Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2018 i Leisure Wheels

SAW you the other day on the M1 highway. With your crew in your nine vehicles, and about six Metro motorcycles, sweeping past. Jissie Oom Cyril, I reckon that’s the best way to tackle the traffic, with two lanes just for you. I also saw some recent photos of you, Oom Cyril. One of you on a commercial flight, flying just like us normal folk. And one of you taking an early morning walk on the beach, again, just like a normal South African would. This is commendable, and quite unlike your predecessor. You appear to be able to walk among us, a saviour of sorts. But I have a suggestion for you. Once in a while, maybe you can drive among us as Joe Public, too, without a motorcade…

Greetings fellow lovers of off-road motorsport. We wish to bring your attention to the developing landscape of motorsport in Pakistan, especially off-road racing, which we believe you would be interested in. Just to give you a brief insight into off-road motorsport culture here, Pakistan holds four major off-road racing events every year: Cholistan Off-road Rally, Gwadar Off-road Rally, Thal Desert Challenge and Jhal Magsi Desert Challenge. Cholistan is the biggest track offered by Pakistan, with a length of 470km and takes place every year in February. It is also the biggest event held in Pakistan, attracting 80 000–100 000 people every year. Gwadar is a relatively new track. Nonetheless, it’s a highly anticipated event that takes place in August every year. Thal is an equally challenging, if not more so,…

An argument that has been going for years, and one that will probably never be answered, is which is the worst road in the world? It sounds like an accolade, something to be proud of. But what I am referring to is not the most challenging or most difficult road to travel. Not the one you brag about to your friends around the braai. The one I refer to is the road that you most hate to travel. Few, if any, can compare with the road between Vilanculos and Caia in Mozambique. Travelling in Mozambique has made me reflect on the bad roads I have travelled in Africa over the past 18 years. The title of ‘Worst Road in the World’ was, for many years, claimed by the Marsabit-Moyale road…

The all-new Volvo XC40 recently arrived in South Africa, already sporting one of the most prestigious automotive awards in the business. Its bigger brother, the soon-to-be-launched XC60, won the World Car of the Year title, while this little tyke received the 2018 European Car of the Year accolade. When it comes to building SUVs, Volvo can rightfully claim that it is number one. As the name suggests, it’s the most compact Volvo SUV to date but it carries that unmistakable Swedish design language. There are a few bespoke design features to choose from, including a contrasting black or white roof, mirror caps and wheels. That is, however, not the only thing it has in common with its bigger siblings. It comes with Volvo’s magnificent nine-inch Sensus Connect touchscreen interface and…

The Tiguan is one of those annoyingly perfect vehicles. After we first drove it two years ago, we were 100% sure it would walk all over the competitors for the South African Car of the Year crown but it seems it wasn’t good enough to beat the XC90. Now VW has gone and made it even better by including a third row of seats, taking the number of passengers it can carry to seven. Thanks to the Tiguan and Tiguan Allspace being designed side-by-side, there’s very little difference between them. The easiest way to spot the difference is with the rear doors, which are slightly longer. The Allspace is 110mm longer than the standard vehicle, which increases boot space by an additional 115 litres. Rear passengers also score an additional…

GEELY’S TAKE ON XC40 Chinese company Geely doesn’t have much of a footprint or following in South Africa, but it just so happens that it’s one of the most successful, profitable car manufacturers in the world. Geely is also the financial might behind the reinvention of Volvo, which is on an all-time high thanks to the likes of the XC90, XC40 and upcoming XC60. And if that doesn’t impress you, how about the fact that Geely also owns a 51% stake in Lotus, and, more recently, purchased a 9% stake in Daimler… In any case, the Volvo investment has obviously paid off and now Geely is digging into the parts bin to build its own version of the XC40. At the moment it’s only a concept and it’s called the…

FIRST impressions are lasting ones, they say. And reading up about the recently revitalised Mahindra KUV K8 Diesel, ahead of its arrival, didn’t exactly cause us to grab for a Calmet. Firstly, it has 57kW of power. It’s small, narrow and stands higher than most hatches. It rides on 15-inch wheels. It’s not ugly, but the styling is maybe just a little bit awkward, especially when seen from the side. Behind the steering wheel, our first driving impression was not great. Taking off from a traffic light, it appeared as if the person responsible for fitting the tiny turbocharger to the 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine had maybe forgotten to do so. It felt as if it had 20kW of power, not 57kW. But we soon realised the reason: Mahindra calls it…

BEFORE we look at the options, let’s remind ourselves of the main things to be concerned about when driving around 13 000km. Apart from a working air-conditioner (Africa tends to be hot, even during the winter months) you’ll need a robust, dependable engine that can cope with dirty fuel and a chassis that can take a knock or two. If it should break down, it’s worth keeping parts availability in mind. Either that, or buy a car basic enough to fix with a hammer and some bloudraad. As you’re looking at a trip that can literally last months, packing space, relative comfort and ease of use should also feature high on the list. Here are a few sub-R300 000 options we found for sale in South Africa. OLD FAITHFUL TOYOTA…

For the purposes of evaluating a long-term vehicle, nothing beats a proper long distance road trip. Which is why we decided to lend our long-termer to our colleagues at Autodealer for a trip to the Eastern Cape over the Easter long weekend. ON such journeys, one has a chance to just take a moment and look at a car. From simply looking at it, says the Autodealer lads, they learnt that the H6 C is yet another departure from the copy-and-paste jobs associated with Chinese vehicles. Frankly, it rates as one of the better looking offerings on sale today. Compared to the H2 entry level SUV, the H6 C boasts a more aggressive appearance by virtue of its chrome grille, slanted windscreen, angular headlights with integrated daytime running LEDs, smart…

THE thing started in 2013. The thing about taking one 44-year-old Land Cruiser and turning it into the ultimate FJ45. Reader Gerhard Victor and his fellow Cruiser fanatic Milton Slabber embarked on this great odyssey. A suitably sad Land Cruiser FJ45 was sourced and the transformation process commenced. But, two years into the project, and facing a mountain of drivetrain challenges, Gerhard decided to change tack: a new plan was required to turn his dream into a reality. The old Cruiser drivetrain just wasn’t going to cut it. And if he was going to change the engine, why not change all the underpinnings at the same time, he reckoned. So he hatched a plan: he’d transplant the FJ45 body onto a Land Cruiser 80 Series chassis and drivetrain. When he…

I bought a 2013 Ford Everest 4×2 manual just over three years ago. I have been extremely happy with the vehicle and having three kids it has been the perfect holiday transporter with oodles of space to carry all the kit at a fuel economy that Fortuner owners only dream of. After recently moving from Joburg to Maritzburg, we have been venturing a little further off the tar track and have been caught out a couple of times due to an expectation gap between what I thought the Everest could handle and how it actually coped. In reading the many reviews and road tests before making the decision to buy the Everest, most, if not all of them mention that the Everest (both 4×4 and 4×2) is fitted with a…

Jaguar Land Rover is leading an R80-million project to develop self-driving cars that can ‘see’ through obstacles. Called Autoplex, the project aims to combine connected, automated and live mapping tech so more information is provided earlier to an automated car. This will allow automated vehicles to communicate with all road users and obstacles where there is no direct view, effectively helping them see, so they can safely merge lanes and negotiate traffic circles autonomously.…

THE ULTIMATE AMAROK? If you’re put off by the idea of paying R750 000 for a VW Amarok 3.0TDI V6, you may flinch when you hear more about this ‘Rok. This particular model was built by BBM Motorsport and it costs around R1.1 million. With import duties and shipping costs included, that price would quickly elevate to around R1.7 million. BBM added a lot of kit to this car, including a 100mm lift kit, 18-inch rims with top-of-the-line Cooper Discoverer STT Pro tyres, fender kit, bull bar, LED lights, roof rack and snorkel. BBM also tuned the engine to cope with the extra weight but, unfortunately, it worked on the ‘older’ version with 165kW and 550Nm of torque. It was tuned to deliver 195kW and 620Nm of torque, which is…

“The vastness of the arid landscape, with its strange looking succulents, is both beautiful and intimidating” AFTER relaxing and recuperating in the natural beauty and great climate of Epupa, we were ready to tackle Namibia’s infamous Van Zyl’s Pass. Backtracking to Okangwati, we were looking for Donissa, an Angolan Himba lady who sells fuel. This was well advertised by signboards directing us to the place and we could get half a dozen five-litre cans of diesel for $17 per litre. When my friend said, “This should be enough,” I answered with a smile, “The only time you have too much fuel is when you are on fire.” Van Zyl’s was a subtle introduction to what lay ahead. There was a spring just outside Okangwati where cattle and goats were grazing…

THE XC40 is much bigger in the flesh than it looks in photographs. We were expecting a crossover slightly bigger than Volvo’s old C30 hatch but the XC40 is in fact much larger than that. It’s 4.5m long, and stands almost 1.7m tall. The styling is another revelation. When Volvo’s engineers designed the aforementioned C30 hatch, you can imagine the briefing was to chuck ‘normal’ out the window, and go a bit bonkers. Hence that love-hate rear door-and-window business. So it was certainly different but not in a way that made most observers gave it an approving nod. The XC40 is a different kettle of design. It appears as if Volvo’s designers – now revitalised with Chinese car company Geely capital and with very good sales – kept it way…

5 FORD BRONCO CONCEPT The first Bronco was introduced in 1966 and many regard it as the first SUV ever. While that statement is certainly up for debate, there’s no denying that the Bronco was one of the first 4×4s to combine go-anywhere ability and relative comfort. The 2004 concept was a no-brainer for Ford. It had a name people remembered fondly, the US economy was in rude health but, somehow, the Bronco never made it all the way to production. It might have something to do with the tiny proportions and proposed engine. You see, it might look like it has a big block V8 under the ‘hood’ but it was actually equipped with a 2.0-litre turbocharged diesel. It produced 95kW and 330Nm of torque, which is healthy even…

SOME say a Land Rover Defender doesn’t leak oil, it simply marks its territory. Others say the reason a Land Rover Defender has a heated rear window is to keep the owner’s hands warm when he’s pushing it. Ask any of the 27 crews who took part in the 2018 Defender Trophy in Limpopo about such trivial observations, and they’ll laugh it off. Instead, they will elaborate on the Landy’s illustrious history, the fact that it is the quintessential vehicle to explore the wild African bush, and the character of it. The Defender Trophy brings people of the same ilk together, on a three-day adventure in South Africa’s Limpopo Province, taking in several national parks, and some private ones, too. Instead of sticking only to fancy lodges, the Trophy ensemble…

THE concept behind the Rent2Buy business module was born a few years ago. A homeowner suffered a traumatic house invasion incident. It was so traumatic, the family did not want to return to the house unless comprehensive security upgrades were made. However, the owner of the house simply did not have the cash to pay for all the upgrades upfront. A plan was hatched: the man could pay off the amount over several months. The security upgrades were made, the family was secure, and the owner could afford to pay the monthly installment. Now, leading 4×4 accessory company Opposite Lock offers the service to its clients, in a joint venture with Digirent, the company behind the Rent2Buy concept. But how does it work? And is it really interest free? Let’s…

ACCORDING to recent international automotive sales reports and studies, the final nail in the sedan’s coffin is in place, merely waiting to be hammered down. We don’t think it will happen as quickly in South Africa but since our market is so small, we’re left at the mercy of automotive trends in much bigger markets. The US is a prime example. Sales figures for conventional passenger cars are in a steady decline, with almost every manufacturer posting less-than-ideal sales figures for their more traditional products. When it comes to bakkies and SUVs, it’s a different story. These vehicles have been the main driving force behind car sales, and not just in North America. South Africa’s top two passenger cars are both bakkies. US car dealers and executives remain worried, however,…

Dear sirs, your rating of the pictured vehicle as off-road rating of ‘2’ refers. I enclose some photos of my wife driving her Volvo XC90 T8 Excellence up Sani Pass. And the champagne and Volvo crystal glasses in the built-in fridge were nice and cold when she got to the top. So much for your ‘2’ rating! Hi Paul, thanks for your mail, and the pics. That XC90 is really awesome. For interest’s sake, we drove a stock VW Beetle Dune (with only FWD) up Sani Pass in 2016. It took quite a long time, but it made it, without a scratch. The Beetle’s off-road rating still remains zero, though. – Ed…

Elsewhere in this magazine, there’s a short piece on concept models that never made it into production. One of those models is the 2004 Ford Bronco. Imagine our surprise when we spotted said Bronco in the latest Hollywood action movie, Rampage. The hero in the movie, played by Wayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, drove the 2004 concept throughout the movie. We wondered why Ford would spend so much cash on product placement for a product that doesn’t actually exist, but it seems an all-new Bronco will debut in 2020. Ford has since stated that the 2020 Bronco won’t look like that but it has released a teaser image showing the outline of the vehicle. While it may not look exactly like the 2004 Bronco, there will be some similarities between the…

Renault has introduced a new limited edition Kwid, called the Climber. Don’t let the name fool you: Renault hasn’t suddenly decided to compete with the likes of the Jimny. The Climber specification simply adds some value items to spruce up an already attractive budget package. Limited to 200 models, the Climber boasts an exterior styling pack, available on models in Electric blue or Planet grey. The two-tone exterior includes some Climber insignia, protective cladding on the doors and bumpers and roof rails with orange accents. Orange detailing really seems to be in vogue at the moment: the Mitsubishi Triton Athlete, featured in the Lesotho Adventure feature, also gets the orange treatment. The interior features the same orange enhancement around the piano black facia, as well as Climber badges on the…

LET’S start by sorting that elephant in the room: The asking price of the new Roush Ford Ranger 3.2TDCi 4×4 AT RS3, with 200kW under the bonnet. All the bits and bobs will add R240 000 to the asking price of a Ranger 3.2TDCi 4×4 AT. So if you pay R601 000 for a brand new Ranger 3.2, it will add up to R840 000, which is about R60 000 less than the MS-RT used to be. However, the Roush version has a few extra tricks up its sleeve. Like a Ford Protect three-year/60 000km warranty (which can be extended to four years/120 000km at extra cost). It also has an Aussie-made Pedders brake and suspension upgrade. And it still has 200kW of power and 650Nm of torque, courtesy of…

It weighs nearly three tons. And the Land Cruiser 200 VX-R feels it, too. Unlike some competitors that have gone all modern on their structural designs, featuring lighter materials like aluminium and employing different designs such a monocoque construction, the body-on-frame 200 still seems as if it was cut from a solid block of metal. Getting the VX-R briskly out of the starting blocks, even with 650Nm of torque in the bank, is not as brisk an affair as it is in some of the competitors. Nail the brakes hard at 120km/h, and there is no doubt that you are trying to contain three tons of metal that doesn’t particularly want to be contained. It’s like a heavyweight boxer, weighing in at a strong-as-an-ox but lumpy and slower-moving 130kg, squaring…

1 ALU-CAB This company, which specialises in aluminium construction methods, started off creating custom products for especially overland clients. With a motto “if you can dream it, we can build it” the company has created some spectacular overland truck bodies, off-road campers for private and rental companies, and specialised mobile workshops for commercial applications. Nowadays, Alu-Cab produces a range of standard products, which customers can buy off-the-shelf. These include a wide range of aluminium canopies, canopy and vehicle accessories, expedition tent systems, shadow awning, camper bodies, Hercules roof-top conversion and the Icarus Land Rover Defender roof-top conversion system. MORE INFORMATION: TEL: 021 703 3028; alu-cab.co.za; queries@alu-cab.co.za 2 GETEC This company was established in 1994, and manufactures fibreglass and steel canopies. The company’s steel canopies are made in SA Police Service-style,…

Mazda’s BT50 has been around the block, and both in the styling and dynamic departments it has been stagnant for some time. Mazda Australia – which sells a whole lot of BT50s – decided to do something about this state of affairs. MAZDA’S mothership in Japan has seemingly put any developments on the BT50 bakkie on hold while it sorts out its plans and the methodology of its exciting new joint venture with Isuzu Motors. While the new venture with diesel engine giant Isuzu sure is exciting news for Mazda fans, the fact of the matter is that it will be years before a new Mazda bakkie rolls off the production line. Some punters reckon the new bakkie will only arrive in 2021. For the folks at Mazda Australia though,…

WILD SIDE OF THE DRAKENSBERG 14 – 18 JULY 2018 (CHANCE OF SNOW) 20 – 24 JULY 2018 (CHANCE OF SNOW) The Eastern Cape Highlands, also known as the ‘Wild side of the Drakensberg’ is growing in popularity as a safe and non-commercialised mountain destination with spectacular scenery. Tour members will meet in Lady Grey and then head to Lundin’s Nek and the Wartrail area. From there up to Volunteershoek Pass with lunch at the Tiffindell Ski Resort before zigzagging down the most extreme section of the Carlisle’s Hoek Pass to Rhodes where the group will spend two nights with the enigmatic Dave Walker at Walkerbouts Inn. The tour then leads up Naude’s Nek, the highest public mountain pass in South Africa (2 588m) before making its way to the…

HERE’S a startling fact: a vast number of overland 4×4 rigs on our roads are actually illegal. Why? Simply because they exceed the vehicle’s rated gross vehicle mass (GVM). As already mentioned, the GVM is the maximum permissible weight a vehicle can carry, including the weight of the vehicle itself. If you check your licence disc, there are two important numbers to take note of: GVM/BVM and Tare/Tarra. We’ve established what GVM is. Tare is the empty weight of the vehicle, so without any passengers and load, and liquids like water or fuel. Let’s look at a typical scenario as an example: you’ve just bought a Toyota Land Cruiser 4.5 V8 D4-D station wagon. Most of us would agree that, as far as tough overland 4×4s go, this is about…

THE origin of the first Honda production automobile, the T360 pickup, can be traced back to May 1955. That’s when Japan’s ministry of international trade and industry announced its ‘concept of a people’s car’. Or, a ‘four-seater with a top speed of 100km/h, priced at 150 000 yen’. But while other Japanese companies like Subaru jumped on the bandwagon and created their first car, Honda – with its motorcycle roots – was more reluctant to indulge in the world of car manufacturing. By the end of 1957, Honda had appointed about 50 new engineers to work in its research and development department. Soon, a new division called the Third Research Section was formed, with only seven specially selected engineers assigned to work on a new car design, in great secrecy.…