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. 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.
Posted: 21 July 2018
The numbers
Price: R206 900
Engine: 898 cc, 12-valve, three-cylinder, turbo petrol
Power: 66 kW at 5250 rpm
Torque: 135 Nm at 2500 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 11.1 seconds
Maximum speed: 168 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 7.1 l/100 km
Luggage space: 292 – 1200 litres
Fuel tank: 50 litres
Maximum braked trailer mass (within GCM limit): 790 kg
Warranty: 5 years / 150 000 km
Service plan: 2 years / 30 000 km, at 15 000 km intervals
Blame it on inflation, currency undervalued by 57 percent according to the Big Mac Index or taxes, but there aren’t many cars available in South Africa for around R200 000. Few of them offer as much in the way of safety and convenience kit as our review car, Renault’s Sandero Stepway Plus, either.
A few have more airbags, others offer similar features or almost equal it in terms of safety equipment, but none does it all. Look at this package – four airbags, ABS brakes with EBA and EBD, ESP and anti-skid regulation, hill starting assistance and ISOFix baby chair mountings with top tethers.
It also offers powered widows all around, electric mirrors, onboard computer, automatic locking, rearward parking assistance with alarm and camera, ECO mode, cruise control with speed limiter, satellite navigation and a full-on multimedia system with 7” touchscreen. It does quite a lot, so read about it here.
What is Plus exactly? Put briefly and bluntly, it’s the previous Sandero Stepway Dynamique with some fiddling of colour schemes, the reversing camera that’s useful not just for avoiding kids and animals but for backing into parking slots and a R5000 price bump. The caps on the outside mirrors changed from grey to black, front foglamp surrounds morphed from silver to grey and the seat cloth gained stripes in shades of grey. There are also some PLUS decals and new, two-tone wheels.
Unchanged is the 900 cc turbo triple; five-speed manual gearbox; SUV-like ground clearance for city streets, humps and potholes; enough space for five people of average build with their luggage, and decent build quality. The switchgear is still a bit odd, as is the long and narrow glove box but it’s French, you understand.
The engine puts out as much power as a regular 1300 but the turbocharger means it won’t get feeble at higher altitudes, meaning it can be used anywhere without causing frustration.
It retains over 90 percent of its torque output between1750 and 5000 rpm, so it pulls like, well, a Shetland pony if not a carthorse. That doesn’t mean it’s a boring slogger however because, like most little engines, it loves to be revved. Give it some loud pedal in the intermediate gears and let the choirgirl sing. You will smile. And agree that five gears, with the right spacing and the right engine, are plenty.
Like any budget car, it isn’t quite perfect. Its tall stance means it won’t handle as well as a sports car through the twisty bits, the loading sill is rather high (80 cm) and its well is quite deep, at 21 cm, so loading and unloading could be a bit more awkward than with a flat-decked SUV. The load space is neatly rectangular, measuring 100 cm wide and 68 centimetres long. A light and a pair of bag hooks are useful although some might complain about having “only” a spacesaver spare. At least there is one and going that route frees up more luggage volume.
We missed a centrally mounted courtesy light to complement the one in front because it’s sometimes dark when securing the heirs into their baby thrones. Tall passengers won’t be terribly happy with back seat accommodation either because, although head- and foot space is acceptable, knee room is cramped.
Countering those concerns are the side-benefits of Renault’s long warranty with competitively priced spares and service charges. That’s for after the two freebies have been used up. Plus is more.
Test unit from Renault SA press fleet.
We drove the Stepway Dynamique in 2017
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.
Comments or questions?
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.
This site is operated by Scarlet Pumpkin Communications in Pietermaritzburg.
Unless otherwise stated, all photographs are courtesy of www.quickpic.co.za
Copyright this business. All rights reserved.
SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8