3 SUZUKI BALENO

Small cars have long been a Suzuki strong point and the Baleno grows that reputation.

Not only is the Baleno a comfortable and refined drive, it also feels well screwed together. The interior and finishes have a quality feel, too. That must have played a role in this vehicle being the first to builtin-india Suzuki to be exported to the company's home country, Japan; in fact, to altogether 30 countries.

Though bigger than Suzuki's popular Swift compact, the Baleno uses the same proven 68 kw 1,4-litre engine, with either five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmission. Designed for efficiency, it boasts lightweight construction and a wind-cheating body that, with a drag coefficient of just 0,299, is said to be the company's most aerodynamic production model yet. Quoted average fuel consumption is 5,1 litres/100 km (manual) and 5,4 litres/100 km (automatic). But it's no slouch: quoted performance figures were borne out by the Baleno's peppy performance on our Eastern Cape launch drive.

Standard safety items include ABS brakes with EBD and EBA, dual front airbags (add side and curtain bags on the GLX version) and pre-tensioners and load limiters on the front seatbelts. Convenience features include electric windows front and rear, airconditioning, audio system with integrated Bluetooth (plus auxiliary controls on the multifunction steering wheel) and, on the GLX version, a 6,2-inch TFT colour screen. Price: R199 900, including a four-year/ 60 000 km service plan.

GOTECH

The attraction here is the gadget factor. You use the Gotech to turn your phone into a bank of digital gauges, some of which are more useful than others. Coolant temperature? Sure, particularly if your car doesn’t have that on the dash. But in my hundreds of thousands of kilometres behind the wheel, I’ve never had occasion to say, “Gee, I wonder what my mass airflow rate is right now?” On late ’90s and early 2000’s vehicles that frequently request engine-checking, diagnosing warning lights would be helpful. But you might not even get that far. I tried the Gotech on a big SUV with an electronic transfer case stuck in four-wheel drive. The Gotech reported that the vehicle was A-okay. Its gremlins must’ve been frolicking on a deeper circuit.

$85, no subscription ZUBIE

The Zubie’s primary function is to monitor teen drivers. It uses fuel level, speed and location to identify miscreant behaviour, then tells your parents. To test its narcing abilities, I drove like my 16-year-old self, flooring it and staying wide-open-throttle up a hill before slamming on the brakes. Minutes later, I get an email: “Hard brake on Fusion.” Yet the final trip summary reports zero “rapid accels”. Zubie defines rapid acceleration as a 12 km/h increase within one second. Apparently, the Fusion, heading uphill, didn’t meet that criterion. When it works, I can see the appeal for parents like me. But every story has a context. Hard braking can mean you avoided hitting a deer. So work on your stories, kids. And don’t unplug the device. That definitely gets reported.

OPTION 1 FIND A REPAIR CENTRE Even if the damage looks minor, pay for an authorised shop. The crash may have knocked circuit boards loose, affecting much more than you see. Call the manufacturer or check its website to see if there’s an authorised repair centre anywhere near you. Wefix stores are sanctioned to do DJI drone repairs. The rest work with other brands. The biggest benefit here will be turnaround time, which, compared to the huge queue you’ll face when sending a drone back to the manufacturer (see Option 2), will take around two weeks instead of six or more. You’re also more likely to deal with an invested human being.

OPTION 2 SEND IT TO THE MANUFACTURER Returning drones to the manufacturer can be a horrible experience – multimonth waits, indifferent customer service, warranty disputes – but if you don’t have an authorised repair shop nearby, there’s no better option. The huge facilities have factory parts and calibration software that ensure a proper repair. If you are among the five per cent of pilots who crash due to build defects, not pilot error, and you’re within the warranty, repairs are free. Just don’t expect to convince anyone that the crash wasn’t your fault if it really was. Drones have internal black boxes that record exactly what happened before a collision.

Some manufacturers have made the return process easier, providing an alternative to DJI’S notoriously difficult customer service. Ehang will repair a new Ghostdrone 2.0 VR up to three times within a year of purchase, and they claim that they’ll do it with only a 10- to 14-day turn-around. Autel Robotics has live customer service on call seven days a week and twoweek returns. Another option is to buy something like Gopro’s two-year Care coverage, which allows you to get your Karma not just repaired, but replaced with 01/ Never take your eye off the drone, or at least its live video feed. But really, never take your eye off the drone. about a two-week wait. The global recall was handle quite swiftly this way. Even DJI came out with DJI Care for the Phantom 4, which will pay for repairs up to the value of the drone. Whatever drone you get, if the company offers insurance coverage, buy it. 02/ When using the “home” function to bring your drone back to you, remember that it will fly a straight line back to its takeoff spot, regardless of the number of trees in its way. 03/ Avoid aftermarket accessories. A better gimbal mount or bigger battery may be tempting, but even an extra gram can beset your drone with the maneouverability of an airborne rubbish truck. OPTION 3 DIY If you clipped a propeller on a branch, or if you cracked the camera component on a simple model, like the Parrot Bebop 2, which has manufacturer instructional videos online, go ahead and replace it. Beyond that, don’t try it. “You can replace a motor if you’re good at soldering,” says Werner von Stein, an engineer and head of the SF Drone School in San Francisco. “But if you had a pretty hard landing, it could be something else. When parts cost R7 000 or R12 000, it’s better to replace the whole aircraft.” If you want to try to repair it anyway, companies like Yuneec and Parrot sell parts directly. DJI doesn’t sell as many parts, but you can buy scrap drones online and use those components. And if you mess things up, well, you can get a little money selling your drone for scrap on ebay.

Don’t land. Most stuff-ups occur near the ground. Fly it in just above head height and grab it, like a falcon landing on your arm. Then kill the props while they’re still safely above the terrible, unforgiving earth. 05/ Paint the bottom of your drone bright orange. And put your phone number on it. And don’t grow too attached.

For most of human history, preservation was a survival mechanism. Fermenting and pickling, among the oldest forms of cooking we know, kept us from getting sick. Over millennia, we developed simple, almost instinctual techniques as varied as the cultures that span the globe. But, in only a couple of hundred years, technology has reduced the repertoire of most people to two: refrigeration and buying commercially processed foods. And in forgoing the time-consuming tasks we once used to maximise our harvest, we’ve abandoned two fundamentals of eating: nutrition and flavour.

Medical studies are now proving what our instincts said all along: good bacteria and microbes are essential to our health. Preserving food by fermenting is the easiest way to get them into our bodies, since it allows bacteria to multiply and grow before entering our gut. And if you’ve ever tasted a perfect kimchi, you know it’s got a funky, sour flavour unlike anything else.

So, after generations of consuming industrialised food, let’s reintroduce a practice as old as agriculture itself. No culinary training is necessary, and the results taste better than anything you can buy in a store. Sure, it takes some new equipment, patience and discipline. Don’t sweat the learning curve. Unlike our ancestors, we aren’t preserving because we have to, but simply because we want to.