Car inspection: Daihatsu Sirion 2006 - Day 1

2025/08/15

Preliminary knowledge

Lets talk about my knowledge state and what I did to ramp up.

My current skill set

The skill set goes as far:

Hardest part will be to identify not obvious deviations that happen during driving, since I have almost no expertise in feeling out the car, hear things etc.

Theoretical ramp-up

Multiple videos were digested in a couple of days (see #References) to get a basic understanding of the internal workings of the car. I think I get the general idea now.

Key technical parameters of a car

Attribute Value Meaning
Car Model text Name and version of the car
Top Speed km/h The maximum speed the car can achieve under ideal conditions
Power PS(Pferdestärke) / kW Engine power in metric horsepower and kilowatts. Measures how much work the engine can do over time. It shows how fast the engine can move the car. Conversion: 1 PS ≈ 0.7355 kW - 1kW . Approximate formula: PS = (Torque × RPM) / 7127 for metric.
Engine Displacement ccm / L Total volume of all engine cylinders. Larger displacement usually means the engine can burn more fuel-air mixture, producing more power and torque.
Torque Nm Rotational force the engine produces. High torque improves acceleration and how well the car pulls, especially at low speeds.
Engine Type / Configuration text e.g., V6, V8, Inline-4
Weight kg The curb weight of the car (without passengers or cargo). Lighter cars tend to accelerate faster and handle better.
Power-to-Weight Ratio PP Power per weight unit, performance indicator. Shows engine power relative to the car’s weight. Higher values indicate better performance—how “quick” the car is compared to its mass.
Car Model
Name and version of the car
Top Speed
km/h — Maximum speed under ideal conditions
Power
PS (Pferdestärke) / kW — Engine output

Conversion: 1 PS ≈ 0.7355 kW (metric horsepower)

Engine Displacement
ccm / L — Total cylinder volume
Torque
Nm — Rotational force produced by the engine
Engine Type / Configuration
The physical layout of the engine’s cylinders.
Weight
kg — The curb weight of the car without passengers or cargo.
Power-to-Weight Ratio
Power per unit of mass (often PS per ton).

Performance indicator. Shows engine power relative to the car’s weight. Higher values indicate better performance—how “quick” the car is compared to its mass.

Car specific stuff

The only thing I know about the car is that its a Daihatsu Sirion 2006. When I first tried to google these exact phrase couldn’t really find the proper model because of the lot of results.

I tried to search for something like a database that has information on car models so somehow I could identify the car and its internal parts.

Found a site called ultimateSPECS which was recommended on multiple forums. It even seemed alright, had a category for Daihatsu and also the specific model, however I could not match the tested car to any of the ones on the site. There where even 2 models:

ultimatespecs_daihatsu_categories

In the normal variant no 2006 model listed, however in the Sirion II there is one from the year 2006.

ultimatespecs_daihatsu_list

It looks good however, I feel like a more accurate and authentic source is needed. After more thinking…

Gathering more stuff

More information was needed to accurately identify the parts of the car. I knew about VIN ( Vehicle Identification Number) which is a unique id for every car. Based on this, things could be looked up. Lot of shitty ass paid databases, I checked some of them with the cars VIN, however didn’t really find a hit.

One other thing you can do in my country (and probably in others) to lookup a cars detailed information based on the name plate. So I did that.

Information gathered:

Category Field Value
Vehicle Data Manufacturer Daihatsu
Model Code M3
Commercial Description Sirion
Vehicle Category M1 – Passenger car
Vehicle Type Passenger car
Year of Manufacture 2006
EU Type Approval Number e132003/970147*00
Engine Data Engine Number/Code 1KR0179895
Engine Code 1KR
Engine displacement 998 cm³
Power Output 51 kW
Operating Mode Otto
Fuel Type Unleaded petrol
Environmental Classification 09
Gearbox Manual (5-speed)
Other Technical Data Vehicle Body Style Hatchback sedan
Combined Weight 1,390 kg
Curb Weight 928 kg
Maximum Permissible Gross Weight 2,140 kg
Passenger Capacity 5
Number of Seats (including driver) 5
All-Wheel Drive No
Number of Axles 2
Number of Driven Axles 1

Got the engine number, thats awesome, also the actual model M3. Remember the engine displacement from the ultimateSPECS site? The engine displacement differs so that information is considered invalid for us. Good thinking we kept looking.

The full description of the car based on the key parameters

Attribute Value
Car Model Daihatsu Sirion M3
Top Speed ~165 km/h
Power 51 kW / 69 PS
Engine Displacement 998 cm³ / 0.998 L
Torque ~81 Nm
Engine Type / Configuration Inline-3 (1KR engine)
Weight 928 kg
Power-to-Weight Ratio ~0.074 kW/kg (~0.093 PS/kg)

Estimations:

Top speed:

Power: 51 kW (~69 PS)
Weight: 928 kg
Small 3-cylinder engine, manual 5-speed gearbox

Torque (Nm):

Torque (Nm) = (Power (kW) * 9550) / RPM
Torque ≈ (51 * 9550) / 6000 ≈ 81 Nm

Power-to-Weight Ratio:

Power-to-Weight (kW/kg) = Power (kW) / Weight (kg)
Power-to-Weight ≈ 51 / 928 ≈ 0.074 kW/kg
Power-to-Weight (PS/kg) ≈ 69 / 928 ≈ 0.093 PS/kg

Testing of the car

The car will be inspected from 3 main perspective during the weekends, trying to identify as many deviation as possible:

Unfortunately because of the lack of tools I cannot view the car from the bottom.

The fixes will be applied after the full inspection, however possible fix’s are provided.

Preparation

We identified the model of the car and now we need something to test against. The owners manual would be the best however the one I got hands on is Dutch and I am so not want to translate continuously. So I did some search on the Internet, but actually I could not find the same owners manual in english, heck in any other language.

First im just gonna test the feature without guide based on common sense, and in the meantime I will try to find an english owners manual, or translate the Dutch one.

[x] means the feature is working as intended

[ ] means the feature has some fault

Interior features

Turn signal stalk

turn_signal_stalk

Wiper stalk

wiper_stalk

wiper_stalk_docs

The mechanical part works fine for every state, however there is one finding:

Day 1 findings summarized

References

Ramp-up, general car stuff:

About the Daihatsu Sirion 2006