The Undiscovered Gem in Local Motoring
Mazda Familia RS
Monday, June 1st, 2009
There are the gravity-defying corners in Mariakani, the rolling straight stretches that transverse Tsavo National Park, the multiple blind corners that dot the 'Strabag' section just past Mtito Andei, the roughly patched section just before the Machakos junction and the coarse-earth diversions at the few sections still under repair. Along the route are also a few hills and climbing lanes. Driving from Mombasa to Nairobi, a journey which takes about 8 hours at an average speed of 100kph, gives you a fairly good judgement of the car.
It'll tell you about the car's power, torque, handling, road noise, suspension, comfort, consumption, cooling system, brakes, steering response, and generally, whether it's ideal for everyday use. Partly, the conclusions you'll arrive at will be driven not only by the challenges presented by the varied road surface but by other road users as well. What I'm I saying?
Along this road, you'll encounter all manner of drivers and vehicles, from the mad-cap chap with a 990CC Vitz who thinks he can outrun any car on the highway to the bully in a loaded Scania truck who insists on overtaking even while he can clearly see an oncoming vehicle. You'll also encounter the no-nonsense Highway Patrol cops whose accusations of overspeeding are served up according to how naïve you look.
In my career as a motoring journalist, I've driven various cars along this highway: A Nissan Sunny, VW Beetle, VW Polo, Toyota Sprinter GT, 1.5L Subaru Impreza, Toyota Vista, Mazda Demio and recently, Mazda Familia RS, which is the subject of this review. All models have different engine capacity, (from the 1300CC Demio to the 2000CC Vista) thus obviously responding differently on the tarmac; what I learnt without doubt is that overspeeding doesn't make the distance seem shorter. If you maintain an average speed of 110kph (the maximum legal limit on highways) and another driver fluctuates between 160kph and 80kph, you,'ll arrive in Nairobi at around the same time. Yes, and you'll have spent substantially less on fuel. Being aggressive with the accelerator pedal and heating up the brake pads is for rally drivers and F1 teams.
It's a philosophy I've learnt along the way, as I slowly mutated from an aggressive youngster, fresh from driving school to a staid, safety-conscious and mature driver.
But the Mazda Familia RS, with its 129bhp output momentarily brought back the boy in me, albeit momentarily.
This car, which is rare to find, even in Japan, is one of those yet-to-be-discovered gems in local motoring. With its 1498CC engine, this car can put to shame many of the small saloons in its class, including the overrated, oft-feted, 1.5L Subaru Impreza.
The Mazda is fast, responsive, light, exciting, beautiful and with its variable valve timing fuel technology, very decent at the pump. We are talking about fuel efficiency that's equally as good as that of the Toyota Corolla with its beloved VVTi engine. Weight-wise, the Mazda lies comfortably between the NZE and Impreza at 1170 kilograms, against 1040 kgs for the Corolla and 1300 kgs for the six-star badge.
Talking about torque and power, the Mazda beats the Subaru hands down. The Impreza has a feeble 99bhp (100.4ps;73.8kW) at 5200 rpm and a maximum torque of 142Nm (105 ft-lb) at 7,000rpm. At 4,000rpm, the Mazda will give you 141Nm (104ft-lb) and at 7,000rpm, a 129bhp (96.2kW;130PS) of power.
I set off for Nairobi at 9am, on a wet Saturday morning. Even when its raining, Mombasa's humidity just hovers around to chew into the comfort of 'watu wa bara'- as they call us, non-residents. A chance to test the RS' Air Conditioning. It was working just fine.
Action begins just past the Changamwe round about. There is a temporary stage where early morning travellers flag down the private cars headed for Nairobi for a ride. Of course, drivers who are hired to drive the cars from Mombasa to Nairobi pick up passengers for a fee. I spot two cars, a Mitsubishi Lancer wagon and a replica of the Familia I'm driving. The Lancer picks five passengers; four adults squeeze at the back seat. I don't get a chance to see the number the Familia picks, which would be of more interest to me anyway.
There is no wisdom in carrying passengers. They will just make the car heavier, (meaning you'll spend more on fuel) could be carjackers or thugs, and there's the claimed risk that they could turning into genies.
I glance at the neat black and blue-dotted upholstery of my RS through the rear view mirror and speed past. Ordinarily, this journey takes a full tank of fuel. The guage is reading empty and I refuel with 27 litres of unleaded petrol. There is something about this car that bespeaks of urgency. Urgency to move. Urgency to maul over a GK Nissan Patrol, the Mitsubishi Lancer and the ugly Toyota Opa with even ugllier 'Jaos' mud flaps.
On the road, there is a convoy of several brand new Landcruiser ambulances with KA number plates (that's Kenya Army), a jungle green Hummer H1 with headlights on (sign of fear or bravery, I don't know) and Land rover Defender. These military guys like chest thumping wherever they are. But as we've learnt from them in responding to the Migingo grab, discretion is the better part of valour. I toe this wisdom though I've an obviously faster car. And of course, if you want to race against other cars, enter a proper rally.
With a power to weight ratio of 110bhp/ton, I felt the Mazda well balanced, adequately responsive and producing that kick you need when overtaking. An automatic torque converter transmission (which most of us wrongly refer to as 'tiptronic') enables you to manually up or downshift comes in those hair-raising overtaking moments.
Comfort wise, the designers of this car were thinking more about the back seat passengers. Two things made me arrive at this conclusion. First, the seat is slightly elevated, without compromising the head room, even for an average adult. Secondly, the front passenger seat can be folded flat, therefore according more space, or serving as a 'foot stool' for the rear passenger. Riding in this car is not tiring, even on such long journeys.
Reinforced doors and bonnet, and solid suspension meant that the road noise was minimal. About four hours later, we stopped at Mtito Andei, an old, dull town for Pilau lunch. We decided to refuel, an extra seven litres, just to be on the safe side. This town is midway on the Mombasa-Nairobi highway.
The original Mazda CD/MD player gives you fairly decent sound, rendered through the four door speakers. Its back ground lighting- a soft, red-ochre matches that of the dash and dials.
Overall, I told myself as I approached the concrete jungle some minutes to 5pm, this is a nice car that you'd not want to part with. I checked the fuel guage. The warning light was showing, but at less than Ksh3,000, I had mauled 500Km, thus giving me a highway consumption rate of about 12km to the litre. Not as good as the NZE (claimed consumption is 16.6km/L) but much better than the Subaru Impreza, and more importantly, this car feels much faster.
That said, Mazda designers have no affinity for a well-shaped behind. Even in humans, we suppose. Only the mid-executive Mazda 6 stands out in butt beauty. The rest of Mazda products, from 2008 World Car of the Year Mazda Demio to Mazda 3, this Familia and its saloon version, are banal and bland. On this wagon, two pronounced arches that seemed like toned-down versions of those you'll find in its sister plate, the Premacy MPV, make it ugly. At least, on the Premacy, they serve as mountings for rear indicators. However, these arches are in sync with the trim lines on the bonnet and at the centre of the dashboard.
Overall, this is a good car, with a practical boot and almost fold-flat rear seats.
SPECSHEET
Make: Mazda Familia
Model: RS-Wagon
Engine: 1498CC, DOHC, Variable Valve Timing
Power: 129bhp @7,000rpm
Torque: 141Nm @4,000rpm
Economy: 15Kms/L (combined)
