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. Hover your cursor over the manufacturer's name, then choose from the drop-down menu.
*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports.


This is a launch report. In other words, it's simply a new model announcement. The driving experience was limited to a short drive over a prepared course chosen to make the product look good. We can therefore not tell you what it will be like to live with over an extended period, how economical it is, or how reliable it will be. A very brief first impression is all we can give you until such time as we get an actual test unit for trial. Thank you for your patience.


We join the funfest as Ford introduces its fastest and feistiest Fiesta; the 2013 1.6 GDTi ST three-door

Pics supplied

Clean, kitted and fun to drive

Published in Weekend Witness Motoring on Saturday June 8, 2013

Some would call it perfect 20:20 vision; the new Fiesta ST’s power is up 20 percent while its CO2 emissions are down by a similar amount compared with the old one. Ford’s sporty new baby is not only the most powerful Fiesta yet, but it’s the cleanest, best equipped and most fun-to-drive version ever. The company is confident its new pocket rocket has what it takes to win back a very decent proportion of the sporty B-segment hatchback market currently dominated by Polo GTi.

It has the look; that big, honeycomb grille took inspiration directly from Aston-Martin (“who do you think used to own the company?” quipped a spokesman), and ST-specific body details like its rear spoiler and diffuser, front skirts and special bumper, dynamic headlamp treatment and sculpted bonnet. It has the touch; genuine body hugging Recaro seats hold you firmly in place, carbon fibre dashboard inserts,  ST steering wheel, alloy pedals and metal-look gear shifter all help set the mood and to cap it all, the music played by that twincam, 16-valve, turbocharged power plant is piped back inside for your personal enjoyment.

And it has the kit; lowered sports suspension has McPherson struts and L-shaped lower control arms up front with a modified twist beam featuring greater roll stiffness at the rear. The electrical power steering is geared for quicker response than on the last one and for the first time in a Fiesta, 253 mm disc brakes bring up the rear to accompany the 278 x 23 mm ventilated units in front.

The safety devices are comprehensive. Consider seven airbags, tyre deflation detection, ABS brakes with EBD and EBA, an ESP system that offers three choices, enhanced torque vectoring control to dial back understeer when its driver gets too enthusiastic and hill launch assist. Obviously, the rear seats have ISOFix anchor points, seatbelts have pretensioners and load limiters and it features remote central locking with keyless entry and starting.

For comfort, the ST offers filtered, electronically controlled air conditioning, automatic head lamps with follow-me, rain-sensitive wipers, heated and powered folding mirrors, fog lamps at both ends and electric windows with single touch operation on both doors. The interior mirror dims automatically. The six-speaker Sony sound system includes Bluetooth with USB and auxiliary connectors and like all Fiestas, SYNC provides voice control in addition to the 4,2” TFT touch-screen interface. Parental oversight is possible via MyKey programmability of the young driver’s access unit.

To keep things pure there is only one Fiesta ST; one 1600 cc turbocharged EcoBoost engine putting out 142 kW and 240 Nm (260 on short-term overboost), three doors, five in-your-face colours and one six-speed manual gearbox. Even the options are kept simple – metallic paint, rear parking sensors and a Thatcham-grade alarm system. It’s practical too, with a 276 litre boot, 60:40 folding seat backs and a 42 litre fuel tank.

The first drive experience consisted of freeways, country roads, a short stretch of dirt (not recommended) and a few hours having fun at the Red Star Raceway out in the boonies near Witbank. This four-km track is primarily for bikes, is bi-directional and features 13 turns with five very short straights. On off days, the owners rent it out for corporate functions and fun days, so cars are tolerated provided they behave. After a couple of laps of familiarisation and training by professional instructors, the journalists were let loose. Fun was had and the ST’s power, acceleration and handling were duly appreciated. The outing was good. So was the car.

Information gathered at a manufacturer-sponsored press launch event.

The numbers
Price: R254 500
Engine: 1596 cc, DOHC, 16-valve, inline four, turbocharged
Power: 134 kW at 5700 rpm
Torque: 240 Nm between 1600 and 5000 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 6,9 seconds
Maximum speed: 220 km/h
Emissions: Euro 5, 138 gm/km
Claimed average fuel consumption: 5,9 l/100 km
Warranty: 4 years/120 000 km; with 3 years’ roadside assistance
Service plan: 4 years/60 000 km; at 20 000 km intervals

To see our review on this car, click here

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 I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once 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.

My reviews and launch reports appear on Thursdays in the Wheels supplement to The Witness, South Africa's oldest continuously running newspaper, and occasionally on Saturdays in Weekend Witness as well. I drive eight to ten vehicles each month, most months of the year (except over the festive season) so not everything gets published in the paper. Those that are, get a tagline but the rest is virgin, unpublished and unedited by the political-correctness police.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.

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