December 12, 2019
THE WITNESS
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21
WHEELS
www.witness.co.za
FUN THINGS TO DO ON WHEELS IN PMB KARTING Wicked Karting’s tricky track at Liberty Mall offers the most affordable racing in town at R70 for five minutes (with a special on Wednesdays), and it has quickly become a favourite pastime for UKZN PMB Rugby club players Sips Buthelezi (left) Sibusiswe Langa (right) and the club’s chair, Nic Haswell. PHOTOS: ALWYN VILJOEN MOUNTAIN BIKING Pietermaritzburg is SA’s mountain biking capital, thanks to many forest trails and rural roads around the city. Seen here is S’bu Masango, whom endurance guru Martin Dreyer has described as “SA’s most versatile mountain biker”, popping a wheely after “gentle” 100 km ride over rural roads. 4x4 The KZN branch of the Four Wheel Drive Club of Southern Africa is very active with family outings, driver training and camping trips. New wheels are not needed, just lots of ground clearance, as shown here by Jonathan Strashoon’s V8 Beetle. More on www.4wdkzn.co.za SKATING The laid-back but fearless friends of Pietermaritzburg Skating Society delight in testing gravity’s limits at the Alexandra Skatepark on Alexandra Road, and sometimes at the Linpark half-pipe opposite Lynwood Club on Mbubu Road. While skating is a friendly sport, it is a hardcore hobby for the more athletic among us. PHOTO: #PSS RIDES AND DRIVES Bikers and vintage car owners meet most Friday evenings at The Vintage Sports Car Club in Oribi Road in Westgate, where they plan rides, like the fifth Toy Run that took place last weekend; regular “bonnets up” events, where muchprized wheels are shown off; as well as the annual Cars in the Park. Find more on www.vscc.co.za PHOTO: Namaste KZN
Riding on sunshine Squad cart can prowl the empty streets at night, using sunlight stored during the day ALWYN VILJOEN DUTCH start-up Squad Mobility has added a second solar-powered “car” alongside the Dutch Lightyear sedan, but the spartan Squad’s price and cladding are aimed at salaried workers. The Lightyear One is expected to sell for over R2,4 million (€149 000) when it is produced in 2021, while the founders of Squad Mobility — Robert Hoevers and Chris Klok — plan to sell their electric carts for less than R100 000. The money buys what is basically a electric, two-seat golf cart with rear-wheel drive and a solar power system than can potentially meet all the driver’s “refueling” needs. Seat belts, a roll-cage and an optional 243-litre trunk in back helped the 2-mlong Squad to meet the homologation requirements of Europe’s light quadricycle category, with also require its top speed to be limited to 45 km/h. Power comes from two small motors totalling four kW in the rear wheels and
The Squad Solar joins the Lightyear One (inset) as only the second that runs on sunshine and is homologated to drive in Europe. Both vehicles go on sale in 2021, but the Squad cart is 25 times cheaper than Lightyear One.
Top 14 semi-finalists for SA COTY 2020 SOUTH Africa’s motoring journalists have voted. So too have members of the public, and the car with the most public votes this year is the Mazda3. South Africa’s guild of motoring journalists have listed 25 semi-finalists, from which 14 finalists were last week chosen to be judged in the 2020 AutoTrader South African Car of the Year competition. While only one winner will emerge from these 14 vehicles, the list provides a handy shortcut for readers looking for buy a new car in any of seven categories — Family, Leisure, Lifestyle, Premium Car, Premium SUV, Sports/Performance, and Urban. Chair of the guild Rubin van Niekerk said this year’s list was culled from cars launched this year by 16 different car manufacturers, and included anything and everything from family runabouts to sports cars, and
from luxurious sports utility vehicles to bakkies. AutoTrader CEO George Mienie said some of the vehicles have already won major international accolades. “The Jaguar I-Pace, for instance, made history when it won an unprecedented three awards — World Car of the Year, World Green Car and World Car Design of the Year — at the 2019 World Car Awards. He said were the I-Pace to win the 2020 AutoTrader South African Car of the Year title, it would be the first electric car to take top honours in the 34-year old competition. Mienie said the number of public votes has more than doubled in this year’s competition. “This is a clear indication that South Africans want to have their say in these top motoring awards,” Mienie said.
In March next year, 27 of South Africa’s top motoring journalists will judge the vehicles over two days of tests. Van Niekerk said this made SA’s Coty tests more scientific, compared to most other Coty competitions for which journalists simply score vehicles electronically. 2020 SA COTY SEMI-FINALISTS • BMW 3 Series • BMW X5 • Citroën C3 Aircross • Ford Ranger Raptor • Hyundai Atos • Jaguar I-PACE • Mazda3 • Mercedes-Benz GLE • Peugeot 5008 • Suzuki Swift Sport • Toyota Corolla Hatch • Toyota RAV4 • Toyota Supra • Volkswagen T-Cross
two removable lithium-ion batteries that provide roughly 100 km of range per charge. “Our solar-electric Squad can charge up to 9 000 km per year in a sunny country with its own solar roof, making it completely emission-free for most users driving 30 km or one hour per day for 300 days a year in an urban environment,” said Hoevers in a statement. “Most vehicles in this segment don’t drive more than 6 000 km. The Squad can plug in to charge, with removable batteries making for easy swapping. An extra battery sells for about R25 000. Like the Lightyear company, Squad Mobility plans to start selling units in 2021, but drivers who want to stop driving fossil fuel cars earlier, can sign up for a €100/month (about R1 650) lease from next year. The Lightyear One is meanwhile being marketed in the U.S. with a prototype touring San Francisco. Time magazine listed the Lightyear One “one of the Best Inventions of 2019”.
KZN off road champions emerge from Hlatikulu 200 REX BOREHAM THE Natal Off Road Motor Club ended the 2019 Natal Off Road Racing Car Championship series with the Lighthouse Designs Hlatikulu 200, held on Saturday 30 November, west of Mooi River out on the Giants Castle road. A very hot and dry day made for some rather dusty, but close racing. The 50 kilometre track threw a bit of everything at the competitors, from fast open sections to twisty timber plantation roads with a few rocky tracks for good measure. Adverse weather shortened the race by one lap, but at the end of the day a race worthy of deciding who the champions for 2019 are. The race was won by Gary Campbell and his daughter Jess in the hot seat, followed closely by Trace PriceMoor/Shaun Braithwaite second.
Third overall went to Jarrod Blackman/Steve Botha in their big V8 Chevy LS. Fourth place was enough for Graeme Peterson/Alaric Smith to clinch the 2019 crowns in the drivers and co-drivers KZN championships after a close year of racing. Quinten Lessing and Noel Acton who travelled all the way from East London to compete in KZN for the first time and they earned themselves a first place in class C. More on www.nataloffroad.co.za.
CV Joint speCialists
for CV joints, ball joints, tie rod ends, wheel bearings.
341 GReYlinG stReet Pmb. 033 342 9174/75
YEAR END SAVINGS AT RENAULT PMB 2015 Chev Spark 1.2LS A/C, P/S, E/W
2019 Kwid Auto AMT
Low mileage, full house
2015 Hyundai i10 1.1 GLS Motion
2015 Picanto 1.0 LS
2015 Vw Polo Vivo GP 1.4 Trend Also 2014 low mileage VW Polo 1.4 Base R99 900
AUTO
A/C, P/S, E/W
CHOICE OF 2
R139 900
WAS R159 900
2014 Kia Rio 1.2 5 door
Full house
R119 900
MA SP N AGE EC RS IAL
WAS R149 900
2014 Chev Utility 1.4i
R89 900
2013 Nissan Qashqai 2.0 Acentia
Full house
R159 900
WAS R179 900
2018 Renault Stepway 900t Expression
A/c , p/s , canopy
R109 900
WAS R109 900
Full House
WAS R119 900
2010 Toyota Corolla Advance
Full house, Mags
R134 900
R104 900
WAS R129 900
2019 NP200 1.6 8 VALVE
AUTO
WAS R149 900
2018 Clio Dynamique 900t Full house
P/s, bin liing, deliver mileage, manual
R149 900
AS
NE
2014 Navara 2.5 4x4 Manual
WAS R139 900
2018 Renault Sandero 900t Expression W
WAS R179 900
Canopy, bull bar, tow bar
R104 900
MA SP N AGE EC RS IAL
R149 900
WAS R159 900
2018 Renault Duster 1.5 4x4 Dynamique Full house
SIMILAR TO PIC
R89 900
WAS R169 900
R159 900
WAS R174 900
R189 900
WAS R229 900
R239 900
WAS R279 900
R239 900
WAS R259 900
DEMO DEMO DEMO
2019 Stepway 900T Plus
Full house, Leather S/Grab
2019 Renault Megane IV 1.6 Expression
DEMO
S/Grab
DEMO
2017 Renault Kadjar 1.2 Dynamique EDC Auto DEMO
WAS R289 900
R215 900
WAS R249 900
R249 900
WAS R289 900
R309 900
DEMO
AUTO
WAS R349 900
087 803 1999
087 893 0488
2019 Renault Koleos Dynamique
Full house
DEMO
AUTO
SIMILAR TO PIC
R214 900
2019 Duster 1.5 Dynamique
Full house, Extra’s Side Step, Tow Bar, Front Bar, S/Grab
R449 900 Hlengiwe Zulu
WAS R499 900
087 896 6665