CRA Personal Finance & Motoring Explored
By DENIS DROPPA
We explore SA’s most fuel-friendly family SUVs because with more price hikes expected here is a guide to the most frugal and reasonably priced cars.
Visit CRA’s industry news blog page for more relevant articles.
Rising oil prices and a weak rand may lift the petrol price to more than R20 a litre by year-end, warns the AA.
This grim scenario comes after the hiking of petrol and diesel prices to record highs in recent months. It may prompt cash-strapped consumers to consider more economical cars at replacement time.
An economical hatchback is the obvious way to scale down and save on fuel costs, but small-engined compact cars don’t serve everyone’s needs. Yet those seeking a larger family SUV with reasonable power need not have their fuel budgets completely bullied.
SUVs and crossovers are where much of the sales action is due to their all-round practicality. We have assembled a list of the most fuel-efficient compact-to-midsize examples in SA. They are all at least 4.2m long to offer good space. They also have decent power, that all-important pavement-clambering ride height and miserly fuel thirst rated at less than 6.0l / 100km on a combined urban-freeway cycle.
Many of SA’s most fuel-efficient cars are premium petrol-electric hybrids that cost well north of R1.5m, but they defeat the money-saving object of this exercise so we have listed only vehicles that retail for less than R700,000.
There are 14 vehicles that meet all these parameters: eight diesels, four petrols and two petrol-electric hybrids.
With that, and the proviso that the fuel consumption figures are manufacturer claims and might not be achievable in real-world driving, here is a list of SA’s most fuel-efficient, reasonably priced family SUVs:
Rising oil prices and a weak rand may lift the petrol price to more than R20 a litre by year-end, warns the AA.
This grim scenario comes after the hiking of petrol and diesel prices to record highs in recent months. It may prompt cash-strapped consumers to consider more economical cars at replacement time.
An economical hatchback is the obvious way to scale down and save on fuel costs, but small-engined compact cars don’t serve everyone’s needs. Yet those seeking a larger family SUV with reasonable power need not have their fuel budgets completely bullied.
SUVs and crossovers are where much of the sales action is due to their all-round practicality. We have assembled a list of the most fuel-efficient compact-to-midsize examples in SA. They are all at least 4.2m long to offer good space. They also have decent power, that all-important pavement-clambering ride height and miserly fuel thirst rated at less than 6.0l / 100km on a combined urban-freeway cycle.
Many of SA’s most fuel-efficient cars are premium petrol-electric hybrids that cost well north of R1.5m, but they defeat the money-saving object of this exercise so we have listed only vehicles that retail for less than R700,000.
There are 14 vehicles that meet all these parameters: eight diesels, four petrols and two petrol-electric hybrids.
With that, and the proviso that the fuel consumption figures are manufacturer claims and might not be achievable in real-world driving, here is a list of SA’s most fuel-efficient, reasonably priced family SUVs:
Ford EcoSport 1.5 TDCi Ambiente
Price: R314,900
Power plant: 1.5 diesel turbo
Power and torque: 74kW/205Nm
Fuel consumption: 4.6l / 100km
Renault Duster 1.5dCi Techroad auto
Price: R327,900
Power plant: 1.5l diesel turbo
Power and torque: 66kW/210Nm
Fuel consumption: 4.8l / 100km
Ford EcoSport 1.0T Trend
Price: R349,600
Power plant: 1.0l petrol turbo
Power and torque: 92kW/170Nm
Fuel consumption: 5.4l / 100km
VW T-Cross 1.0TSI 70kW Comfortline
Price: R357,900
Power plant: 1.0l petrol turbo
Power and torque: 70kW/175Nm
Fuel consumption: 4.8l / 100km
VW T-Cross 85kW Comfortline
Price: R399,300
Power plant: 1.0l petrol turbo
Power and torque: 85kW/200Nm
Fuel consumption: 5.3l / 100km
Toyota Corolla Cross 1.8 Hybrid XS
Price: R413,000
Power plant: 1.8l petrol-electric
Power and torque: 90kW/142Nm
Fuel consumption: 4.3l / 100km
Kia Seltos 1.5 CRDi EX
Price: R469,995
Power plant: 1.5l turbo diesel
Power and torque: 96kW/250Nm
Fuel consumption: 5.7l / 100km
VW T-Cross 110kW R-Line
Price: R472,300
Power plant: 1.5l petrol turbo
Power and torque: 110kW/250Nm
Fuel consumption: 5.5l / 100km
Hyundai Creta 1.5D Executive
Price: R482,500
Power plant: 1.5l turbo diesel
Power and torque: 84kW/250Nm
Fuel consumption: 5.9l / 100km
Nissan Qashqai 1.5dCi Acenta Plus
Price: R519,900
Power plant: 1.5l diesel turbo
Power and torque: 81kW/260Nm
Fuel consumption: 4.2l / 100km
Toyota Rav4 hybrid 2.5 hybrid GX
Price: R555,300
Power plant: 1.5l petrol-electric
Power and torque: 160kW/221Nm
Fuel consumption: 4.7l / 100km
Nissan X-Trail 1.6dCi 4×4 Tekna
Price: R603,900
Power plant: 1.6l turbo diesel
Power and torque: 96kW/320Nm
Fuel consumption: 5.3l / 100km
BMW X1 sDrive 18d
Price: R679,582
Power plant: 2.0l turbo diesel
Power and torque: 110kW/330Nm
Fuel consumption: 5.1l / 100km
Mazda CX-5 2.2DE AWD Akera
Price: R699,900
Power plant: 2.2l turbo diesel
Power and torque: 140kW/450Nm
Fuel consumption: 5.7l / 100km
Picture: Toyota Rav4 Hybrid. Picture: SUPPLIED
Read Also: The Fines And Demerit Points Under SA’s New Driving Laws
Article Credit to Business LIVE Motoring.
What is your view of SA’s most fuel friendly family SUVs? If you were in the market, would you consider buying one of these because of their fuel economy? Let us know in the comments below. Also, if you found our content informative, do like it and share it with your friends.
Read Also: How To Check If You Have Outstanding Traffic Fines
Join the CRA Mailing List, It’s FREE
Click here to join the CRA mailing list, the innovative and trusted source for relevant motoring information and the latest news.