Popular Mechanics (South Africa)
From the editor:
At the wheel.
I’M NOT AN IDIOT. I can assure you. Okay, that’s not an objective opinion, but I hope you can take my word for it. However, the evidence might show otherwise – an error crept on to page 87 of our previous issue, stating that the new Land Rover Defender has a 20 litre fuel tank. It doesn’t, I promise. A vehicle of that size and power with a 20 litre fuel tank would make no sense, and the design engineers are smarter than that. The correct figure is 85 litres. Apologies for the mistake.
I have been test-driving new vehicles since about 2005, all as part of the various magazine jobs I’ve had. It’s certainly been one of the most fun aspects of doing what I do. Some tests have been short, a couple of days in and around the city, while others have seen me heading out on longer adventures, to northern Namibia, the central Kalahari in Botswana where lions keep you up at night, thundering Vic Falls, and the towering mountains of Lesotho. I view every experience of a manufacturer’s vehicle as a privilege, not a right, even though I might not always like everything about a specific model.
While testing newly launched cars is not my primary focus in my role as editor of Popular Mechanics, motoring and vehicles has always been an important segment of the magazine, so I jump at the opportunities when they arise. Taking the new more-powerful VW Amarok into the Cederberg mountains for this issue was one of those instances (read about it on page 84). It’ll be interesting to see how this upgraded-engine version of the current Amarok fares, with the next generation of Amarok (interestingly, in collaboration with Ford) due to launch in 2022.
Once again our spread of topics and content in this issue is vast, and we’re confident you’ll strike upon an article (or several) that resonates with you, and piques your enquiring mind. Please keep emailing us (popularmechanics@ ramsaymedia.co.za) about your projects, musings, hopes and dreams. I know I harp on about this a lot, but we thrive on contact from our readers, for whom we create this magazine. (And hopefully you won’t feel too compelled to complain about something – positive stories are what everyone needs right now.)