Daihatsu Sportrak
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The Daihatsu Sportrak is a Mini-SUV or Small 4x4 available worldwide, manufactured by Daihatsu of Japan. It is also known as the Daihatsu Rocky in the USA and the Daihatsu Feroza in other parts of Europe and Australia. Sold between 1987 and 1988, the main differences between the Mark One and Mark Two Sportrak was the front end and associated trim. This included the headlight surround and grille.
Fitted with a Daihatsu 1600cc DOHC or SOHC engine, linked via a gearbox, propshaft and differential to the front wheels and rear axle to provdide either four wheel drive or two wheel drive depending on the driver requirement. 2WD, 4WD Low and 4WD High are selected using a selector next to the gear stick in the cabin.
The engine is generally known to have performance difficulties attributed to poor air induction which can be improved by the removal of the air filtration system fitted by Daihatsu and the application of a more free flowing air filter. Although this is not recommended for offroad users due to water ingress to the throttle body, a snorkel is usually fitted through the near-side wing, running up the passenger side front pillar.
The interior is comfortable and well laid out, in some models including a clock, inclinometer and voltmeter. Cabriolet models are available, which are known to leak around the seals leading to a full soft-top renewal. The more regular version is a hard top, but the roof section is removable from the drivers headrest forward and the whole roof and rear window from the drivers headrest back.
This leaves a rollcage to protect the rear passengers and a bar from offside to nearside just above the drivers head. All in all, the price is cheap compared to other convertibles or RWD/4WD cars and SUVs on the road. Road tax in the uk stands at £98 for six months, and the Sportrak is an Insurance Group 10. Other cars in this group include the Hyundai Coupe, which makes it a comparatively expensive car to insure in the UK.
A consumer workshop manual is not available off the shelf for this model, instead the internet is rife with PDF format professional workshop manuals, usually gained through a small fee. This fee is usually small, and the manuals are a lot more in depth and technologically advanced than most other manuals.
General usage in urban areas will give 34-36 MPG. The chassis rails are well known to trap rust and dirt as the drain holes become clogged, leaving the owner with large holes in the chassis which will fail the MOT test. For this reason alone numerous vehicles have been consigned to the scrapyard with relatively good condition engines, gearboxes and bodywork.
All of this means that if you find or own one which is in good condition throughout, parts are readily available through a scrapyard and internet sites at very reasonable prices. New parts are considerably cheaper when purchased through independent dealers rather than the Daihatsu Main Dealership, sometimes giving a saving of up to 50%.
