Jeep Cherokee (Liberty) test drive since 2007 SUV
Time to scatter stones
Red sands, gray cliffs, an unfamiliar starry sky are not Mars, but simply very far from us the earth. In two updated jeeps, Mikhail Gzovsky traveled in other people's expanses. Photo by the author. I left the house 23 hours ago spent them on three flights. The final landing was made in the dark, so the landscape cannot be seen. The final 120-mile march on the passenger place Van was half a day. Finally arrived! Billions of stars are above the head, there is only a deserted steppe and a dozen bungalows around.
First glance outside the window in the morning forced to gasp, we are surrounded! From all sides, the crimson mountains approach the background against the background of an unnaturally blue sky. Welcome to Utu! The nearest village of Gorodok Moab (4000 inhabitants). He is famous: Indiana Jones and the last crusade were shot here, the second part of the film Mission is impossible; Local landscapes missed through a computer can be admired in the series The ghostly threat of famous star wars. I will also rent cars.
In these parts, the owners of jeep gather annually in order to frolic on stone placers during the Jamboree family and entertainment festival. We had to join the action on the commander and the Grand of Cheroki of the 2009 model year. The universal of the cars were slightly modernized. The changes affected mainly a 5.7 liter top engine, which it was decided not to supply the Russian market: the Russians will have to be content with the Grand Counts in the crazy 426-horsepower version of the SRT8. If the gasoline is burned, so in full! The rest of the innovations had to be searched for salons. The company Jeep tried to please potential buyers familiar with the first Grand of the 1992 model. That car was famous for a soft salon, and the second generation was scared away by some hard plastic. Now the Grand Counts are more than the skin and supple plastic, so the interior is really more comfortable. In the early morning in the mountains, it froze, and I appreciated the heating of the rear seats. In both cars, the monitor for passengers of the second row added an inch diagonally, IPOD can be connected to the UCONNECT GPS system. The rain sensor, as well as new 17- and 18-inch discs, was added to the commander.
While I struggled with a slight feeling of annoyance (I wanted more significant changes!), Our caravan turned off the asphalt first onto a dusty primer, and then completely froze in front of the open barrier and sign Four Wheel Drive Recromended. I remembered subsequent events for a long time. It was a battle: we overcame a dozen kilometers for four hours! The Jamboree highway is laid on sandy dunes, unhappy with non -nonsense boulders, sometimes stunning their size. It is high friction indicators that allow you to meddle where I would be afraid to step in sneakers. The main thing is to follow the signs of our guides from the jeep team: go ahead, slowly ... And now he went, go!. The hood rests against the sky, I see only the instructor's waving hand invitingly. It seems that the angle is such that now the car will fall on the roof. You can’t and go to the side from a narrow path will fall to one side! After a long five seconds, my diesel Cheroki is the king of the mountain. Which still remains to go down
Drinking down the nerves tickles no less, especially if you are a passenger. Thank you, the pen made in the front rack! In a commander with its almost vertical windshield and a high roof, you can at least try to look under your feet, and on Grand you literally fall nowhere. Khru-Um! We scooped up the sand with the front bumper; ink-a-ah-ah !!! This is already somewhere behind. Nothing terrible, the towing eye left the next, thousandth scan in an ancient block.
Of course, the commander and the Grand Counts are not the strongest players on the stone field. There are Ranglers-Rubicon rangers. With their short overhangs and insane road clearance, such a seed of the seed. But the lion's share of civilian all -terrain vehicles would not have taken the first complex upsurge. For the sake of cross-country ability, the mechanical part of the Grand Council and the commander engineers ... hardly touched. Quadra-Drive II all-wheel drive with a two-stage handout and three electronic differentials of increased friction arsenal is proven and effective. They work quickly, are able to redirect up to 100% of the moment to the wheel with the best clutch. Reduced gear with a ratio of 2.72, solid passes of pendants complement the portrait.
I especially note the operation of the Hill Descent Control system. You go with it as if on a Rangler-Rubicon with its transfer ratio in the handout of 4: 1 and six-speed mechanics. Grand chains in reduced gear and forcibly turned on the first speed of the machine crawls down no faster than 1.6 km/h. Do you want a little more lively? Please: on the second, accelerate to 4 km/h, in subsequent gears to 6, 9, 12 km/h. Creeping 1.6 km/h you can even back! Moreover, the system does not turn off if you slow down or add gas. The HDC Hill Start Assist gives no less confidence if you stopped halfway to the top for any reason. Cooking sand from the arches, we went to the asphalt. Here, the difference between the commander and the Grand Cherka becomes striking. The largest jeep with a 4.7-liter eight is perceived as a heavy, although fast machine, perfect for straightforward movement and prone to rolls. Well, Cheroki with a diesel engine unexpectedly confidently lays turns, without lagging behind the Slalom from the SUVs. The columns of Jamboree participants are constantly falling towards. I envy them a little. After all, I have already scattered my stones ...
What is Jamboree?
The first official weekend Jamboree weekend was held in 1953 by enthusiast Mark Smith. The American on his jeep came to the mountains of Sierra Nevada. A year later, Willys joined the event, and soon the Jamboree festival acquired a massive character. This annual two -day adventure is considered a family, anyone can take part in it the main thing that you have a jeep, and certainly with a reduced transmission! The pleasure of riding outside the roads is suitable for people with different income: someone prefers to come in their jeep to the place of events and live in a tent, someone drags a rogue on the trailer and lives in a comfortable motel. But on the stones everyone is equal!
Source: The magazine "Driving"
