I was talking to the manager of the local Daihatsu dealer here in SA - we still have them - and he tells me that some years ago, Daihatsu brought a few 1500cc Copens into South Africa... Now I know that the Copen came in 660cc & 1300cc flavours but I had never heard of a 1500cc. Has anyone else heard of such a beast? Is there any way to verify the story? Seeing how much empty real-estate there is under the bonnet of my 1.3, I am dubious that a bigger engine could be squeezed in there. Also, he tells me that all the Toyota engines of 1.5l or less are actually Daihatsu engines. Is there any truth to his claims?
Not sure whether his claims are true but a 1500cc engine wouldn't necessarily be any bigger in size than the 1300. A 1300 engine could probably be bored out to make it 1500cc so no extra space needed under the bonnet.
The way he put it, the engine was the same as the 1.5l Sirion Sport's engine - which I don't think is a bored out K3VE engine. I would assume that a 1.5l engine would be anathema to Adam - since it would not be a purist's Kei car - but I've taken a test drive in a standard Sirion - with the 1.3 K3VE engine and the 1.5l Sirion Sport - put that engine in a Copen and you have a small rocket!
