May 25, 2017
THE G2 PROMISE: • A 114-Point Quality Check • Vehicle History Check • Full Service History • Various Finance Options • Verified Mileage • Ownership Peace of Mind • Optional 2 Year/Unlimited km Warranty • Optional 2 Year Roadside Assistance
Witness
GOOD CARS. BEST VALUE.
WHEELS
ADVERTISING: AVIR THULSIRAM ON 084 278 3447
2016 CHEVROLET CRUZE 1.6 L | COMPANY DEMO 13 000KM, AIRCON, POWER STEERING, MP3, MAGS
NOW R189 990* WAS R204 990 HANDLES THE CITY STREETS WITHOUT MISSING A BEAT.
ONLY 3 LEFT!
033 345 2542
*On-the-Road and Registration Fees Excluded.Ts & Cs Apply. Model/s shown may differ. Es & Os Excepted.
7100/52379 ADMAKERS.COM
NEVER MISS A BEAT!
… NOW YOU’RE MOTORING
Diesel dirtier than tested New study shows especially trucks spew out most of the poison that cause premature deaths ALWYN VILJOEN IT turns out the VW group did not have to cheat on their vehi cles’ emissions in the lab to get cleaner results than on the road, for a recent study, published in Nature, has shown that laborato ry tests of nitrogen oxide emis sions from diesel vehicles under estimate the realworld emis sions by as much as 50%. The research examined 11 ma jor vehicle markets representing more than 80% of new diesel ve hicle sales in 2015. Scientists at the University of York’s Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) said in a state ment that of these markets they found vehicles emitted 13,2 mil lion tons of nitrogen oxide under realworld driving conditions, which is 4,6 million tons more
than the 8,6 million tons expect ed from vehicles’ performance under official laboratory tests. Chris Malley, from the SEI, said: “This study shows that ex cess diesel nitrogen oxide emis sions effect crop yields and a vari ety of human health issues. We estimate that implementing Next Generation standards could reduce crop production loss by up to two percent for Chi nese wheat, Chinese maize, and Brazilian soy, and result in an ad ditional four million tons of crop production globally.” Health impacts Nitrogen oxide is a key contribu tor to outdoor air pollution. Longterm exposure to these pollutants is linked to a range of adverse health outcomes, includ ing disability and reduced life ex
“Heavyduty vehicles, such as commercial trucks and buses, were by far the largest contribu tor worldwide, accounting for 76% of the total excess gas emis sions. “Five of the 11 markets that we looked at, Brazil, China, the EU, India, and the U.S., produced 90% of that. “For lightduty vehicles, such as passenger cars, trucks, and vans, the European Union pro duced nearly 70% of the excess diesel nitrogen oxide emissions.” Note the small air intake of next year’s Audi A2Q car, which is full electric and doesn’t a fan to cool an engine. The A2Q can reportedly reach 500 km on a charge and has no tailpipe to spew out toxic smog. PHOTO: AUDI pectancy due to stroke, heart dis ease, chronic obstructive pulmo nary disease, and lung cancer.
Josh Miller, researcher at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), said:
Premature deaths The study estimates that ex cess diesel vehicle nitrogen oxide emissions in 2015 were also linked to approximately 38 000 premature deaths worldwide — mostly in the European Union, China, and India. Susan Anenberg, cofounder
of Environmental Health Analyt ics, LLC, said: “The consequen ces of excess diesel NOx emis sions for public health are strik ing. At a global level, the study estimates that the impact of all realworld diesel nitrogen oxide emissions will grow to 183 600 early deaths in 2040, unless something is done to reduce it. “In Europe, the ozone mortali ty burden each year would be 10% lower if diesel vehicle nitro gen oxide emissions were in line with certification limits.” Which may explain why Ru pert Stadler, chair of Audi — part of the VW Group — last week an nounced Audi’s plans to launch three new electric models by 2020, after which the brand will gradually electrify models in each of its core series. alwyn.viljoen@witness.co.za
WitnessWheels MOTORING EXPLORE
2
May 25, 2017
Learning about life in the Big Red Truck A Midlands family set out to experience even more of Africa NIHAL SHAH SO ... In true African style, we have begun another leg of our much anticipated African adven ture. Why do I say “African style”? well, we were supposed to have left over three weeks ago, but our new rubber sandals never arrived. The BRT — our Unimog lov ingly named by Alhka, which stands for Big Red Truck (can’t quite understand why) — was in desperate need of a set of tyres. We searched high and low and even got conned (long story) try ing to buy a set of shoes for our house on wheels. No one in SA seemed to have the size we needed. Finally Manisha’s cousin (thank you Rissik!) came through and found us a set. We replaced four tyres and kept two of the older ones as spares. We got the tyres on Monday. We collected them in Durban and had them fitted in PMB at HIQ on Greyling Street. We spent Tuesday doing the final bits of packing (it was like trying to fit a whale into a shoebox — but with enough grease, anything is possible). The Big Red Truck The Unimog, for those wonder ing, is a German manufactured, go anywhere vehicle. Our Uni mog was born in 1988 and spent a few years in the German army before being bought by a friend of ours (Hello Maartin!) who built a camper on the back of it and spent three years travelling through Africa. To digress: We met Maartin, some two years after we had pur chased BRT, purely by chance. while travelling through Mozam bique and had just set up camp. Along comes a stranger and asks “is that your Mog?”. Maartin was travelling through Mozambique and had seen us driving and he recognised
the Mog that he had built 12 years ago. He was like a kid in a candy store ... Well so was I. Maartin had all the pictures of the entire build of the camper and forwarded me hundreds of them. We sat, drank beer and talked Mog. Inside, the back half of the BRT is kitted out with a tiny bathroom containing a toilet and shower, and a galley, which in cludes a gas stove. 110litre up right fridge and sink. The back has now been converted by Gary Peacock into a drawer and stor age area for a 90litre freezer. In the front is a dinner table and shelves for books and other loose items. On the roof (in front of the roof tent) are three 150 W solar panels that generate enough power to keep our 4x105aH batteries full. These batteries run the fridge and freez er and all the lights. On the nose, the minion Bob is the mascot over the washing machine, a drum that uses the Mog’s shaking to wash clothes very clean. The auto rinse cycle needs some more development work. One of the additions I added is a folddown deck on the side. Even if the area is waterlogged, we can still sit on the patio and admire the view. It takes us 15 minutes to get ev erything packed and ready to go. But when the universe knocks on your door and wants coffee and cake ... What can you do but put the kettle on, as happened one evening when we had the pleasure of meeting a very inspi rational couple, Margie and Pe ter, who happened to be from our neck of the woods in Howick. Both are in their 80s and both suffer from cancer but they are out here camping, living life. Years ago they built a seago ing yacht to travel the world, with neither having any experience of yacht building or sailing. Now they’ve built their own
Ready to start the Shah family trek in the Big Red Truck are Nikayl (12), Alhka (10) and their parents Manisha and Nihal. PHOTOS: ALWYN VILJOEN
Alhka, Nikayl and Nihal with the inspiring Peter and Margie from Howick, who are also travelling through southern Africa one camp at a time. PHOTO: MANISHA SHAH
The minion Bob is the mascot over the washing machine, a drum that uses the Mog’s shaking to wash clothes very clean. (The auto rinse cycle needs some more development work.)
The passenger area with seat belts. Fiction titles vie for space with homework on the bookshelf inside the BRT.
camper and travel from campsite to campsite staying for months at a time. They’ve taught them selves to play the guitar and har monica and other instruments and continue to enjoy life as it should be enjoyed. So back to coffee with the uni verse. We decided to say our goodbyes to Margie and Peter in the morning and the conversa tion went on and on and on. By the time we climbed into the Mog ... it was 11 am (again!). So far we’ve met several older couples who were all excited that we were “trekking” at a “young” age, rather than at 60 or 65. What about school? When most people find out that we were planning this trip through Southern African for an extended period, their first ques tion isn’t “Do you have space for one more?” or “What route are you planning to take?” They ask: “What about the kids’ schooling?” Nikayl and Alhka are 12 and 10. These are the most formative years of their lives. What better time than now to show them how the rest of Africa lives and functions and allow them to experience the culture that exists outside their (hope fully!) evergrowing bubble. See ing stuff like this on TV is great, but to experience Africa first hand, and I don’t mean from the window of a fivestar hotel, I think, is invaluable. But back to their schooling, they were both reluctant to leave school for such a extended peri od. I mean, really!? I can remem ber, as a kid, I was looking for any excuse to be out of school, and in the bush. Later, Manisha and I discovered missing out on play time with friends was their big gest concern. Their school and teachers were very supportive of the trip and went as far as to pre pare all the work that they needed to cover for the six months that
we would be away (Thank you Mr D and Mrs Tiaden!) This also makes us teachers for the next few months. Where to next Our route ... well, we didn’t want to be tied down, so we made the decision to play everything by ear, and probably a good thing too, because if we had booked anything we’d still be trying to rejig it all considering our tyres were three weeks late. So, if we like a place we stay for a day — or a week. If we don’t, we move on. I’m not sure how this is going to work out. Some of the parks we want to visit re quire us to book with govern ment departments and that may not be as efficient as we would like. But we’ll figure it out. The idea, as it stands, is to head to the Kruger Park and travel up the length to Pafuri (near the RSA, Mozambique, Zim border). From there we hope to cross the Limpopo river into Mozam bique and then into the south of Zimbabwe at Songa (we’re hop ing to avoid the extremely busy and potentially money relieving officials of the Beit Bridge cross ing into Zim). The one problem with our in tended route is that we need to cross the Limpopo River. However, no bridge exists and it all depends on the level of the water in the river. We hope to enter Zimbabwe into the Gorenazhou NP and spend a couple of nights in the park and then head up the East ern side going through the Save conservancy and Chimanimani, Mutare, Rhodes Park and around to Mana Pools. From there into Zambia, after which the route depends on how long we stay at any place. If we do not make it to all the coun tries, that’s OK — there’s always next year. • Nihal Shah is a Bed and Breakfast owner in KZN.
Highpriced Samba
To advertise your company in
Call Avir Thulsiram on 084 278 3447 OR 033 355 1152 email: Avir@witness.co.za
A 1959 VW Samba that was exported in 2005 from South Africa to England is expected to fetch between R776 356 and R948 880 (excluding tax and commissions) when it goes on auction on June 10. Among VW collectors, the 23window Samba is considered the holy grail, and this model was made even more unique with a bare metal, stripdown restoration job, which saw the owner going to extreme lengths to acquire original parts. PHOTO: CCA
MOTORING WitnessWheels
May 25, 2017
3
Cat’s pretty on the outside Sibonelo Myeni finds the sweet spot in Jaguar FPace S, but also some scratchy interior bits LOOKING at our front page, Jag uar’s entry into the SUV segment with the FPace with a diesel was either going to be a masterstroke — or sacrilegious to the British brand, on test we had the range topping diesel FPace S. Judging the whole FPace by its design, rest assured, Jaguar have hit the sweet spot in design as this Cat draws attention every where. It certainly has a presence on the road that does not show in photographs. The FPace mixes Jaguar DNA with trendy design touches to make an eye catcher from the slim LED headlights, large radiator grille, sloping roof and signature LED rear lights. Finished in white, our test unit could have done with the option al panoramic glass roof. In S trim it gains sports bump ers, S door claddings with Satin
Chrome finishes; 20inch five spoke wheels come standard. On the design alone, the FPace has its main competitors (Porsche Macan, Merc GLC Coupe, BMW X4) well covered. The interior layout is function al and allows easy control of all functions. Electric leather sports seats come standard. Some of the interior finishes do not do justice to the Jaguar premium brand and are a letdown. The new Infotain ment Touchscreen is a massive improvement over the previous Jag unit. Navigation, an excellent Me ridian Sound System, alcantara roof lining, cruise control, speed limiter, reversing camera with park assist, twozone climate control, satin chrome gearshift paddles also come standard. The FPace seats five adults comfortably and cossets them in
The The FPace FPace V6 V6 diesel diesel is is an an excellent excellent cruiser cruiser and and handles handles as as expected expected from from a a premium premium price price SUV, SUV, but but the the interior interior quality quality needs needs work. work. PHOTO: PHOTO: JAGUAR JAGUAR luxury even on long journeys. The boot space is good, however, the muchneeded fullsize spare wheel (20inch, fivespoke as well) does inhibit some space, but I would still rather have this than the dangerous runflats of fered by competition.
Dash cams for safer SA DASH cams should be deployed to all vehicles to help make the South African road user more responsible and reward good behaviour. This is the view of Lizette Eras mus, insurance expert at IntegriSure. While fleet monitoring systems like MercedesBenz’s FleetBoard al ready use dash cams to monitor driv ers, Erasmus said South Africa should follow the UK example, where having a dash cam could reduce the insurance premium by up to 15%. “Being able to provide additional evidence that you were not at fault when a motor accident occurs can be beneficial during claim stage and even fasttrack the process,” she ex plained. Erasmus said the willingness to in stall a dash cam is evidence of a re sponsible person and will conse quently reflect in their premiums, taking the person’s risk profile into consideration. Based on examples for Russia,
where every vehicle has a dash cam, Erasmus warned that while a dash cam assists with the collection of evi dence after a crash, it does not elimi nate the need for a thorough investi gation into an incident. “Dash cams see broadly into the road, therefore other detail on the road may be missed by the camera lens — which is where an eyewitness account is still vital. “Insurance providers still have to conduct thorough investigation to assess the incident and the resultant damage. “Dash cams do, however, assist in speeding up the process and giving a greater scope of what happened. When all is said and done, dash cams do encourage responsible driving be haviour. “Whether or not South Africa is ready for the wholesale adoption of dash cams in the shortterm insur ance industry remains to be seen,” Erasmus said. — WR.
Cheap action cam a nono ARMAND ATKINS THESE days, if you hope to get a sponsor to fund your car racing hab it, you need to post beautifully edited clips to display your car control skills in slomo to your social media fans. But you can’t post just any old clip. Top Gear has set the standard, changing the angle or shot every sec ond. To match this, you will need at least two action cams in a car. But the goto action cam, the Go Pro, is not exactly cheap, so imagine my joy walking through Game and spotting an action cam for only R599 including all the cables, coverings and mounts you could possibly hope for as an adventure seeker and car en thusiast. This was the Volkano Excite HD Action Cam. On paper, its specs looked like Arnold’s pecs — HD 720P video recorder, wide angle lens, digi tal zoom, touch screen display, un derwater function, a 1,2 megapixel still camera and a 12month guaran tee. In practice, it turns out the Vol kano Excite is more of the former and less of the latter. It glitches and an old Blackberry takes better pics than the 1,2 MP still camera. The waterproof casing at least functioned as advertised, not letting in a drop, be it from a muddy puddle
The lessthanimpressive Volkano Excite HD Action Cam. PHOTO: GAME for that low angle shot or at 30 me tres underwater. The touch screen is also better than expected at this price and the button system is well thought out. Even the battery life is fair, I’ll give it that. But it all falls flat with the lens, which does not collect enough light, rendering all your shots gloomy and unusable. To add insult to injury, my model also added a line distortion in all my video clips, so even though this camera package is on sale for only R399, it is not worth buying. Seeing that GoPros still go for sacks of dough, rather save your cash, I’ll next tell you about affordable cameras from MiView Digital and Geco that will serve you better on the road to social media fame. • armand@zonked.co.za
Powering the Diesel S FPace is Jaguar’s 3litre Twin Turbo die sel V6 credited with 221 kW/700 Nm driving all wheels via an 8speed auto trans mission. The S Diesel sprints from 0 100 km/h in 6,2 seconds topping
at 241 km/h. During the test re view we averaged 9,5l/100 km in city driving whilst we got as low as 8,2l/100 km on the open road, impressive figures indeed, how ever, the 66litre fuel tank does limit range. The V6 Diesel is an excellent cruiser with little or no lag on pulloffs and that tree stumppull ing torque means the transmis sion rarely needs to change down on inclines. On the road the FPace has ex cellent dynamic manners with road holding and agility reserved for sports cars. The lightweight aluminium architecture excels in change of direction. This is not surprising considering the FPace targets the also excellent Porsche Ma can. On bumpy roads, the FPace can become unsettled but over all, it’s an excellent dynamic
weapon on twisty roads. Com fort and low noise intrusion in the cabin mean occupants can travel long distances with little fatigue. The FPace comes standard with an extensive fiveyear/ 100 000 km maintenance plan with roadside assistance. At R1 125 700, the FPace Die sel S does come standard with a lot of kit, especially if you consid er its main rival Porsche Macan S Diesel costs R1 148 000 but needs buyers to pay extra for 20 inch wheels, Sports leather seats, LED headlights ... features that will significantly increase the Porsche’s price. As a dynamic SUV package, the FPace ticks all the boxes but the interior quality is a letdown. • Catch Sibonelo Myeni talking cars on Ukhozi FM every Thursday morning at 7.45 am.
4
WitnessWheels MOTORING
May 25, 2017
DRIFTKHANA BACK AT MASON’S
Mike McLoughlin will be back for next month’s regional racing at the Dezzi race track in his Backdraft Cobra after parking in the kitty litter during Round 4 of the KZN Regional Championship series over the weekend. PHOTOS: COLIN WINDELL
Frenetic action KZN regional series sees drivers and riders going all out COLIN WINDELL THE championship points chase in the KZN Regional road racing series kicked up a gear at Dezzi Raceway near Port Shepstone at the week end with some frenetic action throughout the various class es for both cars and motorcy cles in Round 4 of the series. Super Modifieds In the Super Modifieds class, Paul Tarboton (VW Golf) won the day to top the series log with 185 points after a race win in the first heat and a sec ond place in heat two — always under heavy pressure from Li onel Taylor and Elton Fuchs, the latter scoring the race win in the second heat from Tar boton. Taylor is second on the log on 148 points with Fuchs next up on 91, ahead of the next clash on June 24, again at Dez zi Raceway. Ronald van Rensburg (VW Golf) started the day well in the series for Class A Modi fieds with a race win ahead of Denver Branders (Toyota Tazz) and Terence Ehlers. Branders went on to win heat two when Van Rensburg failed to finish. Van Rensburg, however, re mains top of the leaderboard on 175 points from Ehlers (122) and Branders on 114. Class B Modifieds In the race for Class B Modi fied honours, the Ford Escort of Gary Brown top scored for the day with two secondplace finishes behind Greg Bruyns in the first outing and then be hind his brother, Kyle, in the second heat. Richard Loynes (VW Golf)
Rob Mordaunt was part of the hectic action among the Lotus 7s that saw Byron Oliver emerge the winner. finished third in both races but remains top of the champion ship log with 163 points from Bruyns (118), Brown (100) and Allan Brown on 82. Inex Legends In the Inex Legends series, Richard Upton moved to a comfortable position 45 points clear of the opposition with two race wins over Rich ard van Heerde, who moved up into second on the log, with the previous incumbent, Kan aya Maharaj, not able to make the raceday. Two secondplace finishes from Charl Roux saw him move into joint third in the se ries with Maharaj. Hectic action among the Lotus 7 pilots saw Byron Oliv er move to the top of the Sports Car log with two wins on the day — his 175 points giv ing him the edge over Chris Wooley who claimed a second and a third on the day after be ing harried throughout by Mark Futcher and Rob Mor daunt. Wooley is second on the log on 161 points from Mordaunt (119) and Futcher on 64. GT Class
In the GT Class champion ship, Willie de Beer (Porsche) had a fine day to win both heats from Duncan Dos Reis, also Porsche mounted, and Duncan Day in a Cobra. With Greg Parton absent, his lead in the series has shrunk to just four points ahead of De Beer, Dos Reis and Day. Mike McLoughlin (Back draft Cobra) was looking good early in the day but was forced out when he crashed into the tyre barrier on the South Loop, saying: “I hit the bump at the entrance to the corner and that lifted the rear just enough to leave me with only front brakes, and no way of stopping. “Once I got onto the dirt there was no chance, but no problem, I’ll be back next month.” Bikes On the motorcycle side it was a clean sweep for Bryce Hills in Class A of the Breakfast se ries, taking the chequer in both heats to cement his lead in the series. Wesley Schmidt added a good points haul to his tally by finishing second overall on the day ahead of Marc van Wyk.
Hills leads the series on 195 points from Van Wyk (140), Gavin Wagenaar (130) and Schmidt (111). Breakfast B belonged to Chris Landsberg on the day, but Pietermartizburg’s Caitlin McKelvey hung onto her lead in the series with two second place finishes. She is now just two points ahead of Clinton Massey Hicks (133), with Quinton Rid dick a distant third on 88 points. The Open Class was won by Duncan Day followed by Roy Hallett and Mark Jansen with Taric van der Merwe doing the honours in the 300 Class from Lubbes Meyer and Juan de Witt. Formula Extreme Formula Extreme saw Nikolai Conci takes top honours for the day ahead of Luan van Zyl and Cameron Venter. The thrilling open encoun ter on the day in this class saw a titanic battle between Conci and Malcolm Rudman with the latter just heading Conci over the line. The second race looked poised to offer just as much in the way of thrills, but technical issues forced Rudman to with draw mid race, leaving Conci a clear run to the line. Rudman still leads the series on 165 points, followed by Conci on 157 and Van Zyl on 121.
Following on the success of the first Driftkhana event hosted at Mason’s Mills near Edendale in Msunduzi, coorganiser Reece Williamson and KZN’s top stunt drivers are back to put on another spectacular display of precision driving. Over 2 000 people last year December lined the banks at Mason’s Mill for the first Driftkhana in South Africa. In this second leg of the series, drivers will again have to, among other tricks, do quick drifts through a tight track on a time attack, then make the most donuts around a stack of tyres, as well as use their car like a bat to hit a large swing ball. IMAGE: SUPPLIED
EAST COAST
ENGINE IMPORTS
QUALITY USED LOW MILEAGE ENGINES AND GEABOXES
WE OFFER DELIVERY INTO DURBAN AND PMB ON ENGINE AND GEARBOX PURCHASES
Brand New Turbos for most makes of vehicles
FOR THE LEXUS V8 ENTHUSIASTS WE OFFER • Pre-Wired Lexus V8 1UZ VVTI complete with automatic gearbox • Pre-Wired Lexus V8 3UZ VVTI complete with automatic gearbox • Brand new and second hand original spares and service parts • Our pre-wired original OEM mnagement is ready for installation with only 6 wires to connect • All units are bench tested
• Top Quality used low mileage engines and gearboxes for most makes and models of cars and light delivery vehicles • Heads • Turbos • Diffs • Lexus spares • New and Second hand • We stock local stock as well
CBR 150 class The hotly contested CBR150 class went to Jesse Conci from Vincent de Bock and Max Smith, while the CBR150 Master was all about Leo Booysen, who took top hon ours from Roy Hallett and Ali stair Caldwell.
Hyundai step onto Portuguese podium HYUNDAI Motorsport have claimed their second double podium of the 2017 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) on Sunday, with Thierry Neu ville and Dani Sordo complet ing Rally de Portugal in second and third positions respec tively. Sébastien Ogier and navi gator Julien Ingrassia won the rally in a time of 3 hours 42
minutes and 55,7 seconds in their 2017 Ford Fiesta WRC. It is Hyundai’s first Portu guese podium and the sixth time that the team’s had two crews on the podium. In the closely fought final four stages on Sunday, includ ing two attempts at the leg endary Fafe jump, Ogier stayed 16 seconds ahead of Neuville. Both drivers look forward to
a rematch in the Rally Italia Sardegna from June 8 to 11. Drivers’ standings: 1. S. Ogier (128 points) 2. T. Neuville (106) 3. J.M. Latvala (88) 4. O. Tanak (83) 5. D. Sordo (66) 6. E. Evans (53) 7. C. Breen (43) 8. H. Paddon (33)
9. K. Meeke (27) 10. J. Hänninen (21)
CV Joint speCialists
for CV joints, ball joints, tie rod ends, wheel bearings.
341 GReYlinG stReet Pmb. 033 342 9174/75
Our friendly sales team is equipped to deal with all enquiries and have a wealth of knowledge in the motoring field. We pride ourselves in delivering exceptional service and products to our clients and therefore have a stringent quality check process in place to make sure that every product complies with our requirements and is in top order. Tel: Cell:
035 789 0464 53 Bullion Boulevard 035 789 0754 Richards Bay CBD 084 357 1082 Richards Bay eastcoastengines@gmail.com