Lovers of small Japanese cars and sympathizers of cheerful little fry beware: Daihatsu has made a facelift on its Thor introduced in 2016. A little one with a very heavy name.
In November 2016, Daihatsu presented the Thor to the Japanese consumer, a 3.7-meter-long mini-MPV that has two Japanese brothers in the form of the Toyota Roomy and Subaru Justy. It has now been on the market for four years after the hammer-swinging and pounding thunder god named Daihatsuutje, which means that the time is right for a facelift!
The Thor, like many of its compact Japanese brothers and sisters, is available in two external flavors. In addition to a regular variant, there is a more rugged Custom version, with a completely own muzzle. Both versions will be modernized with the facelift. The standard Daihatsu Thor gets headlights with a slightly modified layout. The silver insert that sits between the viewers has a different shape. Lower on the muzzle, Daihatsu places a new front bumper, fitted with sharp folds and new inserts. Daihatsu also adjusts the mesh in the grille. The Thor Custom also gets a different grille. The front of this Calimero consists of even more horizontal lines than before. The louvres of the grille optically merge into the headlights, which are also rearranged here. Daihatsu also adapts the layout of the lighting for both types at the back. The changes are less drastic there than to the Thor’s face.
In the interior, Daihatsu is screwing a new steering wheel, among other things. In addition, the brand is expanding the list of available safety systems with adaptive cruise control. The automatic braking system now also recognizes cyclists and pedestrians in the dark. Surprisingly, the Thor is not a kei-car. With its length of 3.7 meters, it is longer than the maximum length of 3.40 meters for the boulder classification. The engines, 1.0 three-cylinder with 69 hp and 98 hp (turbo) are also too big for the kei-car segment. The transmission is always a CVT automatic. The Thor will also be available with four-wheel drive again.
The starting price of the renewed Thor is around € 12,400 in Japan. The renewed Toyota Roomy can be seen in pictures 13 and 14.