Attack of the Daihatsu Charade GTti

[Whyeme]

The year was 2001. April 28. Around 3pm. It was a normal working day for me. Just finished one tuition session and on the way to another. Bright day & not too hot. Got into my black 1982 Nissan Pulsar 1.0DX. Such an old car. Slow like a tortoise. Entered AYE from boon lay towards keppel. Dont dare to travel on lane one cos afraid of others flashing me and also worried my pulsar might fall to bits if I exceeded 80km/hr. Sigh. Approaching alexandra exit.

Suddenly, in my rear view mirror, two puny dots appeared out of nowhere, but they caught my attention because the dots where darting in and out of other vehicles, side swapping every thing which got in their way, from lane one to lane two, and then back to lane one again. As they got nearer, their shapes got more familiar. Toyota Starlets? Suzuki Swift Gti? Within the spilt 10 seconds of me noticing them, they were beside my pulsar, exhausts raoring like mad, turbos spooling like no tomorrow, Blow off valves blowing like two mad typhoons. One was a gleaming Black color and the other a bright Yellow, but both were undeniably 3 door Daihatsu Charade Gtti hatchbacks. Watching them race each other, albeit dangerous & inconsiderate & even silly, was exhilarating! It was as if all other vehicles were stationary, except for the black & yellow Gtti hatches zigging in & out of traffic.

Unforgettable.

Thats why I still remember till today.

[YellowFlash]

wow...so they were pretty fast?

[Albeniz]

The 1.0DX pulsar was the vehicle I used for my driving test many years back.

 

Not exactly powerful, but has a lot of leg room for the rear passengers.

It used to be my family car too.

[Whyeme]

brudder..pretty fast was an understatement! what i experienced was something i have never come across ever again, either from WRXs or EVOs or any other turboed cars. perhaps the GTti drivers were crazy...but their driving was very precise...like in a movie car chase scene!

and probably their Gtti were not stock

[YellowFlash]

hmm....are u sure they are faster than wrxs and evos? perhaps their driving seems precised because the car is really small so lane changing seems pretty much easier?

[Albeniz]

Such small cars going at such high speed. Chances of survival is zero in the event of a crash.

 

I have driven a normal 1.0CX Charade before. It was quite a powerful car for a 1.0L vehicle. I can't imagine a heavily modified GTTi.

[Whyeme]

haha i used a nissan datsun for my driving lessons and test years back too. that old uncle was cheapest i could find during that time. he would let me drive to orchard! i was the only L plate at orchard! he said good for practicing the clutch-accelerator biting point! sometimes he would fall asleep while i drove! and sometimes he would tell me to stop by the roadside while he gets out to urinate beside the car!

[Amuze]

Ringo Chong had 1 back then. Pretty fast when he took me for a drive.

[Perseus76]

dont under estimate what that tiny pocket rocket can do.....with serious mods.....it can do wonders....its one of the legends they are no push overs by the wrx and evos back then.

[YellowFlash]

hmm, no doubt its fast, a stock gtti i think produces about 100hp on a 700kg car? but its a 1L 3 cyclinder engine, theres still a limit for such a small engine...the engine probably lose its breathe after 120km/hr? unless ure talking about a engine swop, if not it wont be as fast a evo or wrx.

[YellowFlash]

im not under estimating them, juz thinking how much power can u squeeze from a 1L 3 cyclinder engine? 160hp? and probably with such a big turbo, the turbo will take quite a while to spool... and anyway we shdnt compare it with evo and wrx, they are at a different class....2L tc vs 1L tc?

 

btw theres one selling on sgcarmart for 16k, anyone interested can go take a look

[Whyeme]

i know that in malaysia many enthusiasts like to plop in the 4efte into their GTti

[Perseus76]

120 out of breath....

 

the 1st gear can pull it to above 100kmh liao....it goes beyond the 200 kmh mark and more on the speedo, with good tuning and mods...

[Iliketodrive]

this car not fast lah. u never see before street race is it

anyway the engine CC so small, u put 1 TD04 in, it will start to spool at 4k

[Perseus76]

nowadays no spare parts to play with it liao....

[Whyeme]

hmm....are u sure they are faster than wrxs and evos? perhaps their driving seems precised because the car is really small so lane changing seems pretty much easier?

 

bro i dun mean they were faster than evo or rex...just that i have not encountered any evo or rex drivers driving like that

[YellowFlash]

yea, that toyota engine is a v good engine....stock 135hp.....200hp wldnt be a problem with bigger turbo, good piping and good tuning...

[YellowFlash]

i think ure exagerating, 1st gear pull above 100km/hr? i think usually only super cars or bikes can do that....normal jap cars wld require 3rd gear to hit 100 due to their short ratios...200km?? u must be kidding lol...