Over the years, ever since the original MK1 VW Golf GTI, there has always been an iconic hot hatch. Every new generation of spruced up hatchbacks has brought with it a new icon; or sometimes, just a new iteration of the original. In recent times, we have seen the Golf V GTI pass the mantle on to the Renault Clio RS, which was by all rights one heck of a driver’s car, but now the time has come for there to be a new king.
1.2kviewsWhat’s better than buying a brand new car? Buying a classic, a real classic car, with beautiful, timeless lines and styling that could last centuries. But, and this really is a gargantuan but, buying a classic car entails far more than the up front purchase cost. Anyone who has ever … Read more
A manufacturer’s job is to sell you their car, to do anything within their power to quote facts and figures, performance times and fuel consumption, all in an effort to swoon you into joining the corporation for which they are employed. But as much as this is the case, it’s truly rare when such claims can be met in an everyday world, by everyday drivers, without the slightest bit of hassle. I encountered such a situation on my recent test of the Subaru Forester 2.0X, the entry level model of the Forester range.
“Nice isn’t a very nice word,” my English teachers used to tell me growing up, it’s a bland adjective and one no one would be happy to be described with. They were right, but wrong, for if there was no such word as “nice”, what would we compare all other adjectives to? You see, we need the boring, we need the bland, we need the mundane, especially in the automotive world, otherwise we’d never know an exciting car when we drove it. So would our Polo Vivo Maxx be mundane or mouth-watering to test out?
A bakkie is a bakkie is a bakkie…or is it? Foton have decided it’s time to take on the big boys in the bakkie world, and brought us the latest Foton Tunland double cab to test, so we could see just how close they are to competing with the rest of the pack. We received the 4X2 2.8 ISF Luxury model, which retails for R289 950, nearly 60 grand less than the closest similarly specced competitor. But how does it stack up?
“VW Golf”, a name synonymous with the term “the people’s car”, after all, most of us at some stage or another have driven a Citi Golf, or owned one, or learnt to drive in one; not to mention the fact that many of our parents did the same. So the Golf moniker has been around for some time, and it has always been known as the hatchback to set the bar, the benchmark so to speak. Now, with the 7th generation at hand, we begged the question, does this once again retain “benchmark” status? We had a week with the new Golf to find out…
There are many misconceptions bandied about when one particular engine layout is spoken of, the VR6. It is often confused for a V6 layout, so we decided to clear up the confusion, as per your requests. Now I know there will be qualified engineers complaining that I missed out on this and that, so to clear the record, this is a simple explanation to differentiate the 2 engine layout in layman’s terms, as little technical jargon as possible. As such, I will not delve into inlet and outlet ports, block construction etc. So, let’s get to it:
Upon its launch nearly a year ago, the Toyota 86 received some of the greatest media coverage of any car over the past decade, and for Toyota, the past 2 decades. We managed to set up a drive of one back then through a dealership, and you may remember how we raved about its brilliance; so now that all the hype around it had somewhat died down, we thought we’d re-visit the 86 to see if its “specialness” still remained…
I’ve always loved Alfa Romeo, unashamedly so, but the new breed, under management of FIAT presented something interesting, classic artful Italian design, with great engines shared between the two brands, and a fairly affordable price tag; would there be a catch when I tested the Alfa Romeo Giulietta 1.4T Distinctive, one of my favourite modern hatches?
One of the most hotly debated topics in motoring circles is the never-ending battle between Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and BMW, and in particular, the “entry-level” sedan models from each of these three brands. BMW has long held the title of the “benchmark” in the segment, and there has been many a claim that the new F30 3-Series would continue this heritage of being the best. So, we decided to test it out for ourselves when BMW South Africa gave us a red 320i Sport Line last week.
We at TCR aren’t exactly fans of the increasingly popular crossover segment of vehicle; sure there are one or two interesting models such as the Nissan Juke, but for the most part, these vehicles are less than special off-road, and are basically nothing more than hatchbacks on stilts. So on the rare occasion we receive something from arguably one of the greatest rally-brands in history, we take notice and a glimmer of hope stirs that it may be at least semi-capable! That was what happened when we received a bright orange Subaru XV last week Tuesday, a sight to behold against the dreary greys, blues, and whites of the vehicles we see everyday on the roads.