Daihatsu Yrv Hatchback 2001-2004

The YRV or Youth Recreation Vehicle is another attempt by Daihatsu to create a cheap and stylish car for a younger generation. If the Sirion is too "classic" for you, give the YRV a chance. It was built on the platform of the same Sirion, therefore it has inherited the older car's poor handling. However, for the price and with the combination of the fresher design, you cannot really complain.

Pros and Cons:

• A practical little car
  A quirky body design

• Not exciting to drive

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Exterior and Interior

It is not a bad effort at designing a modern car, especially considering that Daihatsu's previous creations are not known for winning many design competitions. It has a very distinctive double-cab styling that looks like a finely executed cut-and-shut job. Many say that the crease on the hood resembles the Vauxhall Corsa, but as one year later Honda Jazz appeared on the market with an identical crease, we might as well call it a trend.

Although marketed as a supermini MPV, it doesn't look and doesn't feel like one. The only thing that might distantly remind you of an MPV is the relatively tall body and an upright seating position. Thanks to that the YRV can seat up to 5 people and provide a boot space of 240 litres. Folding the rear seats you increase the boot space to amazing 1050 litres making it a very practical car.

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Engines

It comes with two petrol engines ‐ the Sirion's tiny 3-cylinder unit with 58BHP and a much nicer 1.3-litre engine borrowed from Toyota. Normally it provides 87BHP, but in its tuned turbo version it outputs 129BHP; and all you have to do is add some plastic tuning parts and an expensive sound system.

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Performance and Economy

This is one of the more expensive Daihatsu cars. There are not that many of these around, hence it's not as cheap as you might expect.

The YRV is a pretty nippy car. In its base equipment with the old 3-cylinder engine it is not much more exciting than the Sirion, however, when the Toyota's engine comes into play, it makes you look at the YRV with a fresh perspective. The 1.3 L engine provides 86BHP, and the turbo charged engine returns 127 bhp of power. The latter is not a great idea, though. Because the car was built on the chassis of the Sirion and because of its tiny wheels and high body, accelerating the YRV to 120mph is a very bad idea. Although the turbo YRVs come with 15-inch wheels (as opposed to 14 inches you get on the base modification), it's not only about the wheels. Fast cars and slow cars are built in a different way and the YRV's chassis and suspension wasn't built to sustain high speeds. It's almost like putting a rocket engine in a Citroen 2CV.

The most sensible version of the car is the naturally aspirated 1.3-litre engine. It returns a decent fuel efficiency of up to 47mph and it falls within the insurance group 11.

The turbo version will provide 43mph while the insurance group increases to 22. There is also a 4-wheel drive version available called the 4track, which, as with the turbo model, makes very little sense.

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What it's like to Drive

The car feels like a Sirion with a new body but then that's what it is, isn't it? The combination of tiny wheels and a high body makes it feel dodgy. The car isn't particularly unsafe but it takes time before you get used to all the peculiarities. To be completely honest, everything including the steering, cornering and suspension stability would need improving to make this a really good car to drive. If you don't mind the wobbly sensation, the car is pretty agile thanks to a balanced gearbox and the superb Toyota's engine.

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Faults and Repairs

People have to forget the nasty jokes told about the old Daihatsu Charades. What was the case 20 years ago isn't necessarily true with the new Daihatsu's. The build quality is decent and the engine borrowed from Toyota is a good reliable powerplant. The overall reliability of the car is good, but you'll struggle finding a garage that possesses in-depth knowledge of the younger generation Daihatsu's.

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