BMW X3 test drive since 2010 SUV

BMW X3 VS Mercedes-Benz GLK. Imperfect conditions

BMW X3. Price: 1 795 000 rub. On sale: since 2010
MB GLK 220 CDI. Price: 1 710 000 rub. On sale: since 2010

High torque, sufficient power, enviable dynamic characteristics and incredibly small fuel consumption these phrases can be found in press releases both to the MB GLK 220 CDI and the BMW X3 XDRive20D. I wanted to compare these two cars. Moreover, they are the same

Test pillets
Oleg Kalaushin, 41 years old, automobile journalist, driving experience 22 years, personal car - Renault Logan
Igor Kuznetsov, 49 years old, automobile journalist, driving experience 32 years, personal car - Skoda Yeti

Yes, the same. We do not think that a person who decided to give for a vehicle of transportation is about 1,700,000 rubles will be used to eat because of some 85,000. As they say, this is only the price of a bottle. And besides, BMW, although not much, but still a little more and a little more powerful, and there is something that, for example, is not in GLK. And for this very something that does not have to lay out a den.

Under the hood GLK rumbling in a line four -cylinder diesel with a volume of 2143 cm3 and a capacity of 170 liters. With. A little, it seems, for a car, the equipped mass of which is 1845 kg, but the fact is that these very forces are available in a fairly large range of rotation of the crankshaft, from 3200 to 4800 revolutions, which makes the motor more elastic. The torque looks impressive. This engine gives out its peak at 400 Nm at 1800 revolutions and continues to share it with the transmission up to 2800. Good, isn't it? What about BMW? Bavar also has a four -cylinder engine, only its volume is a little more than 1995 cubes.

Hence the great power, there are already 184 horses here. True, their peak accounts for only 4000 revolutions, and not on a certain shelf. And the torque is not as great as you expect from a more powerful engine, 380 nm at a shelf from 1750 to 2750 revolutions. However, this is very similar to the moment and the range that the GLK motor demonstrates. But if you believe the manufacturer, BMW at higher power in ideal conditions has a lower fuel consumption. And if on average, GLK is about 6.9 liters per hundred, then the same hundred X3 will be able to drive 5.6 liters. If we talk about the consumption of fuel X3 in the city, then it is completely it seems unrealistic: 6.7 liters for a car with a full weight of 2290 kg is not a miracle! Is this possible? They assure that yes, but with a certain complex of measures. For example, charging for a battery in X3 is only in case of braking. The rest of the time, the generator does not take precious energy from the motor and thereby allows the machine to be not only more dynamic, but also less voracious. An additional grinding of all the rubbing parts of the engine was also used, which allowed to reduce power loss by another 3.5%. Again, the start-stop system, a muffled engine when stopping at traffic lights, and, of course, the fight against excess weight. All this made it possible to achieve such results.

And what about Mercedes? Really his designers could not achieve the same results with a lower engine power? Apparently, they were able, because if a complex of measures called BlueEfficency had not been used, the result would be even worse. And so everything is very within the rational limits. Not so, of course, like BMW, and yet. What is this complex of measures? Increased injection pressure, the operation of the air conditioner compressor is optimized, and the engine cooling system is thought out. As you know, a 7 -speed box is not worth it from general efforts. Seven steps mean the brevity of the intervals between transmissions, which in addition to a decrease in fuel consumption increases the smoothness of the course.

BMW was even more lucky in this regard. The Bavarz diesel power unit with a spaces with an eight -speed automatic Steptronic automatic box adjacent to your ride style, and giving the opportunity to choose the transmission of beauty itself, in a word. That's just the joystick of the control of this same automatic transmission is somewhat unusual. Which, most likely, in a person who has been driving this car for the first time, will cause a slight shock. The work algorithm is somewhat not like classical control. Yes, that the newcomer, they themselves are so to the end and are not used to his work in the day. They also say that you get used to good quickly.

But this is all technology, but what about the soul? And she, after we spent the whole day in the company of these cars, could not decide. Something in one car liked more, something in another, but so that everything at once in BMW, for example, disappointed the instrument shield. No, it is very well read, it has all the information that is needed, but it looks somehow flat. And this is at a time when 3D walks around the world. But the places behind him in the instrument panel are enough to drown these same scales, like strategic missiles, in the deepest wells. But no. The central console looks pretty boring, and if it were not for a huge monitor in the center with the navigation system, then there would have nothing to look at. In GLK, another trouble. Everything is already painfully deliberately voluminous, and even a single smooth line. Continuous corners and changes. Unless the instrument shield does not suffer from this industrialization. But if everyone can offend the artist for this, then what about the inconvenient location of the door handles? Closing the door from the inside is very inconveniently located low. And also, if we talk about what is inconvenient, it is simply impossible not to mention the landing on the second row. The door to GLK does not open very widely, and the opening below is small. Add a high threshold to this, and the pancake that fell from your duck will be the softest curtsy towards the designers.

However, X3 does not look much better in this indicator. Here, too, the second row is not very convenient to visit, but the legs are a little more. He wiped his nose X3 to his opponent and the volume of the trunk. Moreover, this is not about any 10 or even 50 liters of volume there. In BMW, it is more than 100 liters. With folded seats of the second row, the difference is not so striking. It should be noted that the BMW, like Mercedes, has a fifth door with servo drives, but the opening angle of this very door at X3 can be set in the settings, which is very convenient when parking a car in a garage or under a low canopy.

I liked the X3 a little more in motion, but its suspension is more designed for good asphalt. In the same place where potholes appear or, worse than that pit, it is no longer possible to go quickly. It was then that GLK breaks forward with his almost omnivorous pendant. However, he will not yield to Bavarz in dynamics and on a good road. Indeed, even though its engine has smaller volume and power, it has almost the same 8.8 seconds against 8.5 for 8.5 of X3, which, ceteris paribus, is almost not tracking.

How not to track those grams per kilometer that can save the engines of these machines. Why? Yes, because then you need to ride in the right row. During normal operation, the numbers declared by manufacturers, both in the first and second case, are unrealistic. We never managed to see them. Apparently, the conditions were not the same. Not perfect. Nevertheless, fuel consumption was really moderate.

BMW X3
The X3 of the last generation has become more than its predecessor. So, in particular, the car stretched out 83 mm in length and rang out in the shoulders of 26 mm. But the growth, on the contrary, filed, and the same one and a half cm, which were deprived of it, positively affected aerodynamic indicators. At the same time, the trunk became more than 70 liters.

Driving
Undoubtedly, the horse of this car is a highway. He feels good on the lane, but off -road is not for him.

Salon
Coin and moderately spacious. The big trunk is also pleasing. It is possible to complain only for the inconvenience of landing on the second row.

Comfort
If you drive along roads with a good coating, then you can’t complain about comfort. But on the potholes ...
   
Safety
At the level.
   
Price
High.

The best qualities: handling on the highway.
The worst qualities: cross -country ability outside the roads.



MB GLK
The letter G in the name of the model obliges a lot, in connection with which the car claims more than the generally accepted crossover. To meet with off -road GLK, it is very well prepared. Short front and rear overhangs, a sufficient clearance, as well as the program G, which, with incredibity, reconfigures all systems.

Driving
The car is very good on the highway. It’s quite on the shoulder and off -road, but reasonable. We do not advise you to see your head in the wilds.

Salon
It is spacious and convenient, although there were no ergonomic miscalculations. So, the position of the inner door handles is very annoying.
   
Comfort
The long road will not appear on this car test.
   
Safety
At the level of competitors.
   
Price
High. But at the level of competitors.

The best qualities: cross -country ability outside the roads.
The worst qualities: insignificant volume of the trunk.



Our verdict
There is no doubt that the Mercedes GLK 220CDI BlueEfficency BMW X3 XDRIVE20D from the perspective of their innovations will allow future owners to reduce the cost of one of the important consumption items when owning these cars. However, do not hope that fuel consumption will be really meager. Like it or not, those figures that indicate in the technical characteristics, as a rule, very rarely reflect the realities that we have to be content in life ...
 

Author: Oleg Kalaushin
Photo: Igor Kuznetsov
 

Source: Magazine 5 wheel [April 2011]