SA Road Tests

Welcome

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.
*To read one of our road tests, just select from the menu on the left.
*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports.


In a deliberate move upmarket, Volkswagen SA announced its facelifted and improved 2012 CC range recently. We reported to Company HQ for briefing.

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

Published in The Witness Motoring on Wednesday June 6,

One could get used to it

It’s been coming for thirty years and it’s time we diehards accepted it. Cheap people’s cars for the masses, announced by Adolph Hitler in the late ‘thirties with the advent of the Beetle, finally died out when the last Citi Golf rolled off the lines a couple of years ago. The writing first hit the wall when boxy Golf 1 made way for the rounded and more sophisticated Jumbo. It has been seen regularly since then, with further warnings posted by recent releases of more sophisticated Jetta and Passat ranges in the past couple of years.

Matt Gennrich, VWSA’s GM of communications, spelled it out: “Volkswagen is repositioning as a premium brand. Its products, its image and even its new headquarters building in Sandton reflect this. The new CC (Comfort Coupé) is more than a facelift; it is a better car. This product and everything else, from Polo upward, is being moved to higher levels” So now you know.

Volkswagen’s premium CC range has been rationalised slightly by dropping the 2,0 TSI manual model, so that all versions now use six-speed DSG ‘boxes. Wheelbase, height and width remain as before, with the body growing just 3 mm longer. Styling reflects the new VW family face with front end changes that include a new chrome radiator grille with three cross fins, newly designed bi-xenon headlamps with static cornering lights and washers, new bonnet, an added air intake below the body-coloured bumper and winglets incorporating the fog lamps.

Its profile changes slightly thanks to the new bonnet line and bumper, and resculpted side sills. Around at the back, there are more straight lines, emphasised horizontals, a bolder bumper, restyled taillights with LEDs for reduced power usage and longer life, and more LEDs for number plate lamps and in-mirror indicator repeaters.

The comfortable yet sporty interior received attention too. Ergonomic sports seats, more legroom, elbow space and headroom, two new storage compartments in the dash, integrated interior lighting, new two-way adjustable head restraints and a redesigned Climatronic control panel are highlights. Soundproofing was improved with more absorption material in dashboard, wheel arches, under the body and by improving gearbox mountings. An additional acoustic film layer was incorporated into the windscreen glass as well.

Standard equipment across the range includes ABS with BA, anti-spin regulation, traction control, electronic differential lock, ESP, EBD, hill holder, automatic fatigue detection and an electronic parking brake. Tyre pressure monitoring, alloy wheels with self-sealing mobility tyres, locking wheel nuts, full-sized alloy spare, rain sensing wipers, six airbags, an onboard computer and a six-CD, 300-Watt RCD 510 sound system are just a few of the highlights.

Specific features of the range-topping 3,6 FSI 4Motion model include 12-way electrically adjustable Nappa leather seats with memory and active climate control, massaging for the driver’s chair and keyless entry, with Melinda (True Love magazine) Ferguson’s favourite toy of all time. Picture this: You arrive at the car with the key fob safely in your handbag or pocket and your arms full of parcels. Do you curse quietly, trying to decide which item to dump first and where? No, you simply kick at an imaginary foe beneath the back bumper and the boot pops open, allowing you to dump both armfuls together. Nirvana, indeed. But wait, there’s more – accidentally drop that key fob into the boot (haven’t we all?) and it pops right open again. I could get used to that. The seats and boot magic are available optionally on lesser models.

Other options include an electric panoramic sunroof, an electric sunscreen for the back window, a towbar that activates the trailer anti-sway control feature of ESP, a smarter sound system, satnav, mobile device interface for iPhones and iPods, Bluetooth cellphone preparation, Bluetooth premium package with voice control, automatic dipping for headlights and a rear view camera.

The familiarisation session revealed the usual huge VW boot (532 litres), immaculate fit and finish, excellent ergonomics, a quiet and relaxed ride, luxurious comfort and willing engines with state of the art gearboxes. Just close your eyes and imagine it’s one of the other premium German cars, because pretty soon you will accept it as one.

The numbers:
Prices range from R373 800 for the 2,0 TDI to R469 405 for the 3,6 FSI 4Motion
Engines:
1) 2,0 TDI – 1968 cc turbodiesel, four-cylinder.
Outputs: 125 kW at 4200 rpm and 350 Nm between 1750 and 2500 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 8,6 seconds
Maximum speed: 220 km/h
Eurotest average fuel consumption: 5,5 l/100 km
2) 2,0 FSI – 1984 cc, turbopetrol, four-cylinder
Outputs: 155 kW between 5300 and 6200 rpm and 280 Nm between 1700 and 5200 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 7,3 seconds
Maximum speed: 240 km/h
Eurotest average fuel consumption: 7,8 l/100 km
3) 3,6 FSI – 3597 cc, V6, petrol
Outputs: 220 kW at 6600 rpm and 350 Nm between 2400 and 5300 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 5,5 seconds
Maximum speed: 250 km/h
Eurotest average fuel consumption: 9,3 l/100 km
Tank: 70 litres
Warranty: 3 years/120 000 km
Maintenance plan: 5 years/100 000 km at 15 000 km intervals

For a review of the 2.0 TDI, click here

What We Do

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!

Comments?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you thoroughly disagree with what I say? That's your privilege, because if everybody agreed on everything, the world would be a boring place. All I ask is that you remain calm, so please blow off a little steam before venting too vigorously.