Debuting at a time when revered, instant classic Japanese sports cars were all being killed off by stricter emission laws, the Copen revs to a Supra surpassing 9,000rpm, is offered with a proper five speed stick, is smaller and lighter than an MR2, and will just as willingly take its top off as well. It features a 659cc Inline 4 engine under the bonnet, which is exceedingly rare for a Kei car, with most of them having only three cylinders. It looks cuter than a Pod, and even has a trunk to boot! And what if I were to tell you that such a car is made by Daihatsu, a company that's more known for their domestic and industrial vehicles than sporty cars?
Yet, does any of that really matter? Does the Copen's market share really care about any of that aside from its cute looks? It certainly didn't feel like Daihatsu cared that much about the driving dynamics of the Copen to me. Hailed by its in-game description as a "well engineered sporty machine", the suspension setup is a lot softer and sloppier than I'd have liked from a sports car. Despite being lightweight, the car pitches and rolls horribly, highlighting the Copen's lack of a locking differential up front under hard lateral loads, which means you'll be wheelspinning away power under hard cornering that you couldn't spin away at launch with even the crappiest of Comfort tyres. The excessive body movements combined with the front mass bias and short wheelbase makes the Copen Active Top become the Copen Hyperactive Rear, reliably gargling drivers senseless before spitting them out butt-backwards on Suzuka Turn 1 and Brock's Skyline at Bathurst, which are death traps that should only worry supercars with their engines in the middle and packing ten times the power of a Copen. Of the Copen's lineup, the Active Top isn't even the sportiest model; the soft, "detachable" top is 30 whole kilos (66lbs) lighter than the Active Top, with a lower cg. If you really want the sportiest Copen, you could've gotten the Ultimate Edition... or the Ultimate Edition S... or the Ultimate Edition S Memorial... or the Ultimate Edition II... or the 10th Anniversary Edition... or the GR Copen. Phew, did I get them all? No? I only get to have the Copen Active Top? Okay Kaz, you win this time... again.
Yes, the engine does rev unethically high for a piston engine, and yes, it is offered with a proper five speed stick to make the most of it. But just offering a manual gearbox and a tachometer that reads up to 10k doesn't make the Copen a sporty car, in the same way that wearing a Slayer T-Shirt doesn't make you a hardcore metal fan. The 659cc turbocharged Inline 4 is tuned for low to mid range torque, which means that it hyperventilates past 7k, so much so that short shifting it at around 6.8k results in better acceleration even with the mechanical disadvantage of a wide spread five speed ratio. Debuting at a time when six speeds have just become the norm for supercars and family sedans alike, the first gen Copen is unfortunately saddled with a five speed still, resulting in long gearing that causes the Copen to be dead on arrival at 140km/h (87mph) in fourth, where the speedo maxes out. On the track, I oftentimes find myself hanging limp with no torque and no correct gear to be in, what with its long ratios and the last 2k rpm being there just to make the tach look pretty. The choice of a 5 speed is doubly unfortunate because not only do you barely have to touch the stick on the track, but also because Kei cars are restricted by their class to have engines not exceeding 660cc in displacement, effectively putting a cap on their power output, and it's such a shame that the Copen can't have more mechanical advantage with its gearing and thus more wheel horsepower to compensate for this. On an uphill ramp into an expressway, you'll need to be using all of the throttle pedal and be in the correct gear to do anything more than hold onto a constant speed. Not to mention, the turbocharged engine sounds as willing and lively as a salaryman who's had to do 20 hours of overtime for no extra pay a week for a dead end company who'd replace him with a 1,300cc variant the moment he drops dead from overwork.
Sure, it's light, tiny, and never intimidating, which tends to lend itself to closely fought one make races and easy for beginners to pick up the basics of racing from. Taken on its own however, it's just... boring. The car's unmistakable and unique looks completely belie the nondescript dynamics of the car, because this car has no personality whatsoever when you're shroud in the car's bog-standard looking, cheap black plastic interior that looks to have come straight from the 90s. There isn't much going on from behind the wheel at all. Car isn't turning enough? Turn the steering wheel more, I guess? Launch? Put it in first and dump the clutch; there isn't even enough power on offer to wheelspin off the line. Throttle modulation? You mean, "flat out at all times unless I have to brake for the 5 sections of the 23 corner circuit that is Mount Panorama"? It's beginner friendly in the same way an alphabet book is toddler friendly: you'll want so much more so quickly, it's hard to not just get something else a little more challenging and involving as a first step if you can afford it.
I'll admit, all of my impressions of the car are formed on the default Sport Hard tyres, which we ran on race day. They feel grossly over specced for the car, which would explain why it felt so sloppy, with so much body movement. Back in GT6, someone coined a term for a problem common in that game: "overcylindered", for a car that sounds like it has more cylinders than it actually has. In Sport, I think I'll take inspiration from that and coin the term "Overtyred", or "Overtired", because that sounds a bit cooler. I think the Copen suffers from a very common problem in GTS, that being most road cars coming stock with Sport Hard tyres, from a Huayra to a Copen. In my estimation, I think Comfort Mediums suit the Copen best. It still won't wheelspin at launch, but at least it won't be pulling so much gs to upset its delicate suspension setup and break out the rear, and it's hard to notice its completely open diff when the body isn't rolling that much. Despite this however, I don't really think a simple tyre change will save the Copen from the obscurity in my mind. It's still horrendously boring, and ironically lacking in character dynamically to me. It just really needs an engine remap and final gear tweak to be something that I might actually pay attention to.
Despite all this however, I don't dislike the Copen. It's very hard to dislike a cheap, cute, unassuming, and reliable Kei car, especially from a marque such as Daihatsu, who I wish had more of a presence outside Japan. But I think that's where the charm of Daihatsu cars lie, because they just seem to retain that inexplicable Japanese quirk and personality that's nigh impossible to put into words, that other Japanese carmakers have lost in expanding their lineup globally. These things are hugely popular in Japan, and while I can't understand why, I can oddly believe its popularity, as a weeb who's on the verge of understanding Japanese culture, and I'm more than glad for its popularity. I guess a lot of the disappointment I felt this week stems from how I wanted more from Daihatsu, Toyota, and Gran Turismo. The Copen is one of the only two cars in Daihatsu's lineup in Sport, and the only one that is non-fictional. And it's such a shame, because the Gran Turismo series had always been that window to let the world take a peek into Japanese car culture, and Daihatsu was always a very prominent niche in that picture. I feel like I had perhaps subconsciously dumped all of that burden onto the Copen this week, and I had wanted something disproportionately big from its Kei car silhouette. I still wish we had a Midget, a Move, a Storia X4, and a Wake, among others. And perhaps that's too much broken hopes and dreams for one car and its 62HP (46kW) to carry on its McPherson Struts and Torsen Beams.
And besides, for all the demerits of the Copen I've listed, does any of it truly matter? Just like a modern Beetle and Mini Cooper, a Daihatsu Copen is the sort of car you take one look at and go, "aww!", and want one. It's not logical. It's the sort of car for young people who don't necessarily care about driving, practicality, or even bang for their buck, and just want to look fancy and stand out. These things will most likely be mostly specced with an automatic box and never be wrung past 4k rpm in the car's life. And that's fine. It's not a logical debate. You don't buy a car like this with your head. If you want it, if you like it, all the more power to you. It just does nothing for me personally.
I did have way too much fun doing this livery though, and I didn't even get to get it done in time for race day.
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