Test drive Ford Ranger 1992 - 2010 compartment
And we are the stakefuls and carpenters ...
Are you surprised by the fact that all of America is slowly but surely transplanted from cars to pickups? So, you just never drove such a car! Indeed, in fact, in the pickup, as in any other vehicle, the features of the passenger car, an all -around and a truck were combined. Soul mates
Until recently, the Russian pickup market consisted of a single Mitsubishi-L200 model. Two years ago, Mazda-B2500 replenished the narrow circle of revolutionaries. And in this June, the sales of Ford-Rainger of the Third and by no means superfluous of the official pickupa began. We’ll make a reservation right away, Ford and Mazda are the same car. They are collected at one factory in Thailand, and all differences are reduced to some elements of external design and, of course, a branded emblem. However, a different approach to configuration leaves space for comparison. So, let's look at what each of the multi -malls is capable of.
Charming archaic
Traditionally, having left discussions about appearance on the public conscience, we will immediately move on to the interiors. But first, we recall that everywhere in the world, with the happy exception of the United States and Canada, pickups are considered work horses. And therefore, it is foolish to expect that the last achievements of ergonomics, the upholstery materials of the extra-class, and in general, at least a mile, who had matched to the concept, are waiting for you in the cabin. A deep breath and welcome inside! Let's start with the old -timer L200.
Even a person is prepared and he can politely say: what is clean and nothing more. Of course, if you approach the pickupa with the standards of a modern SUV, then it is easy to come into despondency. Warm seats, covered in the most unpretentious of all existing fabrics, plastic panels, which, it seems, still remember the distant 80s, a thin rod of the steering wheel, devoid of pleasant fullness of the airbag, the climate control unit, apparently, borrowed from the armored personnel carrier. Not a car, but an antiquity shop on wheels.
Pleasant to the touch of the velor of seats and a quite modern torpedo give the interior of the Mazda features of the all -terrain vehicle
Due to the lack of a familiar parking brake lever between Ford's seats, a voluminous box was placed
The L200 salon in the GL configuration is more ascetic. However, in expensive GLS Mitsubishi is not inferior to competitors
But let's try to look at all this from a slightly different point of view. Inexpensive finishing materials have the main property for the working property, they easily wash. The condo regulator of air flows will be faithful to serve you even in a 40-degree frost, when fashionable modern systems with sensory control, perhaps, will give oak. As for the pillows, you can just pay extra for them. Green portraits of American presidents will easily replace you with a magic wand. And if the budget does not crack at the seams, L200 can be turned into a real Pajor Sport, at least from the inside. Including the famous coonomer on the torpedo.
During movement, the driver's right hand overlaps the electronic watch almost the only B2500/Ranger Particular in terms of ergonomics
Inside, Ford looks like a Mazda like two drops of water. The only noticeable difference is the steering wheel with the branded oval, perhaps, easier
The front panel of the L200 compared to rivals seems deliberately rude. But the handbrake here is in the place
Nevertheless, inside Ford or Mazda, you immediately understand the interior to a greater extent from a car than from a truck. After all, the overall impression is made up of the little things. We notice: the steering wheel here is more pleasant and the cross section is larger, and the plastic is better. The climate block also looks more modern. Anyway, the front panel seemed to migrate to Mazda and Ford from the SUVs tribia and Meverer. In fact, this is not so, but it seems!
But where does Mazda-Ford come from such a parking brake lever, I do not know. Is it not from the old Volga? The bone leg of the handbrake under the steering column, exactly like on the unforgettable car of the insole. And then you decide that this is a charming archaic or inappropriate nostalgia.
Mazda dashboard (left) and Ford (in the center) are completely identical. The main thing to read the complaints
Crash the key to health
If you agree that freedom of choice is one of the most cruel torment, then smile you are lucky. Even far from pick -up fever, Europeans need to decide at least a single, one and a half or double. In Russia, almost like in ancient Ford advertising, you can buy a pickup with any cabin, provided that it is double. Well, at least some chance to talk about spaciousness appears well in its own way.
Why a chance? Remember, even a 4-door pickup in any case is closer than an alternate. It is simply very difficult to make a spacious car with a length of 3.5 m. It is so much that remains from the five -meter L200, if you pull the length of one and a half meter body from it.
Given such an introductory, I want courageous hands to shake the councilors of all three firms. And the guys from Mazda and Ford even kiss. After all, in B2500 and in the ranger you can sit behind. Well, or almost you can. There would be literally two centimeters of space in the knees, and I would be perfectly settled by my meter eighty -five. Of course, we do not forget to make a discount on a short pillow and an incredibly narrow doorway such a constitution for pickups and yet the result is not bad.
Babbos booth
A hard roof on a cargo compartment of an option that is in greatest demand among real and future pickup owners. Such a booth, in our opinion, deprives the pickup of a fair amount of external charm, but turns the platform opened by all winds and thieves into a full -fledged lockable trunk. Pleasure, make a reservation, not cheap. The tough top on the ranger, for example, costs 1970 euros or not even $ 2500. However, on any of the pickups you can purchase plastic or soft body covers.
Summer resident dream, bombing enemy The pickup talents are fully revealed when transporting heavy stupid objects. If ordinary cars and even all -terrain vehicles are accepted to measure the trunk in liters, then for pickup something is already trifling! The centners are better suited. The payload of any of the participants in our test exceeds a ton. You can’t imagine how much it is! Ask the summer residents, in the fall on an industrial scale of the transporting potatoes to the city. But what a potato! Anyone who is engaged in construction or settles a house in the village, once driving on a construction market will fall in love with a pickupa forever. Dozens of cement bags, a bulky tool, a beam and a small trolley of another junk, which, according to the bombs on gazelles, cannot be taken away in less than three walks, they will smoothly migrate into the body of your pickupa. Therefore, we will not find fault. Yes, Mazda and Ford have a loading platform of three centimeters longer and one already than Mitsubishi. Nonsense. Ultimately, the talents of the truck are perfectly developed in each of the truck.
Another thing is that, unlike a passenger car, the pickup does not have a closed trunk of a constant deployment of the spare, the pump and rusty bolts. And if the fifth wheel painlessly registered in a niche under the body, then for everything else there is a modest pocket behind the back of the sofa. It is not God the news that, but for the pump, jack, first -aid kit, fire extinguisher, set of instruments there is a place. By the way, Mazda and Ford's back of the sofa is folding, so if you wish, a useful volume of pickup can be solidly increased. The function is especially relevant in winter, when there is no desire to throw at least something in snow-covered body. For the absence of such a useful bauble, we remove half a bell from Mitsubishi.
Everything is good in moderation Despite the fact that the declared carrying capacity of all three pickups exceeds a ton (it includes, however, the weight of the driver with passengers), we still advise you not to get carried away with record loads. Yes, any of our trinity will cope with the transportation of three hundreds of bricks or 20 bags of potatoes. However, in this case, the front wheels are very noticeably unloaded, which is very dangerous, especially on a slippery road. In addition, pay attention to the springs of the suspension begin to bend in the opposite direction. Several such flights, and they will have to be changed.
Hurry up your time Modern diesel engraves with a dynamics pumps begin to plug the belt of gasoline colleagues. But in our pickups diesel, pre -revolutionary diesel engines, in which the fuel injection is in charge of the high pressure of the high -pressure fuel pump. So, we are rarely refuel, but we are not going quickly. So? Not really. Of course, if you talk about the dynamics armed with only passport data, it is easy to confess. Well, what is 100 liters for a one and a half -ton car. With. Power Mitsubishi and 109 Mazda and Ford? The maximum speed of 142147 km/h, acceleration to hundreds at the pace of classic Lada as in a joke: Ty, having come in! But take your time. Believe me, the main thing is to overcome yourself and get behind the wheel. And after a short trip, the skepticism will dissipate.
Even the least powerful in our trinity L200 is by no means a goner. It is only necessary to remember firmly and firmly that its engine lives with one measured and burdensome life until the turbine is turned on and completely different even pretty dull after. If you accustom yourself to the fact that the tachometer's arrow never leaves the borders of 20003500 rpm, then few will be able to call Mitsubishi the Livist. No, even a pleasant turbine is felt here, very useful in the city bustle. Of course, in order to keep the pickup in good shape, you will have to actively operate the gearbox lever, and outside the city you need to come to terms with the threshold of cruising speed of 120 km/h. But such a result for a 100-horsepower car, you see, is not bad.
So, if the dynamics of L200 can be called adequate, then Mazda and Ford are completely close to the concept of good. The rules for turbodiesel here are the same before and after 2000 rpm are two big differences. Only when the turbine is triggered is it much more spectacular. Accordingly, it is easier to nimble in the city stream.
But the efficiency of brakes for all three could be higher. To achieve a decent dynamics of slowdown, it is necessary to put pressure on the pedal without sparing shoes. But here the main thing is not to overdo it! After all, the anti -lock system for pickup is elevated to the rank of luxury.
Do not demand much But the manageability of pickups is good, predictable. In the sense that, turning the steering wheel to the right, there is no doubt that the car will go there. Well, seriously, to expect from trucks of passenger habits the same as counting on the gallantry of a crocodile.
Imagine a frame all -around with a rear spring suspension, and even with a weightliness, there is nowhere worse. The nature of the steering clearly indicates that the notorious reactive effort was not included in the list of priorities of the chassis adjusters. And if so, hammer it on your nose only when you are 200 percent confident in the happy outcome of the maneuver. The skid on the pickup is developing literally out of the blue.
There are nuances on a high -speed line. Especially when driving empty. It is worth a flat asphalt to be replaced by a wavy comb, pickups begin to be capricious. Mitsubishi jumps, like an unprotected horse, Mazda and Ford swing that a fishing boat. A more humble disposition at a high-speed straight line will be given by a 200-kilogram steel slab placed in the body. With such a load, the car will goarly smallerly smaller.
To a certain extent The independent life of the rear axle affects not only controllability, but also comfort. It is almost impossible to break through the cargo suspension of the pickup, but this does not mean that your trip will be cloudless. A more designed for the transportation of inanimate objects, the chassis is by no means trying to embellish the nature of the road surface.
First of all, this is true in relation to L200. All bumps, cracks, tram tracks, as they say, are yours. Moreover, the rear row passengers especially go. You need to either come to terms with this, or go in search of a suitable steel slab. But that's not all. A newcomer from habit can shock diesel vibrations on the gearbox lever, obvious at idle. In motion, they, however, disappear, but the perky roar of the motor, on the contrary, without meeting resistance in the form of serious sound insulation, fills the salon.
So spending time is more pleasant in Mazda and Ford. Firstly, it is tangibly quieter here. And on the go B2500 and the ranger will be softer. In the back row, but on bumps, of course, it is better to hold on to the handles stronger. But at least the driver and the front passenger do not bounce to the ceiling, crushing the bedridden police.
In his element
If you have not forgotten yet, a pickup is a mixture of not only cars and truck, but also an all -terrain vehicle. And I can immediately reassure the fishermen, hunters and other adventure lovers outside the solid route, our heroes are really good. Perhaps, from the point of view of geometric patency, the palm of the championship should be given to L200. Although the protection of the vital organs of the engine of the engine and the handout, the suspension elements of Ford with the Mazda looks more powerful, and the gas tank, unlike Mitsubishi, is covered not only in front, but also from below, more high -set bumers and the discharge of decorative rubbish, like the steps, increase the chances Mitsubishi on off -road.
The arsenal of all -terrain vehicles in three pickups is exactly the same. A rigidly connected front bridge, reducing gear and a self -locking differential of the rear axle. The gentleman's set is not God the news, but everything you need is. Of course, you can catch any of the trinity on diagonal hanging, but if you use a pickup not as a means of satisfying off-road ambitions, but as a means of transportation, then you can go far.
In the duel of worthy L200 muaders, we liked a little more. Perhaps the moves of the rear suspension of Mitsubishi are slightly inferior to the rivals, but the self -block works much more efficiently. Where the differential of Mazda and Ford needs to be deceived by pressing the wheels with a handbrake, L200 rowing itself, and it rowing is very confident and useful.
Useful button
On the front panel of the Mazda and Ford there is a button with the inscription RFW (remote connection of the front hubs Remote Free Wheel). If you stalled on the rear drive, connecting the front wheels will not give anything on the L200 they need at least a few centimeters of the course. RFW will help to avoid such traps. Having overcome the difficult section on all -wheel drive, you can turn it off, but if the off -road awaits you again, leave the RFW indicator burning. And then it will be possible to serve torque on the front wheels at any time right on the go.
Be careful!
It is not said that, ceteris paribus, the all -round is inferior to a light car in terms of active security. This is primarily due to a higher center of gravity, which is why the jeep is prone to the coup. A pickup with its ideal with the ideal with a weight and a brazier rear bridge, as you know, is more inferior to an all -around than the opposite.
As for specific calculations for passive safety, here, alas, there is very little information. On the crash tests of Euroncap, not a single pickupa has not been broken. And for help I had to turn to the American light of crash tests to the safety institution of road security (IIHS). Mazda and Ford visited the tests in this respected organization, which received an assessment of acceptable somewhere between the three and the four. True, experts noted the most stringent body of the deformation zone entered the salon, threatening the driver's feet.
The situation with L200 is even more confusing. After all, this compact pickup is not sold in the USA. But there is no crash test to not. Indirectly about passive safety can be judged by testing Pajero-Sport, because it is built on the basis of L200. And here the Japanese have something to brag. After all, Pajero-Sport is one of the few frame jeeps that earned the highest grade IIHS. Only unambiguously tolerate this achievement on our hero we would still not. And for what reason. The fact is that the basic version of the L200 is complete without a single airbag. Moreover, a driver's eire-beg can only be obtained in the most expensive performance at a price of 30 thousand! Against the background of Mazda and Ford, in the database offering front pillows, such a solution looks at least strange.
Cheaper than SUVs
The most affordable pickup in our market is Mazda. The basic package for $ 21,350 is not so small. There are frontal airbags, a full electric package, including mirrors, steering wheel, central locking and audio training. It’s not bad for the hard worker. For an additional $ 1100, your b-series will become elegant due to cast discs, expanders of arches and thresholds. Of the vital things, except for the air conditioner is not enough. It can be installed at the official dealer for $ 1800. Total, Mazda in the maximum configuration will cost $ 24,250.
This is not a golf club and does not suck so at Mazda and Ford looks a parking brake lever
The rear side can be completely discovered or fixed in a horizontal position
Thanks to the enviable move of the rear suspension, hanging the Mazda wheel is not so easy
The folding back of the sofa is another cargo talent
The base L200 from Mitsubishi is more expensive than $ 300 more than $ 300. But the performance of GL is purely utilitarian, if not ascetic. There is only the most necessary for work, and from the rudiments of luxury only audio training. However, the GL+ equipment for $ 24 190 appeared relatively recently. This option with air conditioning, a full electric packet and heated front seats is much closer to the rank of a full -fledged car. As we have already noticed, only a driver's bug driver is missing. Finally, L200 in the top execution of GLS looks (and costs $ 27,950) a real dandy. Expanders of arches, bumpers in the color of the body favorably distinguish this L200 from simpler versions. A list of compulsory equipment is complemented by ABS with a system of distribution of brake force and a hybrid differential in the rear bridge.
Double -mode heating the front seats is required for the GL+ version
The double cup holder easily hides in the front panel
The climate remote does not shine with design, but simple and understandable in work
The back of the sofa at Mitsubishi, alas, does not fold
The price tags for Ford are affixed in euros, and as a result, the ranger is the most expensive. The simpler performance of the XL is estimated at 19,270 euros (approximately $ 23,700) and almost completely repeats the minimum of venues. Unless a cassette radio is installed instead of an electric drive of mirrors. But in the XLT version, the ranger turns from a workhorse into an impressive jeep. There is a more elegant body kit Extensions of arches, footboards, cast discs, an arc in the cargo ward. In addition, in such a ranger, air conditioning, CD player, velor upholstery of seats and leather steering wheel, as well as ABS, are required. Finally, Ford is the only pickup in our market that can be obtained with a completely leather interior. This option, reserved for the XLT configuration, will cost an additional 1330 euros.
The anti-lock brake system, a full electrical package, air conditioning and even CD residents are mandatory for configuration XLT
Rear suspension scheme whole beam-bridge plus springs is used on all pickups
The skin with skin is very American. And for just 1330 euros
We decided:
Having calculated the final grades, we were at first surprised. How did such versatile gifted cars manage to gain less than four points per brother on average? But each medal has two sides. A modest capacity is combined in pickups with amazing carrying capacity, mediocre dynamics with economy, weak handling with excellent behavior outside the roads, nothing more than satisfactory indicators of passive safety with an almost complete lack of interest in such cars and traffic police workers. On average, it is just no more than a four with a minus. If you are ready to put up with this, each of the three participants in our test is a worthy choice.
Mitsubishi (the average rating of 3.5) failed insufficiently powerful engine in comparison with competitors and an openly ascetic interior. But if you are primarily necessary for the pickup for sorties in the mountains and forests, then the L200 will surely become your faithful friend.
Ford and Mazda, as we have already said, are essentially the same car with different emblems, which confirmed almost identical estimates. The only difference in the approach to the equipment. Mazda-B2500 (average rating 3.9) for those who need pickups as a universal vehicle for both the country, and for rest, and generally anywhere. Hence the more Spartan equipment and a slightly more affordable price. While the ranger (, the average rating is 3.8), especially in the XLT configuration, an attempt to attract those who sees an extraordinary car in the pickup, which the neighbor has no garage.
Mikhail Medvedev, photo of Maxim Goncharov
Source: Magazine "Limousine" [06/04]
