Daihatsu Materia Road Test

Daihatsu Materia

The Materia’s performance was quite a surprise. The exterior appearance would suggest that it has all the aerodynamics of a house-brick and that it might not be that quick off the mark. However, just like the delightful Copen and capable Sirion, the Materia had me fooled again. It takes 10.8 seconds to do the 0-62mph sprint, but it feels faster, and the top speed is 106mph. The auto is a tad slower at 13.7seconds and with a maximum speed of 102mph.

It produces 103.3 PS (102bhp) at 6,000rpm and 132Nm (97.4lb ft) at 4,400rpm or 138Nm for the automatic.

A 350-mile, round trip revealed that the engine and transmission have the flexibility to make town driving less fraught and motorway cruising is comfortably achieved and maintained without any sign of strain. On the bits in between, the Materia showed its secret, sporty tendencies.

The fuel consumption figures show a thrifty nature: 31.7-, 46.3- and 39.2mpg for the urban, extra-urban and combined, while those for the automatic version are listed as 29.7-, 45.6- and 37.7mpg for the same cycles, respectively.

When it comes to safety, The Materia has front seatbelt force-limiters and pre-tensioners, all three rear seats have 3-point harnesses and the outer seats have ISOFIX mounting points. The twin front airbags can be deactivated on the passenger side and both front seats have side airbags.

The cabin materials were chosen to reduce impact injury, particularly to the knees and the brake pedal is designed for limited intrusion into the footwell in the event of a collision. As usual, ABS with EBD is a standard feature.

The manual Materia is priced at £10,995 and the automatic is £11,795 and, according to the original information, the only optional extra is metallic paint at £325 but I note that there is now a range of accessories available, which includes 17-inch alloys, a steel mesh grille, twin exhausts, full leather interior and Smartnav guidance, amongst others.

The Materia is a Marmite car - you either love it or hate it. As I said, it grew on me and I came to appreciate the easy parking, the easy loading of kids and cargo and a really nice, easy drive.

Daihatsu Materia