By: Henrie Geyser

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With the added attraction of more space, more power and even prettier looks, the latest version of this compact, permanent four-wheel drive Japanese rock rabbit is destined to become even more popular.

For not only is it economical and comfortable in the city and on long stretches of motorway, but it is a highly capable off-roader.

Not for nothing has it picked up Germany's much sought after German Red Dot Design Award and been voted the best compact SUV by the UK 4x4 magazine.

I recently spent three days in the new long-wheel base model traveling over some pretty testing terrain which included long stretches of motorway, muddy gravel roads, across some prehistoric rocky terrain and monster dunes on a route which stretched from Cape Town past Tulbagh and Ceres to the Kagga Kamma reserve, over stunning passes such as Uitkyk and Katbakkies along the Cederberg Wilderness Reserve to Algeria and on to Clanwilliam, Lamberts Bay and Eland's Bay with a few hours on the rugged The Dunes 4x4 terrain en route - and the Terios came out tops.

In fact, it fights way above its weight and price!

At first glance the Terios looks like a cute Mum's taxi, a role which it fits into nicely with quality features such as power steering, electric windows, central locking, aircon, CD/radio, comfortable, versatile seating and lots of packing space.

But when you start ticking off dual airbags, ABS brakes with EBD and brake assist, alloy wheels, an integrated roof rack and spare wheel cover you start seeing it in a different light.

And then you realize that 200mm ground clearance and the button on the dash to engage the central diff lock add up to a hell of a lot more than just an ordinary little family runabout.

From then onwards the respect-meter rises quite rapidly, because the gutsy 1.5-litre engine with the gruff voice shows an amazing willingness to trot, armed as it is with double overhead camshafts, DVVT variable valve control and fuel injection.

To produce 80kW it spins quite happily up to 6,000r/min with a punchy 141Nm of torque kicking in from just over 4,000r/min.

It will gallop for ages on gravel or tar, even at speeds way in excess of the national speed limit and with a full load of passengers and luggage aboard. And if you want to play in the dunes or on the rocks, it will chug along with ease across some of nature's worst hazards.

The new Long Wheel Base Terios is a pleasure to play with in the dirt, because its relatively light and compact body, wide track, high ground clearance and above average approach and departure angles work together well with the MacPherson strut suspension at the front and advanced 5-link rigid rear axle suspension.

Quite niftily, the longer Terios has a tight turning circle of just 10.2 metres.

The longer version Terios Long is available in both 4x2 and 4x4 guise. In the 4x4 models (such as our test vehicle), the engine feeds power to all four wheels via a 5-speed manual gearbox. The 4x2 models are available in either a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic transmission.

The lay-out of the new long-wheel base offers the choice of three-row, seven- passenger seating or two-row, five-passenger.

The flexible luggage compartment can be adapted to the size of the luggage. The second row of seats have individual sliding and reclining adjustments and individual double folding for maximum ease of entry and exit of the passengers in the third row of seats. The third row of seats can also fold double individually for extra packing space.

The side-opening rear door with externally mounted (and covered) alloy spare wheel feels a little big and heavy, particularly when accessed while the vehicle is parked on an incline, but, in its favour, it does make for easy access.

Although we didn't measure our fuel consumption, we only had to fill up again once on the trip, so its 50-litre tank will get you a long way, even under severe whipping.

The new long-wheel base Terios is comfortable, cute and quite astonishingly capable. In this class and price range it is difficult to beat.

The Terios is available in short or long-wheel base options, in 4x2 or 4x4, manual or automatic choices priced between R176,996 (for the 4x2 short-wheel base) and R213,996 (for the LWB 4x4 seven-seater), inclusive of a 75,000km service plan.

Footnote - If you don't plan to go bundu-bashing, the entry level short-wheel base 4x2 is a good choice for a city run-around. It has the same terrier looks as the longer model, a good spec list and it's light on juice. As a 4x4 option, the short-wheeled version is less expensive, comes with impressive extras and is as good in the rough stuff as the stretched model.

[3 Jun 2008 16:34]

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