The GWM C20R and its handler hit the long road for some much needed bonding time.
There was more than just the regular tarmac to tackle. Dirt roads were handled with ease.
The C20R and its handler pause to take in the view.
News BlogsBy: CAR magazine
I will admit that I haven’t always had good things to say about GWM C20R long-termer. As my latest update in the magazine shows, it’s thrown up its fair share of issues.
Some of these issues include a starting problem that I addressed in a previous update. It’s an intermittent issue, so GWM isn’t able to locate it. It died down for a while, but now it’s back and before anyone thinks it’s a cold-start thing, it happens when the engine is cold and warm. There’s also a weird squeak that comes from the steering wheel. It’s a plastic on plastic sound and while it doesn’t affect the steering, it’s annoying. My biggest gripe right now is the price. This vehicle now costs R174 999. When we tested the car in the November issue, the difference in price between this car and the preferred, but more expensive, VW Vivo Maxx was just short of R10 000. That difference has more than halved since with the Vivo Maxx sitting at a price of R178 800. Then there’s also the impressive Renault Sandero Stepway (CAR July 2014) and the newly launched Toyota Etios Cross to take into account. This Frenchman costs only R159 900, while the Toyota is R159 800. It was with this in mind that I decided that I needed to take the C20R out on a long trip, so that we could have a heart-to-heart and a nice bonding session. And I am not sorry that I did.
The destination was Durban and the route there was the uneventful N1 to Bloemfontein and eventually the N3 into Durban. The road back, however, was the one less traveled and it was then that I started to once again warm up to this little Chinese hatchback.
My partner and I decided to do the trip home via the Eastern Cape so that we could end up in the little town of Hogsback, overnight and then travel through Grahamstown, along the N2 and hit the beautiful Route 62 to get back to Cape Town. To get there, however, the C20R had to tackle really bad roads through small towns of the Eastern Cape, dirt roads through the gorgeous Great Fish River Nature Reserve and a stunning piece of black ribbon down the other side of the mountain where you would find Hogsback. And you know what? Every single part of it was an adventure that the C20R was more than willing to handle.
The pot-holed and pockmarked pieces of tarmac put the cars suspension to work and while sitting in the driver and passenger seat for an extended period of time was not comfortable, it wasn’t a teeth-rattling affair thanks to the MacPherson struts, coil springs and anti-roll bar at the front and the torsion beam and coil springs at the back. The capable nature of this set-up was further highlighted when we turned off the road and onto the dirt for what was easily over 200 kms of gravel driving. The scenery made it simply spectacular, while the C20R impressed more and more with every kilometre. The chrome-brushed body cladding and ground clearance of 172 mm was appreciate as stones were kicked up underneath the car, while the revvy 1,5-litre VVT engine and five-speed manual transmission set-up pushed the car on at an eager pace both on dirt and on the road, although overtaking had to be well-timed so as to not spend too much time in the on-coming lane.
In terms of driver and passenger space and comfort, I found the C20R to be adequate from both seats, but my other half found the passenger side of the car cramped and not conducive to a decent nap before his next driving stint. The boot space isn’t plentiful, but between that and the back seats, we were able to fill up the car with everything that we needed, including a very tiny portable fridge for some padkos and water.
It wasn’t all positive for the C20R (the fuel consumption was disappointing, dust seeped into the cabin on dirt roads even when the air-con was set to recirculate and I sorely missed a cruise control function), but this long trip definitely reignited some of the lost love (I use this term loosely) for my C20R. It also shows that no matter what your car, you can definitely head off the regular national roads and find other, more adventurous roads to your end destination. For those who thought that the C20R wouldn’t be able to handle it and would come back with battle scars, know that this little red hatchback has never felt better to pilot.
Mileage on arrival: 2 239 kmsMileage now: 14 889 kms
Fuel consumption: 8,96 L/100 km
Follow the links for updates 1, 2 and 3.
Keyword: Long-term update (4) – GWM C20R