Overview

We are here considering two somewhat similar cars, but we can't deny some of the obvious differences. For a start, they are not even classified under the same segment, with the Daihatsu being a city car and the Suzuki representing micro car vehicle class. The first one has a Daihatsu-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 3-cylinder, 12-valves 58hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 63hp engine designed by Suzuki.

Safety

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. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. The first vehicle is a city car and that gives it a marginal advantage over the micro car competitor, at least that's what statistics show. On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, Alto offers a marginal difference of 5% more metal.

Reliability

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that both brands display similar results in faults and breakdowns, at least on all of the models level. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of Daihatsu with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the Suzuki badge with 4.6 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed Cuore as average reliability-wise, and Alto is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as Cuore rank it on average as 4.5, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.0 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Daihatsu is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 2 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 145 kilometers per hour, 10km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 4.9 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (58 mpg), in combined cycle.

Verdict

Daihatsu 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 this case though, it seems that both cars show similar levels of passenger protection all together, so that won't break a tie. When it comes to performance, both vehicles provide similar experience, so I wouldn't point any of them out. Cuore still consumps less fuel, which needs to be taken into consideration. I believe that, when we take all into account, we have only one winner here - the Daihatsu. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. In case you have two minutes to spare I invite you to define your needs, desires and budget and see which car would be chosen by the virtual adviser™, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.