Test drive Chevrolet Suburban 1999 - 2006 SUV

White House defender

In principle, a very large part of our population probably saw this car. Those who are interested in the President of the Russian Federation noticed it for sure. Exactly the same Chevrolet Suburban are in service with the Federal Security Service. And people in black overalls with assault automatic rifles and non -childish eyes, who prefer not to glow in front of lenses, ensure the safety of the movement of officials number 1 and number 2 for the cities and towns of our country. True, recently they were replaced by Mercedes G, but, as they say, an armored train is on the spare track.

The car, which was on our test, was not from the garage of special purposes. It owns it, let’s say, a simple private person to whom the armored car cost $ 130,000 (without customs clearance). But we could not miss the opportunity to try the car from the presidential convoy properly.
Simple, but with taste
Outside, the armored version is no different from the ordinary Chevrolet Suburban. If only this car can be called ordinary in relation to Moscow streets. Yes, and regardless of them too. The American is impressive in itself. Five and a half meters long, two widths and almost the same height. Four-wheel drive. And all this is given a classic form for SUVs GMC. It has something from a school bus and at the same time from a self-propelled barn. So big, big. That would be what the goods are transported to! True, the choice of engines proposed by the Americans is quite capable of cooling trade ardor: V-shaped eights with a working volume of 5.7 and 7.4 liters for gasoline and 6.5 liters for turbodiesel. And fuel consumption is more than 16 liters per hundred. And this is for the standard. But before us the car is far from simple. It is clear that only a very serious person can afford to ride such a bus.
The most powerful version was selected for booking - to 2500 with a 7.4 -liter engine. Differences from the basic model become noticeable only when the doors are open. You understand, the thickness of the multi-layer glass, capable of withstanding the blow of the 7.62 mm bullet released from AKM or M-16, cannot be hidden. By the way, all side glasses can fall. True, not to the end, but only half. Perhaps, from the point of view of security, this is a somewhat worst option than fixed glass, but the owner of the car clearly likes it.
In general, the level of protection meets the requirements of the 5-Siber category, or B6 according to the DIN standard. It is provided not only by booking, but also with special tire inserts that allow you to move on shot wheels.
With the exception of a strange -looking door of the doors, the interior decoration at first glance also does not give out special vehicle. This is undoubtedly facilitated by the huge size of the basic car. As well as a relatively simple equipment. There is no satellite communication or cunning additional fire extinguishing systems by car. But there is a mortar. Hearing about him, we first dumbfounded. But then they remembered that the list of blown up vehicles belonging to domestic businessmen is growing and multiplying. So we do not risk calling such a device superfluous. Three control buttons are assembled in a separate unit and carefully perched on the dashboard. Very convenient: both at hand and do not attract attention ...
The Sabourbanov Salon is something. Well, think for yourself, can you often find sofa -type seats now? And the length of the passenger premises is such that you can also put the third row, for the attachment of which there are special places on the floor of the luggage compartment. Watching its spaces limited by armored vehicles and armored vehicles, you involuntarily begin to think not about banking papers or money, but rather about artistic values. And there can be so much dollar banknotes here that it is quite enough for the budget of a small state.
Five tons of armor and steel
We slam the doors and immediately feel like a armored car sitting inside. And the point is not only in great effort, which has to be applied to the door. In the shape of the internal side panels, a large thickness of the glass is guessed, and thorough tinting exacerbates the feeling of closed space. Moreover, so strong that two hefty men, included in our test group and unusual to think with safety categories, complain about crowding. I turn around and pretend the width of the cabin: a meter one and a half. And you can also play the adjustments of the seats ... But the employees of the security service of the publishing house Kommersant inside the car were quietly trample. The thickness of the glass did not press on them. Well, their approach to the armored car is the most correct.
However, we already trample on the spot for a long time, and therefore we start the engine - and on the road. The steering wheel with a hydraulic wiper is not very sharp and with a small monitoring action. Quite an American wheel. Under it, on the column, also in the spirit of Made in USA the lever of the box selector.
The automatic box is very soft, in the American taste. It is unobtrusive, but completely unleased disperses the car. Probably, one could compete with some passenger car, but from the height of the driver’s place Suburban, such a lesson seems extremely unprecedented ... The maximum speed of the car and the time of acceleration 0 - the hundred turned out to be a mystery - even representatives of General Motors could not answer this question. They only said that both Mercedes 600 and government ZIL are quite sufficient for escort.
The suspension also works exactly as you expect from an American SUV: it is noticeably tougher than on the road cruisers of past years, but still much softer than that of European or Japanese crooks.
The brakes turned out to be male. They have everything in order with efficiency, and the effort with very energetic braking can not be called excessive. But still, in order for them to start acting, a slight touch to the pedal, sufficient on many cars, is clearly not enough. Here you need to step on the pedal for real, like a man.
The fact that there is always something from the truck in the habits of armored vehicles is a common thing. About Suburban, we will not say this. Because while the wheel of this car you feel like a truck driver. And his behavior on the road is quite truck. Mass, dimensions, base - all suitable. And booking gives the car the character of a loaded machine. In her reaction to each action of the driver, massiveness is felt. Five tons! - The owner proudly reports. But despite the snow porridge on the road and a stubborn gas pedal stubbornly, the Suburban did not want to slip by four wheels. And he was in no hurry to slow down on the yuz. However, we did not try too hard: we are going on an armored car, not on the formula.
Pleasantly surprised the sulfilliness of the car. It turned out to be at all difficult to get between the cars parked by both sidewalks, which were parked by both sidewalks, it turned out to be completely difficult.
Result
Armored Suburban is a cross between the specification of a passenger car of the BMW 750 or Mercedes -Benz 600 and collection vehicles. It does not have the sophistication and rigidity of the protocol on the protection of the person’s first, but there is no severe simplicity and frank functionality of the latter. But at the same time, it has spaciousness and comfort.
A car provided for a private person is sold (095) 476-5994; 478-4175; 479-9203.

What else
Suburban does not have classmates. This car is too peculiar. Of the closest to it, you can call the Mercedes-Benz 600 and BMW 750, which have been finalized in specialized firms that are ready to book any machine suitable in size and engine power. And this also complicates the conversation about analogues. But still, these stamps can be considered the hallmark of European armor, as they personify the approach of firms. A passenger car for a large person should be comfortable, solid, armored and not stand out in the traffic flow. But the values \u200b\u200bin them are not angry. Unless some jewelry. In the box.
We will call another category of cars conditionally by a business class. The armored version of Volkswagen Caravelle can also be counted on invisible. The civil appearance is attractive, but, you must agree, it is somehow unsolvable to come by commercial car for negotiations. Another thing is to carry money. This is probably why the main buyer of Volkswagen in Russia are banks.
Perhaps only in the gamut of Brabus sicherheitsfahrzeuge, which is an armored Gelandewagen from Mercedes-Benz, you can find direct competitors Suburban, suitable to carry both a person and values.
Booked
The owner of the armored Suburban immediately finds himself in a very solid company. Here you have Elizabeth II, and Papa John Pavel, and all the Oon and Pentagon authorities. And, The Last but not the Least, with a dozen American presidents led by the current. George Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Jerry Ford, Richard Nixon, John Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, etc. - all traveled on armor.
And Bill Clinton, along with the mountain on the eve of the elections, even helped their guards pushing the armored car stuck in the mud. A photograph of this feat bypassed all of America. What can you do, the formation of the image is hard work. By the way, the guards had to work first: to plant Chevrolet Suburban is not easy.
In Russia, CHEVROLET Suburban dressed in armor is increasingly starting to use banks and other structures that have to think a lot about safety. So even O`gara -hes & Eisenhardt, since the 40s, unexpectedly supplies the Suburbans to American presidents, decided to open its representative office with us. In standard configuration (if such a word is appropriate for armored car), Suburbans in Russia can be bought for $ 123-125 thousand. Plus customs clearance.
In general, Suburban, especially armored, is a car for those who travel with security. She likes her most. In particular, the head of the security company Roman. Here is his point of view.
If in one word - this is ... c.
You won’t understand whether you are on an airplane (this is when you accelerate), or on a boat - when you go along the highway and sway smoothly.
Credit is brutal. We traveled here for three hundred km from Moscow - there was no road at all and the frozen river was forced. In general, where the tractor will pass, there is Suburban. And it is generally impossible to disrupt it at all: we all tried in order - nothing happened. In winter, when slippery and also a peel, it will bypass anyone. And if you compare the ordinary Suburban and armored in dynamics, it turns out about the same. The second is heavier, but the engine is seven and a half liters.
By the way, such a car is more than any other, cruise control is suitable. You go and bastard, even though you put your legs on the front panel.
But there is a lot of gasoline, bastard, eats. Here all the directories lie, underestimate. On the highway, if there are only the rear leaders, there are already twenty liters, and in the city and turning on all -wheel drive - all forty will come out. Yes, in general, whom it worries. Another thing is more important for us: when necessary, you can easily carry ten people. Especially in the American version, when there are not two chairs in front, but one large sofa.
It’s wildly convenient for the driver. The steering wheel can be put in any position. The seat sinks, rises, moves in any direction. Even the rigidity of the pillow is adjustable.
In a word, p ... c.
 
Alexey Vinogradov,
Dmitry Novokreshhenov (photo)

 

Source: "Autopilot"