'What the heck is that?" asked one of our photographers as I backed my latest test car into my parking space at work. Except he didn't use the word heck.
I explained to him that it was called an Actyon, the latest model from the ever-growing Korean SsangYong company.
"Sounds like a flaming tractor to me," he growled. Except he didn't use the word flaming.
SsangYong calls its new Actyon a compact sports-utility vehicle, and it certainly does sound like a tractor at standstill.
That's because it's powered by a two-litre, four-cylinder turbodiesel engine producing 104kW of power and a healthy 310Nm of torque.
Fortunately, the agricultural clatter at standstill smooths out quite nicely on the highway but you are always aware that you're driving a diesel.
In fact, you are always aware that you're driving an Actyon because of the stares you get everywhere you go. If you don't want to be noticed then the radically styled Actyon is not for you.
As my photographer commented, nobody is quite sure exactly what the thing is supposed to be. It's not a stationwagon and it's not really a hatchback, despite the fact that the rear door is technically a hatch.
That's because of its high ground clearance. Also, it stands 1.7m tall, so it towers over virtually everthing else in the car park.
The driving position, however, is more minivan than SUV; you sit high up, yet you can't see the front end. But it'll comfortably take dirt roads in its stride, so compact SUV is probably the right description.
The Actyon is available in 4x2 and 4x4 versions, with the option of a five-speed manual gearbox on the 4x2 and manual and auto on the 4x4.
Our test vehicle was the five-speed manual, which was lucky for us because I've heard nothing good about the auto model, especially regarding its massive turbo-lag problem.
Turbo-lag wasn't a problem on the manual, however. First gear is really a crawler gear, just to get the car going, but once you're in second the torque comes flooding in - exceptionally strongly for a two-litre.
What was a problem, however, was the sloppy gear change. It's really like stirring porridge.
Time and again I'd change from second straight to fifth and on a couple of occasions I even managed fifth to second, much to the engine's annoyance. Eventually you learn to guide the gear lever home but it takes patience and sometimes a little luck.
And while we're on the subject of problems, let me get my other big gripe out of the way.
The steering is power assisted but it's incredibly light and sometimes, during the middle of a long, fast corner, it would suddenly seem to go dead in my hands as though it was trying to self-centre. It didn't do it all the time but when it did it was most disconcerting.
Acres of black plastic
So, what's good about the car? Well, it's very spacious and it'll seat four adults comfortably. The fascia has acres of black plastic, with the centre stack tilted towards the driver, while the switches are grouped in circles to facilitate easy location.
But it's nicely put together, as is the whole car. Korean build quality gets better by the day and this car was nicely screwed together with no rattles, squeaks or bits that fell off.
I found the performance quite adequate for its purpose as a SUV. Top speed is in the region of 165km/h while 0-100km/h takes a little more than 13 seconds. And that wonderful mid-range turbodiesel torque makes overtaking so easy.
It's easy on fuel too, returning an average of 8.5 litres/100km.
Action + young
Actyon, according to the Koreans, is an amalgamation of the words action and young. And that's who they are targeting with the car. What's more, they seem to have judged it quite correctly.
The young people in our office, particularly the young women, loved the looks of the car, while the older members just thought it looked weird.
Perhaps the best description of the car came from the Cars in Action magazine guys who commented that it looked like an American gridiron footballer's helmet.
Like most Korean cars, the Actyon is specced up to its eyeballs. Standard items include air conditioning, a radio/CD player, electric windows and mirrors, and a number of storage compartments and cupholders - plus a host of safety items such as dual crash bags and ABS.
Most of my time with the Actyon was spent on the highway where it proved comfortable and easy to drive.
It doesn't care much for bumpy roads, however, with some vibration coming through the steering wheel. It has a solid rear axle, so the ride would probably smooth out with more of a load aboard.
I find it interesting that SsangYong should refer to the Actyon as a compact SUV, because the car never felt small to me.
Apart from its massive height it's also 1.9m wide, and I have a scratch on the wing mirror to prove it, but SsangYong has done a good job of packaging the mechanicals and passenger space into its 4.4m length.
SUMMARY
At R239 995 for the manual 4x2 and R249 995 for the part-time 4x4, the Actyon is at the cheaper end of the SUV category so, if you can handle the oddball looks, the car might be what you're looking for.
The engine is terrific, as is the passenger comfort. It's nicely built and has plenty of comfort and safety features.
But SsangYong still has some work to do on things like the gearshift and the steering. And stay away from the auto version which, according to the new AA car buyers' guide, suffers from a four-second turbo-lag delay problem.
Worse, it costs a whopping R264 995.