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.
*To read one of our road tests, just select from the menu on the left. Hover your cursor over the manufacturer's name, then choose from the drop-down menu.
*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports.
Published in Witness Wheels on Thursday August 22, 2013
Jenny C loves her 2005 Verso. It’s a 1600; jet black and immaculate. Big enough to stretch out in, but not huge like a Fortuner, it suits her perfectly. With sufficient ground clearance for dirt roads without being top-heavy, it provides enough lift to view game park animals in comfort. Seats that fold completely flat, make loading a breeze.
Bought second hand five years ago, it moves a full drum kit, an amplifier and a keyboard with stand; or two people and three large dogs with bedding, food and luggage for weekends away; or camping equipment with tent, gas cooker, barbeque kit and gazebo; or lots of stock, two folding chairs and a trestle table when she does markets.
By day Ms C teaches music, but her late-night alter ego thecupcakequeenpmb@gmail.com conjures forth moreish muffins, cupcakes and rusks; sweet and savoury, hedonistic or healthy, for the snack bar at the gym and those markets mentioned above. Would she change anything? Two seconds’ thought: “No, but one day, I would like to upgrade to a new one.”
Unlike most other cars, it’s much the same size it was back then; having grown only 80 mm longer and 20 mm wider. At 1620 mm, its height hasn’t changed at all. Other things that stayed the same include the engines; two petrol and one diesel, six-speed manual gearboxes; seven seats in three rows and the almost endless versatility of what can be done with them. Some cosmetic upgrades naturally occurred over time and a CVT transmission became available as an option with the 1800 cc petrol motor, but little else has changed.
And why should it? A truly multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), its three second row seats move backward and forward, recline, flip and fold individually and the outer pair feature separate levers that enable them to tilt their backrests and slide forward to allow little people into the sixth and seventh chairs in the back row. Put simply, you can choose any seating configuration between two and seven, with perfectly level load space in between.
Informal storage includes two cubbies, the usual door bins, seatback pockets, a pop-out tray under the front passenger’s chair, two stash bins for books, binoculars or kids’ treasures under the carpet between the first and second rows, and an open tray between those for jack and tools, under the floor board in the boot area. This could hold a 15” laptop at a slight angle if you wanted to, and there are slots to accommodate the cargo cover when it’s not being used. A spacesaver spare is in a well underneath.
The main loading volume stretches from 120 to 352 to 1488 dm3 as seats are folded. Provided you don’t try to squeeze them into the third row, fully grown passengers sit comfortably in the back, where airliner-inspired picnic tables with cup holders provide space for snacks or guide books. Access and exit are dead easy, thanks to a flat floor.
Safety is taken care of with seven airbags, ABS brakes with EBD, vehicle stability control, ISOFix child seat anchors and a reversing camera. Convenience items include one-touch windows and powered mirrors, cruise control, HID headlights, fog lamps front and rear, rain-sensing wipers, a six-speaker radio and CD unit with Bluetooth, USB and auxiliary, remote central locking and push-button starting.
The 1.8-litre engine in our test car developed 108 kW and 180 Nm, so it’s certainly no fireball by today’s standards. Maximum torque kicks in at 4000 rpm, somewhat above the 3100 showing on the rev counter at 120 in sixth, so roll-on acceleration at cruising speeds won’t hurt your neck. Verso’s forte is in pleasant cruising on both asphalt and gravel; where it was perfectly stable and comfortable, although the suspension could be heard working quite hard.
One sits up high in the Verso even when the driver’s chair is set right down, giving a commanding view. Its main instruments are set in deeply cowled pods at top centre of the dash, Honda-style, and aimed toward the driver. Numerals are big and clear, with bold red needles, so they’re easy to read. Vision outward is generally good although very broad ‘C’ pillars, even with their little opera windows, restrict the view to side-rear. Steering is light and easy, the turning circle is tight for the car’s size and gear shifting is smooth.
When we gave her a guided tour just before handing the Verso back, our cupcake queen was impressed but grinned: “Damn you. Now I have to upgrade.”
Test car from Toyota SA press fleet
The numbers
Price: R314 200
Engine: Toyota 2ZR-FAE, 1798 cc, 16-valve, DOHC, four-cylinder
Power: 108 kW at 6400 rpm
Torque: 180 Nm at 4000 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 10,4 seconds
Maximum speed: About 190 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 7,8 l/100 km
Tank: 60 litres
Warranty: 3 years/100 000 km; with roadside assistance
Service plan: 5 years/90 000 km; at 15 000 km intervals
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 I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once 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.
My reviews and launch reports appear on Thursdays in the Wheels supplement to The Witness, South Africa's oldest continuously running newspaper, and occasionally on Saturdays in Weekend Witness as well. I drive eight to ten vehicles each month, most months of the year (except over the festive season) 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 they can see I do actually exist.
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8