Test drive Ford Ranger 2 doors since 2010 pickup

Bar-Krestyana

The Russian village is dead. Most Russians are confident in this. Meanwhile, agricultural production is growing, and Russia is becoming an increasingly significant player in the international food market. Sales of pickups are also growing. Our trip on four pickups to the Tver region was supposed to answer the question: is there life in the village?



Ford Ranger
There used to be two Ford Ranger: American and Thailand. Since this year, only one has left the MID-SIZE PICAP. In Russia, cars with a single and one and a half cockpit and three engines are available to choose from: gasoline 2.5 (166 p.) And diesel 2.2 and 3.2 and 3.2 and 200 hp). Gearboxes 5-speed manual transmission for a gasoline machine and 6-speed manual transmission and automatic transmission for diesel. All cars are all -wheel drive. Our Ranger with a double cabin, a 6-speed automatic and diesel engine 2.2. Prices: from 1,112,000 to 1,541,000 rubles.


Outside and inside
In America, Ranger has never been a truly farm car, he will not be transported to such a little bull for this. But the surfers, crossmen and other lovers of outdoor activities have always loved medium -sized pickups. And the new Ranger copes with the role of the chariot of the adrenaline maniac. Even the long -drawn ATLS ATV600GT ATV600GT ATV600gt ATV got into the body! The length of the body is 1549 mm, width 1560 mm. And how dashing the American pickup is a real star of the beach party for nothing that is going in Thailand! But the interior turned out to be too cartoony and not very convenient. The stand for the rest of the left leg walks with a shaking at minimum pressure, and it is so inconvenient that it is more comfortable to just keep the leg on the floor. The multimedias system menu is confusing, and the control buttons are inconvenient. But there are a lot of places! You can comfortably sit down behind yourself, which is uncharacteristic for the mid-Size pickupa. Still, the reserve of the rear passenger’s legs increased by 5.5 cm.

In move
But the main changes on the go, because Ranger has become much more modern and, as a result, more perfect. Thanks to the mechanism of the rack type, the number of rulings of the steering wheel from the stop to the stop decreased from four to three, and feedback finally appeared on the steering wheel. And not just appeared: this handling is now more likely a car than a truck. You can even make a bush! Moreover, the suspension has become softer, and feed no longer jumps on bumps, like crazy. And on slippery confidence coatings are given by ESP, which is now placed in the database.

Only now with the load in the back of the dynamics it is better to forget. There is not so much strength, turboyama is great, and the machine gun is not too quick. As a result, on the way to the village of Upper Trinity, which is 280 km from Moscow, I had to carefully think over every overtaking. But the weight of the quadrick 350 kg, what will happen with more loading? In a word, if you carry heavy loads, immediately take the WildCAT version with a top motor 3.2. But the suspension copes well with the weights of swing. The rear side did not disappoint, despite the fact that the rear wheels of Stels stood almost on its edge: the board did not led, and the loops did not bent. In addition, the Ranger body has guides with fasteners, which allow you to reliably fix the load of almost any size.

On off-road, Ranger receives a solid five. The angle of entry and congress is impressive 28 degrees! The depth of the overcome fords is 80 cm! The rest nervously smoke on the sidelines! But everything spoils the lack of blocking the rear differential even as an option. It is good that you can turn on the lowering, and the regulator near the KP lever forcibly block the interdose coupling. Remembering this, and at the same time about Quadrik in the back, we tried to avoid truly serious off-road, but Ranger coped with the cramp.


Dmitry Kuzmin, editor-recrecer
While in the back there was an ATV weighing 350 kg, everything was wonderful. Automatic KP is slightly stupid? Well, we’re going with ballast! The steering is some kind of slurred and slanted?! So the face is unloaded! Closhing logistics on the built -in radio did not even really strain. We are in a truck for a long -standing truck! Caught one radio wave?! So rejoice! But these were flowers. When the ATV was removed, the berries rose, in the literal sense. Slowly, slowly overcoming off -road, I still felt like a galloping devil on a spring that jumped out of the chest. And on the smooth highway, it seemed that you were not in the car, but at the storm of a light plane, which no, no, and will throw aside a flow of air. In general, the contradictory impression was about the new Ranger.


 
Nissan Navara
The Japanese pickup is supplied to us from Spain exclusively with all -wheel drive and a double cab, but there are two engines: diesel 2.5 and 3.0. The junior engine is aggregated with a 5-speed manual transmission and a 6-speed automatic, and the power of the flagship engine is transmitted to the wheels through a 7-speed automatic transmission. Navara divides the Pathfinder SUV, but differs from it with an uncertain bridge with springs instead of an independent rear suspension. The price range: 1 296 000 1,876,000 rubles.


Outside and inside
Navara has always been between the proletarian mid-Size pickups and the luxurious and powerful Full-Size tracks imported from behind the ocean with gray dealers. The Spanish Japanese has always been more powerful, luxurious, prestigious and more expensive than other pickups presented in our market. It was Nissan that opened the segment of comfortable pickups suitable for everyday ride of a successful representative of the middle class. A solid appearance, identical to a rather prestigious Pathfinder, rich equipment, a spacious salon in such a shame to drive up to a good restaurant or even theater. Now, when all the main competitors went through the update, the distance between Navara and the rest of the classmates has decreased, but still preserved. Nissan is still more expensive and richer. Decent Bose music with a subwoofer, a large Touch-Screen display, a convenient navigation system, a dissipation of buttons on the steering wheel at once and you can’t say that you are sitting in a pickupa. Even the architecture of the salon itself is as if written off with Infiniti!

The Navara body is not the largest in the test, and this is easy to explain, because the supply of room for the legs of the rear passengers is the largest in the quartet. Moreover, the upholstery of the driver's seats from the back side is soft, so that even if the legs are pierced into the chair, then at least it does not hurt. But with the geometry, the problem: the back of the sofa is too vertically, and the seat itself is installed too low. Planting in the driver's seat personally suits me completely, but the control ranges are small, and the chair itself is located high enough, which dictates a landing with bent legs. So I fully admit that there are many people to whom Nissan will seem uncomfortable.


In move
Even the Nissan base engine is more powerful than the top -end VW and Toyota engines, so it is not surprising that the empty Navara is perceived almost as a supercar. It seems that you can even make some hot cheatchi at a traffic light. But the chassis, alas, is already assing younger competitors. Nissan is the only car of this test in which you feel the movement of the rear axle. If you have experience driving on frame machines with a bridge from behind, then there should be no problems, but the feed floating over the bridge may embarrass the feed. At high speeds, you often have to adjust the trajectory by the steering wheel, but if you are familiar with Land Cruiser or Tahoe, then there will be no problems. But, I repeat, against the background of Ranger and Amarok, the Japanese pickup seems tough. But the declared carrying capacity is 800 kg. Just to no avail, if the body is the most compact in the quartet: 1511/1560 mm. Any quadrick will enter the width of it, but our Stels did not enter the length. But fastening the cargo in Nissan is most convenient thanks to the branded C-channel system, which consists of three rails located on the front and side sides of the body, and the eyes that can be moved along these rails. With the load, Nissan is soft, but the smoothness of the move in competitors is still better. But the powerful engine of the Japanese seems to not notice the load.


However, rigidity does not interfere with controllability. Of course, the steering wheel is quite long, and the feedback is not as good as in Amarok or Ranger, but nevertheless it is easier and more pleasant to pass on Nissan than on Toyota. The Navara off -road arsenal makes it a good rogue: a classic connected four -wheel drive with a reducing nearby and locks of the center and rear inter -axle differentials allows you to confidently cope even with a fairly serious off -road. In addition, during recent restyling, the geometric cross -country ability of the machine was improved. The entrance angle is now 30 degrees (previously 29). Congress: up to 24 (22). Excitement: up to 22 (18).

Vakhtang Koltsov, PR manager
A car for those who love comfort and are not afraid of off -road at the same time. A modern, quite convenient salon with a mass of options, the panel is literally stuffed with buttons and levers, the inclusion of lowering gears is dedicated to the Joyastic circle. And even there is a Bose Pigon Acoustic System, although the person who needs a pickup for work is unlikely to be so important for the sound quality. However, deep clay puddles in reduced gears force the car confidently. On the road, the car gives a feeling of driving in a medium -sized crossover, and the installation for comfort makes it completely forced to forget that this is a pickup.


 
Toyota Hilux
The most popular pickup in Africa and Asia finally came to Russia, where he immediately became one of the market leaders. The machine is sold only with a double cab and all -wheel drive, but there are two engines: diesel 2.5 (144 pp) and 3.0 (171 pp). The first is available exclusively with 5-speed mechanics, the second with an automaton with the same number of steps. Prices are in the range between 1,090,000 and 1 605 500 rubles. Our pickup in a top set with a three -liter engine.


Outside and inside
You look at Hilux, look away and forget how it looks. This has been gone with Japanese cars for a long time! Do you climb into the salon and are I definitely in a modern Japanese car? Japanese is true, but problems arise with modern. Hard and cheap plastic everywhere, the skin is more like dermatin, the seats are very uncomfortable. So much so that the back soon begins to hurt. The back cannot be put vertically, its profile is unsuccessful, lateral support is minimal, and the skin is very slippery. The steering wheel is located too low, and its adjustment is not enough. Toyota is the only test in who has all -wheel drive is entrusted to the lever, and not to buttons or rotating regulators. Needless to say, the lever is trembling like an aspen leaf in the wind?

Another disappointment was the musical system. Not only does it sound bad and looks like bought on a rally radio market, it also broke on the way. At some point, the radio stopped playing songs from flash drives and iPod. The sound just disappeared, although the songs were played.

But in the back seat is spacious, and the landing is almost no different from it in some medium-sized SUV. It is spacious and convenient, because the back of the sofa is not in Picapa Plovki. It is possible to complain only to the low location of the sofa, due to which the knees are too lifted up. But this can cause inconvenience only in a very distant road. The pillow of the rear sofa can be lifted, a pair of secretaries hides under it, but the back is fixed hard.


In move
Empty Hilux seems to be the hardest car in the dough. On bedridden police, there is a feeling that the back suspension does not work at all! But this is only a sensation, because the Japanese pickup overcomes gentle irregularities unexpectedly softly, practically not inferior to our leader in the smoothness of the VW Amarok. True, as soon as the quadri-rocik was registered in the back, Toyota softened so much that with its behavior it began to resemble the ship: swing and solid rolls. But if you do not turn sharply with the steering wheel, then on the long road Hilux is very pleasant. The main thing is that the transverse waves of asphalt are more frequent on the road, otherwise it may be angry. But, I repeat, on the good road Toyota is a miracle how good! Regardless of loading, the driver is stronger than in other pickups, feels the vibrations of unsprossed masses.

But there is nothing to say about controllability and nothing. On the one hand, the steering wheel is longer than VW and Ford, but still shorter than that of Nissan. On the other hand, it is empty, and the unsuccessful location of the steering wheel itself repels any desire to act at the wheel. The same gray and dynamics of acceleration. It seems that there are no problems, but there are no strong impressions of the combination of a sufficiently powerful engine and an old machine gun. It is much easier to overtake with cargo than Ford and VW, but Nissan is not confident.

On the off -road, the Toyota driver feels less confident than the steering Amarok and Navara, because the rear differential blocking is not available even for surcharge. Moreover, cars with a machine gun do not even have a self -block! In the Hilux arsenal, there is only a reduced range of transmission. On a broken road with a load, you have to literally sneak, because due to the buildup, the quad-rick can damage the glass or sides of the car.

In general, Hilux disappointed with his cargo capabilities. The eyes are located only on the floor of the body, and the cargo platform itself is a very narrow not the widest ATV STELS 800D with difficulty climbed between the arches. The dimensions of the body: 1547 mm in length and 1515 mm in width. 10.5 cm is already Amarok, in which even European is included between the arches!
 


Vakhtang Koltsov, PR manager
Probably, the name Hilux speaks of higher suite, but luxury can only be called a silver insert on the dashboard with a stretch. In all other respects, this is an ordinary car, but this is precisely this is its charm: it literally exudes confident reliability. Not always simplicity of minus. In principle, this car resembles a Japanese foreign car of the mid-90s, where everything in the interior was made of one-color gray plastic. The loaded car in its behavior is not much different from the empty, it does not go braid, it does not force the engine to spin for acceleration and even slows down no worse. In general, it is generally more pleasant to overcome with cargo, since then the body, planted on springs, does not jump. The inclusion of all kinds of lowering was reminded by the UAZ, where nothing would work without crunch and creak.


 
VW Amarok
The German manufacturer offers the largest number of versions of his pickupa. Three types of transmission: rear -wheel drive, with connected and constant all -wheel drive. Two cabins: single and double. Two gearboxes: 6-speed manual transmission and an 8-speed automatic transmission. Machines of the 2013 model year will be equipped with three diesel engines: 122, 140 and 180 liters. With. There are two pendants: with three- and five-line springs. Our 2012 Amarok has 163 horses under the hood.


Outside and inside
Strict Amarok turns out to be a real dudes: chrome safety arches and footboards, a beautiful body cover, chocolate inserts on the front panel and doors, chocolate skin of a beauty! And you don’t understand at all at all that you are in a utility truck, a passenger landing! The control ranges are simply huge, and the landing is no different from the passenger car. The interior itself is assembled from blocks that are familiar to the passenger models of the brand. In the rear places, it is almost as spacious as in Nissan, and you are not sitting too vertically. The interior of the German pickupa is the most thoughtful in the quartet. There are most branches for a trifle, three sockets at once, two large cup holders, an ashtray in which it is convenient to throw garbage, and the back folds and a pillow rises. Bravo!

Unfortunately, the Amarok we got was equipped with a body lid, which helps to maintain the load intact and safety, but it does not make it possible to put the quadrik into the body, so we could not solidly load VW. Theoretically, transportation problems should not arise, because the German freight platform is the largest. Its dimensions are 1555 mm long, 1620 mm wide. Yes, and the ride will be the most comfortable, because even the empty Amarok in the smoothness of the course is comparable, say, with the loaded Nissan Navara.


In move
The feeling that you are in a passenger car, and not in a pickup, does not leave in motion. On the go Amarok is the most comfortable pickup in the dough. Even with an absolutely empty body, the goat is almost not felt, and the energy intensity of the suspension is such that lying policemen can be overcome if you wish. VW controllability is also the best in the four. The steering wheel is short and informative, and the effort on it is the most natural. Amarok willingly dive into a turn, and no bumps are capable of knocking it out of the intended course. Suddenly short for the products of the VAG concern, the clutch pedal was the course of the clutch, but the short -lived lever of the manual transmission with clear inclusions of the programs did not become a surprise.

But not everything is so cloudless. The weakest place VW motor. Two liters are still too little for pickup. The draft is desperately not enough, the motor begins to be taken only after 1,500 revolutions, but by 2500 it is already sour. We must often switch, which tires both the driver and the box. Amarok owners complain of a breakdown of synchronizers. Of course, there is a wonderful 8-speed automatic, but with it the car loses the reduced row of transmission and blocking the center differential with which the mechanical machine is equipped. Therefore, the buyer needs to choose: comfort or cross -country ability. If you have chosen a machine with mechanics, and even equipped it with an optional blocking of the rear differential, then cross -country ability becomes just immense. The only limiters are geometric patency and coupling properties of standard tires.

Dmitry Kuzmin, editor-recrecer
In my opinion, the best suspension among all known pickups. The car is not only withstanding the cargo, but even with an empty body perfectly holds the road and works out irregularities. The Germans imprisoned their truck not under a brutal dumb dump truck, but with an eye to operation purely for smart commercial purposes. It turned out: a minimum of emotions, a maximum of modern technological solutions, electronic devices and everyday practicality.

 
SUMMARY
So, VW won. He is closest to passenger cars, while very strong on the off -road, and his cargo platform is more than the rest. Add here the largest number of modifications and the leader of the VW market is not! Moreover, the lag from Mitsubishi L200 and Toyota Hilux exceeds 20%. Most likely, the matter is the absence of a machine gun that Amarok appeared only recently. The trouble is that the whole variety of versions does not allow creating the perfect pickup. Our comfortable version broke competitors in the smoothness of the course, but not much more hard Ranger will be able to take on board twice as much cargo! The Heavy Duty version makes VW almost as hard as Nissan. The machine is good, but with automatic transmission, the German loses an off -road arsenal.


With a noticeable lag in the second, third space, Ford and Nissan took. Ford is almost as good as VW, but is much inferior to it in dynamics and cross -country ability. But only Ford offers one and a half cockpit, and the declared carrying capacity of Ranger is the highest in the class: more than 1136 kg!

Nissan is old, but still good. He is the most dynamic, well -equipped and premium car. And he could fight for victory, if not for the loss in the smoothness of the course. The small body is also upset: it turns out that Navara is a city dope? And why then does he need the best patency in the test?

Toyota was very behind and took the last place, but for the sales of Hilux in the leaders, how so? By and large, Japanese seriously upset only her narrow body and outdated salon. Otherwise, a worthy average level.

Well, the village of the poor, devastation, bad roads and at the same time amazing views, kind people and attempts by enthusiasts to breathe a new life into the economy of the village. I would like to believe that the process of positive changes cannot be stopped.

Source: Cars