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 possibly applies to the models you get at home.

Unlike most car reports, what you read in these pages will not be a faithful reproduction, albeit slightly reworded, of what appeared in the manufacturer's press release. We look for background material, user experience and whatever else we can find that's beyond the obvious. Our guiding rule is that you will be able to tell that the car was actually driven.

*To read one of our archived road tests, just select from the alphabetical menu of manufacturers' names on the left. Hover your cursor over the manufacturer's name, then choose from the drop-down menu that appears.

*Pre-owned: Our tests go back quite a few years, so if you are looking for something pre-owned, you might well find a report on it in here.

*Please remember too, that prices quoted are those ruling at the time the reports were written.


The 2014 Honda Ballade Elegance automatic: a step closer

Working hard but not yet there.

Posted: 14 November 2014

Had I reviewed this car with the optional five-speed manual ‘box, I’m sure I would have felt more positively about it. But I didn’t. I drove one with Honda’s newest Earth Dreams Technologies constant velocity transmission instead.

To be fair, they tried. They tightened the belt that couples the transmission cones; in order to reduce slippage. Then added a torque converter to make it run more smoothly and to introduce virtual steps into the power delivery so it behaves more like a normal automatic. And they included manual override via paddles on the steering wheel. But it still slips like a late-eighties Japanese slushbox. Pity.

In fairness, it’s fine when driven politely in city traffic because gentle use exposes no gremlins. It’s out in the real world of freeways, accelerating past obstacles and climbing hills that disappointment strikes. Kicking down causes runaway engine speed and a noticeable delay in delivering the goods, while gentle uphill driving makes revs climb while maintaining its original speed and gear. In other words, it slips …

But let’s move on and concentrate on the car. It looks much the same as the 2011 model at first glance but if you take time to compare, you’ll see it’s completely different – only 14-percent of the sheet metal was carried over. It grew 45 millimetres longer and five mm taller, while its wheelbase stretched by 50 mm; to 2600. That means the overhangs are slightly shorter but you get more space inside.

The new car’s boot is 30 litres bigger, but the fuel tank is two litres smaller. But then the car is more frugal than the old one was, with claimed fuel consumption improving from 6,6 l/100 km to 5,8. It’s also 51 kilograms lighter, although that is partly because the CVT weighs less than the old automatic transmission did. Suspension and ground clearance (150 mm) are as before but rear brakes are no longer 239 mm discs. Two-hundred mm drums have taken their place. The warranty and service plan remain the same.

We don’t get the new Toyota Camry here, but this medium sized Honda is apparently roomier inside. Its engineers smirk smugly and call it “Honda Magic.” You might call it amazing; unless one of your family members is tall and you put him or her in the back. Then you may hear a growl of discontent because your 6’1” tester also found head and foot space marginal, although knee room was generous.

The engine puts out the same power and torque numbers it did back then, but the engineers reduced frictional losses at various points to make it smoother and more economical; those Earth Dreams Technologies again. Then they got to work on the details.

The original safety kit (six bags, ABS/EBA/EBD, cruise control, central locking and vehicle stability program) is still present while hill start assist and automatic door locking were added. A gorgeous 7” tablet-style touch screen for controlling everything is a welcome touch, but the steering wheel lost its telescoping adjustment.

You still have Bluetooth and the Elegance version doubles its allocation of speakers; gaining four in-door tweeters. Other connectors include two USB inputs plus one for HDMI and a 12-volt/180 W socket. The eighth-inch jack went the way of the dinosaurs.

A further gain for Elegance models is an adjustable reversing camera that lets you change perspective, and has yellow lines overlaid on the screen so you can see the effect a slight adjustment in steering wheel turn has upon where you could end up.

The boot lid opens when you pull on a lever down next to the driver’s seat or push a button on the remote, but there’s no little rubber release pad. Its sill is about 72 centimetres above ground level and the lip is 24 cm deep. Long, wide and deep; with some wheel arch intrusion and uncovered hinge arms that could foul luggage, describes it adequately.

I was disappointed to find no pull-down handles, although those of us who grew up before such niceties were invented, mostly grab the lid from the outside anyway. I wasn’t thrilled with the untidy inner side of the boot lid either, but to put a car this big, with a/t and all its bells and whistles, on the market at R241 000 probably takes some doing these days.

As I said, I might have raved over the R227 000 manual version but got to drive the automatic instead and wished I hadn’t. But one learns something new every day - Honda still has a way to go before it gets this earthly dream quite right.

Test car from Honda Motor SA press fleet

The numbers
Price: R241 200
Engine: 1497 cc, SOHC, 16-valve, four-cylinder
Power: 88 kW at 6600 rpm
Torque: 145 Nm at 4600 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 11,1 seconds
Maximum speed: 190 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 7,2 l/100 km
Tank: 40 litres Boot: 536 litres (VDA)
Warranty: 3 years/100 000 km
Service plan: 4 years/60 000 km at 15 000 km intervals

We drove one with the new 1.5 engine in 2021



Manual shift version shown

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.

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.