS, and normal unleaded preferred, a/c a must, be comfortable on the freeway and our shitty rough Central Coast roads, oh, and no more than $4K. Picky much?

Thoughts appreciated...

I wouldn't say the Sirion is any more refined (read: quiet) than the Swift, but I can say that Daihatsu motors can't be killed with a stick. A good friend had a 2000 model Charade that he flogged for close to a decade before it became 4x4 roadkill.

Personally I think if you want something compact and fuel efficient then a Toyota Echo is worth consideration. The build quality is on par with the best small hatchbacks, and I've seen first hand that they'll go 50k without a service and still run fine. If you stretched your budget a little bit you might even pick up a Sportivo model.

Toyota actually bought out Daihatsu in Australia and shut them down. That's the only reason I sold my Charade. It had a full rally upgrade, 1600 engine, 4 wheel discs the lot. I beat that thing hard for over 10 years and it kept on ticking. Finally sold it to buy an Ignis Sport.

A mate had the Sirion Gtvi and we gave that just as hard a time. Was a good fun car to drive and ran well even though it copped a flogging every day. The only down side is if you do need parts you may have to ask Toyota or find a good Daihatsu wrecker. Easy to work on and easy to live with so if you find a good one they are worth a look.

I'd be curious as to what time your on the F3. I'd look at a pulsar Q 2 liter as its the same engine as the SSS but more forgiving suspension. Personally anything smaller than that & I'd say it would be less comfortable and noisy.

Reason I asked about the F3 was most morning & arvo reports have it jammed with traffic & so buggering the fuel economy idea.

Tale a look at fuelly.com as it had cars listed with real life economy numbers.

As much as I feel dirty for saying this, hyundai excels are very economical and virtually impossible to kill. I'm getting ~7L-100km urban giving it a fairly hard time while keeping the revs low

If you somehow manage to pop the motor, any excel that has the Mitsubishi knock off motor you can alot a 4g63 or any 4g motor in with no issues, if you get the twin cam you can get low km Getz motors cheap, again pretty much a straight swap.


Unfortunately you have to deal with looking at yourself knowing that you own a hyundai, and it's not a good feeling!

hey mate.
The sirion's are a good car. The edje 3 cylinder engine are a good engine and love some boost also. The 4 cylinder k3 engines are good also from what i have been seen and been told also. I believe that Marty from MCM has the 1.3 4 banger in his cuore.

My personal opinion is if you are going to go daihatsu then the sirion or cuore would be they way to go. I have had a charade and an applause. Both 4cyl H series engines. They are quite good little cars and my g203 was quite light and punchy but the problem with the H series is that the heads get soft especially with their age now and you will need to accept that you will need to replace a head gasket or 3. I haven't had any experience with the cb 3 banger charade engines either. From what I have heard they are more reliable but absolutely gutless unless you find a factory turbo one (cant remember which cb engines they are as i have no interest), but you may have more chance in finding platypus eggs.

The ejde sirion engine is timing belt unsure of the k3 4 banger.

I left mira out as they are about on the same level as a mk1 for comfort but they are a hell of a lot of fun.
It is true about the parts thing and toyota will generaly want a vin number for parts so the don't screw it up for you. Wreckers will be the best/first place to look for parts for these.

Ta for the replies folks. Yeah, I just can't bring myself to consider an Excel.. I know it ticks the boxes but... thinks again... no. The Echo - a bit TOO sensible I reckon.. does it have any life in it at all? I hired one as an auto and it made me want to top myself. Didn't notice it on the corners 'cos I was too busy swearing at the engine/auto combination.

The F3 - I head north from the Central Coast to Raymond Terrace so traffic is bugger all. Clean run both ways. Ta for the fuelly.com tip - but I've gotta disagree about having 2 litres for highway work... I had a 1.6 Baleno in the UK and it bopped along just fine with the fast traffic on the motorways sitting on 130-135. That's almost why I'm thinking about one again - I was surprised at just how competent it was on the freeways. But no airbags or ABS unless I get a GTX and they're rare and a good one is rarer.

To 34wrc - I know it's kinda hard to judge, but just how quiet/refined was the GTvi in comparison to other cars you've driven/had? Ever do any highway trips in it?

Another car worth considering is a Mazda2. My missus has an '05 model and it has been faultless. We looked at pretty much everything in the category and the Mazda won for interior size, which was larger than all comparable cars, especially the hatch area. The rear seats also tumble for extra space. Even the base model comes with power options, and it drives very well on the freeway (would benefit from cruise control though). The 1.6 (84kw) has a decent amount of poke when compared to similar cars, eg: Swift with 74kw, Sirion with 75kw.
My only complaints are road noise through the doors (easily solved with dynamat), and the front seats lack hip bolstering.

Ta again YLD80Y - the original Mazda2 has some real rave reviews (I had no idea it was so good). However, they're a couple of grand more than I want..

My eye has been recently been attracted to WP/WQ Fiestas 'cos they're much cheaper than you'd think. Meant to be a great car to drive, and while they (like all Euros) goes through pads and discs, it seems they're hassle-free.. anyone had one?

My sister inlaw has a Fester. She hates it.
Apart from hers, they are usually reliable.

Speaking of reliable have you considered the Echo/Yaris?

Well, an absolutely mint blue-green one-owner Baleno GTX hatch came up and I've pulled the trigger on it. Looks great, drove beautifully, low kms (132K), and everything works. New front discs and pads in recent service, 4 new tyres, and 6 months rego. Traded in on a Bimmer 125 coupe... Pick it up on Sunday - envy inducing pics to come

Am a little embarrassed at how excited I am about a car that the vast majority of people out there would consider a cheap old banger...

So our household now has a Mk1 GTi, a Baleno GTX, and an Ignis Sport. The collection is complete! However, Mk1 is going to have to go, and that's going to be a very sad day...

Well done
You've managed to get yourself a better car than most of the recommendations and one which has a bit of character as a bonus
I hope that it serves you well for the purpose intended - it sounds great...
I understand your reluctance to part with your Mk1, but can also understand the reasons why it has to be passed on to a new owner (who will hopefully appreciate the rarity of it and resist the temptation to part it out )

Pics added to appropriate thread - viewtopic.php?f=17&t=18079&p=491006#p491006

I did a similar thing.. but bought a Barina SRi for daily hack.. Handles as good as my GTi and enough grunt to keep me happy while also going 600km's to the tank on 91 octane mine is a 2002, havent had any real problems.. parts a cheap and i'm always willing to do my own work on it so always saving labour costs! paid 3k for mine