Unbeatable Value From Completely New Super-City Charade
Published: 11th May 2003
- Supermini-sized interior from stylish three and five-door city car body
- Highly equipped and on sale late May from only £5,995 on-the-road
- UK’s most economical petrol-engined four-seater at 68.9 mpg Extra Urban
- Lowest CO2 emissions for a petrol-engined four-seater at 114 g/km
- Qualifies for £75 Road Fund Licence (12 months)
- ‘Best–In-Class’ 1.0 litre top speed – almost 100 mph
- ‘Best-In-Class’ 1.0 litre acceleration – 0-62 mph in 12.2 seconds
- ‘Best-In-Class’ aerodynamics at ultra-low 0.31 Cd
- ‘Best-In-Class’ ride and refinement with larger Renault Clio as target car
- Four-speed automatic option
- All Charades have ABS with EBD, driver and passenger airbags, speed-sensitive electric power steering, electric front windows and door mirrors, central locking and a radio/CD player
- Top SL five-door boasts side airbags, alloy wheels and air-conditioning – all for £6,995 on-the-road
Because of its highly efficient 58.5 PS 1.0 litre engine and lightweight, low-drag, wedge-shaped body, the Charade manual reaches a class-beating top speed of 99.4 mph. Even the four-speed automatic peaks at 93.1 mph.
This means there is ample power in reserve for motorway cruising – not always the case with the Charade’s conventional city car competitors.
Both manual and automatic Charades also have best-in-class acceleration figures of 12.2 seconds and 15 seconds respectively for the 0-62 mph dash.
Especially long-travel front and rear suspension with damping tuned on European roads and a new type of engine mounting ensure Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH) levels are from the next class up. In fact, the Renault Clio was Daihatsu’s target car for ride and refinement.
Key competitors include the Daewoo Matiz, Fiat Seicento and its replacement, SEAT Arosa, Suzuki Alto and forthcoming Citroën C2.
