Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2018 i Leisure Wheels

IN recent times the price of fuel has become quite topical. Even more so than the see-through dress worn by some Kardashian-ism or the latest political scandal. Even more than the king-prawn platter Camilla Parker-Bowles wore as a hat at Prince Harry’s wedding. Some say the escalating fuel price is due to international economic conditions. Some reckon it’s all connected to the oil price. South Africa’s GDP which decreased by 2.2% in the first quarter of 2018 also gets the lion’s share of the blame. Others believe SA motorists are simply being taxed more to fund government, er, well, you know… important government stuff. Like failing governmental parastatals and struggling state-owned enterprises (SOE). More than 30% of the fuel price is made up by taxes. Amazingly, you can buy fuel…

Jaguar’s E-Pace range has already received some updates. It now features Jaguar’s self-learning technology, Smart Settings. Debuted on the all-electric I-Pace, scheduled to arrive in South Africa early in 2019, Smart Settings learns the driver’s habits and anticipates their needs to make their life easier. The car basically recognises the approaching driver, based on both a key fob and smartphone Bluetooth signal. The vehicle will then adjust the seat, climate and infotainment system according to the driver’s preference. Over time, algorithms tailor settings based on time of day, location, weather and behaviour patterns. For example, the car might preheat the steering wheel and seats on a cold day, or change the media source on a particular day of the week or time of day. Up to eight profiles can be…

Audi recently introduced the Q8, which claims to offer the best of both worlds, blending the elegance of a four-door coupé with the convenience of an SUV. Looking at the photos and specifications, it’s hard to disagree. The Q8 makes a bold style statement, from the front and rear. The roofline is much lower than on the Q7, but the Q8 is shorter and wider. It has some serious stance and the performance to back it up. For now, the Q8 is available with Audi’s 3.0TDI engine, connected to a mild hybrid system. It generates 210kW and delivers 600Nm of torque to the crankshaft. It accelerates the large SUV from 0 to 100km/h in 6.3 seconds. The power is sent to Audi’s famous Quattro all-wheel drive via an eight-speed automatic…

Garmin has introduced the rugged new zumo 396 LMT-S GPS system – designed specifically for motorcyclists – to the local market. The new zumo features a glove-friendly, 4.3-inch display in a new body. There are plenty of cool features, too, such as clear, turn-by-turn directions, free real-time services, built-in Wi-Fi, wireless GPX file sharing and more adventurous routing options to turn a normal ride into a bit of an adventure. Using the Garmin smartphone link app, owners can wirelessly pair their Bluetooth-enabled smartphones to the zumo for access to a variety of free live services, including traffic conditions and weather updates. Riders can safely store their smartphones for convenient hands-free calling, which is always a good idea when riding a motorcycle. The rider can receive smart notifications too, and also…

DALE CARNEGIE, author of the influential How to Win Friends and Influence People, insists that one should start with a small idea, and then grow it into a big one. Clearly someone at Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles read his book: the company decided to initially launch its X-class bakkie with the smaller 2.3-litre four-cylinder diesel engine, instead of the full fat, 190kW V6 turbodiesel mill. Driving the X350d 4Matic AT on a beautiful gravel road in a forest near the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, on the foothills of the Alps, the smooth V6 engine is eager to rev, laying down the 550Nm of torque with continuous shoves as the seven-speed 7G-Tronic gearbox works its magic. With Sport mode selected and traction control disabled, we used the paddle shifters behind the steering…

ONE of the hottest motoring topics in the world right now is the turbocharged V6 diesel, as fitted to the Amarok and X350d you can read about elsewhere in this magazine. The price of entry to the V6 diesel club is a bit steep, as the base V6 Amarok retails for just over R700 000, while the X-Class 350d is expected to be close to R1 million. An SUV with a V6 diesel retails for well over R1 million these days so it’s easy to understand why Average Joe would turn to the used market instead. We scoured the internet for days, looking for the best examples of bakkies and SUVs fitted with a turbocharged V6 oil burner. THE ORIGINAL V6 BAKKIE 2010 NISSAN NAVARA V9X We like to think…

WORKING at Leisure Wheels looks more glamorous than it is. We spend around 70% of our time in the office, which means we’re subjected to that most boring of driving activities: commuting. Ours is not a short commute. It’s an 80km round trip, including 50% stop-and-go on one of Joburg’s busiest streets, 40% of back roads where the traffic flows freely and 10% driving on gravel, just because we can. On the back roads, the Haval is probably at its best. The engine is powerful, responsive and overtakes slower traffic with ease. When in the mood, the 140kW/310Nm turbocharged four is more than willing to provide the necessary shove for a naughty driving experience. We like a car with a dual personality and the Haval is definitely one of them.…

THREE days and a total of 1 000km of Harry Flatters driving through the African bush. This is the Toyota 1000 Desert Race, held in the Jwaneng area in Botswana. It’s the headline act of the South African Cross Country Racing series, and also serves as the third round of the 2018 Road to Dakar challenge. The race started with a 40km prologue test on the Friday morning, to determine the starting positions for the first 400km race day, on the Saturday. It turned out to be one for the books, as two top crews set exactly the same time. Toyota Gazoo Racing SA’s reigning champions Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy clocked a time of 28:40; a time perfectly matched by Dakar quad legend Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer…

LET’S kick this feature off with a popular myth: vehicle manufacturers’ claimed tow ratings. Some manufacturers make a big song-and-dance about a vehicle’s claimed tow rating, but the reality, in South Africa at least, is that it’s simply a theoretical number and not legal to actually use. Some double cab bakkies boast a tow rating in excess of three tons. And, from a technical point of view, they may actually be able to (just) handle that weight. However, the law states that the tow vehicle’s tare weight (so without any added weight like people or fuel) must be more than the gross vehicle mass (GVM) of the vehicle it is towing. In other words, if you drive a double cab bakkie with a tare weight of two tons, the GVM…

While the rest of us were busy wondering whether VW’s new updated Amarok V6 will be faster than the Mercedes X350d V6, Shelby South Africa were making plans to introduce a host of bakkies that’ll make mincemeat out of both. That’s right, folks. Shelby will be importing a limited number of F-150s, including the Shelby F-150, Shelby Super Snake F-150 and the Shelby Raptor Baja Edition. After the customer pays a deposit, Shelby imports the bakkie and does a right-hand-drive conversion. The total cost is impossible to calculate given the fluctuating exchange rate, but the deposit alone is between R950 000 to R1.1 million. The standard Shelby F-150 and Super Snake both develop 563kW from a supercharged 5.0-litre V8, while the Baja Edition uses a twin-turbo V6 with 390kW on…

Nissan recently teamed up with Arctic Trucks to create the all-new AT32 bakkie. It will be available exclusively for European markets. To create the AT32 (Arctic Truck with 32-inch wheels), the suspension had to be raised by 20mm. It now has ground clearance of 243mm, which gives it a 35-degree approach and 24-degree breakover angle. “The Nissan Navara Off-Roader AT32 is the most capable Navara we’ve ever sold,” said Nissan Europe’s senior vice president Ken Ramirez. “Its mix of enhanced off-road ability and upgraded exterior features will appeal to a new audience of both professional and recreational pickup customers.” A snorkel is an optional extra, and it will increase the Nissan’s wading depth to 800mm.…

The first images of the Nissan Terra broke cover at the beginning of the year, but back then we didn’t know all that much about it. It has now gone on sale in South East Asia, which confirms it will be built in right-hand drive in seven-seat configuration. The Terra is built in Thailand, but unlike its Navara sibling, it doesn’t use the twin-turbo 2.3-litre turbocharged diesel. Instead, it comes as standard with a 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged diesel, developing 140kW and 450Nm. If those power figures sound familiar, they should. This particular powertrain was used in the previous Navara and Pathfinder, though the newer 2.3-litre twin turbo might be used for other markets, including ours. Nissan has not confirmed whether the Terra will be launched locally, but it looks like…

Okay, so you get torches and then you get torches. Then you get Tork Craft’s new high-performance Super Torch, with a claimed 400 lumens worth of lighting power. Made from aircraft-grade aluminium, the new TCFL400 is 19cm long, features dual LEDs and can operate as a flashlight and floodlight. It is also water resistant. Different settings allow the user to select from a beam of just one metre up to 185 metres. The Super Torch has a suggested retail price of R686.57. More information: vermontsales.co.za…

“IS THAT YOUR BOAT?,” one Thulani asks me with a grin. He’s referring to my sweet ride parked in the shade: Volkswagen’s zooty new Tiguan Allspace. It’s my second day on my second trip to Swaziland and I’m accompanied by two Thulanis (who also happen to be the same age) on a bumpy drive through Malolotja Nature Reserve. I smile back at Thulani, “No, that’s my yacht.” In keeping with the theme of doubles, luckily both Thulanis laugh at my joke. One Thulani, Mr Nkambule is my guide, the other Thulani, Mr Malaza, is the operations manager and we’re about to embark on the treetop Malolotja Canopy Tour. When I crossed into the Kingdom of eSwatini (perhaps you’ll better recognise it as Swaziland) at the Ngwenya border, I was surprised…

IT must be rough being a car designer. You toil away for hours, filling sketchpad after sketchpad looking for the perfect combination of lines to house an engine, gearbox, four people and some luggage. Eventually you find a design that all departments agree on, after which the bigwigs give the thumbs up to create a show car. Oh what a glorious day it was, knowing that your hard work will be rendered in 3D for the entire world to gaze upon. Show day arrives, and you ask the PR representative to reserve you a seat right at the front. You want to hear those initial gasps and praises from up close. The big boss gives a speech, the cover is pulled back and then… from just behind you some journalist…

AS mentioned elsewhere in this magazine, the Mercedes AMG GLC 63 S is now officially the fastest SUV on sale in South Africa. It accelerates from a standstill to 100km/h in 3.8 seconds, making it as fast as the 2003 Mercedes McLaren SLR… But things weren’t always as good as they are now. There was a time when manufacturers didn’t even bother testing for these figures, mostly because the cars couldn’t even get to three digits. The first car to hit 100km/h was an electric vehicle, purpose-built for the task. It was called Jamais Contente (never content) and it was built in 1899. It reached 105km/h, after which the project was shelved completely. It seems the French were fairly content after all. In all seriousness, acceleration times and top speed…

IF you feed him enough tell-that-lion-story-juice around a campfire, in the middle of the bush, experienced game ranger Kobus may just tell you more about that dead lion. It happened some years ago, on a Big Five game reserve in the Limpopo Province. Head ranger Kobus heard some radio chatter about a dead male lion, discovered by some of his patrolling rangers. They said they had spotted a dead male lion, lying motionless under a tree, next to a dry riverbed. Kobus made a mental note to follow up on the dead lion, and to inspect the carcass and determine the cause of death. First though, he had to complete some other pressing head ranger-y matters; he’d get to the dead lion in a day’s time. And so, a day…

DESPITE political unrest and uncertainty about land ownership going forward, South Africa continues to attract foreign investors. Last year, Isuzu Trucks took over General Motors South Africa’s plant and more recently, Mahindra introduced its all-new assembly facility in Durban. This month, Mercedes-Benz announced a €600 million (R10 billion) investment in its plant in East London. This famed plant will produce the next-generation C-Class. The upgrades to the plant include a new paint shop, body shop and an upgrade of the assembly shop and logistic warehouses. Overall, the new buildings comprise an area of approximately 100 000m2, this reflects an addition of two-thirds of the already existing buildings for the passenger vehicle production. The new workshops will incorporate environmental friendly and state of the art technologies. “With the investment of €600…

On the island of Tigres, there’s a ghost town where a small community once lived, operating several fish factories. These factories harvested the incredible resources of the Atlantic Ocean, fed by the abundance of the Benguela current. The visit to Tigres is special. To get there, difficult. For the past five years, Voetspore has been taking touring parties to the island. We do this in co-operation with Rico and his son Matt Sakko from Flamingo Lodge. Rico is the man who tamed the Doodsakker. He is the man who drove it for the first time in the recent past and he has rescued many a traveller who tried to conquer the infamous stretch of coastline. Many sat, stranded on a dune, having lost everything to the ocean. If you want…

Toyota recently launched the most famous limited edition Hilux of them all: the Dakar. Built to celebrate Toyota’s continued success in the toughest off-road race, the latest variant features a new grille, which gives the front a more squared-off look. The front bumper is also new, as is the metallic grey skid plate. In addition, the exterior sports a number of distinctive touches such as gloss black treatment for the door handles and power-retractable side mirrors. The rear bumper is fashioned in grey, to tie in with the front design. The interior has been blacked out completely to differentiate it from Raider models, which feature silver accents throughout the cabin. The infotainment system has been upgraded to include navigation, while the standard Bluetooth, USB and CD/DVD playback functionality is retained.…

It was only a matter of time before Suzuki unveiled the first images of the all-new Jimny, following a series of leaks early in June. Call it a mini Gelandewagen, a rip-off of a Jeep or whatever you like, the fact of the matter is this little 4×4’s retro look and real-world 4×4 abilities will get both the fashion conscious city-slicker crowd and the more hardcore off-roaders excited. Here’s what we know so for: it has a ladder-frame chassis and it will be available in two sizes. There will be shorter version that’ll be built specifically for the Japanese market and a longer version that’ll go on sale elsewhere. It will have a transfer case, so it will still be able to go the off-road mile, too. The engine is…

Ford recently launched the updated version of its beloved EcoSport compact SUV. It features new exterior styling that is a little more rugged than before, a more upscale interior with a floating central touchscreen interface on most models and a few additional stowage solutions. The EcoSport is powered by the 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol, which delivers 92kW and 170Nm of torque. Trend and Titanium customers can choose between a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic. The sole diesel option is a 1.5-litre turbocharged four, linked to a five-speed manual. It offers 74kW and 205Nm of torque. All models come standard with a four-year/120 000km comprehensive warranty and a four-year/60 000km service plan. PRICING EcoSport 1.5 TDCi Ambiente 5MT: R264 500 EcoSport 1.0 EcoBoost Trend 6MT: R287 500 EcoSport 1.0 EcoBoost…

TWO YEARS AGO, I began writing a similar article on travelling with toddlers during a month-long project in the Kgalakgadi Transfrontier Park in summer. Our children were not yet human, the temperatures hovered just below 500C and one of them tried to pick up a Parabuthus scorpion with his bare hands, causing my wife Dana to go into a state of neurotoxic shock, which ended the trip. What started out as a 3 000-word article idea ended up as a three-word summary: ‘Don’t. Do. It.’ But we had to try again. The aim this time was to travel for a month through Namibia, drive for more than 8 000km, meet with Philip Stander and his lions in one of the most remote places in Namibia, and return via the Kgalakgadi…

“Driving a smaller vehicle no longer means you need to leave your toys behind” MANY South Africans would like to explore deepest darkest Africa but never do because their garage does not contain the latest 4×4. Eager to prove a point, when the Hyundai i20 Active appeared on the scene over the same period I had planned to go explore the Free State’s mountain-biking spots, I had no hesitation in deciding it would be a great travel companion. The little Hyundai and me are no strangers to bicycle trips. I fondly recall how I travelled through the night in a Hyundai Getz, high on Regmakers, to my one and only Cape Town Cycle Tour. The rear of the little hatch swallowed two bicycles and four sets of wheels with ease…

THE foundations for this story were laid in Europe, in the ’70s. That’s when the European Union decided it would be grand idea for all new vehicles to undergo fuel consumption tests. The theory was brilliant. A consumer could walk into a dealership to look at a specific model. An official sticker would denote urban and extra-urban fuel consumption, as tested by an independent governmental group. No more unscrupulous salesman telling an ignorant client the vehicle could easily reach 1 000km per tank when it could only do 400km. But here’s the catch: the urban consumption tests were (and still are) mostly done in laboratories, and although the results are certainly repeatable, they in no way resemble real-world driving conditions. Let’s look at some of the methodology used for this…

THE FORD Everest sure has come a long way since the first generation model landed here around a decade ago. That model was a lot of good things. Like practical, spacious and reliable. But it was certainly not pretty. Not even close. This was not a good position for Ford to be in. Here in South Africa, motorists tend to care about the looks of their automobiles. So that first-generation Everest sold in relative dribs and drabs, and never came close to giving the top-selling bakkie-turned-SUV – the Toyota Fortuner – a proper run for its money. Fast forward to 2015, and the first photos of the third-generation Everest (we only got the second and later the third generation in SA) started emerging on the interweb. And it was pretty.…

Change gears and shift out of your comfort zone. One of these guided self-drive safaris could be that once-in-a-lifetime adventure you’ve always dreamt about. For more information on any of these tours, or to book your trip: Email: lwtravel@ramsaymedia.co.za Website: leisurewheels.co.za/travel-packages/or phone Inshaaf Amos @ Tel: 021 530 3380 ZAMBIA WITH ZEST 4 – 20 SEPTEMBER 2018 Have you ever experienced a trip through the remote and unspoilt wilderness of Zambia, the road less travelled? If not, this one is for you. We visit South Luangwa, Luambe, North Luangwa and Kafue National Parks before turning south to Livingstone. Included in the price is all accommodation, camping, park entrance and vehicle entrance fees. Price: R21 900 p/p (subject to change) PONDOLAND (TRANSKEI WILD COAST) 20 – 28 OCTOBER 2018 Pondoland, on…

AMERICAN Bob Fox started building suspension systems for motocross bikes in 1974. Since then, the company has branched out and split up to cater for various markets… and Bob’s original company became Fox Factory, catering for ATVs, motocross bikes, track cars and trucks (or bakkies, in SA speak). It even makes suspension products for snowmobiles. Now you stand a chance of winning a set of Fox Factory products for your vehicle, worth up to R28 000. All you have to do is the following: head to your nearest Fox Factory dealer (list on this page) with your vehicle, and register for the competition at the dealer (leave your name, vehicle and contact details). Please note, if your vehicle is not supported by the Fox Factory brand, you will unfortunately not…

THE story of the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant, or Ulyanovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (UAZ) in Russian, started in 1941. That’s when the German army rolled into the Soviet Union. While the Germans initially made rapid progress through Russia, the decision was taken to relocate the automotive manufacturer ZIS from Moscow to the Volga town of Ulyanovsk. By 1943, with a German victory no longer a realistic prospect, it was decided to move ZIS back to Moscow, in a brand new factory. The existing factory in Ulyanovsk remained and became UAZ. After the war, UAZ produced its first complete vehicle, a GAZ-69, in 1954. The company soon became Russia’s leading 4×4 manufacturer and by 1971, the UAZ-469 made its debut, replacing the long-serving GAZ. It was designed for use as a military light…