1989 Daihatsu Charade GTti from UK and Ireland - Comments

Clutch replacement (after lots of abuse!!)

Exhaust (10 years, not bad for an original exhaust! Replaced with a Mandrel bent, free flow, stainless steel job).

Well what can you say! Working for Cosworth Technology I see a lot of exotic machinery, yet still this 1 litre Daihatsu is my favourite car... ever... Fun to drive and own, easy to tune (engine has forged internals as standard, bomb proof they are, potential for HUGE power). Easy to maintain and they are fairly exclusive (rare).

Don't be put off by the fact it's a Daihatsu, this car was designed for rallying. I went with my mate in his Golf GTI to pick my Charade up when I bought it. Had a little race on the way home, I just drove away from him!

If you find one in good condition, buy it, look after it, you'll love it!

There's nothing which looks, sounds, or drives quite like them.... RAW FUN!!!

I have been offered one of these cars for £550 and although none of the GTti's on this website have seemed unreliable, after owning a 5 turbo I wanted something a hell of a lot more reliable.

Provided the car is good to start with, would I be disappointed with this car???

Dissapointed?? Nope! You'll love it!

£550 seems VERY VERY cheap though. It's probably got a major component about to/has broken at that price.

I have looked on the DP Motorsport website and it says that the rear shoes (brakes) are £6646, is this true? And how much are the front pads and discs as well? Any ideas. Cheers.

No way is that price right!

Try these for a price www.camskill.co.uk/diahatsu_gtti/ or there is a place in Derby I used when I had mine called Anglo Japanese, they are very helpful and can get most standard parts, but don't do tunning.

I'd advise you to have new bearings, don't use the old ones, also the Charade GTti rear bearings are more expensive than the standard ones, but from my experiance they're both same, I used the standard ones and had no problems. Job lot for about £150 - £200 + fitting if not doing it yourself.

If you own one now, don't get rid, that was the biggest mistake I ever made, nothing I've had since is as much fun, such a wolf in sheep's clothing, great fun! Once my girlfriend sees the light I will have another without hesitation.

Dave.

Do you know much about the 1985 charade turbo.

This is Grant in the Isle of man. A mate of mine had G880 PKK (the original ex-works GTti (as rallied by Terry Kaby) ) and let me use it for numerous rallies, sprints and hillclimbs. And it was ABSOLUTELY MINDBLOWING!!! What a car!!! I used to turn up to venues such as The Three Sisters circuit in Wigan only for the rest of the field to mock this 'little' car! After i'd finished my first timed run on the twisty little circuit (beating a FULL blown sierra cosworth, piloted by the guy who owned Turbo Technics!!),i had a lot of astounded fellas come over,"What on EARTH 'ave ya got in this thing?!!!?" I was gutted when we had to get rid of it, but funds took a nosedive. We used to only get about 500 miles out of a clutch, and 1000 or so out of the gearbox... they only ever made it in group N!!!

Anyway that's about it... just thought i'd let ya all know what a FANTASTIC little giant killer you've got and to say... KEEP IT!!!

Yep great car. Great potential and quite rare now.

I run the owners club at www.gttioc.co.uk.

Grant do you know where Terry Kaby's car is now as I'd love to track it down.

My contact details are on the website if you have any luck.

Allan.

Hi all I own a GT ti (I THINK) can anybody inform me on what the correct ID numbers for a gtti are?

Thank you Kane.

E-mail harpers@urnonline.net.

Reading Grants comments I now own the works rally car. It should be ready and doing some of the shows such as rally day and hope to be on the Daihatsu CHarade GTti owners club stand for all the clubs events.

Allan

WWW.GTtiOC.CO.UK.