April 4, 2015
Weekend Witness
MOTORING
13
For red or blue car buyers Two cars that will rise to any occasion without the fear of daunting petrol prices
For the person who just wants to get to point B and describes their car by its colour, both the Etios and the Figo provide a solid but basic vehicle with very little that can go wrong. PHOTO: AMIL UMRAW AMIL UMRAW WITH the petrol price on an upward spiral, most people are moving away from guzzling three litres and sports cars, looking for something a bit more, well, budgetfriendly. So with just a bit more than R100 000 to spend, what secondhand little runaround can you get nowadays that is actual value for money? Metro Car Sales in Boshoff Street in Pietermaritzburg put two keys in my hand recently, one for a little Ford Figo hatch and another for a Toyota Etios sedan. Obviously, in terms of appear ance, as with most budget vehicles in their segments, flashing them outside
the pub is not going to get you the atten tion of that hot person you’ve been eye ing out — but if you play your cards right, they’ll surely get you both back to your place without a hassle. Etios squint exercises Let’s look at the Etios first. I managed to fit four crates of beer in the boot, as well as four of my mates on the back seat, albeit they aren’t the biggest of blokes, but they still had some leg space behind the front seats. The Etios is a bit sluggish from 100 120 km/h in fifth gear so you will have to sit in the left lane until you build up some speed, especially uphill. But get yourself on a flat at 120 km/h and put
your foot down — you’ll chase down 200 km/h in no time. Its 1,5 litre VVT engine is quite nippy in traffic as well, and I love that little snapback on the neck when you pass 3 000 rpm. Not bad for a car with an average consumption of just under six litres per 100 km. There’s just one thing I can’t stand, though. The designers may have been high on petrol fumes when they centred the dials in the middle of the dashboard, with horrid, toylike gauges that look like stickers. I had to take my eyes off the road and squint to see exactly what was going on there. The digital display of the Yaris is similarly problematic. Come now, Toyota, put those dials back
where they are supposed to be. Pedal pushing in the Figo Now on to the Ford Figo, the smaller vehicle of the two which is more suited to a student or a married couple with out children. The Figo has a harder sus pension and handles well around a bend at 80 km/h, without the rear end slip ping out like the Etios. It’s got a lower frontal clearance and is much cuter as a whole. You can feel the 127 Nm of torque in its little 1.4l 16v engine, but it lags severely when you put the airconditioner on. It’s almost as though the tip of your toe mistakenly pressed down on the brake. Yes, it really is that bad.
But if you just brave on without it and open your windows for a cool breeze instead, the Figo really cleans up. It’ll reach 160 km/h on the highway easi ly, but don’t expect it to go any more than that; this is where the Etios takes it. The steering is a lot stiffer, just giving you added reassurance that you’re in control. It all feels a little more rugged and a bit lesssophisticated, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. So, do the Figo and the Etios provide value for money? Of course they do. It just depends on your lifestyle and what you need. Personally, I’d go with the Figo, but that’s just because I think large boots are overrated. • amil.umraw@witness.co.za
Ducati Monster is a case of horses for courses DRIES VAN DER WALT DUCATI’S Monster range of naked bikes goes way back — variations on the basic Monster theme have been in production since 1993. The com pany currently lists five Monster models, although in South Africa we only have three, the 821, the 1200 and the 1200S. The Monster 1200 was one a finalist in the 2014 SA Bike of the Year and when Ducati offered Wheels24 a 1200S for review, we took the opportunity to spend more time with the bike. Ducati gets naked With its exposed engine and trellis frame, the Monster is a naked bike in the true sense of the word. There is very little bodywork — a fuel tank, radiator trim and a rearseat cowl are the only things that break the stark functionality of engine and frame. On a standard Monster, wind is a major problem at speed, but the test model was equipped with a tiny but surprisingly effective aftermar ket screen. If you own (or plan to buy) a Monster, I would highly rec ommend fitting a screen — it in creases no end the bike’s openroad utility. The Monster is not intended as a tourer — it’s a streetfighter, plain and simple, packing a mighty wallop in as light a frame as possible. It is designed for short, quick rides around town, or to add true Italian
The Monster is a street fighter packing a mighty wallop in as light a frame as possible. PHOTO: SUP PLIED
flair to your daily commute. As a re sult, I initially found the seating po sition somewhat awkward with too little room between the righthand foot peg and the exhaust’s heat shield, but later made peace with it. Clunky gearbox Having previously marvelled at the smoothness of the gearboxes on oth er Ducati bikes, I was surprised at the clunkyness of the Monster’s box. It felt spongy during gearshifts, both up and down, and was actually diffi cult to put into neutral if you hap pened to stop at a traffic light with the bike in gear. On the upside of the transmission is the fact that the bike
is equipped with a slipper clutch, which allows you to make full use of engine braking without rear wheel hop. Öhlins suspension on the 1200S helps in the handling depart ment, and the bike excels at “slow in, fast out” cornering. The Monster is powered by the second generation of Ducati’s Testastretta 11° Dual Spark engine (Testastretta means “narrow head”). Dual Spark ignition uses two plugs per cylinder to ensure complete combustion in a very short time. This engine is unique to the Mon ster 1200 range, being designed as a structural element of the frame; Ducati says the air intake and ex
haust have been tuned to give in creased torque at low to medium revs. The bike felt much more power ful than the power/torque figures would have you believe. More than twothirds of its total torque is on tap from 2 500 rpm and from there it just keeps getting better. Give the throttle a hefty twist and the eight level traction control has its work cut out to keep the Monster from shred ding its rear tyre. The traction con trol system electronically retards the ignition to reduce the engine’s torque when wheelspin is detected. Overall Despite its performance, the Mon ster turned out to be surprisingly economical for its engine size. With out my trying to ride deliberately economically, the Ducati returned a fuel consumption of 5,1 litres/100km in mixed riding. This translates into a very decent tank range of almost 350 km. The Monster is not for everybody — a case of horses for courses. If you’re looking for a practical bike you’d do better to look elsewhere, but if you’re looking for a machine that is both great fun and extremely accomplished, and has oodles of at titude to boot, look no further. Price New: R198 000 Demo: R179 000
• Optional - Two-year/unlimited km warranty • 80-point mechanical check • Terms and conditions apply. E & OE • Ownership guaranteed • 7-day exchange plan • Mileage certified • Full service history PRICE MILEAGE COLOUR Polo Vivo 2013 Vivo Sedan 1,4 Trendline Tiptronic 2013 Polo Vivo 1,6 Trendline 5-Door 2014 Polo Vivo 1,4 Trendline 5-Door 2015 Polo Vivo 1,6 Comfortline 2015 Polo Vivo 1,6 Comfortline 5-Door 2015 Polo Vivo 1,6 Comfortline 5-Door
44 000 km 40 000 km 9 000 km 1 500 km 1 000 km 1 000 km
Silver Silver Red Silver White White
R132 900 R139 900 R149 900 R159 900 R159 900 R169 900
25 000 km 48 000 km 1 400 km 3 000 km 900 km 500 km 500 km
White White Silver Red White White Blue
R152 900 R174 900 R239 900 R239 000 R185 900 R239 000 R245 000
2012 Golf 6 GTi DSG 2012 Golf GTi DSG 2015 Golf 7 2,0 TDi Highline DSG 110kW Amarok 2015 Amarok Double Cab DSG 132kW Other VW
59 000 km 66 000 km 23 000 km
Black White White
R279 900 R298 900 R329 000
13 000 km
White
R429 000
2010 Scirocco 2,0 TSi 2012 Jetta 2,0 TDi 2014 Tiguan 1,4 TSI BlueMotion 2014 VW Transporter Single Cab TDI 2014 21st Century Beetle 1,2 TSi 2014 Kombi 2,0 TDi 2015 Touareg 3,0 TDi BlueMotion Tiptronic 2015 Caddy P/Van 2,0 TDi 2015 Kombi 2,0 TDi DSG Other
45 000 km 81 000 km 6 500 km 7 000 km 8 000 km 22 000 km 1 000 km 500 km 500 km
Silver White Grey White White Silver White White White
R259 900 R229 900 R299 000 R249 900 R239 000 R359 000 R839 000 R249 000 R485 000
2008 Opel Corsa Lite Sport 2010 Audi A3 1,8 TFSI Sportback 2011 Ford Bantam 1,6i XLT 2012 Mercedes-Benz C180 2013 Ford Kuga 1,6 Ecoboost 2013 Audi Q5 2,0 TDi Quattro STronic
94 000 km 88 000 km 74 000 km 42 000 km 44 000 km 78 000 km
Grey Blue Grey White White Silver
R69 900 R169 900 R119 900 R245 000 R299 000 R335 000
Polo 2013 Polo 1,4 Trendline 5-Door 2013 Polo 1,2 TDI BlueMotion 5-Door 2015 Polo Sedan 1,6 Comfortline Tiptronic 2015 Polo 1,2 TSI Highline 2015 Polo 1,2 TSI Trendline 2015 Polo 1,2 TSI Highline 2015 Polo 1,2 TSI Highline S/Roof
Golf
Mastercars warranty not included in advertised price.
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