SA Road Tests

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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. Most, but not all, 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 menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.

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Uprated: 2019 Datsun GO Lux

GO-er

Pics by Motorpress
Posted: February 2019

The numbers
Prices: GO Mid R144 500, GO Lux R165 500
Engine: 1198 cc, DOHC, 12-valve, three-cylinder
Power: 50 kW at 5000 rpm
Torque: 104 Nm at 4000 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 13.3 seconds
Maximum speed: 161 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 6.4 l/100 km
Tank: 35 litres
Luggage: 265 litres
Turning circle: 9.2 metres
Tyre size: 165/70R14
Ground clearance: 170 mm
Warranty: 3 years / 100 000 km
Service and maintenance plans optional
Service intervals: 15 000 km

It’s 2014 and Datsun GO, a new entry-level car, arrives amid hullabaloo and vociferous complaint into motoring’s developing markets of India, Indonesia and South Africa. Journalists, of all persuasions, kick and scream. There is even the automotive equivalent of a Diplomatic Note of Protest. Max Mosley, Chairman of Global NCAP, sends (it is said) a tersely worded memo to Carlos Ghosn, (then) Chairman of Nissan, demanding that the new car be withdrawn from all markets forthwith.

The Datsun GO had failed all safety tests. Spectacularly. The metal used to build its body was too flimsy. There was no sign of ABS brakes, airbags or ISOFix mountings for kiddie chairs. “It’s a deathtrap,” people said. But cash-strapped buyers, unable to afford anything fancier, bought them anyway. Sales in South Africa quickly shot up to 500-plus per month.

Nissan immediately set about addressing the safety concerns and by early 2015 the body metal’s tensile strength (resistance to being stretched to breaking point) was increased from 320 Megapascals to 520 MPa. That’s 62.5 percent. They added an airbag and strengthened the side pillars. ABS brakes followed. It’s now 41 kg heavier.

Our test car and its more affordable sibling, GO Mid, offer a pair of airbags, ABS brakes, EBA and EBD, rear parking sensors, child safety locks, an immobiliser and switch operated central locking.  Other standard kit includes air conditioning, electrically assisted steering, powered windows and mirrors, onboard computer, speed-sensitive intermittent wipers, ergonomically designed seats and follow-me lights. A 7” touch screen offers the usual “basics’ with phone connectivity, music controls, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

There is just one engine, an 1198 cc, naturally aspirated, three-cylinder device developing 50 kilowatt and 104 Newton-metres. The only gearbox is five-speed manual.

Brakes are ventilated discs in front and drums at the back. Front suspension consists of McPherson struts on a dual-jointed lower arm while an H-shaped torsion beam minds the rear.

What you will not find in either model is rake or reach adjustment for the steering wheel, mirrors behind the sun visors or height regulation for the driver’s chair. Our 1.85m test pilot still found more than a fist’s-width of air above his head, so he didn’t mind at all.

While dealing with what you don’t get, GO Lux offers three things that GO Mid does not; daytime running lights, a washer and wiper for the rear screen and alloy wheels. These add R21 000 to the list price so crafty buyers might choose to do without.

The engine is not turbocharged so the car doesn’t run like a racehorse. It’s flexible, however and goes about its mainly city-bound tasks quite comfortably at 2000 to 2500 rpm, needing only occasional downshifts to negotiate speed humps. Open road driving sees it cantering along at about 3500 rpm in top gear at 120 km/h. Still shy of its maximum torque point at that stage, quick overtaking requires a downshift. Rapid acceleration needs at least 3800 to 4000 rpm. That’s when the camshaft profiles kick in, its gentle buzz turns to a rasp and the car becomes a right little GO-er. And wins fans.

Getting down to practicalities, the boot lip is slightly higher than usual at 77 cm and the well is 23 cm deep. The space is neatly rectangular and there's a fully sized spare. Both lift-up knobs enabling release of the one-piece seatback are easily reached from behind. It folds almost flat, with a slight step.

Rear accommodations are remarkably spacious for a small car with our tall backseat driver declaring himself “snug but comfortable.” Facilities include a pair of built in head restraints and two-and-a-half seatbelts but no pockets or door bins. The main cabin makes up for this oversight with a decently large cubby and space for seven drinks - or seven cans of something else - when your co-householder sends you out to stock up on specials.

That 2014 GO with its iffy credentials has been dispatched to History. And new ones are still flying off SA showroom floors at 500 a month…

Test unit from Nissan SA press fleet

We drove the original in 2015



What We Do

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 as well.

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.

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