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.


 The Hyundai i20 range has a new diesel flagship. We took it for a drive.

 i20 range getz diesel

Published in Weekend Witness Motoring on Saturday March 9, 2013

Diesel engines power only about nine-percent of “B” segment hatchbacks sold in South Africa at present, but as more people buy downward for various reasons, the trend is accelerating. Cue the new Hyundai i20 1.4 CRDi Glide. It shares main specifications and features with its 1400cc, petrol powered Glide-spec’d twin. The only real difference is in the engine.

A short-stroke version of Hyundai’s 1.5-litre U-series turbodiesel released in 2005 to replace the VM Motori motor used in earlier Getzes, it puts out 66 kW of power and a very useful 220 Nm of torque. Apart from now building all its own engines, the group manufactures all the steel it needs as well as many of the parts that go into its cars. Hyundai/Kia doesn’t believe in relying too much on outsiders. Benefits are controlled quality and containment of costs.

Suspension is by means of McPherson struts with stabiliser bars, coil springs and double-acting gas filled dampers in front and a coupled torsion beam axle with coils and gas shocks at the back. Brakes are 256 mm ventilated discs with floating calipers in front and 262 mm solid discs behind. Parking is secured with a cable operated 168 mm drum-in-hat setup on the rear wheels. Four-channel, four-sensor ABS with EBD is standard all around and wheels are 16” alloys with 195/50 tyres.

Maintaining the high level of standard equipment are six airbags; a sophisticated RDS radio with CD player, six speakers, Bluetooth and accessory plugs; powered and folding exterior mirrors; electric windows all around with single-touch and anti-jam for the driver; filtered automatic air conditioning; an onboard computer; luxurious grey fabric upholstery, and fog lamps front and rear.

Remote central locking, child proofing on the rear doors and automatic securing at 40 km/h are all included.  In common with all but the entry-level 1.2 Motion model and an automatic Fluid version, the gearbox is a six-speed manual unit. In reply to a journalist’s question, we were told that cruise control is available as an aftermarket option at about R3500.

Looks-wise, nothing appears to have changed since the facelift and upgrade last August – it’s still the well-made and decently equipped family car that has been charming buyers for some time.

The short ride and drive experience confirmed that this newest i20 is solid, well bolted together and handles nicely. It also pulls like a Sherman tank and is very pleasant to drive. When the gentle movement toward compact diesel hatchbacks becomes a headlong rush, Hyundai will be ready.

Information gathered at an importer-sponsored press launch

The numbers
Price: R195 900
Engine: 1396 cc, DOHC, DCVVT, 16-valve, turbodiesel
Power: 66 kW at 4000 rpm
Torque: 220 Nm between 1500 and 2750 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 13,5 seconds
Maximum speed: 174 km/h
Average fuel consumption (claimed): 5,0 l/100 km
CO2 rating: 110 gm./km
Fuel: 50-ppm diesel, although 500-ppm can be used
Tank: 45 litres
Luggage volume: 295/1060 litres
Warranty: 5 years/150 000 km; with 5 years roadside assistance
Service plan: 3 years/60 000 km; at 15 000 km intervals


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?
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