SA Roadtests
South Africa
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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.
*To read one of our road tests, just select from the menu on the left.
*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports.
Pics supplied by importer
Published in Weekend Witness Motoring on Saturday May 5, 2012
This is a launch report. In other words, it's simply a new model announcement. The driving experience was limited to a short drive over a prepared course chosen to make the product look good. We can therefore not tell you what it will be like to live with over an extended period, how economical it is, or how reliable it will be. A very brief first impression is all we can give you until such time as we get an actual test unit for trial. Thank you for your patience.
We are familiar with Hyundai and Kia’s SUVs and smaller saloons in this country, but back on home turf, big guns rule. Sonata, Magentis (aka Optima) and big Renaults rebadged as Samsung rule the streets with scarcely a little car in sight. Deliberately conservative, they come in any colour you want, as long as it’s black, white or grey. Koreans are extremely status-conscious and baby cars just don’t make the cut, socially.
All this is a roundabout way of saying that Hyundai’s Sonata, released in SA last year, and Kia’s Optima, released here just recently, are not new models at all. Sonata is now in its sixth generation since 1985, while Optima/Magentis first arrived on the scene during 2000. The new car we will be seeing in our showrooms any day now debuted at the 2010 New York Auto Show and entered its home market that year.
Although things are happening somewhat back-to-front for these two manufacturers in this country, the motivation is simple. The lower end of the ‘D’ segment, populated by the likes of Accord, Jetta, Legacy and Mazda6, is attractive enough to warrant a closer look, so if Suzuki can offer its Kizashi in there, why can’t Koreans do likewise?
Testing the waters, our first Optima is what is known in world-speak as a mid-size sedan. It’s fitted with the alliance’s Theta ll, 2,4-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine and a six-speed torque converter transmission. While styling might be avant-garde and specification levels high, it was decided to enter the SA market with a fairly conservative offering rather than blow its chances with anything too radical. With this thought in mind, the new GDI motor offered overseas is undergoing compatibility tests to see how it deals with our fuel, while the turbocharged 2,4 will remain on backburners for a while yet.
Basic statistics read: 4845 mm (l), 1830 mm (w) and 1455 mm (h), on a wheelbase of 2795 mm. Its fuel tank holds 70 litres and boot capacity is 505 litres. Suspension is by means of McPherson struts in front and a multi-link setup at the rear. Brakes are discs at both ends and, as expected, ABS, EBD, BAS, ESC, TCS and hill start assist are all standard. Bags? Six. Wheels are 18” alloys, as is the spare.
Depending on your point of view, toys or vital necessities include autolocking doors, proximity key and pushbutton starting, Bluetooth, cruise control, dual zone climate control, automatic defogging (now there’s a goodie – you don’t do a thing – the windscreen knows when it’s getting foggy and clears itself), self-dipping interior mirror and fog lights. Getting our collective breath back, how about an eight-speaker, six-CD sound system by Infinity, with all the sockets? Xenon HID headlamps with static bending function, automatic light control with automatic levelling and washers, all help you see who’s crossing the highway ahead. Wipers are automatic too, while reverse parking assistance and a built in camera make sure you don’t run over your pets and the kids’ bikes.
Leather upholstery, remote controls on the steering wheel, electrically adjustable front seats; heated and cooled to mind one’s personal comfort in all weathers, and two memory functions keep pilot and co-pilot contented and attentive. Because South Africans are rather performance-conscious and like their cars to handle well, Kia SA chose the sportier of the two chassis’ on offer. So, if you read about a sports kit available overseas, know that it’s already fitted. The only things you can add are metallic paint, and a sunroof at R10 000. Bear in mind though, that taller back-seat drivers might find that this steals valuable headroom, so check with your growing teens before signing.
During the familiarisation session in a sunroof-equipped car, we found the Kia Optima had a nice big boot with easy access, space inside was plentiful, with the caution mentioned earlier and the cockpit was well laid out. Performance was as expected of a big car with a conventional motor and the gearbox, while not exciting, worked well. Ride comfort over a variety of surfaces was good and its handling could not be faulted.
David Sieff the national marketing manager told us, perhaps a little smugly, that this Optima is spec’ed a touch higher than the sister company’s offering and at a slightly lower price. Just to make sure you go in for a closer look, you understand. To begin with, Kia will import about 150 units per month to test the ‘D’ segment market before making an all-out assault.
The numbers
Price: R305 995
Engine: 2359 cc, four-cylinder, DOHC 16-valve, with CVVT
Power: 132 kW at 6000 rpm
Torque: 231 Nm at 4000 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 9,5 seconds
Maximum speed: 210 km/h
Fuel consumption (Euro test): 8,7 l/100 km
Tank: 70 litres
Warranty: 5 years/100 000 km with 3 years’ roadside assistance
Service plan: 5 years/90 000 km
To see a review of this car, click here
This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport and barely experience them for themselves.
What this means to you is that every car reviewed is given my own personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every car goes through real world testing; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.
My articles appear every Wednesday in the motoring pages of The Witness, South Africa's oldest continuously running newspaper, and occasionally on Saturdays in Weekend Witness as well. I drive eight to ten vehicles most months of the year (press cars are withdrawn over the festive season - wonder why?) so not everything gets published in the paper. Those that are, get a tagline but the rest is virgin, unpublished and unedited by the political-correctness police. Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so I do actually exist.
I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to buy their supplies and equipment, truck their goods to market, send their kids to school and go to kick back and relax.
So occasionally a cow, a goat or a horse may add a little local colour by finding its way into the story or one of the pictures. It's all part of the ambience!
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8