SA Roadtests
South Africa
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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.
Editor's note: SA Roadtests accepts multi-day vehicle loans from manufacturers in order to provide editorial reviews. All vehicle reviews are completed on our turf and on our terms.
However, for out-of-province vehicle launch features, travel costs are covered by the manufacturer concerned. This is common in the motor industry, as it's far more economical to ship journalists to cars than to ship cars to journalists.
Judgments and opinions expressed on this site are our own and we do not accept paid editorial content.
This is a launch report. In other words, it's simply a new model announcement. The driving experience was limited to a short drive over a preselected course. We can therefore not tell you what it will be like to live with over an extended period, how economical it is, or how reliable it will be. A very brief first impression is all we can give you until such time as we get a test unit for trial. Thank you for your patience.
Posted: 17 February 2019
The numbers
Prices: Expression 4x2 R399 900, Dynamique 4x2 R439 900, Dynamique awd R479 900
Engine: 2488 cc, naturally aspirated four cylinder, 16-valve petrol
Power: 126 kW at 6000 rpm
Torque: 233 Nm at 4000 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 9.5 seconds (4x2), 9.8 seconds (awd)
Top speeds: 185 km/h (4x2), 199 (awd)
Claimed average fuel consumption: 8.1 l/100 (4x2), 8.3 (awd)
EuroNCAP: 5 stars
Tank: 60 litres
Luggage: 464 litres under shelf with seatback up - 1790 litres to roof, with seatback down
Standard tyres: 255/65 R17 and 225/60R18
Spare: Full size
Ground clearance: 210 mm
Turning circle: 11.4 metres
Tare mass: 1498/1565 kg (4x2/awd)
GCM: 3601 and 3657 kg
Max towing mass within GCM: 750 kg unbraked, 1500 kg braked
Warranty: 5 years/150 000 km
Service: 5 years/90 000 km at 15 000 km intervals
New Koleos: It’s ‘planted’, solid, quiet, comfortable and much nicer than the old one. The previous generation never sold very well in South Africa, with the last few easing off showroom floors by mid-2016.
Carried over to the new model is the Nissan 2.5-litre QR25DE petrol engine, now with more torque at lower revs, the Alliance’s X-Tronic CVT gearbox that presently boasts seven virtual gears rather than the original five and, for the all-wheel drive version, iDrive 4x4 off Nissan X-Trail. New Koleos, built since 2016 on the Renault-Nissan Common Family Module platform, is 152 mm longer on a wheelbase stretched by 15 mm, 12 mm narrower and stands 17 mm lower. It shed about 120 kg along the way.
It is still built at the Renault-Samsung factory in Busan, South Korea. And, just like Brands H and K from that country, build quality has improved remarkably over the past ten years or so.
We were tempted to compare its fit and finish with cars from the German Big Three but knew that some of you would throw a rod or blow a gasket, because certain things should never be said out loud. It is very good, though. And the new car looks every inch the solid, muscular and handsome D-segment SUV that Renault was aiming for. It is the brand’s new range-topper, so forget budget-beating Dusters and Stepways for a moment; think European, think Clio.
Briefly, the new range consists of three models in two trim levels, Expression and Dynamique; two drive trains, 4x2 and awd; one engine and one transmission.
Expression offers 4x2 drive, auto-on halogen lights with cornering foglamps, 17” alloy wheels, automatic wipers, black fabric seats with manual controls, rear parking sensors, powered windows and mirrors, automatic dual zone air conditioning with ducting to the rear and a temperature controlled cup holder, extra grab handles, a seven-inch touch screen, Arkamys 3D sound with app mirroring via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto (now downloadable from Google Play Store), voice commands and the usual Bluetooth and plugs. The boot grew from 450 litres to 464.
Safety kit includes six airbags; ABS brakes with EBA, EBD and ESC; traction control; hill start assist; ISOFix mountings; cruise control with speed limiter and side impact beams.
Dynamique offers choice of 4x2 or awd and ups the ante somewhat. Try LED headlamps, 18” alloy wheels, leather seats with electric adjustment on both front chairs (these are a R12 000 option on Expression), additional parking sensors front and side, reversing camera, blind spot detection, keyless entry and start, tyre pressure monitoring, illuminated mirrors on the sun visors, an 8.7” capacitive (more sensitive) touch screen, LED dashboard with a choice of virtual instruments, ambient lighting in five colours and auto-fold for the outside mirrors.
Body colours: Ultra Silver, Metallic Grey, Metallic Black, Mineral Beige, Cosmo Blue and Solid White – the only “standard” colour. The others attract an option charge of R2522-00.
Journalists’ questions:
• Why no manual? Reply: D-segment buyers generally prefer automatic.
• Why no diesel? Reply: Most buyers of city SUVs favour petrol and the cost of a diesel engine would have pushed the car’s price beyond the psychological R500 000 barrier.
Driving impressions: Spacious. And all the adjectives used above. All-wheel drive made easy going of gravel roads turned into quagmires by heavy rain the day before. The CVT is an acquired taste unfortunately. It’s perfectly co-operative when driving sensibly and fuel-consciously, with manual override available for emergencies or sporty motoring. Traditionalists still prefer a “normal” automatic though.
Information gathered at a manufacturer-sponsored launch event
We took a test drive in a 2019 4x4 version here
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 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