Leisure Wheels

SURVEYS conducted by American paint manufacturers PPG Industries and Du Pont reveal that the most popular car colours remain greyscale colours with over 70% of cars produced globally being white, black, grey or silver. Red, blue and brown or beige ma

I so enjoyed the article, Food for the Soul, by Pierre Labuschagne, on page 85 of the September issue of Leisure Wheels magazine, since we regularly stop at the Kardoesie farm stall and restaurant on our trips up north from Cape Town. This year, we w

This is the all-new Audi Q3 and as you can see, it’s a big departure from the car it replaces. The previous generation model’s design was a bit frumpy and the interior was just too small to make it a reasonable choice for growing families. We’re happ

Soon after the all-new Mercedes-Benz GLE made its South African debut, the GLE Coupé made its international debut. The GLE follows the same design direction set by its smaller siblings: a roofline that slopes to the rear and the now signature rear li

Peugeot recently re-introduced itself to the South African market in an attempt to increase its dwindling presence in this country. In addition to streamlining its dealer network and parts availability, Peugeot introduced a new five-year/100 000km co

Toyota South Africa recently announced the roll-out of connectivity features and in-car Wi-Fi on all new Toyota and Lexus models. Known as Toyota Connect, the new connectivity hub will be housed within the MyToyota App which was launched in 2014. The

The armoured vehicle industry is big bucks, especially in South America, Africa and Russia. The armour plating is usually done after the purchase of the vehicle and by a third party but BMW will now offer an armoured X5 as part of its local line-up.

Toyota’s Land Cruiser 70-series can rightfully claim icon status by now, given how many miles they have collectively travelled in some of the harshest places on the planet. One of these places is the Namib, one of the oldest and largest deserts in th

“THE incredibly steep incline facing the short bonnet of the Stuttgart-designed, American-built, four-wheel drive challenger from the Mercedes-Benz stable looked impassable, to say the least.” That was how the original Mercedes- Benz ML feature kicke

WHEN the ML was introduced in 1997, the motoring world gasped in unison. The world’s oldest carmaker had defied the rule books and created a premium sports utility vehicle (SUV). Today, the wisdom of that original decision is obvious: Mercedes-Benz h

“IT takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent fritters.” The pay-off line from Motel Hell, a low-rent horror film from 1980 that was, astonishingly, ranked number one in US cinemas for an entire weekend, was on a continuous playback loop in

IN my Cape Town student days, there were occasions when my friends and I dissolved into fits of giggles with little cause or reason. Once one of us began shaking with laughter, it was only a matter of time before the rest of us were wiping away tears

WHERE do you start when planning a trip in a camper? We suppose a destination would be a good idea but the allure of meandering down the coast with no particular plan in mind was just too strong. We’d know what the destination was when we got there,

The X7 blends lavish presence, exclusivity and spaciousness with the versatile and agile driving properties customers would expect from a sports activity vehicle. The latest and largest model in the X-lineup uses its outstanding powertrain and chassi

As motoring fans, we tend to associate highly specific qualities with certain brands. BMWs are sporty. Audis and Volkswagens have exceptional interiors. Mercedes-AMGs make beautiful noises while Alfas are renowned for being prettier than a Karoo suns

The compact SUV segment is a popular one that shows continued growth. Volkswagen has been a dominant player in the compact car market with its Polo and Polo Vivo so it was only a matter of time before it joined this SUV party. The Volkswagen SUV rang

Now Land Rover’s special vehicle operations team has been given free rein and has created a rather special, special-edition model by improving an already great vehicle. Range Rover has taken its most beautiful mid-size SUV to the next level with the

FIVE years ago, drones were still a novelty. Only the wealthy could afford this entertaining hobby. The turning point occurred in 2017 in China when manufacturers realised there was a significant market for civilian drones. The idea of an unmanned ai

TOYOTA Gazoo Racing SA’s Giniel de Villiers and navigator Dennis Murphy claimed victory at the Lichtenburg 400, ending the run of bad luck that has plagued the pairing during the championship so far. Teammates Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings finished

With over 220 000 units sold since its market introduction in March 2010, the Volkswagen Polo Vivo Hatch is a common sight on our roads. It offers safe, reliable affordable transport and has become the choice of many first-time car buyers. As with an

The Nissan Patrol is a legendary vehicle and has gained this status in 4×4 circles thanks to unprecedented reliability, exceptional ability and the fact that it is easy to customise and modify. Like a Toyota Land Cruiser, it retains its value excepti

Considering the price of a full-size SUV, a used Nissan Patrol is a fairly good buy. We found a 2012 model with a mere 80 000km on the clock for less than R500k. It’s the luxurious GRX model as well, which means it won’t be a burden to live with. The

✓ THE GOOD: We’ve got the biggest, baddest Duster in South Africa × THE BAD: Fuel consumption has gone up a bit THE new Duster is pretty much the exact same car as the previous model, mechanically speaking. The engine, gearbox and all-wheel-drive sys

THE D-Max’s fuel consumption has been a source of concern in recent weeks. For some reason we’re struggling to get it below 10 litres/100km, which is odd. Having had a manual KB 3.0-litre around five years ago, we know for a fact it should be averagi

THE general line-up of bakkies comprises single cabs, xtra cabs and double cab models, but these sales are all lumped together. In a quest to see who leads each sub-segment, we dug a little deeper into the figures. The month of August was a bit of an

IN 1986, Volkswagen presented its first Golf with four-wheel drive. The Golf Syncro was available as a five-door with a 1.8-litre engine initially producing 66kW and then later, 73kW. The four-wheel-drive system had been developed in collaboration wi