Hello there my name is DJ and let me start by saying WOW. Just WOW!
I am new to the whole Daihatsu community as this is my first one ever, and I have just been lost in a world of knowledge on this and the old forum for the last 5+ nights. It has lead to staying up until 1am just absorbing the most amazing about of honest, on point and polite content I have ever read on a forum. I look forward to getting to know you all and hope I fit in alright.
So about me and my car. I was driving a Holden SV8 manual as my daily but as I only live a short drive from work I started to feel sorry for the old girl as it never got the change to stretch its massive v8 legs. So it was time for a downsize to something a bit more zippy. After going though the options I happened to stumbled upon a clean 2002 Sirion 1.0L and I had no idea what it was but I liked it. Rang the dealer, swapped some money, and now its on the back of a transporter heading my way.
As this is mainly a town run around it wont be needing any massive modifications . . . .yet. Stock cars suck so Iām guessing it wont be to long till Iām sick of it and slap a turbo, big brakes and tight suspension on. But other wiser I am going to give it a full service with all new oils, filters, Spark plugs and leads. will see when I get my hands on it if I do the timing belt as well. Then its on to upgrading the audio and make it doff doff, Tints are on the way and then the big one is new wheels and tyres.
This would be my first question to you all. What size 15ās are you running?
From what I read on the old forum 15x6.5 +35 fit alright with 195/55r15 rubber.
Is this still the case? or is there a better fit?
I am really looking forward to being part of this community and learning so much.
P.S. Iāll post pics once āSirloinā arrives.
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Itās the rear fitment that you really have to worry about. 15x6.5 +35 would fit with a spacer. I ran an 8mm spacer to get 15x6 +38s to fit with 195/50s, so you would need maybe a 10mm spacer for the 15x6.5 +35s to fit. That or grind/hammer the rear suspension to fit. It is very much over engineered and a few people have done this. Iāll probably will be doing this when I put the 15x6s back on.
P.s. currently running 15x6.5 +23, had to get the guards rolled a bit, but, they fit with 185/55s.
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Welcome Mate its good to know that the old daiforum is still getting used in its read only state. That was the reason to leave it that way for information purposes and thanks from all of us in being a friendly bunch. I guess to most in the car world our cars are not to par as most think. So being a minority I guess we all stick together and help each other where we can and besides most of donāt stand for any bullshit so that donāt really last long.
So going from a v8 to a 3cyl its gonna feel very slow to begin with but damn the fuel savings alone is gonna be happier on your wallet. There is a bit you can do with the ejde (3cyl) with a turbo they do really liven up. Rings can be their only real down fall as far as I know as they can get gummed up and a little smokey. I havenāt owned an ejde and I am only going from what I have seen from otherās but they are a pretty good engine and @Mr_Gormsby will definitely back that up 
.
Anyway enjoy the forums and learn what you can Im sure you will love your sirion also show us some pics when you can we all love pics.
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Thanks heaps @b_hoves.
It was one of your posts that gave me the idea for this size in the first placeš. Might give her the bump and grind treatment as I am real keen the fit 195/50r15s as Iām not huge fan of big side wall.
Hay,
Thanks mate, your rite this community feels like itās made of ppl who like a good challenge and really know how to down to the nitty gritty of diy on the cars. Iām originally from NZ so am know stranger to smaller import style engines, looking forward to working on one again. I shell start a build thread with pics once the car arrives.
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Youāre welcome. Would love to see some pics of the beast when you can.
Yea so would I lol. I brought it sight unseen and as I live 1000kms away from Perth in the desert the transporter wonāt get here till Thursday.
Welcome.
You could go to much effort and do the turbo thing and end up with something that has a bit more zip. Or you could go the easier route with a K series and have some serious grunt. But then again with just get a GTVI Sirion, which are perhaps the most under rated car on the road that I can think of.
Doff doff (eye roll). Not a criticism there (unless you roll along side me and I have to listen to it), perhaps just an explanation that I think there is a bit of a generation difference between us. If you are just after ālooksā (which I am not) go with the 15 x 6.5. If you want it to go put some of that cash that might have gone into the doff doff stereo into some light weight 15 x 7 since a 195/50/15 will feel that bit sweater on this correct width. You first step up in bigger brakes is to go to Copen front, Applause rear discs and MX5 rear calipers.
Donāt take anything I say to much to heart - my interest here is almost purely about performance. So again welcome.
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You can fit a 15x7 in there? Now you have me interested. I am normally a performance before looks guy myself hence why I had the massive v8. But my drive to work these days is a push bike distance so it was stupid to keep the big engine. To start with I would like to built a clean nice looking and reliable commuter. As I said before stock cars stink so knowing me in about 3 months I will be searching for better handling and then more power to match. I was just reading your l200 build with great interest, up to the part where you went for a drive in EFImiras car.
Iāve not tried a 15 x 7 on one. Twice Iāve had the chance to drive GTVI Sirions and I briefly owned a 3cyl one (which I still have some of the bits left from it including a rear axle). Listen to B_Hoves and some guys right into the before you listen to me - as they really know what goes without to much mucking around. However, based on the bit of experience I have Iād say given a few hours baseball bat (or guard roller), an angle grinder and a mig welder and Iād have the 15 x 7 on (much easier than getting them on my L200). There is a little bit of doctoring needed on the training arm and the guard pinch weld rolled up.
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Gāday and welcome to the forum.
The M100 Sirion is a nippy car for city traffic. I have a GTVi and prefer the EJ-DE over the K3-VE2 but get into spirited driving and the K3-VE2 comes alive leaving the EJ-DE dead in its tracks.
Concentrate on bushes and suspension, bigger wheels will only increase unsprung weight - making the suspension slower to perform properly.
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Yes, 7 inches will fit with some guard rolling/flaring. I remember figuring out the magic number for 7s would be 15x7 +28 with 195/50s. That was for rolling/flaring the guards, but, not grinding the suspension. If you were grinding the suspension anyway you could get away with anywhere up to +35.
Dale is on the money with the EJ-DE vs the K3-VE2 in the GTVi; the 1lt and 1.3lt have pretty similar power and torque curves until about 3.5-4k RPM, then 1.3lt starts to get up and go.
Dale might be able to provide more info on other bushes, but, the only poly bushes that Iām aware of are the SuperPro ones for the front swaybar mounts and the inner lower control arm HERE. Suspension is limited to king springs and KYBs. There are BC coilovers around but they are for the 4wd version that wasnāt sold here (the fronts would still work as only the rears are different).
Cheers mate,
I brought the car thinking the 3cyl was a bit quirky. Didnāt know there was a gtvi till after I payed (whoops) oh well sheās a round town car for now anyway so that fits well.
@DaleJeffree ābigger wheelsā¦increase unsprung weightā, hmmm. Depends, going from 6.5" to 7" in the exact same rim (if such was available would be negligable). My Mira 15" wheel conversion began with some 15 x 6.5" Tim gave me @ 7kg each (Iāe driven on 15 x 4.5 and 15 x 5.5 with 185s and was personally not pleased). I had some 15 x 8"mulit fit Enkeis with 225/50/15 Advan 048 in the wagon belonging to a friend. I thought Iād check fitment. Pulling the 6.5" off and putting the 8" on I was surprised the 8" was (subjectively) much lighter. Iām building a race car - I fell into the grip of āmust get lighter wheels). The search began for a lighter 6.5ā. Most rims I looked at were cheap rubbish and in the 6.5kg -7.2kg range. Calling Rota they suggested the Slipstream. The only thing lighter I could find was a Enkei which was 200g/wheel less than the 5.2kg Rota - both 15 x 7". I bought the Rotas over the Enkei based on the fact they helped more when it came to finding out if my brakes would fit, with the Enkei dealer it was āsuck and seeā and a lot dearer to purchase. Perhaps there are lighter 15 x 6.5" rims but not any I could find. Handling wise though that 1/2" wider āfeelsā much better.
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Ok cool I was wondering if those where the only poly bushes. I have never rolled a guard before so this will be fun, thanks for the info with the offsets it helps a lot. Iām kinda keen on ordering some odd lightweight rims from Japan via import monster (a odd car requires a odd set of wheels imo). Again just because I have never done that before so want to give it a crack.
I was pondering about the springs. There is a lot of talk about getting the right spring rates for various Daihatsu. But since we are limited in choice is it just a case of take what we are given?
Any opinion on these http://m.ebay.com.au/itm/Bilstein-B3-Springs-FRONT-REAR-AXLE-DAIHATSU-SIRION-M1-41-43kw-4x-/332242840557?nav=WATCHING_ACTIVE
Ok donāt worry, just read b3ās are direct oe replacement and are not lowered. King springs it is.
The Bilsteins seem to be OEM replacement. If you want lows, then these seem good. There wasnāt any H&Rs around when I bought mine, probably wouldāve gone for them if there was.
EDIT: Seems you figured out the OEMness of the Bilsteins.
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Now the H&Rās are tempting but appear to be for the newer third gen sirion. Iām not aware if they have the same strut setups. Would you know?
There are also Rs*Rās and zooms from Japan, although they can get pricey by the time you include shipping.
My suggestion is staying with as close to std rate front springs as possible, even if the car is lowered donāt increase the rate by more than 25lb. Rear spring rate could almost be doubled. This will make the car turn and ensure the weight transfer keeps distributed well between the front wheels taking some from the rear. If youāve not played with rates before then try putting chocks in the rear springs to see what it is like stiffened. It is possible to calculate a close estimate of what you find works.
Hard to go wrong with Bilstiens.
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