1992 Daihatsu Charade SE review from North America

This is actually a follow up of a previous review. Short & to the point. The Daihatsu continues to motor along. Two years later, no complaints. Nothing gone wrong. Fixed the "miss". Cause: Two small holes in exhaust pipe. Added small supplemental radiator in conjunction with the original one. This aided in cooling, but the car will still run hot at freeway speeds on a hot day. Solution: ON with the heater. Replaced the muffler with a new one. Cost: $32.78. Sounds like Daihatsu's are hard on mufflers. Might have something to do with the inherent design of the 3 cylinder engines power pulses. STILL have the orig. timing belt on. Although I possess a new replacement belt, it hangs on the garage wall. I do however inspect the belt every 15,000 miles. (and tighten, if necessary}. The belt looks amazingly fresh for its use.

The Charade is hard to begrudge. It is what it is. If one likes to drive, the car is fun. The 3 cyl. is willing enough & the tranny smooth & light with well spaced ratios. Putting 175/70 tires (even cheap ones) are probably the single best thing one can do to the car. Get rid of those 155/80's. I have no idea how long I'll posess my Charade (couple more years at least) But

I'm sure it's up for the task. My best gas mileage over two years has been 43.46 mpg. Worst: 35.79 mpg. Keeping tire pres. above 32 psi helps (I like 35 psi).