The headroom in the Daihatsu Materia is so large five funeral directors could fit inside without fear of scuffing their top hats. But this unusual five-door is no sombre motor.
Similarly sized to a Renault Modus or Vauxhall Meriva, it offers way more cool factor on account of its stand-out boxcar looks – already an established style trend in Japan and the US. The tall and wide stance also gives the Materia a large and flexible luggage space at 181-619 litres, depending on rear seats that fold and slide.
The perky 103PS 1.5-litre petrol engine offers decent acceleration (0-62mph in 10.8secs) and reasonable motorway cruising, plus 39.2mpg and 169g/km CO2 emissions. With a high standard spec including CD, aircon and alloy wheels, £10,780 seems like very good value indeed. Topcalc says it will cost 24.2 pence per mile to run, which is slightly less than a similarly-specced Meriva.
Verdict: The words Daihatsu and fleet rarely go together but this could be the exception
