After matriculating from the Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool in Pretoria, Liana Reiners enrolled for a National Diploma in Journalism at what was then known as the Technikon Pretoria.
It was during this time that she was offered a temporary position at WHEELS, South Africa’s only successful motoring annual. The idea was to work as editorial assistant at the publication for one year, in order to complete the compulsory practical side of the journalistic course.
What originated as an opportunity to learn the ropes of journalism and publishing, so to speak, developed into a fully-fledged career in the motoring media and to this day Liana is in the employ of WHEELS. Incidentally, her mentor and publisher of WHEELS is well-known motoring journalist and former television presenter Adri Bezuidenhout.
Although Liana started off as editorial assistant, she currently holds the position of editor of the prestigious publication. This not only involves the writing of features, but also liaising with advertising clients, photographers and freelance contributors, proof reading and subbing of copy, as well as working closely with the printers and distributors of the publication.
Liana was the motoring correspondent for Nexus, the official magazine of the South African Correctional Services for many years. The WHEELS staff were also responsible for the motoring pages of Metro, a Pretoria-based community newspaper which has since been discontinued.
She has experience in the writing of press releases, translating from English to Afrikaans and vice versa, as well as organising events.
While having a patient husband and two lively toddlers at home makes the travel associated with being a motoring journalist difficult, Liana says she wouldn’t change her job for any other. It has given her so many opportunities and she is honoured to be a past jury member of the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists’ Car of the Year competition.
One of the highlights of her career was celebrating the 25th anniversary of WHEELS Motoring Annual in 2006. Her next milestone would be 20 years “service” at the publication and that’s not too far off.
If you’re a mom, like me, you appreciate a car with space. And the new Honda Accord is safe, good-looking, easy to drive and a great all-round package, says Liana Reiners in her latest review.
New Honda Accord is practical, sporty and safe
That is why, like me, you should be excited about the launch of the new Honda Accord Tourer. It offers practicality, sporty styling, great dynamic capabilities and an impressive package of safety systems.No ordinary mom's taxi
    
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Honda Accord boasts great fuel consumption
Speaking of which, the Accord Tourer features Honda’s 2,4-litre i-VTEC engine, which is well-known for good performance and fuel economy. The powerplant is more powerful than on the previous-generation Accord and now delivers 148 kW at 7 000 r/min, together with peak torque of 234 Nm at 4 500 r/min. And the best news of all is that it boasts fuel consumption of 9 litres/100km in the combined cycle.
Available in a six-speed manual or five-speed automatic
On the safety side, the new Accord Tourer is equipped with the same comprehensive array of the active and passive safety technologies as its 2.4 Executive sedan counterpart. This means it has ABS, EBD, emergency brake assist, trailer stability assist, electric power steering, high intensity discharge headlights, fog lights and rain sensing windscreen wipers, to name but a few.On the passive safety side, dual front, side and curtain airbags, seatbelt pretensioners, ISOFIX child seat anchors and active headrests form part of the package.
Honda Accord holds 406 litres of luggage
But of course what is of real importance when buying a station wagon is its practicality and space. Here the Accord Tourer definitely will not disappoint. While a lot of emphasis has been placed on sportiness and advanced technology, there is still a very high degree of versatility.Despite its dynamic styling, the Tourer’s 406-litre luggage capacity (with all seats in place) is one of the best in the sport wagon category.
In practical terms, this is big enough to comfortably hold four golf bags, or four large suitcases. But if it’s larger items such as mountain bikes that you wish to cart around, the rear seats can be folded down to increase the loading space. And to ensure that you don’t dislocate a shoulder when doing this, the new Tourer has easy-to use, single-motion rear seats that can be collapsed in a single action to create a virtually flat load space with flush, clean sides.
Other practical touches include luggage tie-down hooks and a utility hook below the rear window to carry a shopping bag. Additional storage areas concealed by panels are located in the load bay side panels.
Available with an electronically operated tailgate
Also worth mentioning is that the Accord Tourer is available with an electrically operated tailgate. It is activated via the key fob or switches integrated into the driver's door panel and the tailgate’s lower edge. Imminent operation is signalled by an audible warning and flashing indicators.In case you were wondering about the interior appointments of the Accord Tourer, there’s no need to worry. It has just about everything that opens and shuts, ensuring that any trip in the Honda will be a comfortable experience for all involved. There’s dual-zone climate control, a rear air-conditioning vent, electric windows, an electric glass sunroof, cruise control, electric heated side mirrors, adjustable headlight height, headlamp washers and much more.
And to make sure that nobody gets too bored during the trip, there’s also a front-loading six-CD auto changer sound system, a USB connection for your iPod and an auxiliary audio connection.<
Great practical accessories
“Is that all?” I hear you ask. Well, no. There’s also a range of accessories to make the Accord Tourer as practical as possible. For instance, there’s a cargo space divider and a dog guard. Or what about a boot tray, a cargo mat or a boot edge protection mat? There’s even a tie-down belt, a cargo net and a boot side net.The price of the manual model is R306 000 and that of the automatic version is R319 000.