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THE WITNESS
SEPTEMBER 13, 2018
September 13, 2018
Witness
NEXT WHEELED EVENTS • November 9-10: Ramasgate, “the hardest one-day enduro in Africa”. More on www.wfo racing.co.za • October 14: National Cross Country at Terra Topia in Gauteng. • October 17: KZN racing cross country at Boston. More info on www.kznracing.co.za • October 27: Natal Motorcycle and Car Club rally with MSA and Arro racers at Dalton. More from Dean Redelinghuis at 083 657 1526.
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Next week in Wheels All the latest in transport from the 67th Hanover Truck Show, like this concept van from Mercedes-Benz.
MOTORING ACROSS KZN SINCE 1904
India plans to grow more fuel
SA’s strongest bakkies
ALWYN VILJOEN
ALWYN VILJOEN says choosing a strong double cab is all about heart, not head
AS South Africans brace for fuel prices to rise again next month, India has restated its aim to grow fuel using sugar, crop husks, wheat and rice. This news comes amid reports that Saudi Arabia wants to keep oil prices as high as possible in order to finance a series of economic development projects in the kingdom. “The Saudis need oil at about $80 [R1 203] and they don’t want prices to go below $70. They want to manage the market like this,” a source at Opec told Reuters on September 5. With the rand still at around 15 to the dollar, this means fuel prices can only go up in South Africa. The same applies to India, where the minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, last week repeated his department’s goal to promote ethanol and other alternative fuels to lessen India’s dependency on imported fuel. Speaking at the 58th annual convention of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India, Gadkari said “ethanol is the solution for our fuel problems”. He added that India has a surplus of sugar cane which is bound to increase this year and his department plans to ferment and refine surplus Blackstrap molasses into ethanol instead of refining it into sugar for food use. Gadkari said the petroleum ministry will have a separate and attractive pricing pattern for the ethanol produced in this manner. Gadkari also said the government plans to produce ethanol directly from sugar-cane juice, which will also be priced attractively and will further aid in increasing the production of this alternative fuel. The minister also talked about the government’s plan to use cotton straw, wheat straw and rice straw to produce bio-ethanol and other biofuel. In May, Gadkari suggested that institutions engaged in agricultural research take up topics such as biofuel to reduce dependency on oil imports. He said India’s petroleum ministry is also looking at the conversion of other biomass or plant materials into ethanol. “The government has also noticed that there is a surplus of wheat and rice in Punjab and Haryana, so they are weighing the options to change the crop pattern and increase corn [maize] plantation. So, like in the U.S., India too can thus produce bio-ethanol from corn,” he said. In the U.S., the Fuel Freedom Foundation said while the number of electrified or full electric vehicles is predicted to rise to over three billion by 2050, even the optimistic assumptions show EVs and other alternative vehicles will still make up only half of the total vehicle on the roads. The other half will comprise internal combustion engines that run on fuels like biodiesel. And that’s a best-case scenario.
SOUTH Africans who want a new bakkie can choose from 27 brands, ranging from the plucky little Changan 1,3 half-tonner to the beastly 6,7-litre RAM trucks imported by US Trucks in Richards Bay. But mostly, we don’t choose. Instead, we stick with a Hilux, SA’s bestselling vehicle overall and the bakkie that enjoys over a third of local sales for two reasons — lots of dealers and high resale values. Last month, Toyota sold 3 366 Hiluxes, compared to Ford’s 2 535 Rangers, and just three Boarding bakkies from JMC. The Hilux is, however, no longer SA’s best-selling double cab. Ford now claims that title for the Ranger bakkie, in which the 3,2-litre diesel turbo engine makes 470 Newtons. The Newtons show how big the engine’s muscles are, while the kilo-Watts show how fast the muscles can move without tearing apart. Race cars need high kiloWatts. Bakkies need high Newtons. The most Newtons in a bakkie in SA comes from the 6,7-litre turbo diesel in the specially imported RAM Laramie. This Yank tank makes over 1 000 Nm, good for towing big boats and tractors, but too much and way too thirsty for daily use. In a double-cab bakkie that weighs in at some 3,5 tons with two passengers inside, you want about 300 Newtons for sprightly performance. To use less diesel, you also want this torque to be made between 1 500 and 2 500 revolutions per minute (rpm) — what truckers call the powerband. Several bakkies make around 300 Newtons at these low revs and for relatively low prices, from the Mahindra Pik Up at 2,2 CRDe to a used Tata Xenon at 2,2. (Tata no longer imports the vastly underrated Xenon.) But the “halo bakkies” that set
Alan North, seen topping the podium after the Italian 350 cc GP at Monza in 1977, will be dicing again at Dezzi’s on Saturday.
Top racing, on tar and off-road ALWYN VILJOEN
Making a truck’s torque at over 1 000 Newton metres, the RAM Laramie bakkies, which are imported and converted for SA roads by US Trucks in Richards Bay, are the most powerful pick-ups in SA. PHOTO: US TRUCKS the standards now all make 450 Newtons or more. With 470 Newtons on tap, the Ranger 3,2-litre has to date dominated sales while its badge twin, the Mazda BT50, last month sold only 21 models, a statistic that shows buying a double cab is not a rational process. The 3,2-litre in the BT50 and Ranger used to be king, but now face competition from two new German bakkies, both with V6 engines that make 550 Nm. They are Merc’s X-Class 350D and VW’s Amarok Extreme. The Merc makes its 550 Nm between 1 400 and 3 200 rpm — the widest powerband here, while the VW has a narrower powerband of 1 400 and 2 750 rpm. Making only 20 Newtons less than the Ranger’s
bigger engine is the award-winning 2,3-litre turbo diesel deployed in the Nissan Navara, the Merc X-Class 250D and soon, the Renault Alaskan (due in SA before year end). Then comes the Fiat Fullback and its twin the Mitsubishi Triton (both making 430 Nm); the Hilux 2,8-litre (420 Nm); the X-Class 2,3-litre, detuned to make 403 Nm; and the popular Hilux 2,4-litre (400 Nm). These are all very capable double cabs with similar looks and specs that average out on a spreadsheet, which makes choosing one above the other a question of heart, not head. Hence, we suggest ticking just three boxes to choose from SA’s strongest bakkies. • Is the monthly cost affordable? (Bear in mind the finance cost is only about 40%
of the running costs.) • Is the dealer close by for those services? • And most important, does the bakkie make you smile each time you drive it? When you have a double cab that ticks all boxes, remember, it is a buyers’ market and dealers like Key Group are offering big discounts or fantastic trade-ins to win your business. If they don’t, move to the next closest dealer on your list. • alwyn.viljoen@witness.co.za SA’s six strongest bakkies Mercedes-Benz X-Class 350D VW Amarok 3,0 V6 TDI Ford Ranger 3,2 Mazda BT50 3,2 Mercedes-Benz X-Class 250D Nissan Navara 2,3
550 Nm 550 Nm 470 Nm 470 Nm 450 Nm 450 Nm
@ @ @ @ @ @
1 400-3 200 1 400- 2750 1 500-2 750 1 500-2 750 1 500-2 500 1 500-2 500
Online booking system for driver’s licences popular in GP ROAD Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) spokesperson Simon Zwane said in a statement that the number of people using the new online booking system to book for learner’s and driver’s licence tests and
renewal of driver’s licence cards in Gauteng has shown a steady increase since the launch of the service on August 30. To date, 2 259 people have been using the system to schedule the date and time which
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they intend to take their learner’s licence or driver’s licence tests from 35 driving licence testing centres. Other people have used the system to renew their driver’s licence cards. Zwane said walk-in bookings are still being allowed; however, this will be phased out in due course and motorists are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the new system. The City of Tshwane has announced that it will no longer be taking any walk-in
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bookings for learner’s licence and driver’s licence tests at any of its centres. Applicants are advised to use the online service to schedule the tests and go to the licensing centre within three days to confirm their booking by making the necessary payment. Walk-in services are offered for the renewal of driver’s licence cards and public driver’s permits between 8 am and 10 am daily. Thereafter, appointments must be made online. The new online system was launched by Minister of Transport Blade Nzimande and Gauteng MEC for Transport and Roads, Dr Ismail Vadi, to modernise services and reduce opportunities for corrupt practices. Zwane said the online system will also help to reduce queues at the centres once it is fully implemented nationwide. — Wheels Reporter.
EAST COAST
RACING fans are in for a treat this weekend, be it on tar or off-road. Inland at the Harrismith 400, Maritzburgbased Neil Woolridge Motorsport again take on the might of Toyota Gazoo Racing in the fifth and penultimate round of the 2018 South African Cross Country Series (SACCS). Close racing at Oslo Beach And at Oslo Beach on the South Coast, racing will be tight as KZN’s amateur race drivers and riders duel it out on what some say is the world’s most scenic track — Dezzi Raceway. No one should be fooled by the amateur status of KZN Road Racing Club members. Fresh from Spain is They have lots of ex- fast biker Jesse perience and prodi- Boshof. gious levels of talent, like Alan North, who won the Italian 350 cc GP at Monza in 1977; or Jesse Boshof, who was invited to race in Spain in the CEV STK600 round at Valencia in September, or Durban’s faster bikers, father and son Sanjiv and Lee Singh. Sanjiv leads the Masters and the fans gave 10year-old Lee a standing ovation when he set the fastest lap and won a Titanic battle in the CBR 150 class last month. (They start ’em young at sea level.) Fords vs Toyotas The off-road racing in the Free State starts tomorrow until Saturday, and with only two more races to score points, this is a make or break weekend for the production vehicle category. Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Giniel de Villiers and navigator Dennis Murphy lead this section, but after not finishing the Atlas Copco 400 in Bronkhorstspruit, they will be under pressure to get their Hilux to the pit crew in one piece on both days of racing. KZN Midlanders will, however, be looking at the Class T racing, where only four points separate the Ford Ranger of Lance Woolridge/Ward Huxtable from the Toyota Hilux of brothers Johan and Werner Horn from Malalane.
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Neil Woolridge’s team have fitted a new five-litre Mustang V8 engine to the Ranger bakkie, and barring punctures, the pony car’s power plant should be enough to stay ahead of the “Malananes”. Neil Woolridge will be hoping for a repeat of last year, when Gareth Woolridge and navigator Boyd Dreyer won the Harrismith 440, followed by Woolridge/and Huxtable. Gareth is in peak form for just such an outcome, having won the T1-Brazil Class on his international racing debut when he competed in the eight-day long Rally dos Sertões over 3 600 kilometres in Brazil last month. The Atlas Copco Toyota Hilux team of Gary Bertholdt/Geoff Minnitt is also chasing another podium after winning the Atlas Copco 400. Also in the mix are Toyota Gazoo’s young racer Henk Lategan with veteran navigator Barry White. The very talented Lategan would like nothing more than to score a second overall win. Toyota Gazoo navigator Barry White (left) and driver Henk Lategan.
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Ranger racers: Lance Woolridge (left) and navigator Ward Huxtable.
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Logistics The Harrismith 400 car and bike racers will qualify for starting positions in a 40 km from 1 pm tomorrow, followed by the race proper from 8 am on Saturday over a 170 kilometre route that will be run twice, with a compulsory 30 minute service halt after the first lap at the Eeram Farmers Complex. • Follow the Harrismith 400 action on the RallySafe App, free for iOS and Android.