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 possibly applies to the models you get at home.
Unlike most car reports, what you read in these pages will not be a faithful reproduction, albeit slightly reworded, of what appeared in the manufacturer's press release. We look for background material, user experience and whatever else we can find that's beyond the obvious. Our guiding rule is that you will be able to tell that the car was actually driven.
*To read one of our archived road tests, just select from the alphabetical menu of manufacturers' names on the left. Hover your cursor over the manufacturer's name, then choose from the drop-down menu that appears.
*Pre-owned: Our tests go back quite a few years, so if you are looking for something pre-owned, you might well find a report on it in here.
*Please remember too, that prices quoted are those ruling at the time the reports were written.
Posted: 15 September 2014
Why would I bother with this? Volvo’s S60 range has been around since the century turned, D4-designated 2.0 diesels have been with us forever, and its Geartronic transmission is almost as old. But there have been big changes, so perhaps I should.
Visible cosmetics include new panels from the A-pillars forward; that’s bonnet, front fenders and fascia; a wider grille with larger Ironmark (why not just call it the Volvo badge?) flanked by new headlights; larger and wider lower front intake with bright accents and horizontally mounted LED daytime running lights; new integrated exhaust pipes; and a new adaptive digital TFT display instrument cluster for Excel and Elite versions.
The legacy 2.0-litre, five-cylinder diesel made way for the new 1969 cc, four-pot, Drive-E motor that produces 13 kilowatts more power than the old one, but makes the same maximum torque. So what, you say? Getting up to 100 km/h almost two seconds quicker, pulling another 15 km/h in top speed and saving almost two litres per hundred kilometres in fuel, is what.
Mind you, the new eight-speed Geartronic ‘box that took over from the old six-cog device probably helps too. Information is as scarce as poultry dentures, but I’m assuming for now that it’s also from Aisin-Warner. The bottom line is that it shifts quickly and cleanly, doesn’t flare, doesn’t hunt and is easy to live with.
While the engine may be new, you can still hear it’s a diesel when standing next to the car but it isn’t unbearable. From inside, you probably wouldn’t notice. Power delivery is smooth and effortless and I wasn’t able to trick it into turbo lag. For a day-to-day family car or highway cruiser, only the truly greedy could demand more.
All the usual safety- and luxury kit is present, although some of the much-publicised stuff costs extra. Blind spot information with cross-traffic alert, lane departure warning with lane keeping assist and driver alert function, and pedestrian and cyclist detection with active cruise control, queue assist and automatic braking would set you back R36 400 altogether. Let’s see: your standard five-percent first excess on R443 800 (the price of the car) would be R22 190 – almost worthwhile before even considering possible peripheral damage, isn’t it?
Getting down to basics, the boot opens at upper thigh level to reveal a flat floor, a 12-Volt socket, a light and a load-through hatchway to the back seat. The floor board lifts to reveal open storage trays for confidential items and a spacesaver spare. So you don’t have to worry about bumping up against your luggage, the hinge arms are boxed in. Less happy for lefties - only a right-handed pull-down is provided.
Back seat passengers will find enough head- and knee room for most tall people, individual lock-unlock buttons, repeater vents in the door pillars, a further 12-Volt socket and an ashtray. The armrest flips down to reveal a lidded box, two cup holders and the load-through mentioned earlier. Storage isn’t overly generous with a pair of seatback pockets and very small door bins. Three belts and head restraints look after passenger safety although whoever is in the middle needs to have very short legs because of the large tunnel.
Because our test car was the Elite version, the co-pilot also had electrically powered chair adjusters although just the driver’s seat offered three memory settings. Other Elite-only kit included active Bi-xenon headlamps with cornering function and washers, an aluminium inlay for the three-spoke leather wheel and the more powerful multimedia system with DVD player and radio, four-channel, 40 Watt amplifier, Bluetooth, USB and auxiliary inputs, eight speakers and a 7" colour display screen.
Sometimes difficult to understand is that Volvo enjoyed a huge fan-base and was well respected by all, before the company left SA around the time of the troubles, but isn’t as well received now. They don’t sell in huge numbers, so resale value suffers, so others are reluctant – it’s a sort of Catch 22. Truth is that they are every bit as comfortable, safe, reliable and otherwise desirable as the usual suspects, so they deserve to do a lot better.
Test car from Volvo Cars SA press fleet
The numbers
Price: R443 800
Engine: 1969 cc, DOHC, 16-valve turbodiesel
Power: 133 kW at 4250 rpm
Torque: 400 Nm at 1750 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 7,4 seconds
Maximum speed: 230 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 6,7 l/100 km
Tank: 68 litres
Boot: 302 litres
Warranty and maintenance: 5 years/100 000 km; with roadside assistance
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.
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.
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.
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