SA Road Tests

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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 stories.

Kia launched its new Sorento SUV at Umhlanga recently. We were there

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.


Pics supplied

Published in Weekend Witness Motoring on Saturday December 5, 2009

From the big city to the great outdoors

The new Kia Sorento is bigger than the one that went before and it is fitted with smaller engines. Good – now that your blood pressure has spiked and you’ve thrown all your toys out of the cot, let’s explain.

The new model is 95 mm longer to help create more people space, while width remains the same and the roofline sits 15 mm lower. Front and rear tracks have increased by 38- and 40 mm respectively for greater stability, while ground clearance has decreased slightly to 184 mm. It catches up with the majority of SUVs by adopting monocoque construction in place of the old “body on chassis” design. It also shed up to 215 kg of body mass in the process.

Suspension has been brought up to date, with MacPherson struts and gas filled dampers in front and a new fully independent multi-link system with coils and gas shocks at the back.

The new engines, 2,2 litre diesel and 3,5 litre petrol (previously 2,5- and 3,8 litres respectively) are lighter, cleaner and more powerful. The 2,2 CRDi motor that powers all variants available so far (the 3,5 litre quad-cam V6 petrol unit only arrives next year) puts out 147 kW at 3 800 rpm vs the old engine’s 104 kW, and 436 Nm of torque between 1 800 and 3 500 rpm vs 350 Nm on the old. The optional 6-speed automatic gearbox contains 62 fewer parts than the outgoing 5-speeder, is 12 kg lighter and is up to 12 percent more frugal with fuel. Part of the saving comes from an innovative “neutral control” that shifts the transmission from D to N whenever you stop for more than a few seconds, so reducing engine load.

This transmission is a ‘flat’ torque converter automatic featuring three planetary gear sets and four pinion differentials.  A redesign of the hydraulic pressure control unit allows the transmission’s eight solenoid valves to be individually calibrated at the vehicle assembly plant, to ensure fast, smooth and precise gearshifts throughout the engine speed range. What this means to you and me, is that it feels almost as if you are driving one of the new twin clutch jobs – almost unnoticeable gearshifts with no noisy flare or slippage noise.

Your options consist mainly of choices between five and seven seats and 2-wheel drive or 4x4. The 7-seaters are more upmarket, with bigger wheels (18” vs 17”), xenon headlamps, rear view camera, smart key with stop/start button, self-levelling suspension and the option of ordering a sunroof. The petrol version, when it arrives next year, will be available only in 7-seat, 4x4, automatic transmission form.

Four-by-four transmission is part-time, with all the power going to the front wheels during normal city and highway travel, in the interests of fuel economy. When the surface deteriorates and a front wheel starts slipping, power is fed to the rear as needed. For more serious off road use, at speeds up to 30 km/h, a driver-selectable 50:50 “lock” mode is available.

Standard equipment is pretty comprehensive, including front and rear fog lamps, roof rails, a full-sized spare, powered driver’s seat, keyless entry, autolocking, leather, 6-speaker radio/CD unit, six airbags, ABS, rear park assist, ESC, downhill brake control and hill start assist.

Our 300-km drive from Durban International to Byrne and back to Umhlanga, showed the new Sorento to be spacious, comfortable, quiet and a willing performer. The only place I would have deducted marks was on roughish dirt roads, where I felt the suspension could be a touch softer.

Prices begin at R340 000 for the 4x2, five-seater and go up to R400 000 for the yet-to-come petrol driven 4x4, seven-seater. Warranty is 5 years/100 000 km with 3 years of roadside assistance and the Maintenance Plan covers you for 5 years/100 000 km. Service intervals are at 15 000 km (petrol) and 20 000 km (diesel).

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport and barely experience them for themselves.

What this means to you is that every car reviewed is given my own personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every car goes through real world testing; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to to buy their supplies and equipment, truck their goods to market, send their kids to school and go to kick back and relax. 

So occasionally a cow, a goat or a horse may add a little local colour by finding its way into the story or one of the pictures. It's all part of the ambience!

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. Contact me here

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