I have to say, when I was told I was getting a single cab Chinese bakkie for my trip to Pilanesberg, I was a little skeptical. But my doubts went out the window as I drove from the airport to go the pick up my Echo Kavango caravan in Pretoria.
PRICE (Diesel)
Single Cab
4×2 STD: R 211 880
4×2 LUX: R 241 880
4×4 LUX: R 299 990
Double Cab
4×2 LUX: R 282 880
4×2 SLX: R 312 880
4×4 LUX: R 348 990
4×4 SLX: R 379 880
The Vigus hummed along at 120 km/h with no wind noise to disturb my reverie. I liked the aerodynamic clean lines of the bakkie – it could have been any product coming out of Japan.
It didn’t take me long to find out that the diesel Vigus I was driving is fitted with the Ford-based JX4D24 Duratorq motor (the petrol models come with the Mitsubishi 4G69 MPI engine). Although the motor (mated to a five-speed manual gearbox) develops a relatively low 88 kW, I found it handled well on the off-road track on the trip.
Delivering 290 Nm of torque, the Vigus proved to be a very capable vehicle towing the Kavango. The Kavango is not exactly a lightweight, with a Tare of 1 050 kg and GVM of 1 500 kg.
Ground clearance for the Vigus ranges from 181 mm on the 4×2 models, to 225 mm on the 4×4 variants.
But it’s when you hear the price that your eyes light up. The JMC Vigus single cab diesel 4×4 that I was driving comes in at a mouth-watering price of R299 990.
By Richard van Ryneveld
