Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2017 i Leisure Wheels

Many people would consider competing in the Olympic Games as their crowning achievement. Not Fiona McIntosh. For her, being an Olympic fencer is but one in a string of impressive accomplishments. She’s also played international hockey, for example, and skied to both poles. Then there’s the mountaineering, the diving and the kayaking. “Do I sound like an adrenaline junkie?” she laughs. “I’ve always loved adventure. I think my wanderlust comes from my early days as an international fencer, which took me behind the Iron Curtain and to relatively unknown parts of the world like Cuba and Korea way back in the 1970s.” But unlike many other adventure junkies, Fiona knows how to slow down every once in a while. She loves hiking and walking. Indeed, many people probably know her…

New to South Africa, the Suzuki Ignis is a small crossover that sits below the Vitara in the brand’s line-up. The Ignis is an ultra-compact crossover that combines the dynamic benefits of a wieldy lightweight hatchback with the stance and clearance of an SUV. The shape is chunky and muscular, with wide tracks that position the wheels at each corner of the vehicle. Pronounced wheel arches, a high waistline and a relatively narrow glass aperture add a sense of purpose, while the broad C-pillar adds further visual muscle. At this point, the compact five-door Ignis comes with just one powertrain option: a 1.2-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine that delivers 61kW and 113 Nm. Not much power it seems; however, the Ignis weighs only 850kg. You can choose between a manual or…

The current 2017 Mitsubishi Outlander scored top honours in the Kelley Blue Book online survey for 10 most affordable three-row vehicles. The influential list focuses on each year's budget-friendly seven- and eight-seater passenger vehicles available for less than a certain value in the Kelley Blue Book Fair Purchase Price as of March this year. In South Africa, this model retails for R549 900. The Outlander was rated as the number one most affordable SUV with three rows of seats based on its proven go-anywhere off-road credentials, its outstanding 2.4-litre MIVEC powerplant, an extremely well-equipped cabin boasting a host of practical and luxury features, as well as a comprehensive three-year/100 000km manufacturer’s warranty, five-year/90 000km service plan and roadside assistance. “The Mitsubishi Outlander is a continued success story for the Mitsubishi…

Mazda recently launched an all-new version of its popular CX-5 SUV. While engine options have remained the same, the CX-5 is now a far more upmarket offering overall. Mazda calls the latest version of its CX-5 an all-new, redesigned model. Despite this, though, it doesn’t look terribly different from its predecessor. It also offers the same engine options. There’s an entry-level 2.0-litre petrol mill that develops 121kW and 210Nm, a 2.5-litre petrol with 143kW and 257Nm, and a 2.2-litre oilburner that offers 129kW and 420Nm of torque. There are some obvious differences between the old model and the new. The grille is new and the roofline is lower than it was on the old model. The front now sports some nifty LED head and fog lamps, and the previous rims…

THROUGHOUT our Africa Sky High journey, Tarryn and I are trying to ask and answer some fundamental questions: how much do you really need on an extended overland trip and can you fit it all into a little Suzuki Jimny? What is Africa? Not the Africa we see on TV (which portrays violence and famine), but the real Africa, the cradle of humankind: where people are perfectly happy their entire lives. What are the environmental and cultural marvels of this continent? Finally and very importantly: is it possible to tackle the interior of mighty Africa alone, in a pint-sized, relatively standard Suzuki Jimny called Badger? Three weeks into our journey, we can confidently say we are starting to develop coherent, real-life opinions on the answers to these questions. We don’t…

B uying a used vehicle – especially a 4×4 with complex off-road equipment – can be stressful. What if the previous owner didn’t take good care of it, or thrashed it on a 4×4 trail every weekend? There is always some risk involved, sure, but you can greatly reduce it by doing a few simple things. 1. DO SOME RESEARCH Before you visit a dealership, do some research on the particular models you’re interested in. There are plenty of websites and forums that can provide a rundown of the basic issues to look out for. For instance, if you discover that a particular 4×4 is prone to clutch issues, you’ll pay particular attention to this when visiting a dealer. 2. FIND A GOOD DEALER Arguably the most important thing you…

Change gears and shift out of your comfort zone. One of these guided self-drive safaris could be that once-in-lifetime adventure you’ve always dreamt about. PONDOLAND TRANSKEI WILD COAST (8–14 OCTOBER) Pondoland, on the Transkei Wild Coast, is one of the destinations so many people would like to visit, but know so little about, and do not want to go there on their own. It is a land of wild cattle and wilder beauty, of waterfalls plunging directly into the Indian Ocean, of colonies of vultures nesting above undisturbed forest gorges, and a beautiful rugged coastline, which boasts some of the most spectacular scenery in Southern Africa. We’ll meet in Kokstad and, over the next eight days, travel via Msikaba, Mbotyi and Port St Johns to Coffee Bay and Hole in…

“The process takes nearly a year,” begins Alan Cawood, organiser of the annual The South African 4×4 & Outdoor Show. “The team takes some time off directly after each show, but we never really stop the build-up and planning for the following year’s event.” This year, the show will again be hosted at the Zwartkops Raceway in Pretoria West, and there will be plenty for young and old outdoor enthusiasts to experience. The venue was selected because of its central locality, plenty of space, the existing infrastructure and the access to controlled driving tracks and 4×4 trails. The secret lies in long-term planning, says Cawood. And meetings. Lots and lots of meetings. One of the most important factors to get in place for such an event is to get the…

South Africa’s ultimate braai masters have received their ultimate car from Suzuki Auto South Africa: a Suzuki Grand Vitara 2.4i Summit valued at R442 900. Team Salty Flames, which consisted of Chanel Marais and Nick Perfect, beat nine other teams to win the coveted title of Ultimate Braai Master in the South African cooking show. As a reward, they take home a brand-new Suzuki Grand Vitara and other prizes valued at over R1 million in total. “We could not have hoped for a better prize,” says Marais, who recently returned to South Africa after working abroad and travelling in over 55 countries. “Not only is the Grand Vitara the perfect car for a couple with wanderlust, but it will be the perfect tow vehicle for our new food truck.” Marais…

From scissors to garden tools, there is almost nothing that the DMT sharpening range cannot tackle. “DMT has products for almost everything that needs to be sharpened. The sharpening can be done by anyone in the home: scissors, kitchen knives and appliances. Having the right DMT stone in the kitchen and workshop will save time and money,” said Ryan Hunt, sales director of Vermont Sales. Visit www.vermontsales.co.za and click through to the website www.dmtsharp.com for a how to video for sharpening your scissors or almost anything else, plus info about all the DMT tools and kits to do the job. The DMT sharpening stones and kits are available from all leading suppliers countrywide. To find your nearest supplier, call Vermont Sales on Tel: 011 314 7711. For more information, call…

PICTURE the scene: a bonfire in the bushveld. A smartie box of people around said fire in a campsite. They had just received news that, following our highly scientific research, a Cheetah 912 plane had beaten the Isuzu KB300 D-Teq 4×4 hands down on a cross-country dice. The silence didn’t last very long, of course. “I’m not the type of person who says ‘I told you so’,” began the party who had begun the debate, several months ago, with a half-empty glass of courage in the right hand and a halfsmoked Camel in the other. “But I told you so.” The man who had previously attempted to simulate the sound of a microlight (but who had more resembled a giant, inebriated bumblebee), was again sounding, well, inebriated. “You have to…

As a political ideology, communism has failed. Sure, it seems rather altruistic and utopian on paper, but in practice, well, it always ends up being a little bit evil. It has a worrying tendency of resulting in poverty, hunger, violence and authoritarianism. Also, as Russia has illustrated wonderfully over the last decade or two, when you remove the yoke of communism from a nation, you get a sort of backlash; the pendulum starts swinging very, very far in the opposite direction. A lot of people have remained as penniless as they had been under communism, but the fall of the USSR has also resulted in the rise of an oligarchy so self-indulgent and hedonistic that it would make Caligula blush. This impulse extends to its choice in vehicles. Oligarchs like…

Any off-road enthusiast worth his salt has images in mind of the Camel Trophy, hailing back to the early days of hardcore, experimental overland travel, where men of steel pushed the limits of what’s physically possible in a vehicle, body and even mind. There were jungles and mud, bridges made from trees and Landys forging their path through torrid rivers, by men with unbuttoned khaki-shirts flaunting aspirational physique. They were the epitome of Adonis, gods in their own right and heroes to many a boy. Forward to 2017 and I am one of those Defender enthusiasts, who despite my own perceptions and best intent, admittedly lacks the physical rigour and probably mental capacity to compete or partake in such events, thanks to years behind a desk. Notwithstanding, the fact that…

DEVELOPED over decades into a powerhouse in the pre-owned car market, We Buy Cars recently received a significant capital injection sure to propel this leading vehicle trader into its next growth phase. Asked what the new capital means for the business, founder of the company Faan van der Walt says they will be able to expand their already impressive technology platforms. “Our We Buy Cars valuation engine and database were developed by seamlessly combining best practice methodology with technological excellence. We are now ready to expand our proprietary technology platforms by investing significantly in enhanced modernisation.” Today, We Buy Cars is an impressive business worthy of high praise due to its innovative use of technology and its unique methodology, but it all started decades ago as one man’s dream. Van…

WITH no light at the end of the tunnel of South Africa’s political and economic turmoil, the past month has seen more trouble brewing. Although not all the recent developments can be directly ascribed to this turmoil and the fact that our economy was recently downgraded to junk status, the future of the vehicle market is not looking particularly rosy at the moment. The biggest shock came from General Motors (GM). The company announced that it will be pulling all its operations out of South Africa. Its Port Elizabeth-based manufacturing plant, said the company, will be sold off to Isuzu. However, there is a bigger picture to this news. In March, General Motors announced the sale of the Opel brand to the PSA Group. This effectively means GM is exiting…

I n Mumbai we started with two 500cc classic motorcycles. These bikes took us all the way to the southernmost tip of mainland India at Kanyakumari. From there, we travelled to Chennai. The first leg, going past Goa, Hampi, Madurai and Puducherry, was a total of 2 500 km. It was a most enjoyable ride, especially as we had the backup of the two Cruisers. Accommodation was a mixture of guest houses and camping on the beach or somewhere in the open. Most important was that the Cruisers were equipped with four fridges, and ice cold water – essential in temperatures above 400C – was always at hand. In Chennai, we swapped them for two Thunderbirds for the long haul to Sikkim, Varanasi and Delhi. Later, when we go to…

The Mercedes-Benz GLA recently received a minor update. Modified bumpers, new alloy wheels and the addition of Canyon Beige to the colour range characterises the new 2017 derivatives. The interior has also been upgraded. For example, new seat cover fabrics for the design and equipment lines Style and Urban have been added, and the luxury Exclusive package supplements the previous Exclusive package with luxury seats featuring SUV-specific black leather in a buffalo look. The trim parts used are a choice of trapeziumgrain aluminium, light brown satin-finish poplar wood and high-gloss brown walnut. The AMG GLA 45 model has also received some tweaks. The front apron was given an even more dynamic shape, new air intake grilles and a front splitter insert in silver chrome, which guide the cooling air flows…

Cyril Despres has become synonymous with the Dakar Rally as a result of his five victories in the motorbike event but his effect on Senegal is infinitely more profound. While each year Despres has aspirations to taste Dakar glory, he has wider aspirations in the Senegalese capital with a school in memory of a friend and rival who lost his life at the event. École Fabrizio et Cyril (Fabrizio and Cyril School) rose after the death of Fabrizio Meoni, who passed away on Stage 11 of the Dakar Rally in 2005, the year Despres enjoyed the first of his five Dakar victories. A school had already been opened thanks to Meoni’s charitable donations and, inspired by his former friend – himself a Dakar winner in 2001 and 2002 – Despres…

Just 96 hours. That’s all miracle cyclist Grant Lottering has to conquer one of Europe’s toughest amateur cycling races 10 times over. On 2 July, Lottering will attempt his fourth Im’possible Tour, a solo fundraising ride in the French Alps. Lottering, Laureus Sport for Good Ambassador and international speaker, also known as the miracle cyclist, will attempt to cycle over 40 mountains, climbing a staggering 44 700m, over a distance of 1 800km, in under 96 hours, non-stop. For his Im’possible Tour IV, Lottering will return to the La Marmotte Granfondo, the same race where he completed his first Im’possible Tour in 2014, and try to complete the demanding route not once, not twice, but 10 times non-stop. At 174km and with 5 000m of climbing, the La Marmotte is…

Front Runner has launched a new bag designed to weather any storm and other challenges Mother Nature can send its way. Called the Monsoon Bag, the bag is designed for use outside a vehicle where it is exposed to the elements. It features construction tech that includes sonically welded seams and thermoplastic elastomer materials that offer protection against sun, wind and rain. It is said to be 100% dustand waterproof. The bag has a capacity of 90 litres and has an integrated air-pressure release valve for a watertight seal. When not in use, it can be folded into a compact unit for easy storage. The new Monsoon Bag retails for R1 995. This excludes Front Runner’s Stratchits tie-down straps, flat packs and cub packs (that can fit inside the bag).…

It’s an unseasonably chilly morning when we set off from Johannesburg. It’s 5am. The wind is blowing. There’s hardly any traffic on the road. There’s something about this day; it feels portentous. The world isn’t exactly the same as it had been the day before. Why are we, rightly or wrongly, imbuing this particular day with so much importance? It has everything to do with the vehicle we’re driving, the Haval H2. We got our hands on it ahead of the official launch (although it will have been launched by the time you read this), and we’re taking it out of the city to see how it performs under South African conditions. We have some serious gravel driving in mind. WHAT’S IN A NAME? Before we get to that, though,…

THE track from Mabuasehube to Nossob, in the Kgalagadi, is a difficult one to negotiate because of thick loose sand, corrugation and all the tall grass on the middle mannetjie. However, we’d rather drive that route a hundred times than negotiate Johannesburg traffic, which is how our journey began. After exiting the thicket of cars, taxis, traffic lights and general city din, we were forced to take a detour because the Rustenburg– Swartruggens Road was closed due to a bridge problem. Our aim was to reach the McCarthy’s Rest border post, but with the light fading fast, we made the call to spend the night at the 4×4 Bateleur Camp at Springbokpan Farm. After a short but very pleasant stay, we drove to the border post the next morning. Heavy…

Do a quick search online, and you’ll find a surprising number of used 4×4s for less than R100 000. This is quite astonishing, especially if you consider what these vehicles were going for when they were new. So, there must be a catch, right? Any 4×4 for less than R100 000 is surely falling apart, isn’t it? Well, as the saying goes: you get what you pay for. Things like 4WD systems, transfer cases and differential locks are inherently expensive, so when a vehicle with all these components sells for less than R100 000, it will obviously not be perfect. There will be rattles and leaks and worrying thudding noises. But all issues are not equal. It’s important to distinguish between those niggling noises that are really just irritating, and…

….as Leon Schuster famously uttered in the movie Panic Mechanic. THAT’S A WRAP GET YOUR CAR WRAPPED A thin layer of vinyl may not seem like an effective anti-hijacking tool, but considering that the point of stealing a car is to get away unnoticed, the more you make your car stand out, the less likely it’ll be a target. A whole range of exotic and supercars were recently wrapped in standout plastic – including one in a riot of psychedelic rainbow colours – for the 2017 goldRush Rally in the USA. However, even a regular bakkie or a Disco Sport will stand out in the crowd with an unusual wrap. HOLY SMOKE! THE BLASTER (FLAMETHROWER) This lethal and legal anti-hijacking device can be used to smoke a hijacker (literally); but…

WHEN Hyundai brought the new Tucson to South Africa it was initially limited to petrol models. Our team took the sporty 1.6 T-GDI Executive on a round trip from Johannesburg to Polokwane, Hazyview to Sabie and back and were thoroughly impressed with not only its looks, but sporty handling and fuel economy, too. We got an average of 8.7l/100km, which was splendid considering how we threw the car around corners at quite a lick on the road between Hazyview and Sabie. Next we took command of the 1.6 Turbo Elite AWD Auto model as part of our longterm fleet and again we were impressed with the luxury, comfort and NVH levels. Jannie then took delivery of a new R2.0 AT model, following an unfortunate incident with some fauna on a…

Much like Maybach, the Power Wagon name has become little more than a badge that’s slapped on a vehicle to give it some added credibility. Since 2005, the Ram 2500 has been offered in a special ‘Power Wagon’ version that’s powered by a burly Hemi V8. Now, there’s no doubt that the Ram Power Wagon is a very cool bakkie... but it is definitely not a Power Wagon. No, the original Power Wagon was something very different. It was an old-school commercial vehicle (first built in 1948) that had one priority: utility. It was slow (top speed was around 65km/h) and very agricultural. It was designed purely to get the job done; the perfect all-round workhorse for the farm. There is something about the no-frills-no-fuss design of the Power Wagon…