It’s hard to believe a month ago is now considered “last year”, time does fly. I hope that we are all well rested and ready to begin the new year with a bang and soundly refreshed. Speaking of refreshments and holidays, I spent mine with a better GO! Datsun GO that is. A few months ago (last year) Datsun announced new models that aimed to give smoother gear shifting, better power delivery and improved fuel economy and these are; the GO and GO+Automatic CVT versions. I had the entire festive season to see if this was true.
I know what you may be thinking, “Dezembering in a Datsun GO?” and may I just add that this was not as boring as it may sound at all. Having had an upbringing of both the rural and urban life, I like most Gautengers do “Go home” for the holidays. So I packed up the kids (son, nephew and niece) to head north where we’d spend Christmas with fam, well that’s what we’ve been doing since I was a baby. Here’s where things got real, luggage for two toddlers, one teenager and an adult in a 200 litre boot space? This was quite abusive of us towards the GO but we managed. Lucky for us the two small bodies combined with a reasonable amount of cabin space made it easy for us to fit some of their toys, my entire house plus the teen’s bedroom in the back (I am not exaggerating, this is how we travel).
Back to Dezemba vibez, listen there is no doubt about it, Datsun GO CVT (continuous variable transmission) has got style, and I was still am smitten with this young one. The exterior is cute, quite a number of noticeably cute features about this car. The larger hexagon grille with chrome surrounds and the LED daytime running lights makes the GO appear cool or at least trying to keep up with the Kardashians. I also like the 14-inch alloy wheels, which happen to come standard in the GO and GO+ CVT. Since we are on the looks, I would recommend you get a GO in an extremely bright colour, make a statement!
Let’s discuss this smoother transmission that Datsun set out to improve with the CVT, agreed the drive is smooth and the power delivery is adequate, I imagine much more than its manual counterparts. However do not recommend GO for long distance travel, I think it would fare well for you young city folk on the GO! (See what I did there?). Why not long distances? The 1.2-litre naturally-aspirated 3-cylinder engine produces 57kW and 104Nm of torque, not nearly enough to overtake dreadful trucks here and there. I will also mention how my dad regularly abandoned his bakkie for the Datsun Go…
The Datsun GO CVT version comes with dual airbags, ABS with EBD and brake assist as standard safety features. For a budget car the GO has some impressive features that include front and rear electric windows, a touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. I only found the USB port a week later, its hidden!
With the newly launched Hyundai Atos and recently updated Renault Kwid, the Datsun GO CVT might have some stiff competition in this segment, but the one year’s worth of free insurance, will get this young one more buyers for sure. I definitely enjoyed my holidays in the GO, the running around our parents actually miss us for was made easy, convenient and cheap (acclaimed to consume 5.0L/100km).
Model & Pricing
- Datsun Go Mid R159 100
- Datsun Go Lux R170 200
- Datsun Go CVT R184 200
