Test drive Mazda 626 MK5 Sedan 1997 - 2002 Sedan

Three samurai

Good weather came to Moscow, roads in excellent condition. It's time to conduct tests. To the first summer battle, we invited three offspring of the country of the rising sun, asking them in advance not to take more than two liters per soul. So, the test of two -liter Japanese.
What I don’t want at all is to walk around cars for a long time and talk about designer finds. But the design of the design type is typically Japanese either you will not get off with banal phrases. All three bright individuals, each has their own unique dash. But what is strange: Mitsubishi Galant and Mazda 626 these dashes are very similar. It is worth looking at these cars on the side and a bad impression is created that design plagiarism flourishes in Japan. By the way, Galant and the 626th previous generation were distinguished by amazing similarity. Strange, but not fatal.
Mitsubishi is certainly a beautiful car of such an expressive and mysterious face in any car. Having frowned with the eyebrows of the hood and clenching the teeth of the radiator grille, Galant strained the athletic appearance of the body and played in the sun with muscles.
The dark blue Mazda looks more puzzled than menacing. She can’t decide where to go to reckless athletes or for exemplary family people. The bird on the hood enhances the impression that Mazde still wants to frolic and drive, and the trunk lid with large rectangular lanterns, on the contrary, hints at solidity and serious attitude to the ride.
 
Honda Chord, like all the last cars of Honda, is open and smiling. A slightly disproportionate body with a thick back is pleased with its laid -back lightness. At first glance, an chord car that has a light and fast driving, but without champion ambitions. Wait and see. Having finished the bride, we’ll get inside and see what's good there.
The wide and heavy door of Mitsubishi Galant opened our eyes with the kingdom of Japanese velor practicality. The driver's place is pronounced Asian. A speedometer, tachometer, sensors and a number of bulbs reflecting the operating mode of the checkpoint. The steering wheel, which is very strange, is the same as Pajero Sport. However, it is very convenient and light. In it, as in the top of the glove compartment, airbags are implanted. The electric package consists of servo drives, glasses and mirrors. This farm is controlled by traditional narrow -eyed buttons of the PLAY system.
One detail made us be surprised and rejoiced: absolutely all the glasses fall from the driver's door in automatic mode. Under the visor on the torpedo, the clock is hidden, which is not always clearly visible. But what can be seen well is the stove control unit and air conditioning. The design is thorough with a large screen and large iconograms. The temperature is regulated by a rotating pen. All this at the first glance resembles a radio, which, by the way, is not in Galanta. The climatic installation copes with its responsibilities very clearly.
A tunnel with a checkpoint handle looks very pretty. In the chrome plate there are slots along which the lever moves. Right slot Standard position of the machine, the left for manual gear shift. Then the armrest, which, if desired, will fit the CD changer. Pockets and holes where you can hide something, not so much, but enough.
In the back seat with a certain degree of comfort, three people can be placed. Two, however, will be much freer. Lamps are mounted in the rear racks for reading the attribute of the highest class. The trunk is large, deep, with a low loading height and the possibility of transporting long -sized objects.
Chord. Strange, but Honda stubbornly does not want to radically change the interior of his cars. The instrument panel is convenient, original, but not entirely modern. Almost aircraft cockpit with a red light hangs over the steering wheel. In general, frowning and at the same time monumental. A large steering wheel with a pillow overlaps the devices if the column is in the lower position. In the ventilation and heating system, which is controlled by the traditional three spinning handles, there is no climate control. Instead of music, the plug is again. As in the case of Suzuki Swift (cars B4/2000), with regret you have to talk about a watch near an ashtray. In the intensive stream of movement, the look for a while can cost o-very expensive. And in the literal and figurative sense. The seats are very good hard with clear side support and convenient adjustments. But to remove the car from the handbrake, you can not do without certain skills. It is located so that it is more convenient for them to use the front passenger than the driver. If your passenger is from the faint of heart, it is fraught with ...
The glove compartment is also clearly made for the driver. It is deep, and in order to get to the necessary thing, you need to break away from the road and bend into three deaths. But on the tunnel between the front seats there are four pockets, and you can simply forget about the glove box during the trip.
Side Airbag stripes on the back of the front seats indicate that the car in the standard is equipped with side airbags. It is very good. It’s closely close, especially if the driver and the front gray are tall. The fathers in the second row are also not very comfortable, especially when there are three of them. The trunk is roomy and is not in proportion to the dimensions of the car wide.
 
Mazda 626. The gut of this car makes you think about its price and class. Is he not the level of Merce W220? Merina, of course, is not a friend, but the salon is clearly made with an aim to luxury. A massive wooden insert on the instrument panel, which turned out to be plastic, is immediately striking. The place of the steering 626 to the banal convenient and without obvious flaws. However, it was not possible to find special delights. The stubborn part of the torpedo carries a triple-computer, a plug for a radio and a stove control panel. The remote control is not bad, only the characters are small.
We were happy to find the side eirbegs in the front seats. Total in Mazda there are four of them. The seats themselves, especially the driver’s, relax and introduce passengers of the 626th into a state of mind. In a word, a salon for lovers of a quiet and measured life. The handle of the machine gun is high with a shift from above. It is not necessary to reach for her and she is always at hand.
The rear seat, judging by the number of head restraints, is intended for three passengers. Practical studies have proven that the three of them can be sitting ... but not for long. If you go four, then the fifth headrest gapes in the rear view mirror. The driver does not leave the feeling that there are three of them there. But you can’t spoil the porridge with oil, and if the headrest interferes, it, in the end, can be removed. The set of electricians is standard: glass, mirrors, heating the front seats. The upholstery leaves shiny hairs on the clothes that are difficult to shake away. This problem is being solved, apparently, a good vacuum cleaner.
And finally, the trunk. Mazda has the widest opening and the complete absence of pockets on the sides. Like all participants in the test, the 626th has the opportunity to transport oversized items. It's time to give soot and find out if the appearance is so deceiving.
Having settled the chord with his aircraft cockpit, we hoped for the appropriate trip. Moreover, Honda was with mechanics. The VTEC engine is not even noisy at high speeds and did not beat decibels. The first seconds of overclocking were pleased with a confident set of speed. But here ... Then the revolutionary restrictionist worked and confident acceleration stopped in a second, leaving the chord almost behind the Lada. Experimentally, it turned out that the limiter is triggered somewhere at 5500 revolutions. An incomprehensible thing, especially since the red tachometer zone starts at 6500 rpm.
Honda controllability deserves all praise. The car enters into turns confidently, not a centimeter without breaking off the trajectory. Even at 70 km/h you do not need to steel and drop gas. Enhances a good impression of handling and steering. Despite the presence of hydraulic power, the reactions are clear even slightly sharp. No hint of vigor. Not at all children on the chord and brakes. On a sand -slightly thrown path near the sports complex, the Olympic Honda drew the strips and raised dust, stopping as glued. Brakes, of course, with Abs. The handbrake, as mentioned above, is inconvenient. Especially when you need to sharply start or make a maneuver called a police reversal. First of all, the driver grabs the knee of the front passenger or, at best, passengers, and only then finds the notorious handle. It’s a pity ... It's a pity that the limiter ruined the whole holiday. Honda would not have handed over her positions if not for his feasible contribution. But the engine could, and the car wanted ...
Next time, Mazda puzzled us greatly. I puzzled the absence of kikdown. So I wanted to tear myself away from the general stream, and here is such a surprise. The pedal is on the floor, and the car was driving and driving. At first, an unpleasant feeling crept in that we had killed a completely new car. Thank God, smart people told us that there is no such regime on Mazda 626 as Kickdown. But without this, the Mazda is a light and fairly fast car. Of course, the automatic machine slightly softens the reaction to gas pressing is almost impossible to break off the place, screeching with wheels. At speeds above 100 km/h, the 626th begins to swing slightly, and with maneuvers it strives to break to the side. The car is not the narrowest, which means narrow wheels are to blame for everything. The brake pedal is too long, but the Mazda slows down perfectly, rarely resorting to ABS. And on the 626th, just cool steering reacts with lightning speed and in sporting clearly. The overall impression of Mazda 626 is similar to its appearance. She is not an athlete yet, but not a family crew. The middle is almost gold.
 
The real athlete was Mitsubishi Galant. The first impression of the trip deceived us. We were clearly given the car not with a kopeckoy, but at least half a liter more. Sitting in Galanta, you feel acceleration with your whole body, and the fifth point even breaks away from the seat. The InVeCS II Sports Mode gearbox has two operating modes: automatic and manual switching. (This checkpoint is very often called the tiptronics. This is incorrect, because the Tipstronics is also the corporate name of one well-known German car manufacturer.) InVeCS allows you to switch the transmission manually on the principle of plus minus. In the manual part of the checkpoint there are four gears, and you can start moving from the first or second transmission. Then you just need to push the lever forward or backward and sometimes switch to neutral. This is such a convenient and pleasant thing that having traveled half an hour on Invex manually, you forget about automatic. Not to mention overclocking, the time of which is insignificant, but at the same time it is reduced even more.
High speed Mitsubishi passion. At any speed, the car goes like a tractor in a rut. Galant perceives even the smallest maneuver for reality and for a second does not allow me to doubt its reliability.
The pronounced athlete Galant did not deceive our expectations and showed everyone who is the owner in the house. Fast acceleration with not the largest power, compared to Honda, and the beautiful traction engine brought Mitsubishi to the leaders of our race. Honda Chord lifted electronics, but the potential of the car is very large. The chord has excellent brakes and almost perfect controllability, and you can get used to brain surprises. Mazda 626 A car is rather not to climb into a wound for lovers, but do not weave in the tail. She is an ideal for a family with a serious head and a young windy young man. The 626th, as they say, for the house, for the family. We note a large trunk and low fuel consumption.
 
Honda Chord
+
1. Informative steering wheel
2. Good brakes
-
1. Hard seats
2. Rimmers of revolutions
 
Mazda 626
+
1. Low fuel consumption
2. Big clearance
 
-
1. The absence of kikdown
2. Poor acceleration dynamics
 
Mitsubishi Galant
+
1. Great gearbox
2. Powerful, thrust engine
-
1. High cost
 
Maxim Rakitin
Photo by Alexander Nozdrin
 
 
 

Source: Cars