Friends of mine had a TV production company in Durban in the 1990s. Their production vehicle was what we called a halwe broodjie or half a loaf, a Suzuki minivan with a 960cc motor, called, I think, a Carry. You could get to 100 km/h on a downhill or with a fair tailwind, but not up a hill. Yet, they found it very useful.
Suzuki has just released its new halwe broodjie, called the Eeco. It’s a little bigger, with a much more powerful 1.2 F motor and modern safety equipment. For the rest, it’s still very much ’90s style.
If you are a small-business owner, entrepreneur or one-man band, you need a practical, very loyal, trustworthy, yet affordable way of transport. That is exactly what Suzuki had in mind when they brought the new Eeco mini-panel van out.
It is great for a small delivery van or a little mobile toolshed for a handyman. A florist or pet grooming service will find the sliding doors on both sides very handy, and the extremely effective aircon and caged space very practical. These, plus the price are the plus-points.
This little van comes with the bare-minimum equipment. Sometimes less is more, but in this case, it means just the basics, ’90s style. The windows wind up with an old-fashioned winder, and one wrestles with the steering without any power assistance.
There is a lack of a storage space for anything such as files, water bottles, sunglasses, pens and so on in the cabin. I am not sure I would survive a longish trip in the two seats, but they are comfortable on short trips. The “boot” or cargo box, however, is big with a 615 kg capacity and is 1 620 long, 1 300 wide and 1 070 high with a flat floor.
Despite the old-style equipment the ride in town is fine and acceleration feels almost nippy, especially in third and fourth.
The Eeco is okay on the open road and will reach 100 km/h easily but is better suited to town.
The 32 F fuel tank gives it a range of about 500 km per tank at the claimed 5,5 F/100 km. With 59 kW at 6 000 rpm and 104 Nm at 3 000 performance is adequate rather than lively but I think fit for purpose. I found the combination of the engine and gearbox to really do the job and a pleasure to use around town.
The Eeco has the essentials for safety, such as rear park-distance control, two airbags, ABS brakes with EBD and ESP stability assist to help it around corners.
With the withdrawal of the Nissan NP200 there will be no small bakkies on the market except for the Eeco’s sibling the Super Carry rated to carry 750 kg. This gives the Eeco a good niche to fill on its own in the R200 000 segment.
The Fiat Fiorino, which has about the same cargo capacity as the Eeco, albeit much more stylish and powerful at R367 000, while the bigger Doblo is around R410 000. Volkswagen offers the Caddy Cargo at R437 000, Renault the Triber Express (with 542 kg capacity) at R292 000 and Peugeot its Partner at R485 000 but is rated for 1 000 kg and is much bigger, and has a top-class cabin, altogether a different kettle of fish.
The only Eeco model is a 1.2 F two-wheel drive, five-speed manual. The list price is R205 900. It comes with a three-year or 100 000 km warranty.
