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 possibly applies to the models you get at home.

Unlike most car reports, what you read in these pages will not be a faithful reproduction, albeit slightly reworded, of what appeared in the manufacturer's press release. We look for background material, user experience and whatever else we can find that's beyond the obvious. Our guiding rule is that you will be able to tell that the car was actually driven.

*To read one of our archived road tests, just select from the alphabetical menu of manufacturers' names on the left. Hover your cursor over the manufacturer's name, then choose from the drop-down menu that appears.

*Pre-owned: Our tests go back quite a few years, so if you are looking for something pre-owned, you might well find a report on it in here.

*Please remember too, that prices quoted are those ruling at the time the reports were written.


We get a load of the Nissan NP 200 Loaded for 2014

Please note that this is a limited-edition vehicle built in South Africa only.

Built for work

Posted: 26 July 2014

Take an NP 200 and love-r it,
Line its huge load bin and cover it.
Add a big chrome bar to match one in front
And some flash mag wheels for loads of fun.
Put rails on the roof then move inside
To fit a do-it-all radio and seats of hide.

We apologise to those long-forgotten creatives who crafted the Take Two jingle, many years ago, for this blatant rap-off. But it was catchy. The snack bar was pretty good too.

The point is that Nissan SA decided to bring a little spice to the showroom by releasing a special run of its basic NP 200 with air-and-safety kit. There will be only 300; in any colour you like as long as it’s white; and because the term “limited edition” is boring, predictable and suburban they went with “Loaded” instead. It sort-of puns on the big 800 kilogram load it can carry while referring to the fact that it’s loaded with options.

Specifically, they took their UA7, 1.6-litre, eight-valve base model with air conditioner and safety pack (two bags plus ABS and EBD) that’s priced at R149 250 and added                R25 000-worth of funky stuff.  Then they priced the deal at R166 500 so you save almost R8000 over what it would cost to do it yourself.

Apart from special branding, by way of silver and red side decals and accents on bespoke carpets and leather seats, there is a front-loading CD/MP3/WMA radio with USB, auxiliary and Bluetooth. On the outside, stainless steel nudge- and sports bars, black roof rails, a black tonneau cover and specially designed Nissan-Concept alloy wheels complete the package.

For those who don’t have time to follow these links to the launch report and our review of the “unloaded” version, here’s a quick recap:

The Logan-based NP 200 uses two versions of the 1598 cc Alliance engine to develop either 64 kilowatts and 128 Newton-metres or 77 kW and 148 Nm. Both use McPherson struts with wishbones up front and an H-beam with coil springs and anti-roll bar at the back. Braking is by means of ventilated discs at the sharp end and drums behind. Gearing is slightly different for each output level with the eight-valver using a lower first ratio, same second, lower third, fourth and fifth, and the same reverse and differential cogs. Power assisted rack and pinion steering is common to all, as are 185/65 R15 tyres. Apart from the above, the only differences between the various models are in equipment levels.

As mentioned previously, the little half-to-three-quarter tonner is built for work with nothing wasted on unnecessary trappings that beg to cause trouble. For example, window winders, outside mirrors, door locks and seat adjusters are fully mechanical. There isn’t even a height adjuster for the driver’s chair at this level.

We could have used one because our reviewer sat with his head a little too close to the hood lining for comfort and while he had sufficient legroom, others might be more picky. The French-inspired back-to-front window winders are still present, as is the European sweep to the windshield wipers that leave rain drops in one’s field of vision.

Buyers choosing an NP 200 for lifestyle and leisure might find the ride a little firm for daily use but Bongani, general factotum at the luxury B&B down where the old racing stables used to be, has other priorities. He has been driving his employers' early Base version since new. Apart from fetching vegetables from the market, lugging furniture, carting TVs, lawn mowers and appliances, and general toting, he confirms that ten bags of cement or a pallet-full of roofing tiles is handled with ease.

We recall being doubtful about this 64 kW version’s performance when we first drove one up on the Highveld, but at our altitude of around 650 metres it was actually quite perky. Vision outward, assisted by quarter panes in the rear pillars, is very good and it’s easy to manoeuvre thanks to a tight 11.4-metre turning circle. But one of Bongani’s colleagues, who drives the NP 200 fairly often, is less happy with the gearshift action: “After 95 000 km it’s still notchy,” he complains.

Small grumbles aside, we all have different needs so what irritates one would pass unnoticed by another. The point is that this NP 200 Loaded is a bright and breezy lifestyle vehicle that would be equally at ease hanging out, travelling or lugging dirt bikes in from the boonies.

Test vehicle from Nissan SA press fleet

The numbers
Price: R166 500
Engine: 1598 cc, Nissan K7M, SOHC, 8-valves, four cylinders
Power: 64 kW at 5500 rpm
Torque: 128 Nm at 3000 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 13,8 seconds
Maximum speed: 179 km/h
Car magazine fuel index: 9,7 l/100 km
Tank: 50 litres
Ground clearance: 177 mm
Max. load: 800 kg
Tare: 1055 kg
GVM: 1890 kg
GCM: 2540 kg
Max. towing mass unbraked/braked: 580 kg/650 kg
Warranty: 6 years/150 000 km
Service intervals: 15 000 km

To see our launch report on the NP 200 click here

Our review of the NP 200 Base versoon with a/c and safety equipment is here

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.

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?
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.