SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8
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. Many of 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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Original posting: May 15, 2008
With fuel prices through the roof, one starts to wonder whether one can even afford to go to work anymore, but it’s obviously a Catch 22 situation. No work equals no money - not for motor juice or anything else - like food and rent, for example.
What is needed is a light car with all the stuff you want, like aircon, power steering, music, a good set of safety features, excellent handling and brakes and a small diesel engine with enough poke to keep up with the traffic.
Your wish is Opel’s command. The car under review, an Opel Corsa CDTi common rail diesel displacing 1248 cc and fitted with a variable geometry turbocharger, puts out 66 kW of power at 4000 rpm (the same as its 1400 cc petrol-fired sisters) and 200 Nm of torque between 1700 and 2500 rpm (somewhat more than its siblings).
It’s not the quietest of diesels but the gentle tocka-tocka sound it makes is reassuring, somehow. It also takes 13,3 seconds to sidle up to the 100 km/h mark; not a fire breather, but quicker than its normally-aspirated sisters and easier on fuel in the process.
Both my faithful readers will have noted that I never describe the outsides of cars – it’s a waste of words and pictures do it better - so I stick with what’s inside. Basically black, with silvered highlights on the central console and some slightly goldy silvering on the hooter boss, the general impression is of good fit and finish, a comfortable ambiance and airiness.
The seats are firm yet comfortable and there is room for taller carpoolers in the back. The steering wheel adjusts for height and reach and the driver’s seat can be adjusted up and down, so this little Opel caters for almost any size and shape of pilot.
For music lovers, there is a seven-speaker radio/CD player with MP3 capability and for the technically conscious and for anxious mums, there is an almost full house of safety kit. This includes the usual ABS plus EBD and BAS, straight-line stability control and cornering brake control, dual front airbags and central locking controlled by means of a switch on the dashboard. Nice touches include a storage drawer under the front passenger’s seat and a comprehensive information display.
A bonus, found only on the diesel version, is its six-speed gearbox, fitted to take advantage of the broad spread of torque at low revs. My immediate reaction was that the gears fit smoothly into three categories; first and second for pulling, third and fourth for fun, while fifth and sixth are for cruising. For example, at 120 on the freeway in sixth, the engine is murmuring along at about 2400 rpm.
This is not to say that things get soporific, however – coming from Cato Ridge up the last hill before the Market Road off ramp, you can enter at 100 km/h in sixth and still be accelerating strongly at the top. (Ed's add-on: This is now illegal, with the speed limit reduced to 100 km/h, so I don't do it anymore; not that I would confess in public, at least.)
Although not your ultimate fire-breather, this little car is great to drive and could be the answer to many a commuter’s prayers. It’s really difficult to accept that it’s a diesel and a dinky little 1300 at that, while at R168 520 it’s also very well built and equipped.
Note to Santa: I’m not fussy - I’ll take mine in any colour you have!
The numbers according to Car magazine.
Engine: 1248 cc common rail diesel with turbocharger
Maximum power: 66 kW at 4000 rpm
Maximum torque: 200 Nm at 1700 to 2500 rpm
0 – 100 km/h: 13,33 seconds
Top speed: 169 km/h
Fuel Consumption index: 5,52 l/100 km
Fuel tank: 45 litres
CO2 gm/km: 145
Price at time of report: R168 520
Service plan: 3 years/60 000 km
Service intervals: 15 000 km
Test car from GMSA press fleet
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 or goat tracks as well. As a result, my test cars do occasionally get dirty. It's all part of the reviewing process.
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 ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle 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. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles. And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8