In its latest form, the Daihatsu Sirion has undergone such an immense character change that we're surprised they've even kept the same name.

We had a soft spot for its predecessor, which with a slim kerb weight, decent handling, and an advanced little 74kW 1.3-litre mill that revved to 7000rpm, made a fine little pocket rocket. But its interior felt dated and cramped and its exterior had about as much aesthetic appeal as a fresh water fish.

The new model gets a less powerful 64kW version of that engine that revs up to 6000. This, with a slightly heavier kerb weight, puts paid to any boy racer aspirations, although it still has better performance credentials than many of its rivals.

Styling

Styling is much improved, with a boxy profile made bullish by decent wheel arches and a chunky face. The interior is massive for a car of this size, with comfortable seating for both front and rear occupants. Facia styling is a huge leap forward over anything we've seen from Daihatsu until now and a mixture of dark grey dimpled interior, silver-metallic inserts and pod-like instrumentation greets the driver.

Storage space is immense, with numerous boxes and trays positioned within easy reach of the driver. Access to the car is easy, even getting into the back is no sweat with rear doors that open to 80 degrees.

The boot offers a class-competitive 225 litres of boot space with the rear seats up and 630 litres with them down.

Best value

Our test unit was the Sport model with automatic transmission, which costs just five rand short of R120 000. We still believe the best value for money is to be had with the standard manual model that costs R20 000 less, but still packs a generous amount of safety and luxury equipment. All models in the range are fitted with an aircon, electric windows and mirrors, central locking and a radio with CD player, while chief safety features include dual front airbags and ABS brakes with EBD. The only comfort feature you'll miss is remote entry.

Sport specification and automatic transmission each cost R10 000 and you can have them separately or together.

Sport spec gets you a body kit that includes alloy wheels, a rear spoiler, side skirts and a unique front bumper incorporating fog lights. With this, the car looks dressed up to pounce, but combined with the autobox, it really has nowhere to go.

Don't get me wrong, Sirion has a fine all-alloy variable valve timed Toyota engine under its bonnet. But it doesn't seem to be best friends with that gearbox. While it lets the engine rev to its limit, and provide brisk acceleration, when you plant your right foot, it falls below the power band all too frequently when you try to drive it normally. It's like there's no in-between sweet spot for cruising comfortably in fast traffic.

When it comes to ride and handling dynamics, the Sirion is well sorted and does the job fine enough, but it doesn't break any new ground.

When all is said and done, the new Sirion, which was co-developed with Toyota, is a very able all-rounder. But if we were buying, we'd opt for the base model manual and fill its arches with a nice set of alloy wheels. For about R103 000 its performance-to-features-to practicality ratio would be unrivalled.

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