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.


After driving the 2012 Lexus CT 200h F-Sport, we concede that hybrid cars might be worth considering after all

The difference is in the details

Published in The Witness Motoring on Wednesday April 4, 2012

Although Toyota has begun democratising hybrid cars by introducing the technology to mainstream models, the Kokura plant, manufacturing point of both Prius and this Lexus, remains special. There is more to it than bringing together a petrol engine and an electric motor. Greener power, recycled materials, natural materials and fanatical attention to detail, all work together to reduce mass, improve performance and ultimately conserve energy and resources.

For example, a low-energy Class D amplifier in the CT 200’s optional Premium Audio system not only uses 50 percent less power, it’s 26 percent lighter than normal analogue equivalents. Bamboo-charcoal speaker cones are not only lighter than conventional units but sound better. Recycled materials are used in carpet underfelts and sound-deadening pads. Brake pedals are hollow to reduce weight.

Body stamping dies are sanded and washed twice weekly to keep them free of scratches. A water curtain surrounds the work area to stop dust re-entering. Every measurement of every panel on every vehicle is recorded and, as microscopic variations occur because of tool wear or other factors, corrections are made. Slim-line welding robots are interspersed between the regular ones, so that the optimum number of welds may be applied to the most inaccessible places. This is purely in the interests of rigidity, silence and perfect road manners, of course.

Finally, because technology can do only so much, highly trained and experienced master craftsmen have the final say on fit, finish and overall aesthetics. To keep them sharp, they are tested and retrained. Daily. Overkill? Possibly, but Lexus is a premium brand.

There are two versions of the CT 200h, S and F-Sport models retailing at R355 400 and R412 500 respectively. The F-Sport does not go faster, it simply has more toys and offers a couple of options denied its less expensive sister. Added equipment includes eight-way electrically adjustable sports seats with lumbar support and three memory settings, keyless entry, sports pedals, LED headlights, cruise control, bigger wheels, folding and heated side mirrors and a hatchlid spoiler. The options are a moon roof and a superior sound system with satnav. A rear view camera and rain-sensing wipers are included in the sound package.

Power is courtesy of an 1800 cc Atkinson cycle petrol engine rated at 73 kW, coupled with a 60 kW electric motor. Combined power output is given as 100 kW. If this sounds familiar, it should be. It is the same power package as fitted to the Prius. Theoretically, one could drive the car in electric vehicle (EV) mode using battery power alone but it’s not workable. Maximum range is given as three kilometres at no more than 45 km/h, but that requires a fully charged battery. In real life, the computer switches between engine, electric and combined sources all the time, so the battery is seldom fully charged. Whispering along gutlessly at 45 km/h in city traffic wouldn’t make you any friends either, so don’t even try it.

An electronically controlled constantly variable transmission (E-CVT) transmits power to the front wheels while maintaining fuel economy. My green and bunny-hugging persona is quite happy with this. There is no manual override though, so sporty driving is out. And don’t expect a snappy reaction if you try to kick down frantically in order to overtake quickly. You won’t get it, not even in so-called ‘sport’ mode. Drive like an environmentally conscious commuter after respectable fuel consumption, who’s quite happy to poodle along in automatic and you will be as happy as a doggy with two tails. All those are the precise reasons why our petrolhead self would go ballistic, of course.

Please don’t misunderstand – the car has more than adequate performance. It pulls strongly up hills and could comfortably earn you speeding tickets, should such evil thoughts ever possess you. And provided your expectations are not high, the CVT transmission will fulfil your daily needs. Where you will smirk smugly though, is in sailing serenely past fuel pumps when your neighbour has to pull in. We have never experienced overall real life consumption as frugal as this in any two-litre car or in any other hybrid, including those little ones from Japanese Brand H.

On a more mundane level, the boot is quite big at 375 litres with seatbacks upright and 985 folded. It loads at about mid-thigh height and the floor is flat because the NiMH battery for the electric motor is down there somewhere. The spare is a steel spacesaver. Foot-, leg- and headroom in the back seat is OK for tall people, storage space is fair and fit and finish is excellent. All the expected conveniences and safety kit are present.

The driving environment is a little odd at first, with its tiny, chromed shift lever and the absolute silence that greets one on pushing the ‘start’ button. Only when you ease down on the accelerator pedal, does the car begin moving and the engine come to life. Get used to it, though, because this or something similar, is the way things will be in all our futures.

The numbers
Price: R412 500 basic, R458 400 as tested
Power supply: Toyota 2ZR-FXE, 1798 cc, four-cylinder engine with supplementary electric motor
Engine specs: 73 kW at 5200 rpm and 142 Nm between 2800 and 4400 rpm
Electric motor: 60 kW/207 Nm
Zero to 100 km/h: 10,3 seconds
Maximum speed: 180 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 5,8 l/100 km
CO2 rating: 94 gm/km
Tank: 45 litres
Warranty: 4 years/100 000 km
Service plan: 4 years/100 000 km at 15 000 km intervals




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.

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!

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.