Mabuyane Kekana

Mabuyane Kekana

Every daily newspaper carried horrific pictures of senseless attacks and killings of innocent people.

So for me the Daihatsu weekend away launch in the Cape could not have come at a better time. This was the time when my brothers in Alexandra and Diepsloot were thirsty for the blood of their brothers from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and elsewhere in Africa.

I know what you must be thinking, why didn't you stay to help. Well, first, one has to clear their minds before telling those fools to stop what they are doing.

But a weekend without cellphone reception or television was temporary heaven.

Let's get back to the car that took us there; the launch of the Daihatsu Terios long wheelbase and 4x4 models.

The three-day long launch started off with a long drive to a remote part of the province. We stayed in a place called Kagga Kamma.

I'm not going to give the details of the place, but it is hidden in the mountains and it is cold. The Daihatsu Terios did well in taking us there.

The off-road capabilities of the Terios amazed most of us. After kilometres of gravel driving, day three saw us challenging the dunes, 50km outside Clanwilliam.

The Terios proved to be a tough little SUV to handle this type of situation. In appearance the long wheelbase model looks prettier than the short wheelbase 4x4. The 4x4 will be for those who love bundu bashing more than city life.

The Terios II continued the good form of the original Terios and now the new Terios long continues in the same tradition, but is longer and more spacious than the Terios SWB.

The styling of the new long wheelbase Terios is advanced, with a modern spirit at the core of its tough exterior. Its compact body size but wide track allows for easy handling, which made the Terios SWB famous.

But despite the longer chassis the Terios long still has above average approach and departure angles.

The lengthened chassis is also stiffened to provide greater torsional stability and to ensure that the handling does not suffer with a longer vehicle.

The wheels are positioned to maximise interior space and the utility of the luggage compartment. The flexible luggage compartment adapts to the size or length of your luggage, and a wide variety of seating arrangements to maximise passenger comfort and ease of entry and exit are allowed for.

The second row of seats have individual sliding and reclining for maximum comfort of passengers and individual double folding for maximum ease of entry and exit of the passengers in the third row of seats.

The third row also has individual double folding to maximise the luggage compartment size.

To accommodate drivers of various physiques the new LWB Terios has tilt steering, seat height adjustment.

Standard features include air conditioning, central locking, electric windows, front load CD player, lots of cup and bottle holders, an extra 12V power supply and seatback pockets.

Safety features include dual front air bags, emergency fuel cut-off and automatic door lock release.

The front seatbelts are equipped with pre-tensioners and force limiters ,while the rear seats come with ISOFIX child seat anchorage.