the Bucket: City Car

Friday, November 17, 2017

Bucket Seat: Toyota Aygo X-Cite

Today's review is going to be a bit different because the car in question, is a bit different. I've driven a fair share of budget hatch backs and this one was probably one of the most impressive ones I've had yet, not because it had a cool trick up it's sleeve either. The Toyota Aygo is the smallest passenger offering by the Japanese motor manufacturer, it was developed in a joint venture with Peugeot and Citroen and assembled in the Czech Republic, each of the other brands had the same car under a different guise and name, Peugeot with the 107 and Citroen with the C1. The cars started out as city cars for the European market, with CO2 emission tax coming into play, developed smaller cars, with less emission was the goal. While the French cars did well in the Northern hemisphere, they failed to catch the local markets attention as well as the Aygo. Could be because of brand loyalty or probably just the reliable legacy that Toyota has built in South Africa over the years, which is why we see the new Aygo on the roads today but not the C1 or 107.

Now while the Aygo start off as a budget hatch back, it certainly isn't just that anymore and with this new X-Cite model its bound to get the attraction of much of the younger crowds and it won't brake your bank account to get one. The X-Cite comes with the standard Aygo 1L engine, I'll admit, not the best engine Toyota has made and it really makes you work to maintain speed. I often found myself needing to down change to maintain or pick up speed on a regular occurrence, especially on highway driving which annoyed me because Toyota has a perfect good 1.5L engine in the Etios Sprint, why not chuck that in here? It would make a world of a difference! Then I sat at the robot, opened the roof...yes, that's the trick up the sleeve (but more about that later) and cruised off the line, down to the office and thought, this is what this car is for, city driving!

Forgetting the fundamentals of the car can be very easy, the car is meant for the city, or the burbs, not flying up and down the highway and when doing that, its probably one of the best things out there. Lets start with the looks, it's striking, it has a big X on the front which makes it all that more X-Citing, the overall design is quite funky, and the utilization of space is very clever. The front doors are quite long which made me thinking it was a 3 door at first until I realised there are actually doors at the back. Getting to the back, the seats are pretty decent, not some wooden bench places there just to say it can seat people at the back. In front, the cockpit is pretty cool, although, granted there is a lot of plastic which isn't unexpected for the price tag, I wasn't expecting imbuya. I quite like how everything is designed though, it really does appeal to the young side in you, which you hope that won't die. There's lots of lights and even section on the side of the speedo that tells you when to change up or down a gear. The space in the front is great, I'm a big guy and had no issue driving around in the car.

Now, for the crowd pleaser, not quite sure what Toyota were thinking when they decided to add a fold-able roof to the Aygo, but I'm glad they did! When I first saw pics of it, I thought someone was taking the mickey out of the car and I even compared it to the likes of the Mayback Landaulet but I tell you what, it is genius! The roof folds up in a matter of seconds, quietly and neatly, it will have everyone in traffic confused as hell, as to whats going on here. Since the roof stacks up, it opens up practically just over 80% of the roof, which is a lot compared to most sunroofs. With the fresh air and added scenery to the drive, it really makes for a fun ride. No need to worry about drag or wind noise since with the roof open, you're cruising and its perfect. The large touch screen display connects to your phone in seconds, with bluetooth audio streaming coming through the decent sound system, it just adds to the experience.

While this car might be aimed at the youth, I found it quite practical as my daily run around. It sips fuel, at 4.4L per 100km, the tank size is 35L! After getting just over 450km on a tank, I was pleasantly surprised that R200 of petrol got me over half a tank! Many might look at the car and think of the safety aspects of it, I mean guys, sure it's small, sure its light but they got 4 out of 5 stars in the last safety rating for the car, so if that doesn't give it the thumbs up, I don't know what will. I got many comments while driving this car, one of them being cute, which I don't really mind, the Aygo is a cute car and there's no denying that, the X-Cite just takes the cuteness level up a notch with the folding roof.

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine	1L 3 cylinder
Gear Box	5 Speed Manual
Power	51kW
Torque	95Nm
Fuel Comsumption	4.4L/100km
Fuel Tank Size	35L
Price	R189,500

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Bucket Seat: KIA Soul

Korean Motor manufacturer KIA has been in the market long enough to be considered a major player when it comes to contributing to vehicle sales in South Africa. They offer a wide range of vehicles, from compact hatch-backs, small sedans to large SUV and small trucks. While I always felt KIA did have the edge in terms of design and quality from the other Korean brands, as most models of theirs were straight cut and formal, but they had something quirky up their sleeves when they made today's reviewed car, the Soul. When it comes to the Soul, there's generally two reactions you get from people when they see it, either they wonder what the hell is that thing or they love it, for my I fall in the latter half as I do quite like the design. As I said, KIA had it's aim on attacking the market that most luxury German manufacturers have and with this car, it shows they're also have a playful side to them as it incorporates a lot of fun elements which makes the car pretty cool and trendy.

STYLE

The big thing about the the Soul is how it looks, as the interior apart from one or two rad designs is pretty much stock standard to any other KIA out there. The design of the Soul is big and bold which not only makes the car look great but in tern transpires into a very spacious and roomy cabin for its passengers. The design while bold is also quite clever with acute angles and bulges in the right place to enhance the cars aesthetics which gives it a mixture between a city car and a sport hatch. Yes, I know you probably looking at the car and saying "there's nothing sporty about it" but you would be wrong, while the car sits rather high, the roof has a slant to it which is matched with the window line giving it that sleek finish and the rear wheel arches protrude the body almost giving it that rally car feel, The rear lights are quite funky as well with it being quite large and trying into the rear with thick black outlines. Some might consider the Soul to be something funky but it's more of a modern day city car/ MPV.

PERFORMANCE

I honestly thought the Soul just came in one engine type but soon did I realise there was actually 7 derivatives available! Starting off from the 1.6 DCT DSL Smart, right up to the range topping 1.6 MT Start. I had the only diesel engine in the line up, the 1.6 Diesel MT Start, it is an in-line 4 cylinder, 16 valve power plant which produces, 94kW and 260Nm of torque. Not bad for a 1.6 litre engine. It features a Common Rail Direct Injection system, better know as CRDi, which really helps performance and keeps the fuel economy at a minimum. The engine is also damn silent compared to most other Diesel engines. Apart from the noise on start-up, the only other way I would have known it was a diesel is when I went to fill up and saw the diesel stickers on the inside of the fuel cap. Suffice to say with the brilliant economy I was getting, I didn't need to fill the car up during my week with it. The car although big, is pretty light so on take-off it is pretty nippy and with it being a manual transmission, this helped me test the peaks of the acceleration but mind you, this is a city car so it won't be competing with any hot hatches. I love the manual gearboxes on the KIA's, they're so smooth and accurate combined with that soft clutch, the gears just flow like a hot knife through butter.

COMFORT

With its big shell, the Soul does had a lot of interior space, it is extremely spacious in the cabin for all passengers. As mentioned with the sloping roof line, the rear passengers do sit a bit lower than the front to avoid any nasty head bashes but they still have enough leg room in the back. Not quite sure how they managed that but props to the design team! The ride quality is something that I admired on the Soul, with its box like nature I would have imagine it to be a bit difficult to steer on the road but had none such trouble. Even it's maneuverability quite astonishing with it managing to turn the tightest angles and where in some case most cars require a three-point-turn, the Soul does it in one swing!

STORAGE

With there being so much space in the car, you'd expect lots of storage space as well. While the trunk is pretty decent and can load enough luggage for a small getaway, the rest of the car does have it's fare share of compartments to store things in. The glove box is fairly adequate and there are many small storage areas to keep small items safely and securely. Also the sunglasses compartment could actually fit my sunglasses in! Which made me very happy as I normally end up storing them in the side of the door or in the center with keys and other items that might scratch the lens.

VERDICT

Overall the KIA Soul is a very underrated MPV, it's a City Car that works well in the city and doesn't do that badly when doing long distances, obviously this is helped by it's spacious cabin and the very economical diesel engine. The car is perfect for those small but growing families, and can serve many purposes, from being a car for dropping off and picking up the kids from school or sports to going to work in the highly conjested CBD. It's funky, looks cool and you can spec this car up to your personality with a variety of colours and options, with even some two tone options to really bring out the design of the car. A major plus for the car is that it is very practical which in the end of the has me giving it two thumbs up.

SPECIFICATIONS