SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8
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 stories.
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 Weekend Witness Motoring on Saturday 18th July 2009
pics supplied by distributor
Marketing students know the 5 ‘P’s: product, packaging, pricing, placement and promotion. Mercedes Benz would like to introduce you to the 5 ‘E’s of its new E-class model update: elegance, excitement, efficiency, ergonomics and emotion.
Eckart Meyer, Divisional Manager of MB Cars SA told us that apart from being possibly the most aerodynamic luxury car of all, with a Cd of 0.25, the new range was voted “best looking car in the world” by readers of “Bild” magazine.
They are also more spacious and more comfortable with improved ergonomics, but the Mercedes “welcome home” feeling is still there. Another thing that hasn’t changed is the company’s commitment to safety – it has simply been dialled up a notch or two.
Safety and luxury features available as options in some cases or as part of Avantgarde packages in others, include:
• Cornering lights that provide greater safety at junctions and when driving slowly around tight bends
• Adaptive high beam assist that automatically adjusts the range of headlamps according to driving conditions and dips for oncoming traffic
• Airmatic air suspension that adapts electronically to driving conditions
• Active multicontour seats not only conform exactly to your figure, but adapt lateral support as you drive
• Highway mode lighting that lights up the entire width of the carriageway at speeds above 90 km/h. It also extends range of vision by about 50 metres
• Distronic Plus radar control maintains a safe distance from the car in front. It also provides warnings in case of imminent danger and brakes the car automatically if necessary.
• Lane keeping package that detects if the car is wandering unintentionally and provides an audible and vibratory warning (vibration alert not available on coupés because the slightly smaller steering wheel cannot accommodate the mechanism). Blind spot warning is part of this package.
• Panoramic sunroof that extends from the windscreen to the back window. It closes automatically in the event of rain
• Harmon Kardon multi-channel sound system with 610-watt output via 14 speakers
• Luxury individual seats for rear passengers – two heated seats, a folding armrest, luxury head restraints, a stowage box and cup holders.
These are just the highlights. To describe the cars fully would require a small book, so a visit to your local dealership is advised.
Saloons available now include:
E300 at R558 000
A special launch edition of the E300 (300 examples only), with additional equipment including the Avantgarde package, is offered at R591 000.
E350 at R634 000
E500 at R788 000
Coupés available now include:
E350 at R670 000
E500 at R820 000
Diesel models due in October include:
E200 CGI BlueEFFICIENCY at R471 000
E250 CDI at R496 000
E350 CDI at R617 000
All Mercedes Benz cars come standard with a MobiloDrive 120 maintenance contract.
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.
I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to 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?
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This site is operated by Scarlet Pumpkin Communications in Pietermaritzburg.
Unless otherwise stated, all photographs are courtesy of www.quickpic.co.za
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8