WHO'S THE BAKKIE KING?

Eight brands, seven categories... and one overall winner. We find out which double-cab bakkie performs best when towing a caravan and off-roading.

- Leon Botha and Cyril Klopper

At the recently concluded SA Bakkie of the Year competition, overseen by organisers Dirk Gallowitz and Ferdi de Vos, Nine bakkies had to prove their mettle in towing, off-roading and dynamic handling. For the first time, towing has been included in such a competition.

Drive & Camp was invited to join the panel that judged the towing and 4x4 sections, which were performed respectively by Leon Botha and Cyril Klopper. In the end, there were seven category winners and one overall victor.

Leon kicks off the towing discussion, followed by Cyril's 4x4 impressions on page 88.

Who participated? 

The focus was on luxury automatic 4x4 double-cabs.

Manufacturers had to enter, and only Mahindra, Peugeot, GWM, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Isuzu, and Volkswagen (with two models) showed up at the starting line.

Unfortunately, Ford, Toyota, Mazda, and JAC did not participate. (What Leon didn't know at this point was that Toyota did send a Hilux, but it only arrived the next day when Cyril was assessing the bakkies' off-road capabilities. - Ed) 

The specific models included Mahindra's Karoo 4x4 Storm, Peugeot's Landtrek Africa Edition, GWM P-Series Ltd, Mitsubishi Triton Xtreme, Nissan Navara Pro-4X, Isuzu D-Max V-cross, VW Amarok 2.0 BiTurbo, and the Amarok V6 Pan-Americana.

The judges convened at Klipbokkop Mountain Reserve near Villiersdorp, and the owner, Gerhard Groenewald, was the test director.