2008 Daihatsu Materia 1.5L Mini MPV

You do not have to look far to find inspiration for Materia's angle and upright styling, and cliff faces horizontal roofline reference design themes pioneered by the Nissan Cube, and more recently a Dodge Nitro. In the UK this car is still rare, but this style popular in Japan and the U.S., so the logic is clear Daihatsu. How well the concept translates into a car with a small dimension Materia is a matter of personal opinion, but from our experience of Materia will make you see. To the rear of our money is the most successful elements, especially crossing the lights, wheel arches and boot line to curve Materia awkwardly introduce a straight line.

Under way is strong, boxy exterior Materia origins far more humble, the extended version of the platform used for Daihatsu's Sirion, which in turn is based on the Toyota Yaris (Toyota holds 51 percent stake in Daihatsu).

In fact, many of Materia friendly technology. 1.5-liter, four-cylinder gasoline is the same as that of the Terios and the soft-roader is essentially an enlarged version of the Sirion 1.3.

There is a choice of five standard-speed manual or optional four-speed automatic gearbox. Suspension and brakes that are equally conventional, with MacPherson struts and ventilated discs at the front and the alleged economic and torsion beam set-up drums in the rear. For the European market Daihatsu Materia has tweaked the settings and adding a front anti-roll bar - basically stiff suspension to reduce body roll.