SA Roadtests
South Africa
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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.
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*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports.
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 prepared course chosen to make the product look good. 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 an actual test unit for trial. Thank you for your patience.
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Published in The Witness Motoring on Wednesday May 30, 2012
The facelift was incidental. The big news was of two new engines, one using Formula1 technology, and a realignment of the range.
The old line-up comprised two Scénic five-seaters; one petrol, one diesel and a seven-seat Grand Scénic using the same 1,9-litre diesel engine as in the midrange Scénic Dynamique. All three used five-speed manual gearboxes. Almost everything has changed.
The only engine surviving the reshuffle is the 1600cc, 83 kW/151 Nm unit powering the entry level Scénic Expression that now boasts a six-speed manual transmission. Its combined cycle fuel consumption is quoted as 7,5 l/100 km. The 1,9-litre, 96 kW diesel has been pensioned off, to be replaced by what Renault claims is the world’s most powerful 1600cc diesel, similarly producing 96 kW, although at slightly higher revs and 320 Nm of torque – 20 Nm more than that of the engine it replaces.
Using technology borrowed from the company’s F1 experience, the new dCi 130 (BHP) motor uses regenerative charging on braking and overrun, cross-flow engine cooling that works more efficiently and uses less energy, stop and start, cold loop low-pressure exhaust gas recirculation, a variable displacement oil pump, variable swirl technology for more efficient burning and a multiple injection system to optimise particulate filter regeneration. They also redesigned the oil control rings on the pistons to get the best compromise between effectiveness and minimal friction. Some three-quarters of the engine’s 264 components are new and 30 patents were filed. Combined cycle fuel consumption according to the Euro test is 4,4 l/100 km, with CO2 emissions of 114 gm/km. Zero to 100 km/h comes up in a claimed 11,1 seconds, going on to 195 km/h.
A Grand Scénic in mid-range Dynamique trim uses this engine in conjunction with the six-speed manual ‘box. Let’s just say it works. Most journalists driving this combination thought they had accidentally picked a rogue manual version of the range-topping 2,0 litre diesel car described next.
It is a 1995cc dCi unit of more conventional design, developing 110 kW of power and 360 Nm of torque. It goes into to the top level Grand Scenic Bose version and is teamed with a six-speed automatic transmission. Zero to 100 km/h takes a claimed 10,1 seconds with a top speed of 200 km/h. Combined cycle fuel consumption is given as 7,0 l/100 km, making 184 gm of CO2 per km.
Standard equipment on all versions includes the usual ABS with EBD and EBA, ESP with hill starting assistance, six airbags, cruise control with limiter, front fog lamps, front and rear parking sensors, a radio and CD unit with Bluetooth and steering wheel remotes and Carminat TomTom Live navigation. Where available, this gives you traffic congestion warnings and will guide you via a possibly slightly longer, but quicker, route on the day. It also has weather updates and Google local search, so you can call up “shoe stores,” “restaurants” or “my favourite places” that way instead of ploughing through the usual satnav menu. This is a paid subscription service, with Renault SA picking up the tab for the first year. You may renew for yourself in subsequent years should you wish to do so.
Other kit includes alloy wheels, automated lights and wipers, powered front windows, a height-adjustable driver’s seat, a folding front passenger chair and autolocking. Grand Scénic seven-seaters gain the Renault hands-free card that makes unlocking easier, adds push-button starting and locks everything up automatically as you walk away. What else? Dual zone climate control, a smarter sound system for the 1600cc dCi 130 diesel, added storage, leather steering wheel covering, electrically adjustable leather seats and tinted rear windows with blinds. The range-topping 2,0 litre dCi 150 Bose edition gets a very nice eight-speaker Bose (what else?) sound system, Xenon headlamps, an athermal and acoustically treated windscreen, 17” black alloy wheels, a reversing camera and tyre pressure monitoring.
The launch programme took place during the Knysna Speed Week. Consequently the familiarisation routes, on beautiful roads with unreasonably low speed limits, were all well policed, so thorough evaluation was difficult. The cars are spacious and comfortable, the third-row seats accommodate passengers up to 1,75 m tall and fit and finish is excellent. Easy to drive, with good visibility all ‘round and with loads of convenient features, they were a pleasure to drive. As we have said previously, Scénic and Grand Scénic go beyond being plain old mummy busses – anyone with people to move would do well to consider one.
Some numbers:
Scénic 1,6 16V expression R259 900
Grand Scénic Energy dCi 130 R324 900
Grand Scénic 2,0 dCi a/t Bose R379 900
Load volumes:
Scénic – 437 l (min), 1837 l (max).
Grand Scenic – 564 l (min). 2063 l (max)
Engines and performance: See text
Warranty: 5 years/150 000 km
Service plan: 5 years/100 000 km
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!
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8