SA Road Tests

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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.

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We drive the 2016 JMC Vigus 2.4 TDCi LX 4x4 double-cab

Able and willing

Pics by author
Posted: 15 January 2016

The numbers
Price: R345 990
Engine: 2402 cc, four-cylinder, 16 valve, commonrail, direct injection, turbodiesel
Power: 88 kW at 3800 rpm
Torque: 290 Nm at 1600 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 15.2 seconds
Maximum speed: 160 km/h
Car magazine fuel index: 9.8 l/ 100 km
Tank: 68 litres
Tare / GVW / GCM (kg): 1955/ 2770 / 4500
Min. ground clearance: 225 mm
Warranty: 3 years / 100 000 km; with roadside assistance
Service plan: 5 years / 60 000 km   

Eight into one does go. JMC Vigus (aka Yuhu in China and Vigor in Malaysia) pickups come in one body style – double-cab. There is one gearbox – a five-speed manual. You get two trim levels – plain LX and slightly fancier SLX. Then there’s a choice of 4x2 or 4x4 drivelines. Two engines, both displacing 2.4 litres, provide power. That makes eight variants.

Petrol power is supplied by Mitsubishi’s 2351 cc, 4G64 Sirius motor that you probably recognise from certain GWM models. The direct injection, commonrail diesel fitted to our test vehicle is Ford’s 2402 cc Duratorq Puma that some may remember from 2007-to-2011 Land Rover Defenders.

You might ask whether it’s any quieter, smoother, quicker or nicer than JMC’s other pickup offering, the Boarding, with its old-tech Isuzu-based 2.8 diesel. It is. No question – it’s ‘way better. It also costs about 75 percent more, but that’s the way things are.

Let’s look at what you get. Our 4x4 LX diesel offered alloy wheels with 265/70 R16 tyres (the spare is alloy too), powered mirrors and windows (one-touch up and down for the driver), rubberised bin and tailgate, cab protector / roll-over bar, side steps, front fog lamps, a six-speaker radio and CD with USB and auxiliary connectors, single channel air conditioning, fabric upholstery, ABS brakes (disc front and drum rear) with EBD, two airbags, remote locking and rear parking sensors. Floor covering is in practical and hose-washable plastic.

The SLX, for R30 000  extra, scores you a smarter music centre that plays DVDs and MP3s, remote buttons on the steering wheel, leather upholstery and an anti-glare interior mirror.

Forget satnav, touch screens, diff lock or onboard computers; these are workhorses. Central locking is courtesy of a roll-forward button on the driver’s door handle – like on your grandfather’s old Cortina. Seats aren‘t adjustable for height but the steering wheel is.

But it’s handsome in a plain and uncluttered kind of way, and its interior is simple and classy. The music and air control cluster looks familiar; much like many new Fords. Fit and finish is generally good, but the hand brake felt a bit insecure. We were disappointed with its action when pulling away on a steep incline after stopping to select 4x4 low range out on one of the forest trails.

An overriding impression was that four-high gearing is generally quite long, because we had to shift over to four-low a little sooner than we usually do. On the plus side, normal driving around town in two-high is restful and fairly quiet.

Because there hadn’t been any rain for some time, meaning no washaways or slushy parts, the rougher parts of our trails were straightforward. The Vigus ambled over and through them all, rocky and smooth, uphill and down, ably and without stress. It was pleasantly comfortable and stable over provincial dirt roads as well, despite its conventional suspension system; double wishbones with coil springs in front and live axle with leaf springs at the rear.

The load bin is square; 1475 x 1475 mm and 500 mm deep, with two lashing rings inside and four broad tabs on the outside. The tailgate opens on drop-down arms to a height of 750 mm. Passenger space in the rear seat of the cab is about average with plenty of headroom and enough knee- and foot space for our 1.85-metre tester.

A little disappointing is that no armrest is provided and that there are only two head restraints. The middle passenger makes do with a lap belt rather than the three-pointer enjoyed by the others. In a break with tradition the jack, tools, triangle and fire extinguisher are tucked away neatly in recesses under the seat cushion rather than behind the backrest.

Despite a few misgivings, including a rather notchy gearchange, we found this diesel 4x4 Vigus to be an able and willing performer that should do well in the slightly-above-basic commercial vehicle sector. It isn’t a mainstream player, but it costs significantly less. It’s also much pleasanter than its stable companion the Boarding, but then it costs more. The choice is up to you.

Test vehicle from Metro Car Sales, Pietermaritzburg

We drove a Vigus 5, 4x2 in 2020

 

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.

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