This is how VW torture tests cars for South African conditions

Most executives at SA’s legacy car manufacturers are eager to serve up defences against cheaper Asian imports when quizzed.

The supremacy of local research and development that underpins local products is among them.

Brands like Volkswagen—which has been making cars in the country since the Beetle in 1951— contend that because homegrown products like the Polo and Polo Vivo are backed by exhaustive testing for our conditions and subject to ongoing improvement, consumers are justified in trusting their durability.

Makes for a good sales pitch. Though having the rare opportunity to see behind the scenes gives one a new appreciation for the extent to which local manufacturers ensure their wares handle the use and abuse in an environment as challenging as ours.

Last week, before the business session at Volkswagen Group Africa’s annual Indaba, we poked our noses around some of the product development quarters at the Kariega plant.

The facility has, over the decades, been responsible for various generations of the Golf, Jetta, Transporter and, of course, Polo. Audi models also saw birth in the halls of the Eastern Cape factory, the last being the B4 generation of the A4 sedan.

We were given a brief tour of some testing procedures that are part of the brand’s protocol. While the Polo and Polo Vivo were singled out — these are the plant’s staples after all — many of the imported Volkswagen and Audi models introduced locally undergo a similar regimen before being sold.

And no — they no longer use a trained elephant to do certain jobs, as some might recall from the old Golf Mark 2 “Jumbo” commercial.

The first test subject we see is an extremely dusty Polo Vivo, which had just completed an accelerated usage programme. The engineers did 100,000km over five months on a route spanning urban traffic and freeway driving, as well as dirt road driving.

This “hard stress” test is designed to simulate a lifetime of work, exposing weak points, safety under load, ageing of components and durability of the powertrain, chassis and electronics. To give the process a real-world element, water-filled dummies mimicking human occupants are placed in the empty seats, accompanying the test driver.

Next up, the temperature chamber. From baking heat to freezing sub-zero figures, the models’ ventilation systems, cabin elements and bodywork are tested to extremes. During our visit the room was set to a toasty 60 degrees — which could be felt once the door was opened, firing up an already stuffy workshop during a Kariega heatwave.

In another corner, a grey Vivo sits expectantly in front of a sizeable pendulum with a padded edge. The aim here is to assess the deforming abilities of bumper designs and how well they “bounce back” from minor impacts that one might encounter in a parking lot or slow traffic. The pendulum is released, and it smacks the vehicle, which rolls back, arrested by a set of purposefully-located chocks. This could be done a few times in an average day.

But nothing beats the “bonnet-slammer” and “door-handle-opener” robots for repetition. All our smartphones are out as we collectively take Instagram reels of the former setup, which, as the name implies, opens and slams shut a Polo Vivo’s bonnet. On repeat. This test emulates the way in which an over-enthusiastic filling station attendant might thunk your hood after checking the oil and coolant.

According to Volkswagen’s engineers, the interior door handle testing jig aims for 100,000 cycles: pulling and releasing the lever. They claim this number is equivalent to about 27 years of usage. So you probably have no reason to worry if your partner yanks the release with aggression to exit the car, unhappy with their Valentine’s gift — the fixture and its mechanisms have been tried and tested.

The last section we visited was a gruelling suspension articulation test. The Polo Vivo is parked atop four individual pods moving up and down, compressing and releasing the shocks and springs at varying rates, simulating undulations.

It was both comical (and painful) to watch the poor thing being bounced and shaken on the spot. Those who like to lower their vehicle’s suspension on a budget may reconsider their position after a demonstration like this.

One question we forgot to ask was whether Volkswagen’s engineers have considered testing and reducing the “steal-ability” of certain Polo and Polo Vivo elements — those coveted headlamps and grille logos.

Consider it written down for the 2027 Kariega pilgrimage, at which we may very well see them testing the third model added to the production line: the new Tengo crossover.