By Clive Funizwe

Full House – used to be something you wanted to see when you were shopping for a car back in our day, and yes, we are exposing our age here. These days you can customize the items you want as a buyer which means you can find yourself in an expensive car that might be missing something like key-less entry. Enter the Honda Ballade RS. It comes with everything the modern buyer needs barring the kitchen sink.

Full house

A sunroof, smart key-less entry with push start button, Android Auto and Apply CarPlay with bluetooth, reverse camera, multiple charging points, leather, MFS, all round electric windows, an 8-inch touch screen, cruise control, rear parking sensors, rear ventilation, a spacious cabin for all passengers and a boot that easily fit the aforementioned kitchen sink can all be had for R406,100. (The price had gone up from R396,900 from the time of review).

Exceptionally smooth

It’s not just show without action. The Ballade RS feels reassuringly solid. Fit and finish is very good, and the materials used around the cabin are better than what you find in this category. What elevates the RS above the competition is ride refinement and comfort. The Ballade RS rides like something in the upper echelons of the car ranking ladder. It is exceptionally smooth and quiet.

The 1.5, 4-Cylinder engine might look a tad bit small on paper in relation to the turbo charged power figures we see by 2021 standards. Our experience with the engine is that it is firstly not under powered and returned an acceptable 7.0l/100km during its appraisal with us. A fair amount of power can be had when in sport mode. This obviously will not light up your hair – but some can be had within CVT engagement limits of course.

Final thoughts

Different cars leave a different impression with car reviewers – and one impression the Ballade RS left with us is that this is one car that ticks all boxes by utility standards and one that feels like will give the potential buyer many years and kilometres of durability and reliability.

A 60,000km/4-Year service plan with a 200,000km/5-Year warranty is offered as standard.