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.
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*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the stories.

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!

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2009 Ford Fiesta Trend 1.6

Young and trendy

Over ten million Ford Fiestas have been sold since its overseas launch in 1976. The 1,6 litre Trend version we drove recently, is a seventh-generation model, first shown to the world as the Verve at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show. It was released to SA buyers in October 2008.

It won the “What Car?” Car of the Year award in the UK last year and became an SA COTY finalist soon afterward. It also picked up a German “red dot” design trophy in March this year.

Based on the Mazda2 platform and sharing much of its design DNA, the new Fiesta is aimed at a predominantly youthful target audience. Possibly the strongest evidence of this is the cellular phone-inspired central control panel. Funky it may be, but this user found it somewhat busy and best tackled while parked, or left to one’s copilot.

For those who don’t know “Ambiente” from a “Trend” – “Titanium” is obviously more upmarket – let us explain: These are the three trim levels available to SA buyers.

Ambiente is the entry level giving you a radio/CD with 6 speakers, air conditioning, electric power steering, front power windows, steering wheel audio controls, tinted windows, rear fog lamps and a headlamp delay feature. Exterior styling includes body-coloured bumpers, rear spoiler, door and lift gate handles. Fifteen inch steel wheels are standard. Safety items include dual airbags, front users’ seat belt reminders, ABS with EBD and a centre high mounted stop lamp.

Trend models add heated power mirrors with integrated indicators, remote central locking, rear electric windows and a Bluetooth vehicle interface with voice control. Front and rear mud flaps and 15” alloy wheels complete the specification.

Titanium versions top the range with high contrast finishes for a sleek, technical appearance. Aesthetic lighting, a map reading lamp and trip computer enhance their appeal. Exterior styling cues include chrome accents, 16” alloy wheels, halogen projector headlamps, front fog lamps and a partial body kit that includes a bumper grille and rear spoiler.

Engine choices include 1,4 litre  and 1,6 litre petrol units and a 1,6 litre turbodiesel. The latter is available only in “Ambiente” specification.  Sporty three-door units, with optional full body kits, are exclusively “Titanium”.

The 1,6 litre TiVCT  (twin independent variable cam timing) Duratec engine fitted to the test car develops 88 kW at 6 000 rpm and 149 Nm of torque at 4 250 rpm. This, combined with lowish gearing (3 600 rpm at 120 km/h in fifth), makes for willing performance but doesn’t leave much in reserve if you need to floor it at 120 for any reason. A downshift to fourth would be the way to go.

Underpinnings are sufficiently compliant to make light work of most urban humps and rumble strips, but bear in mind that this is a city car, not intended for continuous rough use. The suspension test track at Gerotek, where I first evaluated the Fiesta as a COTY finalist, showed up a bit of suspension noise not found on some of its competitors.

Handling, courtesy of a chassis 10% stiffer than its predecessor and Ford’s sporting background, was confident and good fun.

Legroom in front is generous but it’s a wee bit cramped for a six-footer seated behind a tall driver. Steering that’s adjustable for height and reach enables a comfortable driving position for almost anyone. Visibility for both driving and parking is good.

There is enough luggage space for quite a load of kit or even a trolley full of groceries if packed creatively.

Although it’s aimed primarily at youthful buyers, anyone wanting a young-at-heart city car should look at the new Fiesta.

Price as tested: R 167 471 plus R 750 for metallic paint
Warranty: 4 years/120 000 km
Service plan: 4 years/60 000 km