SA Roadtests
South Africa
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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.
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 preselected course. 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.
H1 is known as Starex in some markets
Posted: 2 July 2018
The numbers
Prices:
2.4 Executive bus (petrol, manual) – R499 900
2.5 Elite bus (diesel, automatic) – R629 900
2.5 Panel Van (diesel, automatic) – R459 900
Diesel engine: 2497 cc, DOHC, 16-valve, four-cylinder, commonrail with VGT
Output: 125 kW at 3600 rpm and 441 Nm between 2000 and 2250 rpm
Average fuel consumption (claimed): 9.8 l/100 km.
Zero to 100 km/h: 14.4 seconds
Maximum speed: 180 km/h
Petrol engine: 2359 cc, DOHC, 16-valve, four-cylinder naturally aspirated
Output: 126 kW at 6000 rpm and 224 Nm at 4200 rpm
Average fuel consumption (claimed): 10.2 l/100 km.
Zero to 100 km/h: 17.1 seconds
Maximum speed: 178 km/h
Fuel tank: 75 litres
Maximum (braked) trailer mass (all) – 1500 kg
Prices include Hyundai’s 5-year/150 000 km warranty with roadside assistance, additional 2 years / 50 000 km on the power train and 5-year / 90 000 km service plan.
Stays the same:
• Pricing, despite VAT increase
• The engines
• Suspension, brakes and safety features
Changes:
• Auto-on projector headlights (all)
• New grille, bonnet and fog lamps (all)
• Reach adjustment for steering wheel (all)
• New alloy wheels (bus models)
• Full-auto with anti-pinch for driver’s window (diesel bus)
• Touch-screen audio system (diesel bus)
• Reversing camera (diesel bus)
Dare we call Hyundai’s updated H1 people mover an SUV? Its performance isn’t particularly sporty but that small detail never dissuaded any of its competitors. It isn’t filled with more gadgets than you can keep track of, either, but it has all you really need.
Most SUVs seat five. Some will accommodate seven at a push. In most cases, the extra chairs are difficult to get into or out of and offer limited headroom, making them suitable only for kids. Others are just clumsy and get in the way even when they‘re stowed. And most competitors’ third-row seats, when in use, steal significant quantities of luggage space.
If users can remove one or more rows of seating and turn the vehicles into panel vans with windows, they call them MPV (multi-purpose vehicle). H1 is not an MPV. Nor does it claim to be a “crossover”, so by definition it must surely be an SUV - a big one.
It is quite long, at 5150 mm, on a wheelbase of 3200 mm. Those measurements place it almost exactly midway between those of Volkswagen’s short- and long-wheelbase Kombi and Caravelle, offerings.
It seats eight fully-grown persons in comfort without having to unfold anything down from the sides or up out of the floor. Headroom is not compromised. In case of emergency a ninth, admittedly small, person could use the half seat in the front row but then driver and co-pilot have to do without the big centre armrest with its cup holders and storage. When everyone’s sitting comfortably (temperature-adjustable air conditioning outlets in the back) there is still 842 litres of luggage space. Few five-seaters offer that much.
The new look consists of a more horizontal bonnet line with restyled nose, a five-bar grille instead of two-bar, reshaped headlights that are now projection type, body coloured mirror caps, new fog lamps and new 17” alloy wheels on the diesel bus. Sides and rear remain unchanged. The most noticeable interior feature is that the diesel bus gains a touch-screen control centre.
As before, there are three versions – an Executive bus with 2.4-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine and five-speed manual transmission, Elite bus with 2.5-litre turbodiesel and five-speed automatic and a panel van with the same engine and gearbox.
Van and petrol bus offer the most important basics including two airbags, entertainment centre with Bluetooth and satellite controls, projection headlamps, tilt and telescope steering wheel, ABS brakes with EBD, central locking, electric mirrors and front windows, rear fog lights and manual air conditioner. Satnav is optional on the bus; all you need to buy is the SD card at R2552-00.
The Elite bus adds curtain airbags, ESC, cruise control, folding function for the outside mirrors, rear parking distance alarm and camera, leather upholstery and ISOFix mountings. Its air conditioner is automatic.
A certain fleet owner runs them as staff busses with each one logging around 20 000 km per month or a “normal” owner’s average vehicle lifetime, of 240 000 km, in a single year. They then sell them and come back for more.
But is it an SUV? No. The back seats don’t fold, so there's no utility function. Nor is it an MPV and it’s definitely not a sedan. But it could be what you need.
For more details please check 2009 petrol bus and van launch
2010 diesel bus launch
2016 update report
We reviewed the 2018 diesel bus here
Information gathered at a manufacturer-sponsored press launch
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.
Comments or questions?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you completely disagree with what I say? If you want advice or have a genuine concern, I will be happy to hear from you. All I ask is that you write something in the subject line so I know which vehicle you're talking about.
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8