THE HEARSE OF THE FUTURE P7
CARS WANTED
September 10, 2015
Witness
WHEELS
Exotic,luxury and supercars WANTED FOR CASH must be low mileage and mint condition, email pics and brief description to ashgani@telkomsa.net
ASH EXOTICS Dealers in Superfine Exotic and Sports Cars Tel: 033 345 1971, 033 342 4717 Fax: 033 342 2900 - www.ashcarsales.co.za 534/550 Church Street, Pietermaritzburg 3201 • Ash 083 786 3377
EDITOR: ALWYN VILJOEN 082 4589 332 ADVERTISING: AVIR THULSIRAM ON 084 278 3447
Pulls like a bakkie, turns like a German ALWYN VILJOEN discovers why Ford Fusion owners look so comfy when they take a corner WHEN you drive the Ford Fusion, you have to brace yourself for the following typical reaction from other petrolheads: “Oooh, that’s a bit of a looker hey! What is it? But, but, it’s just a Ford…” Don’t bother pointing out to these people that the GT40 and the Mustang are also Fords. For people who can even say “it’s just a Ford” still think in terms of Cortinas or Escorts. They are unaware that since the humble little Fiesta became car of the year in 1998, Ford has turned a corner. Nowadays the fine people who assemble all those bits of metal, leather and rubber behind the blue oval somehow manage to fuse Henry Ford’s dream of affordable cars with our dreams for a car that will make us look sexy. And no model manages this fusion as seamlessly as the aptly named Fusion 2.0 TDCi. At first glance it ain’t cheap. In standard kit the Fusion sells for about R450k, and with all the trim mings in the upmarket Titanium finish, the price comes to R473 100. But the standard trim is al ready impressive enough to make German car owners cry piteously in their single malts when they see how little they get in their Teutonic chari ots for this money. These standard features include Ford’s Sync2 with Bluetooth and Voice Control, Sony’s premium ninespeaker sound system, an auxillary input, SD card slot and two USB ports, dual electronic air temperature control, adaptive cruise control, keyless open and close and start, automatic wipers, auto dip and bright LED head lamps,auto dimming rearview mirror, front and rear parking sensors, a rearview camera, fatigue detection and 17” alloy wheels. The Titanium package replaces the 17”alloy
wheels with 18” alloy wheels and adds power fold ing, heated side mirrors with puddle lamps. The driver side mirror auto dims, both side mir rors have memory, and auto dip with a brightly lit blind spot detection. There is also active city stop brake assist, lane departure warning, lane keeping and pull out park assist, a flank guard and a heated windshield, as well as park assist. Note the robot only assists in turning the steering wheel, you still have to apply the brakes. The seats are full leather, with the front seats adjusting 10 ways and able to store three drivers’ settings, while the rear seats are heated. The 1998 cc turbo diesel makes 132 kW at 3500 rpm and 400 Newtons between 2000 and 2500 rpm. If you are of the “just a Ford” ilk, let me put this in bakkie terms: SA’s top selling Toyota Hilux 3,0 D4D makes 343 Nm while Ford’s Ranger bakkie makes 470 Nm. The Fusion comfortably plays in this stumppulling league, but packs the power in a headturning sleek package. Around the hairpins is will also stir, but never shake you, but still look good enough to star in a James Bond movie. So, the Fusion’s price packs a lot of value, its smooth diesel packs a lot of punch, it handles and the service plan of five years or 90 000 km will outlast the three years or 100 000 km warrantee. Is there nothing then to dislike in the Fusion? There is. Look underneath — in front of each front wheel — there is a little wind skirt that scrapes over every little ridge on the road. These plastic strips bolt off easily, and once that bit of DIY is done, the Fusion is perfect to compete with any sedan from Germany.
If looks could kill, the Ford Fusion would have to get a 00licence. Note the plastic strips in front of the wheels — they are the only things not to like in this fusion of power and elegance. PHOTO: QUICKPIC
WHEELED EVENTS IN KZN
PHOTO: THISABILITY.CO.ZA September 12: • Richmond Riders and Runners Club hosts the annual 7Wheels Wheelchair Race to raise funds. The Finish is at Richmond Primary. Call Michael Luthaka on 072 248 3327 or e mail michaelluthaka@gmail.com. • Howick hosts the town’s second annual float parade. Contact Wesley Le Roux for more on 082 699 3306. • 100s Bikers hosts a motorcycle display and blood drive at Pmb’s Vintage Sports Car Club on 121 Oribi Road, starting at 11 am. All riders
are invited to display their bikes. Entry is free. The blood drive starts at noon. More from Minesh Harichand on 083 701 6762. September 18 to 19: • Superbike racing at Dezzi’s in Marburg. R70 entry fee, tickets from TicketPro or at the gate. More on page 8. September 20: • XCountry motorbike racing from the Beaumont Eston Farmers Club. Junior racing starts early at 8 am and the Senior race at 11 am. More info from info@kznracing.co.za. October 2 to 4: • Camp Jeep returns for the fourth time to SA soil and promises activities for the whole family at Champagne Sports Resort in the ’Berg. The Children’s Hub will provide games and entertainment. Mango Groove will round off the evening’s festivities. October 10 to 11: • WFO with the Pecanwood Beerfest at the Misty Valley Bike. All competitors at the WFO Enduro will get free entry to the Beerfest. The 85cc riders compete on Sunday. More info from info@kznracing.co.za
T’s and C’s apply
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WitnessWheels MOTORING
September 10, 2015
First graduate from Ford’s Incubation Centre
All forms of talking bad while driving
Jeff Nemeth, president and CEO of Ford Sub Saharan Africa region, Gauteng’s MEC for Economic, Environment, Agriculture and Rural Development Lebogang Maile, Incubatee graduate Caiphus Mokotedi and councillor Aaron Maluleka. Mokotedi is the first graduate of the BroadBased Black Economic Empowerment project. ‘This project has been an extremely valuable stepping stone for me and I am very grateful for the opportunity that the AIDC and Ford have given me through the incubation programme,’ Mokotedi said. PHOTO: QUICKPIC
Amarok social drives Members of the public get to suggest places where VW bakkie can render help VOLKSWAGEN has taken a nov el approach to get people to expe rience the Amarok bakkie, using what it calls a Social Test Drive. This test drives gives anyone the opportunity to drive the Am arok while also doing social good work. The first such Social Test Drive started at Midbay Motors Volkswagen in Richards Bay. The journey to reach Zwanani Combined Primary School in ru ral KwaZuluNatal and back took roughly four hours. The Amarok delivered 6 000 Pearson education books to Zwa nani Combined Primary, a school with fewtono books or resources for its 168 registered pupils, four teachers and one principal. “As the leading education company in South Africa, Pear son is delighted to partner with Volkswagen Commercial Vehi cles for the first Amarok Social Test Drive. What a pleasure to watch our textbooks flying through the rugged KZN terrain
The VW Amarok delivering 6 000 books to the Zwanani Combined Primary School in rural KwaZuluNatal. PHOTO: SCREEN GRAB YOUTUBE in the back of the Amarok to a school in need where they will make a difference in the lives of many young learners,” said Gary Broom, marketing director:
schools, Pearson South Africa. The second #AmarokTest Drive delivery will take place next month and will go to the rural community of Maqashu, roughly
an hour outside of East London. The delivery will comprise of sewing machines and material that will help the residents make clothes to sell and raise funds for
their community. Amarok Social Test Drives will take place over the coming months until December 2015. Volkswagen is giving all driv ers the opportunity to make one of the next four deliveries to com munities in need. But be sure to test rural areas, as VW wants to show how easily the Amarok copes anywhere in South Africa’s truly rugged ter rain. If you cannot make any of the four predetermined Social Test Drives, you can still make a difference by hosting your own Social Test Drive. Apply online at www.social testdrive.co.za and register your delivery idea on the microsite and help a community near you. Stay uptodate with all of the Social Test Drives by visiting the microsite where you will find out about each route, the terrain and the materials to be donated. — Supplied. • Watch the delivery on goo.gl/ KZIiDz
AN experiment conducted by the popular Discovery televi sion series MythBusters, shows that when it comes to improv ing safety on the road, the use of handsfree devices offers very little, if any, advantage over using your cellphone. “We have long considered handsfree devices to be better, safer and easier because they allow you to have both hands on the wheel,” says Warwick ScottRodger, head of Dial direct, “This experiment places some big question marks be hind this wellknown ‘fact’.” The experiment, which pit ted a “handsfree” approach against a “handsfull” ap proach, was conducted with the help of a stateoftheart driving simulator at Stanford University Automotive Innova tion Facility. The aim was to collect scien tifically accurate data in a con trolled, but realistic environ ment. Motorists had a relatively simple task: they needed to pay attention to GPS instructions and avoid crashing into any oth er vehicles or pedestrians. During the experiment, 15 drivers were tested using a cell phone and 15 other drivers were tested using a handsfree de vice. Out of the 15 “handsfull” drivers, only one passed, five failed by driving the wrong way and nine crashed. Of the 15 “handsfree” drivers, one passed, six failed by driving the wrong way and eight crashed. This means that, statistical ly, there is no difference in the potential danger of these two approaches. “Fundamentally, both hand held and handsfree devices split your attention between having a conversation and driv ing and endanger the lives of both you and other motorists,” said ScottRodger. In South Africa, Dialdirect suggest these results shows one should make calls before starting and then switch off your phone while driving. — WR.
Lube to avoid these three problems
Lexus models drop in price The new Lexus ES costs less than the outgoing model. This was made possible by some clever editing of features. Well, one feature only — the in car navigation. By removing this particularly pricey feature, Lexus has been able to prune prices by R14 700 on the ES 250 and R16 600 on the ES 300 h, which now cost R464 200 and R549 100 respectively. As with the rest of the Lexus range, all models in the ES range are covered by a four year/100 000 km warranty (eight years and 195 000 km warranty on the hybrid battery). On the maintenance front, the ES 250 and ES 300 h come standard with the Lexus ‘Distance Plan Plus’. PHOTO: QUICKPIC
AT the Bauma Construction Ex po held in Gauteng last week, German lubricator Liqui Moly demonstrated how to simplify vehicle and machine mainte nance and extend maintenance intervals by simply using the right lube. “Less downtime means more productivity and fewer costs,” ex plained Roland Schmidt, who is in charge of the Construction and Industry division at Liqui Moly Germany. He listed five problems that al so affects cars and demonstrated how preventive maintenance quickly saves operators and driv ers money. Dust in the motor oil There’s no way to keep dust from getting into the motor oil when running engines in a dusty envi ronment. This significantly increases
wear in the engine. The more dust accumulates in the motor oil over time, the worse the wear be comes. Add a cleaning additive to the engine before an oil change so that the active ingredients can float the dust particles in the oil, allowing it to be drained off be fore fresh oil is added. High sulfur diesel fuel This creates sulfuric acid during the combustion process in the engine. That’s why engine oils include additives which neutralise sulfu ric acid products, so that they cannot do any harm. But the neu tralising capability is limited. Once the additives are depleted, engine corrosion will occur. Those who want to be on the safe side change the oil at shorter intervals — or use dedicated mo tor oils that offer a higher acid
protection and can significantly extend oil change intervals. Contaminated injectors Minute particles get stuck in the injectors’ nozzles over time. These prevent the injectors from atomising the diesel fuel in to a fine spray. An irregular spray ing pattern has an immediate ef fect on the engine performance. Power and torque are reduced and fuel consumption increases. Poor diesel fuel quality makes all of this even worse. Several concentrated additives are sold that can be added to the vehicle fuel tank to remove harm ful deposits, protect the fuel sys tem from corrosion and increase the life cycle of the injectors. As Wheels has warned, not all work equally well, but Liqui Moly backs its additives with more than 50 years’ experience and sales in 110 countries. — WR.
MOTORING WitnessWheels
September 10, 2015
Fastest Hilux yet
3
RENAULT’S BAKKIE PLANS
Toyota Racing builds unique bakkie to celebrate million mark SOUTH African sales of the Hilux eclipsed the one million mark in July. The one millionth unit, a Sin gle Cab 3.0 D4D Legend 45 model, was sold to Pretoria resi dent and business owner Shabier Aboobaker on July 31, 2015. Aboobaker is a Toyota loyalist, having owned a wide variety of Toyota products in the past, in cluding a 1982 Corolla Sprinter, a 1986 Cressida 2.8i (of which he was one of the first lucky owners) and various Camry models, some of which are still in the family. Senior vice president of sales and marketing at Toyota SA Calvyn Hamman, said the mil lion mark is also a significant achievement for the plant in Prospecton, where the current Hilux is produced. In recognition of not only the sheer number of Hilux vehicles produced, but also of its unparal leled success as a competition ve hicle, Toyota SA Motorsport has built a oneofakind Toyota Hi lux. Known as the Toyota Hilux Racing Experience, this unique machine is a celebration of Hilux. At the heart of the race version of the Toyota Hilux is the power ful and flexible Lexus ISF V8 en gine. In celebration of its racing success, this is the same engine that does duty in the Toyota Hi lux Racing Experience vehicle. With more than 335 kW of power
The Hilux Racing Experience is a finely crafted road machine injected with motorsport DNA. PHOTO: QUICKPIC available at 6 000 rpm, this is most likely the most powerful Toyota Hilux built. However, the Hilux Racing Experience is much more than just a Toyota Hilux with a big engine — it is a finely crafted machine that embraces a host of technology used in Toyo ta SA Motorsport’s Hilux race ve hicles. The engine management sys tem, for instance, has been re placed with a Pectel Cosworth system, making the most of the engine’s direct fuel injection. The
sump has been modified to make room for the production Hilux front differential, which has been equipped with a new gear ratio. The rear diff received similar treatment, and the inlet manifold has been modified to Dakar spec, effectively boosting the torque characteristics of the engine. A new alternator and power steering pump have been fitted, together with a new aircondi tioning compressor. The entire wiring harness has been upgrad ed to Dakar spec, a full tubular
exhaust system has been installed and modifications have been made to the transmission’s bell housing in order to mate the gearbox to the ISF engine. Toyota SA Motorsport’s Glyn Hall said the Racing Experience is a wellbalanced bakkie that of fers supreme performance with out compromising handling — in essence, a roadgoing Toyota Hilux injected with motorsport DNA, which offers the driver the very essence of Toyota SA Mo torsport’s race vehicles. — WR.
It is not only Mercedes Benz that plans to use Nissan’s NP300 Navara bakkie as underpinning to its pick up. Renault has also announced a oneton bakkie that will use parts from the Navara and Renault plans to start building this big onetonner from July next year. Called the Alaskan show truck, Renault said the engine will be longitudinally mounted with its smooth twin turbo to remove all turbo lag. (Inset) At the Buenos Aires Motor Show in June, Renault launched the Oroch, a smaller oneton bakkie based on the Duster. Both bakkies may yet come to Africa as part of Renault’s plans to grow its share of the light commercial vehicle market. PHOTOS: RENAULT
MAZDA ENGINES FROM RUSSIA MAZDA Motor Corporation and OJSC Sollers is assessing an en gine factory at the joint venture Mazda Sollers Manufacturing Rus (MSMR) in Vladivostok in Russia’s. MSMR has produced around 80 000 Mazda cars since
2012. Mazda said in a statement it and Sollers will conduct talks with the government of the Rus sian Federation with the aim of concluding an official contract before the end of the year. — WR.
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WitnessWheels MOTORING
September 10, 2015
The joys of an auto KAILENE PILLAY dons high heels to wring the most out the Corsa’s 1.4 THE biggest news for Opel last week was the 2015 Women’s Car of the Year Awards, which voted the Adam and Mocca tops in their categories. With my sisters rating these Opel products so high, I looked forward to my first drive in that other legend from this German stable, the Corsa hatchback, the 1,4 Corsa Enjoy automatic, to be precise. Turned out I liked the Corsa so much, I added over 400 km to the odo, making two return trips to Durban in just two days. The first thing I noticed was how easy it is to driving the Corsa in boots with proper heels. The second was the joy that comes with that missing pedal on the right. Seriously — after years of driving stick, this Corsa made me fall in love with auto matic driving. And no, it’s not la zy driving, it’s EASY driving. Other issues which male driv ers never note is how the driver’s seat is at just the right height for those of a more petite build to get in and out with ease and a modicum of grace; while the City Mode made maneuvering through traffic an absolute pleas ure. It has the looks But how does it look in the flesh, I hear you ask? First impressions first — those daytime running lights looks classy and in red, the hatch turned heads. Then there as the 16inch alloy wheels that fills the wheel arches to the brim. Little bonuses are the adjusta ble seat and steering that really helped a short woman like me feel
The Opel Corsa Cosmo can make you lipsync like a popstar while the wind blows softly through your hair. PHOTO: QUICKPIC more confident in a car, while a tray under the passenger seat makes storing things out of sight easy. Then there is the sound. Opel’s IntelliLink rates among the top three easy systems in cars today. It operates on both iOS and An droid and you can use the seven inch touch screen, steering wheel or voice control to connect easily to your phone via Bluetooth or a USB cable. With the air conditioning sys tem blowing softly through my hair and the six speakers blasting
loudly from my phone via Blue tooth, I felt so much a diva I start ed kwetching about the lack of an armrest. I reckon this is all the Corsa needs to make toggling the gear switch on the automatic lever just that little more comfortable for my short arms. Oh, and a sun roof. But it sure has the look even without it. Because I could just thumb a toggle to gear down up Cato Ridge, I did it in order to quickly pass all those lumbering trucks. This did nothing good for the fu
el consumption, but my petrol head male colleagues were quick to reasure me it is not just the fault of my boots. That 1,4 makes a relatively conservative 66 kW and 130 Nm, (the threecylinder, onelitre makes 83 kW), which means it likes to gulp when push ed and you really have to just tease the right pedal with a big toe to get even near Opel’s best consumption. Three trim levels are available: Cosmo, Enjoy, and Essentia. The automatic Corsa retails for R216 500 and only comes in
Opel’s Enjoy cladding, highlights of which include that sixspeaker sound system, All in all it was a pleasure to drive the new Opel Corsa. It’s a spacious, cool and sexy vehicle that is built for a city girl. Opel’s comprehensive cus tomer support package and a wide network of dealers add peace of mind to the deal, but when you are buying a 1,4 hatch, there are always loads of special offers, so study all the advertising and compare which one will make you feel like a diva.
Remotecontrol hearses of the future can roll anywhere FUTURISTIC car designer Charles Bombardier, whose sleek Arrow trike and Katric cabin that moves on magnetic levers en sured that he is no stranger to contoversy, has now designed a car that people will be dying to get into. Literally. Called the Korbiyor — after the French word for hearse “corbil lard” — the vehicle comprise of a transparent, refrigerated coffin riding on four Ilon wheels. These wheels, which looks a lit tle like the sausages twirled into a knottedbundle by your butch er, was named after its Swedish inventor in 1973, Bengt Ilon, and can sotfly roll over most obsta cles. Because they also turn in any direction, these Ilon wheels allow the Korbiyor to rotate in its own radius and traverse polished church floors without leaving a dent in the wood. Bomardier, grandson of the founder of the multinational
The Korbiyor concept as imagined by Abhishek Roy, founder of Lunatic Koncepts, a design lab based in Mumbai, India. PHOTO: LUNATIC KONCEPTS Bombadier company, said in a statement the Korbiyor would be programmed to follow the funeral process by remote control, or fol
low a preset path. “We created a transparent coffin that would be refrigerated by the vehicle’s fuel cell. This way the inside tempera
ture would remain cool even in sunny weather. The coffin could be made of plastic, glass, or any other materi
al. A transparent casket could be interesting if you want people to see the person one last time. The casket would need to respect cer tain dimensions so it could be lowered inside the vehicle or raised for unloading. Bombardier said images or vid eos could be projected on the floor between the wheels of the vehicle, and the speakers could play the deceased’s favourite mu sic. “For example, if the person liked jazz music, the Korbiyor could play jazz and project slides during the procession.” Bombardier said there will al ways be a need for vehicles like the Korbiyor. “Funeral processions have been around for thousands of years, and the Korbiyor con cept simply tries to imagine how today’s hearses could evolve if you integrate driverless technology, robotics, multimedia, and try to celebrate the departed in a new way.” — WR.
CHINESE CLUB TOGETHER TO BUILD ELECTRIC A SUPERCAR TO RIVAL TESLA A group of deeppocketed Chinabased In ternet entrepreneurs and financial inves tors, including Tencent and Hillhouse Capi tal, is backing an effort to create NextEV, a new rival to US electric car maker Tesla Motors. Hillhouse is also an investor in Uber, the US ride sharing service. The backers have hired exFord Motor executive Martin Leach to build a global automaker, a NextEV
spokesperson said yesterday. The backers have also recruited experts with previous experience at Tesla, BMW AG, Volkswagen AG and other major car companies. The NextEV investors are among several Chinese technology entrepreneurs with lit tle or no automotive background who are hoping to create new electric car compa nies. The effort is supported by the Chinese government, which recently changed rules
to encourage investment by nonautomo tive companies. NextEV’s supercar is expected to debut in 2016. It will be designed to produce more than 1 000 horsepower and accelerate from 0 to 100km an hour within three seconds, Liu said. A range of highperformance family cars will follow. NextEV is being backed by Chinese Inter net company Tencent; William Li, founder
of Internet content provider Bitauto.com; Xiang Li, founder of automotive Web site autohome.com.cn, and Richard Liu, founder of ecommerce site JD.com. Hillhouse Capi tal, which was started with seed money from Yale University, is also a backer, Nex tEV said. NextEV did not want to disclose the ex tent of its financial backing. The company will initially sell only in China. — Reuters.
Renault’s clever lastmile trucks RENAULT Trucks and six partners have just launched the EDIT (Efficient Distribu tion Truck) project, which aims to reduce distribution vehicles’ fuel consumption by 13% compared with a current production vehicle, thanks to the use of innovative technol ogies. The prototype to be used will be a Renault Trucks D Wide Euro 6 with a refrigerat ed body. The EDIT project has been labelled by the LUTB Transport and Mobili ty System competitive cluster and selected within the framework of the 19th FUI Regions invitation to submit projects. After Optifuel Lab 2, the laboratory vehicle which brings together technological innovations designed to re duce longdistance trucks’ fu el consumption, Renault Trucks is extending its re search to distribution vehi cles, and has just launched the EDIT (Efficient Distribution Truck) project based on the Renault Trucks D Wide. Six partners will be working with Renault Trucks on this collab orative project: Valeo, Lam beret, Michelin, BeNomad, INSA de Lyon (LamCoS) and IFSTTAR (LICIT). It has been awarded the LUTB com petitive cluster’s label and is receiving financial support from the FUI Regions fund. The project’s aim is to de sign and develop a demon stration refrigerated trans port vehicle consuming 13% less fuel than the reference Euro 6 distribution truck. This demonstration vehicle will have to use technologies that can be made commer cially available by 2020, to which each partner is contrib uting their expertise. The project is based on var ious areas of research. First of all, the aerodynamics of the vehicle and refrigerated body will be thoroughly revised. Then, the prototype will be fitted with a low voltage mac rohybrid system which will recover some of the braking energy via a reversible electric system. This will be used to power auxiliary equipment with recovered electrical en ergy and can also provide oc casional support to the inter nal combustion engine. Another area of research concerns the development of a new driving aid system. It is to be connected to traffic lights and able to detect when they will change, so as to de fine a speed profile minimis ing fuel consumption. Fur thermore, it will also allow drivers to choose the most economic itinerary for their truck. Finally, the prototype will be testing new tyres with a lower rolling resistance co efficient. The EDIT project is scheduled to end with the de livery of the first vehicle in 2018. Ultimately, this project should lead to new market openings for distribution ve hicles in Europe. — Supplied.
Support the Winning Team. By Pieter from Maritzburg finance plan… Volkswagen understands that. Yes, they have all the little extras that take Volkswagen cars to the next level, but there’s a sound foundation underpinning it all.
I’ll admit it: I haven’t played rugby since high school. I doubt I’d manage to run the full length of the field. But that doesn’t stop me from being excited about the upcoming World Cup – I’ll be watching from my couch as if I were in the front row.
Today’s consumers (like you and me) are better informed than ever before. We have the internet, and we’re not afraid to ask questions. That’s why more and more people are looking to trusted experts like the folks at Volkswagen.
See, I don’t believe that you have to be an expert rugby player to get excited about the game, just like you don’t have to be a mechanic to get excited about Volkswagens BlueMotion Technology and ‘Das Auto’ engineering.
Barons VW Pietermaritzburg can be found at 9 Armitage Road. They are committed to bringing you quality cars and excellent service at the best possible prices ALL year round! To start hunting for your dream vehicle, visit www.baronsvwpmb.co.za. And to book a test drive or service call (033) 845 3100. Open Monday – Friday 8am – 5pm, and Saturdays 8am – 1pm.
In rugby, it’s important to get the basics right. It’s the same with cars: whether you’re looking for yourfirst car or a new luxury upgrade, it’s the basics that count, things like fuel efficiency, economy, a good
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R99 900 R134 900 R129 900 R129 900 R129 900 R125 900 R147 900 R145 900 R145 900 R135 900 R159 000
42 000 31 000 52 000 21 000 25 000 26 000 31 000 12 000 10 750 20 000 4 000
White Grey Silver White Blue Black
R138 900 R149 900 R229 900 R175 900 R174 900 R225 900
112 000 km 35 000 km 27 000 km 23 000 km 30 000 km 15 000 km
Red Red
R309 900 R325 000
66 000 km 6 500 km
White White
R249 000 R309 900
40 000 km 7 000 km
White Silver Blue Blue Silver
R209 900 R209 900 R289 000 R670 000 R314 900
65 000 83 000 11 000 10 500 7 000
Gold White White
R79 900 R275 900 R439 900
140 000 km 37 000 km 16 000 km
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An optional cost of R900 incl VAT will be charged for metallic paint. Note: *Linked to FNB prime rate, currently 9.5%. Note: Offers calculated on the vehicles (excluding Golf R) in standard specifications. *Trading assistance amount dependant on chosen model. Offers may not be used in conjunction with any other special service or offering Subject to bank approval. Information subject to change without prior notification. All finance offers are subject to credit approval from Volkswagen Financial Services. Offers only available through Volkswagen Financial Services South Africa Proprietary Limited trading as Volkswagen Financial Services an Authorised Financial Services and Credit Provider. NCRCP6635. Terms and Conditions apply. All the above is subject to price increase and valid until 23 September 2015.
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WitnessWheels MOTORING BIKING
6
September 10, 2015
Scooter means freedom At IStyle bikes, Heidi de Kock (left) hands over a freshly serviced scooter to Lisa Smit. De Kock said scooters save people travel time, a lot of fuel money and because they don’t take up space, there is always easy parking at the end of the journey. She urged commuters who drive alone in their cars to make the switch to freedom, saying their savings in fuel money alone could pay for the scooter. PHOTO: ALWYN VILJOEN
Team Kortpad: (from left) Charl Meyer, Bruce Myburgh, Heiner Meyer and Edrique Botha, who are raising funds by riding from the Cape to arrive in Cairo at the end of November. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Riding for Joost Team aim to raise knowledge of Motor Neuron Disease
The ultimate Hog for longdistance riders
CAPE TOWN — Four experi enced riders have embarked on a trip from Cape Agulhas, South Africa, to Cairo, Egypt, on their motorcycles. The trip started on Septem ber 1 at Cape Agulhas and the group, known as Team Kortpad (shortcut) hope to reach Cairo by November. Their journey comprises both on and offroad routes, and the riders will be exploring some of the lesstravelled areas in Africa, said Kortpad’s spokesperson Re tha Odendaal. Retha Odendaal and Rene Botha are the team’s expedition managers and will be helping team Kortpad with logistics on their trip. Odendaal said: “Everyone knows that the usual tested roads are normally the best to get you to your destination but the Kort pad team believe that the ‘other route’ is way more interesting and exciting. That’s also how the name ‘Kortpad’ came to be. “Edrique Botha, one of the rid ers, always convinces his group that he knows a kortpad, but that road always takes double the time
FOR riders with a serious devo tion to the road, HarleyDavid son announced its longmileage specialist, the 2016 Road Glide Ultra motorcycle. The company said in a statement the 1 690 cc Glide’s style, comfort and per formance were influenced by customers giving feedback in Project Rushmore. “We’ve designed the new Road Glide Ultra for the hard core touring rider and passen ger, with a special focus on aero dynamic performance and a rid ing position that’s a comfortable place for a wide range of riders,” said HarleyDa vidson product development di rector Paul James. “The windcutting effect of the framemounted fairing con tributes to great longdistance comfort and control.” Because the Road Glide Ul tra’s fairing is mounted to the frame, the effect of its weight and impact from the wind are reduced through the handle bars, resulting in light, precise steering control. The fairing also holds Dual
to reach the destination. So, Kortpad is a way to say that we are probably not going to ride the shortest route, but surely the most exciting.” According to the team, their motto is, “It’s about the journey, not the destination”. The main objective of the ex pedition is to create awareness and to raise funds for the J9 Foun dation, created by former rugby legend Joost Van der Westhuiz en, who is suffering from Motor Neuron Disease (MND). Africa Uncut said: “The J9 Foundation’s core objective is to raise awareness, both locally and internationally, for MND. “One of the main challenges the foundation faces is a lack of knowledge of MND. “This lack of knowledge isn’t only experienced by the public but is also common among med ical practitioners and nursing staff.” • To donate R30 to the J9 Foun dation sms “kortpad” to 42305. Read more about team Kortpad on their Facebook page and fol low the team on Twitter: @Kort padnoord. — Wheels24.
The 2016 Road Glide Ultra, for riders who cross two borders before breakfast. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Reflector Daymaker LED head lamps, a distinctive and con spicuous styling element that punches further through dark ness with brilliant white high and lowbeam illumination. The rider triangle is unique to the Road Glide Ultra model and designed to put a wide range of riders in a position that’s ideal for longhaul touring comfort. The robust touring perform ance demanded by Road Glide Ultra riders is provided by the
TwinCooled High Output Twin Cam 103 powertrain. A combination of aircooled and precision liquid cooling strate gies allows the engine to main tain peak performance under the most demanding loads and riding conditions and enables a higher 10.1:1 compression ratio for increased power and effi ciency, including 10,7% more peak torque than the standard Twin Cam 103. The precision cooling system is thermostati
cally controlled and uses an elec tric pump to circulate coolant. The latest Road Glide Ultra has a colour touch screen, GPS and Bluetooth capability and four speakers. All infotainment functions are controlled through thumboperated five way joysticks. The restyled saddlebags and TourPak are equipped with OneTouch latches, a signature design feature of Project Rush more. — WR.
Grant Umpleby sells quads best in Durban
Dry gloves even in the wet
Gary Holloway from Grant Umpleby motorcycles in Durban receives the Agricultural Award from Yukio Sato, MD of Suzuki SA, as part of Suzuki South Africa’s recent Motorcycles Dealer of the Year awards. They are flaked by Clint Lake (left) and Suzuki area manager Dominic Lessing. Suzuki sales manager Stuart Baker said following an extremely successful 2014 in the very competitive local motorcycle market, all dealers played an important role in the company’s fortunes. PHOTO: MOTORPRESS
American engineer Jay Small got fed up with gloves that cannot incorporate the selfdrying, breathing properties of modern wetweather clothes. This means even on a cold, dry ride, sweating hands can leave a rider’s gloves soaked. He calls his solution DriBarz, because it shields cyclists’ hands from the rain and sends air over a riders hands to dry the material. The shields can currenrly be ordered on Kickstarter for a pledge of $89. Small wants to raise at least $52 000 (R725 000) on Kickstarter to go ahead with the design. PHOTO: KICKSTARTER
MOTORING WitnessWheels
September 10, 2015
7
India ‘a very different’ car market
The Mazda 3 is more than ready to step into the big boots left by the 323. PHOTO: QUICKPIC
Hey there, good looking BRIAN BASSETT shifts down for the delightful exhaust note of the new 1.6 Mazda3 Dynamic ASK any South African over 35 about Mazda and you will proba bly find that at some time in their motoring life they have owned a Mazda 323. This remarkable little car, which was available with 1,3 and 1,6 engines appeared almost in destructible and can still be seen on our roads today. My daughter had a 1,3 for about six years and, after she de parted for London I inherited the car and used it daily over the next five years with no issues or inci dents. I then sold it locally and still see this little 323 on the roads. This old Mazda 323 thus paved the way for the new Mazda 3 hatch, which competes in one of the toughest corners of the local market, where it has already won the Best Hatchback of the year award in the Wheels Car of the year awards and did very well in Car Magazine’s 12 best buys for 2015. I was therefore exited when Faizal Hoosen, new vehicle sales manager at Barloworld Mazda offered me the use of a Mazda 3 for a few days. Styling The Mazda 3 is very much part of the new wave of Mazda cars. The build quality is excellent and the exterior impression is svelte and sexy and must rate as one of the best looking entrants into the compact segment. The typical Mazda aggressive front grille, the crisp edges, gen tle curves and sportscarlike taut ness, together its long bonnet and “cabback” design cast the car as a standout in terms of styl ing in the compact segment. Embracing the carmaker’s Ko do or Soul of Motion design phi losophy first seen in the CX5, the Mazda 3 takes on the brand’s blunt nose and fivepoint grille leading into thin, slanted, swept back head lamps. A sweeping shoulder line flows gracefully along the side of the body and a more slanted; fast
back roofline ends in a softer, somewhat less striking rear treat ment. Once again, however, the slanted and distinctive rear light modules dominate. Interior The interior design is focused on the driver. The leathercovered seats are well upholstered and outlined in red stitching, which always lends a sporty feel to any interior. The ergonomics are ex cellent and the driver’s seat is one of the most comfortable I have experienced in a compact car. The dashboard is simple and divided into three dials, which are a mixture of analogue and digital and tell you at a glance everything you need to know while on road. The centre of the dash is occu pied by a seveninch display screen with command function, which provides a wide variety of information. The leathercov ered, multifunction steering wheel is enjoyable to handle and the brake lever is covered in soft leather. The centrallyplaced gear lever is also leather covered and for those who love to drive, it will be a joy to handle. There is a sixspeaker, BOSE audio/AUX/CD system which is excellent, as well as a plug for your electronic toys and a climate control system which serves pas sengers well. The rear seats will take two adults in comfort but the nature of the overall design makes three somewhat of a squeeze. Luggage space is reasonable for a conventional family with 408 litres of luggage space with the rear seats in place and more space available with the seats folded down in 60:40 fashion. Safety and security The Mazda 3 may have been de signed as a sports hatchback, but it will largely be used as a family car so it has a wide variety of safe ty measures available. The car has ABS with EBD, Dynamic Stabili ty Control, Emergency Brake As sist and Hill Launch Assist. There
are 6 driver, passenger, side and curtain airbags, seatbelts for all and child restraint anchor points. Central locking makes your life easier and the alarm will wake the dead. In all there are some seven teen safety features on the car and you can easily entrust your family to its care. Performance and Handling The Mazda 3 has a 77 kW/144 Nm, fourcylinder en gine, which meets the Euro stage IV emissions standard. Power is expressed on road via a delight fullysmooth fivespeed manual gearbox and the car is a pleasure to drive. Straightline stability is excellent and cornering at speed presents no problem. This is a driver’s car in every sense and long distances should be easily dealt with. Performance is peppy with 0100 coming up in about 11 sec onds and top speed is over 180 km/h. Fuel consumption is always difficult to predict as so much depends on terrain and driving style but, with quite a bit of heavyfooted town driving thrown in my car registered about 7,9 l/100 km. Town driving is pleasurable, although the Maz da 3 is no robot racer. On the N3 the ride is comfortable and when passing large trucks the exhaust note is quite delightful. The driving experience makes you feel as though you are in a larger car. Prices and competitors The entry model the 1,6 Original comes in at about R233 000 and the 1,6 Dynamic, which I drove, costs around R255 000, while the rangetopping 2,0 Individual costs about R294 000. The car comes with threeyear or unlimited kilometre warranty, service plan and roadside assist ance. The hatch segment offers buyers the most choice, so also have a look at the Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra Toyota Corolla and Renault Megane — to mention but a few.
NEW DELHI — Leading global carmakers are reviewing their blueprint for India to boost sales and avoid more painful cut backs, after struggling to win over consumers even as the mar ket swings to growth and domi nant local players begin to raise prices. Automakers like General Mo tors, Nissan Motor and Renault SA have over the past weeks an nounced hundreds of job losses. Some have already reduced out put, and industry analysts ex pect more to come. Others, like Skoda Auto, part of Volkswagen AG, are retreat ing to their roots — for Skoda, “premium” cars. “India is not the most easy market in the world to crack,” Guillaume Si card, president of Nissan India told Reuters after the company said it would cut “hundreds” of jobs at the RenaultNissan plant. The Indian market is, howev er, showing signs of recovery, with improved sales for every month this year. But the benefit is being felt mainly by India’s dominant players like Maruti Suzuki, who in July reported its market share was once again above 50%, its highest in more than a decade. Passenger car sales in India rose five percent in the year to endMarch, but global carmak ers Renault, GM, Volkswagen, Skoda and Ford reported a dou bledigit decline, industry data showed. In contrast, Maruti and Hyundai Motor Co sales rose 11 percent. Now Maruti and Hyun
Maruti Suzuki sells half of India’s cars, especially this Alto. PHOTO: GADDIDEKHO.COM dai, India’s two best selling brands, are turning up the com petitive heat entering the one segment companies like Ren ault, Nissan and Ford Motor Co had dominated: sportutility ve hicles (SUVs). Maruti recently launched a crossover and Hyun dai, the Creta SUV. All about the cpk Lured by a large customer base and low car penetration, auto makers built large factories, ex pecting India to become the world’s No. 3 car market by 2020. Instead, they were undone by their lack of small models, a sparse dealer network and steep aftersales service costs. Nissan introduced its inex pensive Datsunbranded cars last year, but failed to ramp up sales given a lack of dealerships in smaller cities, where demand for such cars is high. And con sumers’ hesitance to make big
purchases during a sluggish re covery has made a bad situation worse. “They looked at India as one of the markets they need to be in, but India is a very different kind of market,” said Abdul Ma jeed, automotive head at con sultant Pwc, pointing out for In dian drivers it not just about the initial price, but also the cents per kilometre (cpk) running costs. Nissan and Renault say they will compete with small cars, and by growing their dealer net work. GM, which announced plans to stop production at one of two plants in the country last month, is betting on 10 new locally made models over five years. GM will ramp up exports as well, joining Volkswagen and Ford, which are also targeting the domestic market with new compact cars. — Reuters.
2015 MAZDA 3 • Leather • Cruise control • Keyless entry • Sunroof • 17” alloy rims
• On-board touch screen radio • Blue-tooth • 3 year unlimited warranty and service plan
Faizal Hoosen • Sales Manager • Cell: 082 777 6796 Wonderful Dlamini • New Car Sales Consultant • 076 328 6044 Siyabonga Vunandlala • New Car Sales Consultant • Cell: 073 480 1427 Chatterton Road, Pietermaritzburg
Tel: 033 392 4444
www.mazdapietermaritzburg.co.za
WitnessWheels MOTORING RACING
8
September 10, 2015
Bats aflutter at Vryburg Little to separate the special vehicles in Donaldson Cross Country Champs Privateer Lamborghini driver David Perel. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Privateer living the dream
Former champs Evan Hutchinson and Danie Stassen hang in by the skin of their teeth on Saturday. PHOTO: K@NAPS.CO.ZA CHARMAINE FORTUNE WITH the Special Vehicle cham pionship delicately poised there will be some nervous crews at the Vryburg Endurance, round five of the Donaldson Cross Country Championship, tomorrow and Saturday. Former champions Evan Hutchison and Danie Stassen (Motorite BAT Viper) head for the penultimate round of the championship with a 17 point margin over Lance Trethewey and Geoff Minnitt in the LTE BAT Venom. The third crew still in with a mathematical shot at the title, Mark Corbett and Juan Mohr, in the Century Racing CR5, com plete a trio who will resemble a cricket batsman negotiating the nervous 90s. A nonfinish for Hutchison and Stassen on the Nkomazi 450, in Mpumalanga, last time out opened the door for Trethewey/ Minnitt and Corbett/Mohr to
stay in the championship reckon ing. The Motorite pair went into the Nkomazi 450 with a 27 point lead over Trethewey and Minnitt, but a run of three wins and a sec ond was ended with electrical problems. It enabled Trethewey and Minnitt, the last of the classified finishers, to close the gap to 17 points while a podium finish saw Corbett and Mohr stay in the ti tle chase. The highly experienced Century Racing pair, 44 points behind Hutchison and Stassen, is hanging in by the skin of their teeth and need the sort of result that will keep alive their champi onship hopes. Trethewey and Minnitt are faced with much the same pre dicament, while Hutchison/Stas sen cannot afford another hic cup. There are a maximum of 60 points remaining and you don’t need a degree in mathematics to work out all three crews are walk ing a tightrope. A maiden win for Jimmy Zahos
and Zaheer Bodhanya, in the Co balt Racing Stryker, came too late to keep the pair in the champion ship race. The Mpumalanga race will, however, have given the pair a massive boost in confidence, and Zahos will relish the wide open nature of what will be a typical Kalahari route. Sarel van Biljon and Phillip Herselman (Atlas Copco BAT) will also be riding a high after sec ond place on the Nkomazi 450, and will be looking for another good result. The opposite in terms confidence applies to Brett Parker and VZ van Zyl in the Si zanani Plastics Jimco. After a promising start to the season, Parker and van Zyl have been hit by a couple of non finish es and need to regroup. Coetzee Labuscagne and daughter San dra will bring their usual steady approach to the table in the ChemSystems Porter, with the entry bolstered by crews like An dre Fourie/Hendrik Pienaar (BAT) and Stefan van Pletzen/Ja
co Pieterse (Aceco) returning to the Class A fray. Two Botswanabased drivers will also make the short trip to Vryburg. Keith du Toit and Xan der Mare will be out in a BAT with Mogrey Mabille, with a codriver still to be nominated, out in a Porter. The Class P championship is developing into a battle between former champions John Thom son and Maurice Zermatten, in a Zarco Magnum, and Colin Matthews and Rodney Burke in the Century Racing CR3. Unless reliability problems intervene Matthews and Burke will be among the overall favourites, but they trail the consistent Swazi land based Thomson and Johan nesburg resident Zermatten by 15 points in the Class P stakes. Nic Goslar returns to action after injury and rejoins Andrew Massy in the SA Clinics Zarco. Veteran Richard Carolin, who stood in for Goslar, was lying third in the championship but
will now drop out of contention. Andrew Makenete and Ntaote Bereng (Zarco Magnum) will be looking for their first point of the season, while brothers Gene and Ian Boshoff return in a pair of new CRT cars developed by Century Racing. They will be ac companied by Lotter Klein and Mia van Wyk respectively. Also in the Class P lineup will be Sean Reitz and Riaan Greyling who usually campaign in the Pro duction vehicle category. Their Regent Racing Nissan Navara is being prepared for Dakar Rally duty and the pair will keep their hand in with an outing in the team’s Jimco. Race headquarters will be at the Vryburg Motor Club with free public entry and spectator viewing points along the route. Spectator guides will be available at race headquarters, with the qualifying race to determine grid positions starting at 10.30 am tomorrow, with the race from 7.30 am on Saturday.
Dezzi’s hillside track will make for exciting Superbiking SUPERBIKE Championship rac ing returned to KwaZuluNatal after a 25year absence just a year ago, delivering shunts and falls that had the crowd gasping. In two weeks’ time, on Saturday, September 19, the DEOD SuperGP Champions Trophy will return to the prov ince, this time to the tight and tricky Dezzi Raceway at Marburg. When the VW Polo cup drivers took on this 2,8kilometre circuit for the first time two weeks ago, the steep elevation changes and closing hairpins saw many a driv er spin out, which is exactly what the punters came to see. More of the same action can be expected when the bikers ar rive, as three of the four champi onships must still to be decided, Only William Friend can ride secure, knowing the inaugural
SuperJunior title at the last round. With only 20 points separating the next three riders, Dominic Doyle, Brandon Staffen and Luca Coccioni will have a
battle royale for second and third place in the SuperJunior. In the Super GP, Clint Seller is only 27 ahead of Mathew Schotz, both riding on Yamahas,
The first Super racing after a quester century’s absences, held at the old airport in Durban last year, saw spectacular action, and the punters can look forward to more of the same at Dezzis on September 19. PHOTO: SUPERGP.CO.ZA
with Lance Isaacs on a BMW in hot pursuit. In the Super 600, Steven Odendaal looks to be comforta bly ahead on points in his Yum my, but he is being chased hard by three Kawasakis, ridden by Michael White, Adolf Boshoff, and Blaze Baker. In the SuperM, Beau Levey is leading beautifully on his KTM, chased in the far distance by Neil van Loggerenberg, also on a KTM, and Jacques van Wyn gaardt on a BMW. Owned by Des and Louise Gut zeit, the circuit overlooks Oslo Beach. It has been built using part of a runway which evolved to in clude facilities for drifting. Extensions to turn the facility into a fullyfledged racing circuit, the only permanent one in KwaZuluNatal, were completed
CAPE TOWN — As a pre schooler, David Perel used to wear his dad’s racing helmet and zoom around on a plastic push bike. Now he’s in a Lamborghini and hoping to come out tops by the end of the Italian GT Championship. The 30yearold Capetoni an spent all his savings and sold his car to fund his races with satellite team Lambor ghini Bonaldi Motorsport. With just three rounds left, and six points off the lead, he was furiously trying to raise $30 000 to get to the last fin ish line. “Every single race I go to, I always treat it like my last because I really, truly don’t know whether I will be at the next race,” he told News24 re cently. “The reason I am doing this is because I really do be lieve in my ability and want to be the best. I feel like I have been given this ability and it can’t go to waste.” Perel was inspired by his dad Bobby, who hopped onto a plane to the UK when he was 20 to become a formula rac ing driver. After three years, his dad didn’t have enough money to continue and had to put his dream aside. David also had to stop when he ran out of money at the age of 23. This was on the back of a long his tory of racing and nearly win ning a world championship. He and his brother Marc decided to set up a web busi ness. The intention was to save enough to give his dream one last shot. That opportu nity arrived this year. “With this championship, I have led every single race and have qualified on the front row every time. The offi cial Lamborghini team have been keeping an eye on me,” he said, beaming. His eyes lit up when asked what it felt like to race a pre mium sports car. He said the more he drove the car, the more he felt like an extension of it. “It’s such a thrill. The satis faction and adrenaline lasts for days. “But if I just did it because of the sensation, then that’s just a hobby!” — News24.
earlier this year and a number of very successful events have al ready proved to be a hit with local race fans. The riders will familiarise themselves with the new circuit during the official practice ses sions. Qualifying and two races for each category on the day before the races, which will see Su perGP/SuperM, Super600 and SuperJunior on the Saturday. The entry fee is R70 and tickets can be bought on Follow us line at Tick on etPro or at the gate. • More on SuperGP.co. za. — WR.
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