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concept car: 2003 Copen SARD Special

Discussion in 'General Chat' started by adatara, May 20, 2020.

  1. adatara

    adatara Copenworld Member

    Joined:
    Oct 20, 2016
    Location:
    Fukushima Japan
    Car(s):
    L880 Copen; have a Honda Airwave (long Honda Fit); had Subaru Foresters
    I'm scanning old film & found this pic from the 2003 Tokyo Motor Show. First Copen with a 1300 cc engine? Big wing, grill, wheels & blue sticker are obvious changes. Details from Daihatsu Copen SARD Special

    Daihatsu - Copen SARD Special Original name: ダイハツ コペン SARDスペシャル
    - Engine & performance:
    Position: front, longitudinal
    Type: 4-cylinder, in-line, turbocharged
    Capacity: 1300 cc
    Power: 140 hp @ 6000 rm
    Torque: 130 Nm @ 3200 rpm
    Drive: FWD

    - Dimensions:
    Length: 3500 mm
    Width: 1600 mm
    Height: 1260 mm
    Wheelbase: 2230 mm
    Weight: 860 kg

    While car shopping several years ago I sat in a similar Copen - yellow with the orange Recaro bucket seats. Smiled so hard it hurt. The car suited me. Decided if I downsized my main car I could maybe get a fun 2 door. Loved options from Mazda & more, but came back to the Copen. I like its design, don't need a lot of power (though it'd be fun), easier on my budget & the red leather seats all won me over. Looking forward to more road trips with my toy.
     

    Attached Files:

    Brian S and AFR0N1 like this.
  2. Brian S

    Brian S Copenworld Regular

    Joined:
    Dec 6, 2018
    Location:
    Canberra, Australia
    Car(s):
    Dec 2003 659cc silver Copen. Boost controller, cold air, 2" exhaust, underglow etc.,
    My bike is a 2016 Suzuki Maxi with Malossi Variator, straight through exhaust etc.
    Well, 104NM & 130Kw is roughly double that of the standard 659 turbo. I'd say that was a lot of power in a Copen, even with a 40kg weight penalty. I only can wish. But as it's all over the front axle wouldn't it tend to plow a bit at 9/10ths in a corner/roundabout? 9/10ths is my typical roundabout commitment level here in Canberra, Capital of Australia & World Capital of Roundabouts. But now I want a SARD! The Daihatsu 1.3, as used in my past GTvis in 78Kw form, is a great engine & very tuneable, but 104Kw is about the most I've ever heard of.

    Even by adding a straight through 2" exhaust (with a custom 2.5" hotdog for sound only) right from the manifold and a direct K&N cone air intake (I'd recommend that, the OEM item is dreadful), I'd still only be getting what it came with new, ie 57Kw. Re-mapping my ECU seems tempting at first, but the engine is already super highly strung & that would probably kill it very quickly. 104Kw would need a different 6 speed gearbox to get anything much more out of it tho'. The close ratio 5 speed already runs out of gears too fast. If you bought it, I'd hang on to that, it will only go up in value.
    PS Why do you mix Imperial & metric in power/torque? It was a Japan only model I'm guessing and they don't use HP, despite that link. I needed Google convert to get Kw.
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2020
  3. adatara

    adatara Copenworld Member

    Joined:
    Oct 20, 2016
    Location:
    Fukushima Japan
    Car(s):
    L880 Copen; have a Honda Airwave (long Honda Fit); had Subaru Foresters
    I don't think this ever became a production car. Imperial & metric numbers - for publicity purposes?
     

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