SA Road Tests

Welcome

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. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.


We go for coffee in the 2015 Opel Mokka Cosmo automatic

Compact family transporter

Posted: 14 June 2015

Researcher pic from Autotrader UK

The cheat sheet
Price: R335 500
Engine: 1364 cc, DOHC, 16-valve, four-cylinder, turbopetrol
Power: 103 kW between 4900 and 6000 rpm
Torque: 200 Nm between 1850 and 4900 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 10.7 seconds
Maximum: 191 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 7.5 l/100 km
Tank: 52 litres
Load space: 356 – 1371 litres
Warranty: 5 years/120 000 km; with roadside assistance
Service plan: 5 years/90 000 km; at annual or 15 000 km intervals


According to a recent UK survey, 52 percent of buyers know exactly what make and model they want before searching for their next car. The remainder are undecided. Of those, 27 percent have no idea of make or model, six percent have chosen only the make and 15 percent say they begin by short-listing options. More women (32 percent) than men (21 percent) begin the process with a blank sheet of paper.

When subdivided by age and gender, more women and young people need help narrowing down options. Younger people are also more likely to start with a blank sheet. Specifically, 36 percent of those aged 24 or younger have not pre-chosen a make and model, compared with one in four among over-45s.

Some or all of the above explains why you are here, trawling the internet, rather than simply going into your local dealership and saying “I’ll have a blue one, of that model there, please.”

Getting back to the blank sheet, more buyers opt for SUVs, crossovers or MPVs than for sedans or pickups. That’s because you like a high seating position for a commanding view of what’s happening around you. Some in that group like visiting game parks while others feel intimidated by minibus taxis and prefer to be on eye level with “the enemy.”

SUVs and their kin are usually more spacious than cars, their added bulk helps owners feel they would have a better chance of surviving a collision and they are generally more versatile inside; meaning that they can carry the occasional larger or bulkier load. Dog owners welcome the additional space as well. But not everyone is comfortable with a leviathan the size of a small house, so a degree of compactness would be nice too.

Then, of course, the proverbial “everyone” wants all the bells and whistles, all the safety kit, a known and trusted name, reliability, convenience and decent fuel economy. It would be nice if it performed well too. It should also be easy to drive and park - and look good - without costing a small fortune. Oh yes, forty percent of you simply must have automatic.

Tall order? Of course it is, but you do have some choices and Opel’s 1400 cc, turbocharged, Mokka Cosmo automatic is one of them.
 
Summarising, it’s about a foot shorter than your average SUV, the seats are more versatile than most, it goes well, the automatic ‘box works nicely, you sit up high, it has everything you need, there is ample space for lanky teenagers, they have an excellent audio / connectivity system to play with, it’s built and equipped for safety, it’s frugal with fuel and it looks good too. And it’s surprisingly inexpensive, by today’s standards, for a car this well-equipped.

We gave you the highlights regarding model choices and standard kit in our launch report, but here are some of them again: Even the base models feature height adjustment for the driver’s seat; they have disc brakes front and rear with ABS, EBA, EBD and advanced ESP; six airbags; ISOFix; electronic climate control; powered windows, with one-touch, all around; front and rear fog lamps; electric, foldable and heated mirrors; onboard computer; cruise control with speed limiter; hill holder; anti-theft alarm; remote central locking and a six-speaker audio system with Bluetooth and the usual plugs.

Cosmo versions add, among others, rain sensing wipers; automatic headlight control; a 230-Volt, three-pin plug for recharging your gadgets (you may need an adapter); automatically dimming rearview mirror; heated leather sport seats, with multiple adjustments, for both front occupants; the Intellilink audio and connectivity system, with seven-inch touch screen, that couples to your IOS or Android smartphone, and a reversing camera.
 
The six-speed automatic gearbox is an in-house product with torque converter and electronic switching. It’s punted as being able to analyse the way you drive and to react accordingly, but it can’t read your mind. That means it can be caught out by sudden demands for instantaneous action. Then it hesitates like any other slushbox. To be fair, it’s a fine unit that works well most of the time and is an excellent match for this kind of vehicle at this price level. It’s good; just not yet great.

It offers manual override by means of the main stick; pull the lever an extra notch backward then use the + and – tab on top of the gear knob to change up or down. It feels odd at first because you aren’t moving anything, but you do get used to it. It holds gears as long as you want, within reason, without defaulting to upshifts as soon as you relax the accelerator slightly.

Dynamically, it has all the power and easy acceleration you need for the daily cut-and-thrust of the school run and for crawl-hour traffic and, being an Opel, it handles well when getting a move on. It’s obviously not an OPC built for track work, but it does its job well. Steering is light and responsive while the high seating position and built in camera make it easy to park. Our only reservation is that the rearmost pillars are a little too wide; restricting the view outwards.

The hatch door opens down to just below waist level to reveal the usual flat loading deck. There are two lashing rings, a light, two small side storages (one behind a clip-off cover) and four bag hooks. The floor board is hinged for easy access to the moulded Styrofoam insert for storing small items, and it is removable. The spare wheel is a steel Spacesaver. A right-handed pull down is provided.

Rear seatbacks split 60:40 and, once the seat cushions have been lifted and tumbled, fold completely flat to provide a loading volume up to 1449 millimetres long and 898 mm high. We’re thinking camping kit for two, tons of baby paraphernalia, band equipment, market stuff or just a convenient place for smaller kids to nap in while the grown-ups picnic.

We reckon the Mokka comes pretty close to fulfilling most people’s wants as a compact family transporter with its only real challenger, especially if you need automatic transmission, being VW’s Golf SV - or Renault’s Captur if you would like a less costly manual-only alternative.

Test unit from GMSA press fleet

Read about the facelifted 2017 MOKKA X Enjoy manual version 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 completely disagree with what I say? If you want advice or have a genuine concern, I will be happy to hear from you. All I ask is that you write something in the subject line so I know which vehicle you're talking about.