SA Road Tests

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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.

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However, for out-of-province vehicle launch features like this one, 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.
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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.

More is more: 2019 Suzuki Ertiga revealed

Stop following

Pics by Motorpics
Posted: 10 March 2019

The numbers
Engine: Suzuki K15B, 1462 cc DOHC, 16-valve four-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol
Power: 77 kW at 6000 rpm
Torque: 138 Nm at 4400 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h, overseas tests: 13.5 secs (m), 14.0 secs (a)
Maximum speed: 175 km/h (m), 170 km/h (a)
Claimed average fuel consumption, l/100 km:  5.5 (m), 6.0 (a)
Luggage: 199 –803 litres
Tank: 45 litres
Turning circle: 10.4 metres
Standard tyre size: 185/65R15
Ground clearance: 180 mm
Warranty: 5 years / 200 000 km
Service: 4 years / 60 000 km

Why risk deciding alone on your next car if you believe you’re bound to mess up? It's usually easier to just follow the herd’s recommendation. They must surely be right because there are so many of them, even if their choice is more expensive and offers less.

Consider this: You are in the market for a small MPV that’s able to carry seven whenever “five-plus-baggage” is not your primary concern. It must be spacious, comfortable and not too expensive. A few toys would be nice but aren’t deal breakers.

In an average month 463 South African families choose Brand T’s Avanza people carrier; a rather noisy machine with few refinements. Prices range from R234 100 for a basic 1300 to R296 000 for the top 1500 with alloy wheels. Roughly 60 free spirits chose, instead, Suzuki’s Generation-1 Ertiga.

Its advantages included a modern 1400 cc engine, more space and sophisticated suspension providing greater comfort and better handling. Its seats were more widely adjustable too. Prices ranged from R204 900 to R247 900. Equipment and outward appearances of the two makes were very similar although few buyers expressed excitement over Ertiga’s plain tan interior.

Avanza offered the psychological advantages of a bigger engine, seven bottle holders rather than six (really?) and, of course, The Brand. For this they charge extra.

That’s about to change. Generation-2 Ertiga has arrived; bigger, more powerful and even better. Although the 2740 mm wheelbase stays the same, its body is 130 mm longer, 50 mm wider and 5 mm lower. It has been strengthened for safety, stiffened for better handling and made quieter – for your physical and mental wellness. And the seats are more supportive. The interior is black, like Avanza’s and thus more likely to garner widespread approval. Its new 1462 cc engine has similar power numbers to that of the 1.5 Avanza but is smoother and less buzzy.
 
Extra length and width translate into more people space. The event organisers picked us all up from ORT, in groups of six, in new Ertigas. Your 1.85-metre reporter deliberately chose a seat right in the back and was pleasantly surprised – definitely roomier than the previous model. The familiarisation drive, later in the day, through city streets and along Jo’burg area freeways was pleasant, comfortable, satisfyingly energetic and decently quiet for a small family bus.

Suzuki had taken the opportunity to do a little facelifting; nothing too radical, just new headlights in clear housings with individual driving- and highbeam lamps, new grille and lower air intake, raised bonnet, more smoothly sculpted sheetmetal, reshaped tailgate and rear lights, and darkened “C”-pillars to create the impression of a floating roofline. Interior build quality improved noticeably.

Joining the 21st century was important too; a second USB socket (for charging), a new trip computer, a D-shaped steering wheel with elevation adjustment to make it easier to slide beneath, two temperature-controlled cup holders, a pair of 12-Volt recharging points, folding mirrors, reverse parking sensors, and a touch screen interface for GL models. Avanza will get that little refinement on SA models next year, apparently.

There are three variants: GA in five-speed manual only but with everything you really need; GL adding the touch panel, steering wheel remotes, remote central locking and alarm, electric side mirrors that fold, the reverse parking sensors, a 50:50-split luggage board, full plastic wheel trims and the second 12-volt socket. Spare wheels on both are fully sized. GL offers four-speed automatic as an option.

Prices range from R214 900 for GA to R254 900 for the GL automatic - still provocatively competitive. Surely time to stop following the herd and start choosing your own, don’t you agree?

Information gathered at a manufacturer-sponsored press function.


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 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.