Well, these are two pretty similar cars we have here! It's only details that could potentially make the difference. Considering they both belong to the city car segment and utilize the same 3-door hatchback body style and the front wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific petrol engine choice they offer. The first one has a FIAT-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 8-valves 60hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 3-cylinder, 12-valves 58hp engine designed by Daihatsu.

Unfortunatelly, neither of the two vehicles was submitted to the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) testing. This makes it virtually impossible for me to pick one over the other and I'm generally against buying such cars as the safety should really always come first. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the city car segment, which is generally not a very good thing safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? Furthermore, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, the Italian car offers a potentially life-saving difference of 47% more metal.

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that Daihatsu does have a slight advantage, at least on all of the models level. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of FIAT with an average rating of 4.3, and models under the Daihatsu badge with 4.1 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed Palio as average reliability-wise, and Cuore is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as the Italian car rank it on average as 4.0 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

Daihatsu is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 3.7 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 140 kilometers per hour, 13km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the Japanese car, averaging around 5.1 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (55 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 35% difference compared to the Italian car.

FIAT appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, the Italian car offers much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. From there things take a different direction, with Daihatsu outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! It's not difficult to say then that if I'd need to make a choice, it would definitely be the Daihatsu. Nevertheless, let's not forget that people have different preferences and needs, so what really counts is your personal feel. I'm only here to help. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser™, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.