Daihatsu Charade GTTI Review

Overall Rating

1.0litre 3cylinder 12v/16v Turbo'd Monster of a hot hatch... 99bhp std - ability to mod/boost upto around 150bhp with the right mods.
Makes you Smile lots :)

When you start boosting them into 130+ bhp at 810kgs they start to get naughty.
Handling is soft / pillow like - Standard
Driveshafts and bushes have a shelf-life of 2weeks - if you drive like you stole it.
Turbo does suffer a bit from Lag (Spin up/down - Dump).

Awesome little car... they do the 1.0litre click proud... CB70 Motors are 12v CB80 Motors are 16v... Vrrrrooooom WOOSH! Vrrrrroooooom WOOSH! nice one Dihatsu, however Like Chesney Hawkes - Shame they only produced a one hit wonder :(

These cars are amazing if you get to drive or see one - you'l understand (They'll see of most Hot hatches / Performace Saloons / Performance Coupes). Turbo kicks in around 3500 - bit like your mam's micra but then on Steroids. You just cant help but smile everytime you change gear and that beast of a turbo takes a dump.

These cars are ultra sensitive to abuse, not for the unconditioned young amoungst us.. treat them with respect and love - if your gonna thrash, buy, or steal a car find a clapped out no good Nova 1.4 or Something like an Astra Merit - the parts are cheaper and you can buy them in the corner shop. (No offence to Performance Astra or Nova Owners - Sos.)Remember Stealing is punishable by death.. Either you'l wrap it or the owner will kill you.. stay legal folks. Laters :)

Members' Comments onGTTIboy.'s Review

• Mike Jenkins. on 17th Jul 2003

  Umm a little corection, there was no 4 cilinder cb80 16valve
  both the cb70 and cb80 are the same Dohc fuel injected 12 valve intercooled turbo 3 cilinder motors. the cb70 was the japanise version, and cb80 was what the rest of the world got, the only differences were that the cb70 had an oxygen sensor and slightly different vacume hosing. the cb70 made 101Hp the cb80 made 99Hp but this was most likely because of higher octane fuel in japan so the cars ran more advanced timing.
  The GTti was the light weight version ie no power steering or air con, wind up windows and no central locking. The GTxx was the more upmarket version, power windows, central locking air con, power steering ect and only available in japan (although they have been exported around the world as used cars). Aside from that the GTti and GTxx are esentialy the same car.
  everything elce that's been said here is true tho they are great fun, but don't take abuse very well and aren't easy to find bits for. If treated with the care a 10-16 year old turbo car deserves they are very relyable and wont give any troubles.Rust can be a problem with these cars so if purchacing look carefully and get it checked by a good mechanic first.
  they have a beautiful engine note, as do all engines with un even numbers of cilinders. Many liken it to a porche 911. it sounds very stroppy and angry, and it get's ppl looking when reved out and folowed by the sound of a blow of valve (unfourtunately they look at your car then keep looking). the apearance of the car is definately not one of performance, looks more like grandma is out to pick up some milk. i have surprised many pulsars, corolla's, civics ect at the lights. it's very economical for a turbo car as well, i get 120km off of 10L of petrol and the car's running rich, but if u keep you're foot down it'll chew threw gas like there's no tomorow. the short ratio gear box is both good and bad, good as it accelerates hard and also u can be in 5th gear doing 60kph and using 2,000 revs. It's bad because at 100kph it sits at 3,500. Then again this encourages you to stick to the speed limit and is also where the car's tourque peaks so it pulls up hills with ease. A push of the throtle at these revs brings the car on boost instantly making windy roads very fun. I'd say this is the perfect car for someone who wants something performance and different but is on a budget. That is, provided it's in good nick, if not it can be a nightmare costing lots to fix as it's a rare car with expencive parts and very few mechanics have good knowledge of the car

• Marf. on 1st Aug 2003

  ermmm mike! couple of corrections here ;)
  
  yes you are right, CB70 was jap only and CB80 was the rest of the world.
  
  However...
  
  GTtis were not all non luxury models. My first GTti had power windows/mirrors and sunroof, but no A/C as with all UK GTtis.
  
  GTti models across europe are known to have A/C also

• barspinmatt on 9th Jan 2004

  Oh dear me, I really don't want to get involved in this, it's very train spotter stuff, what happend to stripping all the mod con's for the sake of a rally style ride? Or is that just me?
  
  Anyway what's the UK prices floating around at for these cars? I have only ever seen 1 example, and it was in a very sorry state. I should imagine they are quite rare?
  
  Cheers for any help.

• samm on 4th Mar 2004

  I have only ever seen this car once and was considering buying one but went for my 205 1.9 in the end as one of the people I talked to who used to own one told me that above 60mph the acceleration is not very impressive at all. A great piece of engineering though. Another similar car you might compare it to is a fiat uno turbo- I like these cars as they have injection systems unlike the r5 with it\'s carbs.

• allanb on 13th May 2006

  Get one set up correctly and a 205 1.9 will struggle to keep up. They do run out of puff a bit at around 90 (on a private test track of course)!