 | |
| Hyundai's Multicab has raised the bar by lowering the price for a crew carrier in South Africa |
People who actually have a life, as opposed to facebook, mostly live it up in German crew carriers. Hyundai has now stirred up the mix.
Yep. If you are still hankering after a clunky SUV, here’s a hint — to prove you actually have a life, as opposed to just a series of facebooked photos, get out there in a crew carrier. Smaller than a van but bigger than a bakkie, these five- to eight-seaters really do drive like cars.
Pending on how many rows of seats you fit, you can load the team, or just the kids and their bffs.
The back can take mountain bikes or the show jumper, her assorted family members, and the Shetland pony — with hay bales.
Because there aren’t too many crew cabs to chose from, they also make their drivers just that little more elite on the road.
My personal favourite has to be the VW Crewbus. (Blame my passion-wagons kombis as a student for this blind loyalty.)
But Hyundai’s H1 Multicab has my German gripped in a full Nelson and the Koreans’ petrol model especially is mercilessly ignoring my Teuton’s frantic efforts to tap out, and will be voted the clear winner by all dads on budgets.
Compared to VW’s entry level 75kW offering, Hyundai’s petrol-driven H1 offers almost as much torgue, which is want you want in a big car.
With the rear seat removed to transform the H1 from a people carrier into a Multicab, you get 2,5 cube metres of space — equal to 2 500 litres in volume.
The interior of the Korean does not match the flair or the clever seats of the Italian contender in this category, Fiat’s lovely Scudo kombi.
But it does kick the Ike for a six in price. The H1 retails for just under R340 000 the Fiat Scudo 2,0 Multijet costs R73 000 more.
The H1 Multicab has two engines a 2.4 petrol and a 2.5 turbo diesel, neither of which will get you in much trouble in front of speed cameras. They are, however, as the press statements claim “frugal”.
Having driven the petrol, I can vouch for Hyundai’s claim of about 10 km/l. They claim about the same for turbodiesel. For tour operators, the turbodiesel offers the most low-down torgue needed to tow a large trailer. The petrol engine generates 126kW and pulls with 224Nm — sufficient to move a loaded Multicab from standstill to 100km/h in... wait... wait... ...over 20 seconds.
So you don’t buy the H1 for speed. You buy it because at R279 900 with a five year/90 000 km service plan and 15 000 km service intervals, Hyundai is selling 2012’s life style statement at a bargain price.
(Prices valid in Jan 2012)
Here's how they stack up
(Benchmark: A Toyota Quantum 2,7 (111kW/241Nm) van with no seats costs R269 900.)
• Hyundai H1 Multicab 2,4 petrol (126kW/224Nm) loads 2,5m³; six seats; 5yr/150 000km warranty,
5yr/90 000km service plan, and costs R279 900.
Diesel:
(Benchmark: The Quantum 2.5 D-4D turbodiesel (75kW/260Nm) panelvan costs R295 600.)
• VW Crew Bus 2.0 TDI; loads 6,7m³; (75kW/250Nm) costs R297 632 with a 2yr/unlimited, service or maintenance plans optional.
• Hyundai H1 Multicab 2,5 turbodiesel auto loads; 2,5m³; (120kW/392Nm) same plans as for petrol model; costs R339 900.
• Peugeot Expert Tepee 2.0 Hdi; 5m³; (80kW/300Nm) seats 8 or 9; with 3/100 000km, warranty, 5yr/100 000km service plan; does cost R374 500.
• Mercedes-Benz 116 CDI Crewcab; 5,7m³; (120kW/360Nm) seats 8; costs R394 668.
