It was a sad day indeed when a fellow decided that red robots were overrated and just put foot. Irene, waiting to turn, was directly in his path and he hit the Swift Sport head-on. The airbags deployed, the car was spun through 180 degrees and the front of the Swift was destroyed. Credit to Suzuki’s build integrity the passenger cell was totally intact, and she emerged from the car shaken but not stirred. We loved “Sporty” as our Suzuki Swift Sport was affectionately known, but one look at the damage and I realised that Sporty had gone to the garage in the sky.
Considering how Irene uses her car we determined that an auto would best suit her needs, and the result was a brand-new Suzuki Fronx GLX in stunning silver. Irene loves the car! The GLX is comprehensively specced with all the bells and whistles that you can hope for, and then some. In no time her phone was paired, her music playing, and she enjoyed all the benefits of Android Auto. The reverse camera with its 360-degree bird’s eye view of the surroundings is a boon for anyone operating in an urban environment. She tells the car where she wants to go, and it pops up with directions on the display in front of her—amazing features on a car in this class.
The 1.5-litre engine, paired with a four-speed automatic transmission, performs unexpectedly well even at high altitudes. It is the same unit used in the Jimny yet feels significantly livelier in the Fronx. So why am I telling you all this? Cause we went road-tripping in January that’s why! After our family Botswana adventure Irene and I drove down to the Mother City. My brother and sister-in-law were visiting from the UK, where they have lived for the last 17 years, and a good mate of mine lives in Cape Town and we were overdue a visit. I was interested in testing the Fronx on the open road, so a road trip beckoned.
As we are known to do, we drove out of Pretoria at around 7 AM with no plans in terms of where we would overnight. We decided we would see how the travelling went and then take a “potluck” on accommodation. The Fronx has comfortable yet yielding seats which I felt may be too soft on a long journey. Not so. We spent a full 12 hours in the car, getting take-aways to minimise stopping time which I have found erodes your travelling time. At no point did we start feeling squirmy in our seats or fatigued. Allied to the seat comfort is the excellent ride quality of the Fronx. The suspension is supple and controlled. It would impress even more later in the day.
The elephant in the room, having changed from the pocket rocket Swift Sport, was whether we would find the Fronx “flat” and underpowered. Open road travel must deal with challenging road conditions. Travellers deal with hundreds of trucks on our national roads, courtesy of our ailing rail system. Your car needs to have enough power to overtake safely and effectively. I was very pleasantly surprised. The Fronx has an overdrive feature in the transmission engaged via a button on the side of the gearshift. When needing to overtake, I would disengage the overdrive and floor it. The Fronx motor loves to rev and gets quite a hurry up. Overtaking is really not an issue. Re-engage the overdrive and the revs drop then you re-engage the cruise control.
The result is a relaxed open-road cruiser. Fuel economy is another strong point. I set the cruise control on 125, allowing for some speedo error and over the course of our trip to and from Cape Town the Fronx averaged 15,5 k’s per litre. We arrived in Laingsburg in the late afternoon and started making some calls for accommodation. We didn’t want to stay in town but favoured a farm stay of sorts. Oh boy, did we strike it lucky! We came across a spot called Paardefontein Karoo Stay on Bookings.com. The turnoff is between Laingsburg and Matjiesfontein. We got explicit directions, which was just as well as there are a few junctions, farm gates and splits in the road to negotiate. The road is best suited for high clearance vehicles, with a “twee spoor” track to the accommodation.
Irene had a bit of a sense of humour failure with her car traversing what she termed a “goat track”, but in reality, it just required exercising a bit of care and driving slowly. The distance from the tar was a bit more than we had anticipated, probably almost 20 k’s, but the Fronx made short work of it. The ride height of 190 mm proved a boon. The karoo vistas were truly spectacular. When we got to the accommodation we parked in a carport and then walked along a pathway for maybe 200 metres to a stunning cottage. Nestled against the hillside it has a magnificent view of the surrounding koppies, which, when we got there were painted gold by the setting sun.
We plonked down our bags, poured a couple of whiskies and just soaked in the serene setting. A cool breeze had sprung up and the advancing chill eventually drove us inside. The cottage is comprehensively equipped with all you need to be comfortable. We had a leisurely dinner, eating chicken salad picked up in Laingsburg on our way through. It is hard to explain the tranquillity which seeps into your soul when you spend time in the karoo. The deliciously fresh air, the unique flora, the wonderful vistas and the magnificent late afternoon and early evening glow create an ambience which is a salve for the soul.
We slept well in the comfortable and cosy cottage (which accommodates two adults and two children) and woke to another beautiful karoo morning. There was nary a cloud in the porcelain blue sky, and we sipped coffee on the stoep, revelling in the early morning chill, enjoying the golden hour as the rising sun painted the karoo in all its glory. It was with some reluctance that we packed up and took a slow drive back to the N1, stopping once or twice for photos of the Fronx along the way.
We stopped for a coffee and muffin in Touws River and reflected on our serendipitous “find” in Paardefontein Karoo Stay. Over the years of road-tripping, we have rarely booked but rather take our chances along the way. Whilst it has added immensely to the adventure it has also revealed a few gems. None more so than Paardefontein. I had spoken to Peter McMillan, the owner of Paardefontein on our way there the previous evening, somewhat exasperated by the distance from the N1 as well as by the state of the road. I phoned him to tell him how we had enjoyed the stay and to apologise for my grumpiness. I spoke to his wife as he was occupied, and she shared that Bookings.com didn’t elaborate sufficiently and that they had taken them to task. If you have a suitable vehicle, adventure bike or a Fronx, hee hee, make this a must-do stopover on your road trip. You will not be disappointed. They have options for larger groups too.
Down the Hex River pass and through the beautiful Hex River valley, then through the Huguenot Tunnel and on to Cape Town, we went. This, my friends, is truly “the fairest Cape of them all”. The weather was stunning for the duration of our stay. Pleasantly mild but sunny with cotton wool clouds in a blue sky. We stayed with our friend Peter who has a magnificent home with views over Noordhoek beach and Ou Kaapseweg. A perfect spot from which to frequent Kalk Bay, Simon’s Town and its surrounds.
We had a great breakfast at the Simon’s Town Yacht Club catching up with family. Well worth a visit if you have not yet been there. We also travelled through to Somerset West to visit Penny Sterley at her new Vespa Dealership, where she has now added Lambretta’s to the mix of cool scoots that she rents out and sells. The peninsula and surrounds are best explored on two wheels as the traffic is then totally negated. As already documented in another blog, we spent a stunning morning on a Royal Enfield Himalayan 450. Like a good boy scout, we were prepared and had brought riding gear along for just such a possibility.
All too soon it was the end of our visit, and we tackled the long road home. The Fronx made short work of the 1000 k’s to Bloemfontein where we overnighted at Tom’s Place, about 40 k’s before Bloem. Cheap and cheerful and old school, we enjoyed a pleasant evening before resuming our journey home. On reflection, the Fronx delivered on all fronts. It is a wonderfully efficient daily driver, negotiating city sprawl without fuss or bother. What we learned on our trip is that it also doubles as a supremely reliable, comfortable, spacious and economical tourer. The X in Fronx is not just for show. It made short work of the “goat track” to Paardefontein and was sure-footed through the mountain passes. Irene reckoned that when we got home it would be bragging to its Jimny stable mate about its off-road prowess! Once again Suzuki has knocked it right out of the park with a car that offers brilliant value for money and delivers a good driving experience! Good job!
