Sukasha Singh

Any manufacturer that updates a current model in its range, adds a few new features and drops the price of the car deserves to be looked at more than once if that particular car falls into your price bracket. There are some manufacturers out there who are intent on continuing to bring out overpriced vehicles and it’s really quite easy to identify them.

Street credibility is important to have if you want to turn heads and impress with your car. It is defined by how fast your car goes, how well it handles and, most importantly, how good it looks. Of course, in reality, acquiring street cred means that you have to spend many tedious hours either modifying your car yourself, as most die-hard petrol-heads do, or you can buy a car that comes equipped with everything you need. The Ford Focus ST is that car.

I really am beginning to despise capable little cars. Especially the cocky sort that get the job of commuting done effortlessly on a whiff of fuel because they seem to be having a laugh at the other seemingly pointless behemoths that refuse to move out of their garages without at least 10 litres of fuel in their tanks, writes Sukasha Singh.

Noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) are not things people usually think about when buying a car, but they can certainly become an annoyance after the purchase of a vehicle. NVH is exactly what the term implies and when manufacturers don’t pay attention to reducing it, their cars usually exhibit a great deal of road noise and other little annoyances that can cause a fair deal of discomfort.

While I was watching <i>The Fast and the Furious, Tokyo Drift</i>, I wondered why anyone would go through the tedious process of making such a dreadfully weak movie that is essentially an excuse to show off the growing worldwide phenomenon of drifting. Why not just make a documentary and save the money you would have spent on actors, asks Sukasha Singh.

I’ve always been fascinated by rally drivers simply because it must take nerves of steel to be able to push those souped-up cars to the limit on often slippery dirt roads, knowing that the slightest miscalculation could result — as it often does — in costly accidents. It’s not something I’ve ever wanted to try because I’m more at home on a properly tarred racetrack, writes Sukasha Singh.

Most people who like to think they know a great deal about cars will tell you that any red-blooded motoring enthusiast has at some point in his/her life owned an Alfa Romeo. That may or may not be the case, but if there’s one common denominator about Alfas of the past, it’s the way in which their owners speak about them, writes Sukasha Singh.

"Tired of being accused of driving only glamorous cars, I accepted an invitation to the launch of the new Nissan Patrol Pickup.If you’re looking for a rugged, no-frills workhorse, then the Patrol Pickup is your car. It’s built for the sole purpose of traipsing over treacherous terrain with the talent, finesse and ease of a mountain goat on a mission," writes Sukasha Singh.

Two days before I was to take delivery of the press test vehicle I would have been driving during my 30th birthday, the booking was cancelled. Just when it seemed that I would have to drive my boring old car during a landmark birthday, the ever-efficient Toyota marketing guys phoned me to say that they had secured a Lexus RX350 for me.

If there’s one thing we expect from the Volvo brand, it’s safety. Volvo has successfully entrenched its core value even to the point where one would have to admit that it sometimes comes across as rather boring and one-tracked. But that’s not a bad thing because it’s a great foundation to build from and that’s exactly what it has done very consistently over the years.

Okay, I’m going to die now. That is it, there is no way I’m going to survive this. We’re doing nearly 270kph, coming very close to what looks like a 90° corner and this dude has no intention of braking. Hope I’ve been good enough in this life to ensure that I don’t come back as a dung beetle in my next life (not that I believe people reincarnate into insects and animals, but that’s not the point).

"Sometimes, I can really take my hat off to marketing folk in the motoring industry. Of course, not all of them work off the same page and even in this day and age there are still some who are prejudicial and rude. But there are some who are exceedingly cunning and clever, such as the Renault team," writes Sukasha Singh.

Winning the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists Car of the Year award is no mean feat, especially when you take into consideration the scores of new models that are launched every year in South Africa. Members of the guild normally whittle down the options (by vote) and the cars are then tested extensively by members.

The facelifted Honda Accord looks like a neater, sexier version of an over-the-top racing Nascar: it is broad, squat with a no-nonsense nose, dark 17-inch alloy wheels that fill the flared wheel arches and it sits quite close to the ground. By far the most impressive aspect of the upgraded Accord is that Honda is offering these cars with more features at a reduced price.

It’s a pity that Dubya doesn’t have people in his employ who are nearly as efficient at invasions as the Dodge division of DaimlerChrysler. After 15 hours of flying, the South African contingent would have been forgiven for wondering just where on the planet we were for the international launch of the Dodge Caliber, writes Sukasha Singh.

Toyota’s new Rav 4 doesn’t quite slot into the cross-over market that recently released soft-roaders are targeting, but it is nonetheless a capable city vehicle and a comfortable bundu-basher. The current range of crossover SUVs were undoubtedly inspired by the Rav 4, which was first launched in 1994.

"The all-new Mazda MX-5 is designed by those clever Japanese folk who make everything seem so simple. Given that Gauteng is permanently dogged by rain clouds, I wasn’t given much opportunity to drive with the top down, but when I could, taking the roof down and putting it back up was simple," writes Sukasha Singh.

"I like to get to where I am going without a fuss. I also enjoy power steering, air conditioning and a radio for news." Cape Town mayor Helen Zille once spent an entire month’s salary on a traffic offence. She speaks to Sukasha Singh about cars.

Jeremy Clarkson and his crew at <i>Top Gear</i> hated the look of the new Chrysler PT Cruiser cabriolet so much that, after looking at a picture of the vehicle on screen, they winced, turned away and proclaimed it to be one of the ugliest vehicles they had ever seen. All three of them (Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond) were unusually unanimous in this judgement.

The first Jetta, even Volkswagen employees admit, was nothing more than a "Golf with a rucksack". After that mistake many years ago, VW has gone to great lengths to make the Jetta more than just a sedan version of the hatchback Golf and, for the most part, it has succeeded.

Nissan has introduced its first diesel passenger vehicle to South Africa, the Micra 1,5 dCi Tekna. It is the first three-door Micra on our market and the reduction in size does give it a certain agility that the other Micras lack. Then again, it also has a turbo-diesel engine and is surprisingly one of the most driveable turbo-powered cars.

"The new Mercedes-Benz S-Class represents the pinnacle of car-making excellence to the car-buying public. It is a blend of technology that Mercedes-Benz has been perfecting over decades. The technology on the new S-Class is by far its most astounding attribute and one can only hope that, such expensive technology becomes commonplace," writes Sukasha Singh.

<i>Yume no chikara</i> is Japanese for having the ability to make your dreams come true, or as Honda puts it: the power of dreams. This is the strategy behind a company whose vehicles are winning numerous awards around the world — the most recent going to the newly launched Honda Civic, which was voted the best car at the international Detroit Motor Show last month.

Those on the coast constantly lament Gauties’ aggressive driving style, but it has to be said that some Durban drivers regard Gauteng as a sort of lawless parallel universe. All it proves is that there’s a collective stupidity in South Africa. Despite encounters with reckless idiots, the festive period was the perfect time to enjoy the new Mercedes-Benz M-Class 320 CDi.

"Normally, Indians are skinny, short and petite. Not my family, though. In my immediate and extended family, most of the men and women are tall, larger-than-normal sorts. We excuse our podginess with the flimsy, but true, reasoning that we’re descendants of Sikh warriors," writes Sukasha Singh.

Considering that less than 5% of 4x4s sold in South Africa are taken off-road, Nissan’s new "crossover" SUV-type vehicle, the Murano, should theoretically do very well. That is, of course, if people could get over the brand bias that seems to prevent them from trying out new vehicles that better suit their needs.

Most journalists don’t have much fashion sense. Asking a journalist what’s in or what’s cool to wear this season is about as wise as asking Dubya how to make the world a peaceful place. My lack of fashion sense was highlighted with the arrival recently of the Mercedes-Benz SLK 55.

It was very clever of the Hyundai marketing folk to have a few models of the outgoing Sonata in the showroom with the new Sonata, simply because the new one is a revolutionary departure from the old in just about every aspect. The exterior styling is the most notable improvement.

I couldn’t think of a better way in which to put the new Mercedes-Benz C320 CDi through its paces than a road trip. So my mum, my sister and I packed everything but the kitchen sink and set off to Durban at 4.30am. The air was crisp and the roads were mostly clear, so it was the perfect opportunity for some spirited driving.

Not only does the Honda FR-V make a good first impression, but it reinforces that initial advantage at every opportunity, making the second, third, fourth, and so on, impressions as positive as the first. In a nutshell, the FR-V looks good, handles well, seats six people and shows off why Honda achieves such impressive scores on the JD Power and Associates survey.

"I’m sure it was someone far more learned who said "With great power comes great responsibility" — but, for now, my only recollection is of Spiderman’s uncle lecturing an impatient Spidey in the 2002 movie. Those words popped into my head the first time I put my foot flat on the accelerator of the new Chrysler Crossfire SRT6 Roadster," writes Sukasha Singh.

Given that the Volkswagen Passat has sold about 13-million units worldwide since its entry into the market 32 years ago, it’s safe to say it’s a popular car. The most striking aspect about the sixth generation Passat (B6) is the design. The outgoing model was rather staid and one wouldn’t have spoken much about the exterior.