SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8
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. Many of the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.
My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active list down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and search through the drop-down menu that appears.
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.
Exterior pics by Motorpress
Interior by author
The numbers
Base price: R1 116 000
Engine: 2480 cc, DOHC, 20-valve, inline five-cylinder, turbocharged
Power: 294 kW between 5900 and 7000 rpm
Torque: 480 Nm between 1950 and 5850 rpm
0-100 km/h: 4.5 seconds
Top speed: See text
Real life fuel consumption: About 11.7 l/100 km
Tank: 60 litres
Luggage: 530 to 1525 litres
Turning circle: 11.8 metres
Maximum towing capacity, unbraked and braked: 750, 1900 kg
Standard tyre size: 265/50R21
Warranty: One year, unlimited km
Maintenance plan: Five years, 100 000 kmIt might look like your sister’s Audi Q3, just with an RS badge on the back panel. And 21-inch wheels with vented discs and red calipers at both ends – but nothing else to arouse suspicions of the protective, brotherly kind.
There’s not even a quattro badge anywhere. That would have clued you in that it could, just possibly, owe some DNA to the Audi Quattro rally cars of the 1980s – the ones that made Walter Röhrl, Michèle Mouton and Hannu Mikkola famous.
Shared ancestry in the form of a five-cylinder, twenty-valve, DOHC, turbocharged engine might appear obvious at first glance but you’d be ‘way off base. Today’s powerplant meets only that basic description. Completely new, it’s designed from the oil pan upward to satisfy latest Euro-7 emissions requirements, with any further resemblance to the original being accidental.
The final result displaces 2480 cc and churns out 400 PS rather than the rally car’s 500, but still pretty decent seeing it’s a street car, for use by civilised people, rather than a missile unleashed on closed roads by folk whose sanity might be questioned.
Apart from certain clues like more aggressive instrumentation including always-on boost, power and torque read-outs, the only time you’ll know this beast is different is when you fire up the “go” button. Instead of purring, it snarls. Almost uncontrollably. If you’re sensitive to neighbours’ delicate feelings, buy something else.
Its 294 kilowatts and 480 Newton-metres are fed, most of the time, to the front wheels via VW’s well-established seven-speed DSG. Only when slippage is detected, thanks to dodgy surfaces or enthusiastic driving, will its on-demand awd apportion some power rearwards.
The car offers four driving modes – Eco, Comfort, Auto and Dynamic – but you’ll ignore them eventually. Kicking down at, for example, 100 km/h in any mode thumps the box down to third, fills your ears with delirious sounds and plunges you deep within Officer Aggro’s happy hunting territory scant seconds later.
And should you be curious 120 km/h, in seventh, registers just over 2000 rpm. That’s at the beginning of its maximum torque band that stretches from 1950 rpm all the way, without let-up, to 5800. But beware the Aggro, my child. They’re waiting for you.
As an aside, our test car’s speed governor was overridden, at a cost of R28 900, to permit terminal velocity of 280 km/h rather than the usual 250. If you truly expect me to believe that you plan to take this thing racing, on closed circuits, amid the hurly-burly of aggressive competition, please be advised that I don’t. Your braai fire mates won’t either.
But the real fun begins when you slip the gear stick a notch further back, into “S” mode, slide the wand across and engage manual. Der drache erwacht. Its inner winged, fire-breathing and demon-orbed monster awakes to snarl, to rumble and to bra-blat its pipes on full-throttle upshifts, begging to be allowed to continue all day long. It will do so - until you run out of quiet, twisty and unpatrolled road space. And reality bites back in.
Practical matters: The tailgate rises majestically on standard auto-lift. The load deck, at 74 cm, opens onto a flat floor. Facilities include a light, four lashing rings, two bag hooks and a 12-volt socket for whatever you might want to plug in. The seatback splits two ways and includes a ski slot. There’s lots of stuff under the floor panel but don’t look for a spare wheel – just pray that the pump kit will save your sorry ass, many clicks from Twee-Buffels-etc-Fontein, some long and lonely weekend afternoon.
Being the regular body rather than Sportback, there’s less need to worry about head room in the back although knee space could be problematic if the seat was moved forward to increase luggage capacity. Conveniences include extra vents, without temperature or fan controls, on the centre console, map pockets, small door bins, a second courtesy light and an armrest with cup holders. A pair of Type-C USB sockets with a second 12-volt power point may be box-ticked for R1500. Despite three head restraints and full belts, the seat is shaped only for two while a tall centre tunnel means that any third passenger had best be small.
All-in-one front seats with under-thigh extenders are finished in faux leather and fitted with electrical adjusters. They’re nicely supportive without being overwhelming. Storage space is supplied by an armrest box, cup holders, medium sized cubby, small door bins and a drop-down by the driver’s right knee. Steering wheel height and reach adjustment is manual while electronic kit includes regular, and Type-C, USBs with a phone charging pad. We appreciated easy-to-use HVAC controls and menus that could be navigated by adults. Kid safety is helped along by three sets of ISOFix although only the back pair have top tethers.
Some reviewers complain that this car might be under-featured because it isn’t overloaded with ‘cool apps’. They might point to its steep price tag, over a million Rand, as proof of that. But, dammit, it’s fast, it’s loud and it’s fun – every reason needed to love it.
Test unit from Audi SA press fleet
This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is 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 on the left.
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.
Comments or questions?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you completely disagree with what I say? If you want advice or have a genuine concern, I will be happy to hear from you. All I ask is that you write something in the subject line so I know which vehicle you're talking about.
This site is operated by Scarlet Pumpkin Communications in Pietermaritzburg.
Unless otherwise stated, all photographs are courtesy of www.quickpic.co.za
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
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