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.


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 get primal with the 2013 Ford Kuga (Escape in the USA)

Pics supplied

Published in The Witness Motoring on Wednesday April 24, 2013

It really is All-New

Be cynical if you must, but motoring journalists serve at least one useful function: We filter gag-inducing PR-speak into words you can actually read without fleeing from this page or tossing your last meal into the nearest receptacle. It is in your service that our eyes glaze with boredom every time we see the words “ALL NEW SUPER-WHATSIT TURBO” because we know it isn’t all-new, really.

But sometimes we’re mistaken; like with the truly new Ford Kugas introduced to the press just recently. It turns out that those five-cylinder, 2.5-litre, turbocharged Kugas that Ford introduced just over a year ago, were teasers placed to gauge public acceptance. South Africans voted with their wallets to say that they really do want a feature-filled, medium SUV from Ford, so it was decided to bring in the new ones.

Their overall appearance is obviously Kuga, but practically every detail is different; from lights to panels to interior trim to features to engines. It’s still built on the Ford C1 platform with a wheelbase of 2690 mm, but it’s now 81 mm longer, 4 mm narrower and 35 mm taller. One of the benefits of the added length is that boot capacity went up by 96 litres to 456 litres with seatbacks up, to 1653 with them folded. The loading height was reduced by 56 mm to make things easier for you, while ground clearance increased marginally.

One engine is new to this market, while the other has been used in overseas Kugas and local Focuses for a while. The familiar 1997 cc, Duratorq turbodiesel develops 120 kW and 340 Nm, while a turbocharged 1597 cc EcoBoost petrol engine puts out 110 kW (134 kW in Titanium trim) and 240 Nm. There are six models altogether; two six-speed, manually shifted, petrol front-wheel drivers, two six-speed automatic petrol all-wheelers and a pair of six-speed, PowerShift, diesel all-wheel drive versions. Trim levels go from Ambiente and Trend on the front-drivers, to Trend and Titanium in EcoBoost with awd, and both latter equipment levels in awd diesel.

Suspension systems remain as they were, although the rear brake discs are slightly smaller to compensate for the change in power outputs. But it’s all about the equipment: Dean Stonely, Ford’s VP of Marketing, Sales and Service, told us proudly that these new Kugas contain not only more technology than any other Ford in South Africa, but that they are also the safest mid-sized SUVs in the country.

For example, even the lowliest model offers auto stop-start, smart regenerative charging, alloy wheels, active grille shutters to control airflow through the radiator for both efficiency and reduced wind resistance, front and rear fog lamps, roof rails, powered and heated outside mirrors, trip computer, keyless starting, air conditioning, one-touch windows and cruise control. Then how about a 230-Volt power point, a six-speaker audio system with the usual plugs, Ford SYNC that connects all your phones and devices via Bluetooth and even reads out incoming text messages, and multi-way seat adjustments with lumbar support for the driver.

On the safety front one finds ABS with EBD, EBA and ESP with traction control, seven airbags, trailer stability function, hill start assistance and a pair of ISOFix anchors. All this is on the basic Ambiente front-driver, remember? As specification levels go up, standard kit and available options become more interesting, until it feels as if you are assembling a luxury German or Swedish sedan.

One item standard on Titanium level deserves separate mention: Imagine you are approaching the back of your Kuga with both arms full of parcels and the key is safely in your bag or pocket. Do you howl with rage and dump everything to get the key into your hand? No; you simply swing your leg beneath the rear bumper and the hatch will pop open. It’s quite safe from accidental activation by balls, kids, dogs or opportunistic thieves at traffic lights; both the key and swinging leg must be right there. Volkswagen introduced it on the CC, but this is the first SUV to have it.

The ride and drive sessions showed that both engines have more than enough power, accommodations are spacious and well fitted and that this new Kuga is just as pleasant over rough roads as its predecessor. Turns out, too, that the old Volvo-powered jobs are becoming cult items; should have bought one when you had the chance, shouldn’t you?

Information gathered at a manufacturer-sponsored press launch

The numbers
Prices range from R289 900 to R418 900
Engines and power: See text
Zero to 100 km/h: 9,7 seconds (petrol), 10,4 seconds (diesel)
Maximum speeds: 195 – 200 km/h, depending on model
Average fuel consumption per 100 km (claimed): 6,2 l (diesel), 6,6 l (fwd petrol), 7,7 l (awd petrol)
Tank: 60 litres
Warranty: 4 years/120 000 km; with 3 years roadside assistance
Service plan (petrol): 4 years/80 000 km; at 20 000 km intervals
Service plan (diesel): 5 years/90 000 km; at 15 000 km intervals

To see our review on a 4x4 diesel version, 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.

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.