SA Road Tests

Welcome

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.

Manufacturer-supported driving programmes - off-road: Isuzu

We tackle daunting obstacles in an Isuzu KB.

Pics supplied by importer

Practical and theoretical 4x4 training on your doorstep

Published in The Witness Motoring on Wednesday February 16, 2011

"Fewer than twenty percent of 4x4 vehicle owners ever venture off-road," said Ryan Visagie, Isuzu brand manager at General Motors SA, "and at least another twenty percent wish they knew how." With this in mind, Isuzu recently launched its own off-road driving academy aimed at present and prospective owners of the legendary KB pickups.

Headquartered at the Gerotek testing facility near Pretoria, the academy is staffed by experienced professionals who guide participants through an intensive daylong course that includes basic off-road driving techniques and recovery. "Some owners believe that just because you have four-wheel drive, low range and a lockable diff you will never get stuck," he grins. "Anybody, in any vehicle can get into trouble. It's physics; no traction equals zero progress. Then you need help."

Two factors set the Isuzu academy apart from others. First, it is flexible and portable, able to roam to any city, town or country village at which sufficient interest is shown to make the trip viable. To date, thirteen venues have been identified as training centres, with the closest for Midlands enthusiasts being Gwahumbe Reserve Game and Spa, near Eston. Second, the academy uses only its own vehicles, so your favourite four-wheeler can remain clean and unscratched until you are ready to make it dirty all by yourself.

To demonstrate how portable the course is, journalists were invited to Louvain Guest Farm in the upper Langkloof Valley near George. This is a self-catering guest farm that can accommodate as many as eighteen in its 120-year old farmhouse and a further twenty or so in seven modern cottages. An awesome 4x4 course winds its way through the Blackwood forest; home to slushy streams, slippery slopes, heart-stopping gullies and gravelly inclines.

As most of those present had attended basic four-wheel drive courses previously and time was limited, the team simply guided us through the forest with advice and local knowledge where necessary. We were reminded that there are times to take all feet off all pedals and let the vehicle walk you through and there are times to maintain sufficient momentum to keep going.  "Sufficient" is the watchword because too much exuberance can cause wheels to spin and a spinning wheel is like the rolling stone that gathers no moss. It cannot grip.

The course itself includes theoretical training in the basic mechanics of a 4x4, driver awareness and attitudes, off-road driving techniques, correct use of low range ratios, incline and decline driving techniques, correct use of rear diff lock, tyres and tyre pressures, vehicle recovery techniques and sand driving. The afternoon hands-on session takes attendees through inclines and declines, mud and sand, rocky terrain, side slopes and a practical recovery demonstration. This is followed by debriefing and presentation of certificates to successful students.

Cost per person ranges from R500 to R2000 depending on course duration. Book online at  https://www.isuzu.co.za/about-the-academy or contact the trainers at Driving Dynamics directly on +27 (0)11 4312000. Attendees will be able to purchase special items including branded clothing or a neat recovery kit consisting of two high quality bow shackles, two recovery straps (normal and kinetic), a siphon tube and a pair of heavy duty work gloves to protect hands from possible burns caused by working close to exhaust systems. Pack a valid credit card, because after the recovery demo you will almost certainly want the kit. To refresh memories afterwards, a 30-page driver's guide summarising the main points, is yours to take home.

Update from a press release dated 21 February, 2012:

Isuzu Off-Road Academy Achieves South African Quality Authority Accreditation For 4X4 Driving Courses

The Isuzu Off-Road Academy, in association with the African Off-Road Academy, is now certified by the South African Qualification Authority to provide 4X4 on- and off-road training to standards prescribed by the SAQA (South African Qualification Authority). The Isuzu Off-Road Academy is the first vehicle manufacturer-backed 4X4 academy to achieve this status.

Three instructors from the Isuzu Off-Road Academy, Grant McCleery, Marius van Vuuren, and Fanus Kruger, are qualified to facilitate courses and train in the specific techniques required for safe and effective 4X4 driving. All three are accredited with the knowledge and skills to fully utilise the extensive capabilities of 4X4 vehicles in both on- and off-road driving conditions and to train participants in courses in those skills under the banner of the Isuzu Off-Road Academy.



We make it to the top

Umhlanga journalist Helène Griffiths' turn to be walked through the slippery stuff

 Haste makes waste. Wheelspin results in loss of traction

What We Do

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.

I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to 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!

Comments?

Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you thoroughly disagree with what I say? That's your privilege, because if everybody agreed on everything, the world would be a boring place. All I ask is that you remain calm, so please blow off a little steam before venting too vigorously.