Welcome

This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Some of the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

Contact: gordon@administrator

https://www.scarletpumpkin.com/fiat/review_2021_fiat_500_875t

https://www.scarletpumpkin.com/ford/review_2016_ford_focus_st3

https://www.scarletpumpkin.com/jeep/2009_jeep_wrangler_sahara_28_crd_unlimited
https://www.scarletpumpkin.com/jeep/2022_jeep_gladiator_rubicon_36

https://www.scarletpumpkin.com/land_rover__range_rover/2011_land_rover_defender_110_multipurpose

https://www.scarletpumpkin.com/mercedes_benz/2012_mercedes-benz_c63_amg_coupe

gordon@scarletpumpkin.com

Archived reviews and opinion pieces are filed separately, so look for previously filed launch reports and reviews under each manufacturer’s page. Headings are in the blue banner across the top. These will be added to as new test cars become available. For material filed prior to January 2023, please go back to www.scarletpumpkin.com and then follow the live menu down the left hand side until you find the make and model you are looking for.

Editor’s note: SA Roadtests accepts multi-day vehicle loans from manufacturers in order to provide editorial reviews. All vehicle reviews are conducted on our turf and on our terms.

For out-of-province vehicle launch features however, travel costs are covered by the manufacturer concerned. This is common in the motor industry, as it’s more economical to ship journalists to cars than to ship cars to journalists.

Judgments and opinions expressed on this site are our own. We do not accept paid editorial content or ads of any kind.

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is thoroughly researched, given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement – no second hand input here.

Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads or goat tracks as well. As a result, my test cars do occasionally get dirty. It’s all part of the reviewing process.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.

If ever I place an article that doesn’t cover most things, it’s probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer’s heading in the menu above or down the left side on my original site, www.scarletpumpkin.com.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles. And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

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