2001-2008 Leno Disiva II (FDP) - Trims, 'Lines': -Standard (Starting at £16,595) -Initiale (+£1,200) -Dynamique (+£2,610) -Ultime (+£3,595) Options & accessories: -Metallic paint (£350) -Wood-effect interior trim (N/C - All exc. Standard) -Metallic silver interior trim (N/C - All exc. Standard) -Alternative upholstery colours (N/C) -Heated front seats (£150 - Initiale) -Parking assistance (front & rear parking sensors, £450 - Initiale, Dynamique) -Rear seat sleep headrests (£40 - Ultime) -Tow bar with electrics (£300) -Smoking pack (Four ashtrays, one in each door panel - £100) -6-spoke alloy wheels with locking wheel nuts (£200 - Standard) Body types: -4dr saloon (D-segment) Engines: (petrol) -e41 - 2.0 110PS I4 (Standard, Initiale, Dynamique) -e44 - 2.0 140PS I4 (Standard, Initiale, Dynamique, Ultime) -e65 - 2.3 150PS V6 (Standard, Initiale, Dynamique) -e68 - 2.3 180PS V6 (Initiale, Dynamique) -e620 - 2.5 200PS V6 (Initiale, Dynamique, Ultime) -e625 - 2.5 250PS V6 (Initiale, Dynamique, Ultime) -es628 - 3.0 280PS V6 (Dynamique, Ultime) -es630 - 3.0 300PS V6 (Dynamique, Ultime) (turbodiesel) -d40 - 2.0 90PS I4 (Standard, Initiale) -d41 - 2.2 120PS I4 (Standard, Initiale, Dynamique) -d44 - 2.2 140PS I4 (Standard, Initiale, Dynamique, Ultime) -d65 - 2.3 160PS V6 (Standard, Initiale, Dynamique) -d68 - 2.3 180PS V6 (Initiale, Dynamique, Ultime) Transmissions: -5 speed manual (I4 petrol) -6 speed manual (V6's) -6 speed automatic Drivetrains: -Front engine, RWD -Front engine, AWD (QUATREDRIVE, opt. on all V6's & I4 diesels) Dates sold: January 2001 - February 2008 Prices used (2025): £500 to £1,000 (spares/very rough) £1,000 to £2,500 (fair condition) £2,500 to £4,000 (good condition) £4,000 to £5,000 (great condition 'es' V6's)
Song featured: New Balance - Secret Portraits - Click on the car, use the arrow keys or press the space bar to explore the car which introduced so many revolutionary features to the Leno brand and also continued to ruin their poor reliability record. - Introduced in early 2001, the second generation Disiva was a continuation of Leno's distinctive D-segment car. Like the previous generation, it was designed to stand out slightly amongst other cars in its class like the Bowden Novita and Alcott Andorra with a slightly more divisive design (hence the name), and being a Leno from the early 00's, it had to be very comfortable with a lot of interior space and convenience features - a lot of time and budget was put towards space with the driver and passengers in mind and you can tell when you step inside. That said, Leno did not set out to make a big floaty boat, it was meant to drive very well, too. With a very wide variety of engine options (many of them being powerful V6's) and a chassis which had spent eight years in the making for optimal dynamics with incredible rigidity, helped by multilink rear suspension. Upon launch, all this expensive development paid off, it was rated incredibly highly by car magazines and even by the biggest European crash safety testing institute, where it was also one of the first cars to receive a <80% crash safety rating. Straight away, it was compared to the similarly exciting Brandt Genhoa where it started to cause quite a stir as to which car was better, and it was really up to whether you preferred the French or Italians to decide which one to buy. A significant number of early cars were bought by fleet managers, either as company cars or taxis. The former were mostly d44 Initiale's and the latter base model d40's and this made up for roughly 45% of overall Disiva Mk2 sales going to fleet buyers. Unfortunately, all Disiva's were very unreliable, plagued by consistently expensive electrical problems amongst other mechanical issues. The first issues cropped up on a large TV programme, where the electric folding radio cover stopped working mid-fold, "I think this won't be a one time thing", recalled Karin Drayva. It certainly wasn't. The keyless entry system never worked and a recall was introduced before official launch after dealers noticed all keys worked on any Disiva. The digital gauge cluster which was meant to electrically fold from the dashboard often didn't do that. The auto-fold wing mirrors would sometimes start folding backwards, the rear sunblinds wouldn't work half the time, the central locking wouldn't work with no way to unlock the rear doors manually, the electric folding rear headrests would just pop out of the seat sometimes and the heated windscreen was so effective it would often just crack the glass. One of the more exciting issues was the steering rack which would break and lead to excessive steering angle, shearing off bolts, breaking tie rods and control arms. That was a good thing for some people though, who realised if they then fitted a set of aftermarket control arms and tie rods, they could have a RWD car capable of immense steering angle, and if it had one of the powerful V6 engines, it could make quite a good drift car. It was this that meant the Disiva is surprisingly common and desirable on the drifting scene. Nowadays, most Disiva's are an uncommon sight, apart from the sluggish d40 taxi's which still roam around consistently getting from 0-60 in 16.5 seconds, all whilst the driver gets increasingly infuriated with the high beams flashing when they indicate and the front wipers coming on when they turn right.
