SA Roadtests
South Africa
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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.
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*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports.
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Published in The Witness Motoring on Wednesday October 12, 2011
The engine: It’s a three-cylinder, 998 cc, D-CVVT engine developed in-house by the Kia and Hyundai conglomerate and it replaces the old 1100 cc four. Not just lighter and with less power loss due to friction, it develops 51 kW vs. the old motor’s 48 and is noticeably more economical. A turbocharged version is in the pipeline for release next year. Gearboxes are either five-speed manual or four-speed automatic. We drove the manual version.
The body: This is 60 mm longer, on a wheelbase stretched 15 mm but height and width remain the same. Let me clarify a little on the height issue: the body is just as tall as the old one, but the suspension has been raised 10 mm, so your measuring tape will read 1490 mm vs., 1480 mm for the old car. The greater length and some clever interior packaging have increased cabin volume, with front legroom up by 36 mm while cargo space is increased by 27 percent to 200 litres. Stylistically, the look has been transformed from “cute” to “purposeful and dynamic” echoing the company’s new design language.
Features include manual air-conditioning, an under-floor storage box in the boot, retractable dual cup holders and sun visors with vanity mirrors. A gearshift indicator is fitted to encourage economical driving by prompting users to change gears at the optimum point in the rev range. Automatic headlights include ‘welcome back’ and ‘escort’ modes. Another standard feature is a set of auxiliary, iPod and USB connectors for the MP3-compatible digital radio and CD player. The LX model tested gains a second air bag, height adjustment for the driver’s seat, electrically operated front windows and a rear window wiper.
The experience: This little car was a real eye-opener with its crisp, direct and nicely weighted steering and surprisingly peppy performance. OK, it takes a shade over fourteen seconds to get up to 100 km/h, but it’s a case of the journey outweighing the destination. It’s a gas to drive while being secure in the knowledge that you can feel like a hooligan without running much risk of getting arrested or even annoying other road users that much.
The 200-litre boot is average for a mini car and probably capable of swallowing a trolley full of groceries if packed creatively. Rear seatbacks fold 40:60 and if you take the trouble to lift and tumble the cushions first, you end up with a completely flat load area. A pair of ISOFix anchorages is fitted, so with one seat folded away, a fair quantity of baby gear could be stowed while the other one accommodates a safety chair.
When not ferrying the heir, the rear seat area accommodates a trio of average sized passengers comfortably. Seat belts and head restraints are provided for all three. Outward vision is good thanks to big side windows and head restraints that don’t get in your line of vision as much as some others do. It turns on the proverbial ‘tickey,’ making it easy to thread through traffic or negotiate parking areas. Think of it as a single person’s mummy bus at half the price of a full-sized version, or a brilliantly versatile student’s car.
The numbers:
Price: R107 995
Engine: 998 cc inline three-cylinder
Power: 51 kW at 6200 rpm
Torque: 94 Nm at 3500 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 14,3 seconds
Maximum speed: 155 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: 7,1 l/100 km
Tank: 35 litres
Warranty: 5 years/100 000 km
Maintenance and service plans are optional
To see the launch report and more details, click here
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.
My articles appear every Wednesday in the motoring pages of The Witness, South Africa's oldest continuously running newspaper, and occasionally on Saturdays in Weekend Witness as well. I drive eight to ten vehicles most months of the year (press cars are withdrawn over the festive season - wonder why?) 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 I do actually exist.
I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go 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!
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8