Dodge Durango test drive since 2004 SUV
Economics lessons
Nissan Patrol Gr & Dodge Durango The economy should be economical. Especially during the period of general defaults, bankruptcies and increased activity of the Communists. It is time to abandon the phrase of surrender and you need to have two or three habits for any fire occasion. From now on, we will check the account in the cafeteria with the calculator, and when buying a car, first of all, to be guided by its price. At the time when the authors of this material comprehended the basics of tactics at the military department of the Moscow university, the lieutenant colonel named Pereudyaya very accurately outlined the formula for success in any battle - it should be triune. The same thing in the battle with the crisis.
Lone time
In connection with the situation at the Tokyo and New York exchanges, as well as with a reduction in revenues to the family budget, we had to abandon the idea of \u200b\u200bhaving Volvo for every day and Hummer for relaxation. I wanted to be closer to people and go on something, but universal. In the sense of internal comfort and real possibilities. Something like a democratic SUV, but without an unnecessary pump inherent in Mercedes M-class or Lexus RX300. Something with a strong image of a well-paid hard worker, not a Latin American playboy.
Assessment of the situation
The difference in the price of the cars selected during the cerebral assault was exactly $ 2,000. Following our own slogan about the economical consumption of foreign exchange reserves, we decided to weigh the pros and cons.
Just sit more pleasant in Dodge. Firstly, the seats are equipped with electrical adjustments in all possible planes, known euclidean geometry. And the bucket form of seats hugs the body much more tender, exhausted by regular contact with an unfriendly external environment.
Secondly, Dodge is better to be seen. A more sloping and short hood creates the feeling that you are sitting just in a big sedan. A powerful Nissan’s powerful hood that is bulging before his eyes evokes thoughts about the heavy work of the dial-to-fighter and the famous Sixteen Tons song.
In both cars, an information display is located above the intra -tower mirror. In Patrol, this is a compass and a thermometer, in Durango it is a full -fledged on -board computer. We are not afraid to get lost, but information about the consumption of fuel and its reserve will be very useful, given the exorbitant appetites of multi -liter engines. By the way, the Nissan Patrol Gr Safari, as in the plane, provides a backup fuel tank with a separate bay neck, its own fuel level sensor and a large button on the front console.
Particularly and biased interest aroused in us the system of heating the salon. It is understandable - on the street it was minus 17 degrees. And then it turned out that in the simple hard worker Patrol is an automatic climatic installation with a liquid crystal display. Dodge is also equipped with a similar system, but the plastic handles of its control and primitive icons recalled the domestic auto industry.
Compare both cars for various electric packages, stereo systems and airbags seems to us simply incorrectly - nevertheless we live at the end of the 20th century and both cars in civilized countries are collected.
Total 3: 2 in favor of Dodge. We save two thousand dollars and have at our disposal a comfortable and modern car.
Calculation of forces and means Based on the considerations that we are not buying a car in order to live in it, but to drive it, we took and drove away. And as true representatives of the Old World, it was more pleasant for us to move the lever of the gearbox in Nissan, located between the front seats, and not an American poker under the wheel of Dodge. The current generation has no experience in communication with the Volga GAZ-21.
Durango has more comfortable mirrors, sort of large burdocks, which can be seen even more than necessary. Through them you can look at the girls on the sidelines and calmly hand over in reverse. In the Nissan, the mirrors clearly do not correspond to the general impressive dimensions, and when revealing reversing, it is generally necessary to act in intuition. If she lets down and falls on the back, blocked by a reserve on the back door, write disappeared. As they say: it is not visible - it will be heard!
It is believed that from the same volume, Americans remove less horsepower than the same Japanese. And it should be expected that the temperament of Nissan and Dodge will be approximately the same. But in practice, it turned out that Durango is an order of magnitude more frequent than his colleague. When Kickdown (in Russian - the pedal to the floor) of the American passenger, the American passenger so significantly presses into the chair that a weakly holding headdress such as a cowboy hat can easily be easily sought in the trunk. And it is simply necessary to have such a hat to the Dodge driver - the power control and obedience of the gas pedal literally provoke to the style of a steep waker.
If Dodge had, like Nissan, a spring suspension of the rear axle, then the pleasure of the aggressive driving style would be absolute. But the springs inherited from the ancestor, the Dodge Dakota pickupa lead to excessive rigidity of the suspension and more tangible than on Patrol, goat. In short, Durango has a pronounced cowboy character - quick and arrogant. Nissan is more like a sumo fighter. Moves slowly, but reliably and confident, causing respect and some fear from others.
Total 2: 2, a friendly draw. We will consider two thousand dollars with the necessary surcharge for the plastic surgery for the Europeanization of the Japanese jeep. In Durango, the handle of switching the distribution box is located in a way - somewhere in the area of \u200b\u200bthe ankles, deep under the front panel. To switch from 2H to 4H, you have to dive your head down. And if at this moment the car shakes on a bump, then you can elementarily break your hand. In Nissan, everything is at hand, and, in addition, the checkpoint selector is covered with leather. Two thousand, because of which all the fuss, it is not worth it, but nice.
But what is bad in the city, it’s good beyond its borders, and vice versa: the durango reserve is fixed under the bottom and imagine the situation when your car with a broken wheel was sadly cooked in a dirty and deep rut. Or caught this very reserve for stumps sticking out of the land.
In our Nissan there was no ABS system. Which did not guarantee a large advantage of Dodge Durango, in which ABS is installed only on the rear wheels. This is dictated by the fact that ABS can play a bad joke with you if you slide down the dirty slope and involuntarily pressed the brake pedal. On many SUVs, by the way, on Nissan Patrol with the ABS system, an automatic shutdown of the anti -lock system is provided at speeds of up to 10 km/h.
The difference in lowering numbers, which is clearly in favor of Dodge Durango, is in some ways equalized by the presence on the Nissan Patrol forced blocking of the center differential. On Dodge, this function is provided by Wylianfet, which distributes the traction force between the front and rear bridges not honest, but in a part: 48/52 %. Namely, these 4 percent are sometimes not enough to pull the car out of the mud or snow trap.
Total 3: 2 in favor of Nissan. We pay the extra two thousand dollars for the right to have a powerful and reliable SUV.
DECISION-MAKING
When buying a car, the price, of course, matters. But not decisive. The decisive factor always, regardless of financial, political or family crises, will be the practical purpose of your future car. And for the presence of specific options in it, emphasizing its life functionality, it is not a pity to pay $ 2,000. Unless, of course, this price is not higher than the cost of the car itself.
The autopilot thanks the car dealership Pioneer, (095) 213-8594, for the cars provided for the test. For the period of the test, the cars were insured in the company RESO-Garantia, (095) 250-3600, 255-6834.
Who else
An ordinary citizen cannot achieve autopilot impartiality in comparison with the Nissan and Dodge Jeeps. Because, choosing a car, he will not only meticulously count the pros and cons, but also look around: and who else goes to such?
With Durango everything is clear. He is definitely not a bestseller. The emergence in Russia was not even accompanied by the stagger in demand, which is rare for a completely new, prestigious type of machine. Official Kraisler dealers generally avoid it, citing what it is intended for the American market. Among the rare buyers, Muscovites prevail and for some reason Siberians are shorter, a machine for originals.
Patrol is a completely different matter. One of the most popular. An indispensable participant in all kinds of pokatushki and trophy. The notorious in the world of sailing Dmitry Gerasimov, who had a lot of SUVs, said at one time to the autopilot that he likes Nissan Patrol the most. They say that this is a very weak car, ”he added,“ everything breaks very often. But I don't notice something. Claims in the not too great durability to patrol are really sometimes presented, but Patrol has never caused the patency of Patrol. The editor -in -chief of Russian radio Sergey Arkhipov traveled at one time to Nissan Patrol. The car, according to him, impressed him with everything except the diesel engine, because of which there were problems with refueling.
And the last. Nissan Patrol owners surveyed by the autopilot reported such a clearly no more information. Sometimes patrols appear on sale, according to documents made in Spain, in which the number on the body begins with JN1. These must be immediately abandoned: Spanish Nissans must have another, non -Yapon code - VSK.
Model/Modification Nissan Patrol GRX Dodge Durango V8
The manufacturer Nissan Motors Co., Ltd. Dodge Division, Chrysler Corporation
The manufacturer of Japan of the United States
BODY
Type station wagon
Number of doors/places 5/5-7 5/5-8
ENGINE
Gasoline type with electronic injection gasoline with electronic injection
Front in front of the front is longitudinally
Working volume (cubic meter) 4479 5210
Number/location of cylinders 6/rowing 6/V-shaped
Cylinder diameter x Piston stroke (mm) 99.5x96 99.3x84.1
Compression degree 8.5: 1 9.1: 1
Power, kW (L.S.) at about./Min. 147 (200) at 4400 172 (234) at 4400
Moment (nm at about./Min.) 348 at 3600 407 at 3200
The number of valves per cylinder 4 4
TRANSMISSION
Rear drive with connected front rear with connected front; Intersose differential of a planetary type with viscousyft
Automatic gearbox 4-speed automatic 4-speed
Handout mechanical two -stage mechanical two -stage mechanical
Transporting number, norms/lowering. 1.0/2.02 1.0/2.72
SUSPENSION
Front spring, underdeveloped bridge, longitudinal levers, reptile stability stabilizer Delted transverse triangular levers, torsions
The rear spring, unremarkable beam of the bridge, longitudinal levers, jet thrusts, a reptile stabilizer (by order - disconnected) spring, uncertain beam of the bridge, stabilizer of the transverse stability
STEERING
Type gear rack with a hydraulic booster gear-rake with a hydraulic booster
The diameter of the turn (m) 12.2 11.7
Brakes
Front disc ventilated circular ventilated
Rear ventilated drum disk
ABS - only on the rear wheels
Wheels
Tire size 235 R16, 265/75 R16 235x75 R15
Disks 6J, 8J 7J, 8J
Dimensions/Opam/Weight
Length/width/height (mm) 4965/1840/1850 4910/1820/1840
Trunk capacity (cubic meter) 810 530
Wheel base (mm) 2970 2940
The track front/back (mm) 1555/1575 1540/1560
Clearance (mm) 220 200
The volume of the fuel tank (L) 95 (main) 95
Equipped mass (kg) 2210 2125
Dynamic characteristics
Maximum speed (km/h) 170 180
Economy
Fuel consumption (l/100 km):
Highway 12 13.8
City cycle 20 18.1
Price in Moscow from $ 52,000 $ 50,000
Nikolai Kachurin, Alexey Ilyin (photo)
Source: "Autopilot"
