Guest contributor Gasant Abarder, former Cape Argus and Cape Times editor, details a cross-provincial journey in his newly purchased Mahindra XUV300.
There is a rite of passage that every South African should embark on if they get the chance: the pilgrimage from Cape Town to Joburg (or the reverse) by car at least once in a lifetime. With the right ingredients, this epic family road trip of around 1 400km can make for incredible bonding while seeing our beautiful country up close and personal.
There are a few pre-requisites for a successful journey where relationship won’t be destroyed. The main ones are:
- Pick your fighter. You’re going to be on the road with your fellow travellers for several hours, so the chemistry must be right. Our most recent trip in early February was the week before my son started varsity, so it was the perfect bonding opportunity;
- A mandatory stop at the best KFC in the world, located in Colesberg – the approximate halfway mark of the journey. Don’t take my word for it. Check out all their awards on the wall.
- A kick-ass playlist of about 8-and-a-half hours of eclectic music to suit all tastes;
- A well-stocked and accessible cooler box to refresh especially the driver; and, most importantly…
- Make sure you have the right vehicle that can withstand our notorious potholes, well-documented poor driving habits, and a few different kinds of weather conditions.
The latter condition is probably the most important element. Our vehicle for this trip was the surprisingly efficient and robust Mahindra XUV300. The top-of-the-range XUV300 W8 edition struck the right balance of comfort and performance.
The XUV300 was voted the safest car in Africa in its class a few years ago. With peers, like Toyota’s Urban Cruiser and Honda’s SUV offerings, that is no mean feat. But what really impressed me was how it ate up tar on the N1 from Cape Town to Joburg and back a week later.
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Before I get carried away with the praise, let me get my bugbears out of the way. The vehicle has a default stop/start engine setting that can be deactivated. But of course, I forget each time. It is an unnecessary and unwieldy feature for a vehicle that is only available in manual models. Why there is no automatic XUV300 in the range, that boggles the mind. It would then be the perfect vehicle in my opinion.
My second pet peeve is that the 1st and 2nd gear shifting feels a bit grindy. It’s not a massive problem once you get to grips with it and on the open road, it is a non-issue.
Thirdly, you have to stop more frequently to fill up as the tank is rather small for the long road. This could be an advantage as there is more time to stretch your legs.
But that is where the niggly bits about this extraordinary vehicle with dashing good looks end. For a 1.2-litre engine, this pocket rocket was cruising quite comfortably at the national speed limit with a miserly average of 7,7L/100km. That is fuel economy at its finest.
It has surprising torque too that comes in handy when overtaking three long haul trucks on a climb and once you hit top gear of this 6-speed SUV it goes like your favourite CD.
At one point, the XUV300 was setting the pace for a BMW X5 behind it all the way from Bloemfontein to the south of Joburg as we approached the Grasmere toll plaza. At no point did it feel like the driver of the X5 was a Max Verstappen forcing the pace behind us but rather an also ran content to be in our slip.
Its raised body enhances all-around visibility, the seating is comfortable with a leatherette interior, Apple CarPlay with SatNav and rear camera standard with the W8 model, alloy 16-inch wheels for excellent road-holding, and sensors all around.
The boot space isn’t massive because it is a compact SUV but the open roof rails allowed for a roofb ox on racks (purchased separately) which provided 400 extra litres of luggage capacity.
If the Mahindra XUV300 was the safest car in Africa in its class at one point, then it must also be the best value for money-offering in its class. When you compare apples with apples against those other brands we’re so enslaved to, there just is no comparison. The top-end W8 model is the cost of an entry-level offering of these established brands.
All-in-all, we arrived at our destinations ahead of schedule and not completely knackered. The Mahindra XUV300 is dynamite in a compact package. And it comes with great service to boot at Mahindra Claremont – from Zaid Martin, who sold us this little gem, to service guru Shaheed Brink, who treats each customer like a member of the family.
Book a test drive with Zaid at Mahindra Claremont on 0215696800.