SUMMANDER 2005 - 2007 SUV Test Drive

A real colonel

I always liked him. The angular, defiantly simple, but at the same time self -confident, even chopped on the hood I wanted to put a stamp: Made in USA. So I remembered the jeep of the 80s sample. Do you remember? If there is nothing wrong. A very similar feeling is now able to arouse the newest jeep of Jeep Commander.
The Daimler-Craisler concern was obliged to react to the appearance of a galaxy of all-terrain vehicles of competing brands, capable of fitting in addition to the driver of still six travelers. He did this, satisfying the demand for fashionable all-terrain vehicles in the style of the militarians, and at the same time answered in one gulp through the main competitor Hammer-H2.

CURFEW
If you do not put Cheroki's grandios near scale, then Jeep Commander does not seem so big. In fact, the length of the car is five meters. We come closer: the view of the spotlights from under the transparent caps of the headlights is strict, but non-sound; The lean profile is emphasized by brilliant molding. With the rear, the car is completely perceived peacefully. But the brightest detail of course extensors of wheeled arches. More precisely, shamelessly flaunted by bolts of their fasteners. Like, I am a real utilitarian car, a warrior!
Having scrambled in a driver's seat, you first see another scattering of sparkling bolts on the front panel. The Jeep Commander Salon makes a strange impression: callous plastic is deliberately strict panel but pleasant to the touch, massive door handles and elegant upholstery design; Leather seats with a mass of electric drives, but the steering wheel adjustment is only in height. But you can move the pedal node. Eclecticism? Rather, one hundred percent American approach!
Until it came to sled exercises, I would like to understand why all this was started. That is, to answer the question: is the car seven -seater? True, but with cunning. The tall floor under the third row of seats will make the adult sit in a comic position, and sitting, getting out, is not easy. Half only for children, and early adolescence.
Grunting, I move from the reserved seat to first grade. Surprisingly, there is not so much space here! If you have outgrown 1 m 85 cm, be sure the rear passenger grinds when you, buzzing with electric drives, push the seat under your growth. Given the dimensions of the cars, this was a surprise. But military people are unpretentious.

A gun to battle
But what a motor! The boys in the courtyard argued for a long time whether to believe whether the wool of 5.7 on the trunk. That's right, guys, at our disposal the famous Hemi series motor is 5.7 liters and, as a rule, eight -cylinder. Usually?! Exactly so: half of the cylinders are turned off here, if traction is already enough. The function is called Multi-DispLacement System and is designed to save as many as 20% of the fuel. But is it possible to deny yourself a temptation to push the pedal to the floor once again? Makhin will immediately suffer with such agility that the neighbors in the ranks involuntarily recoil. And the on -board computer will summarize the average fuel consumption of 19.8 liters.
From the driver's seat, the car is not perceived by the rank of light. An empty, without clear reactive effort, the steering wheel will spin the fragile girl at ease. The main prudence. Almost 2.5-ton colossus is so quickly accelerated even at a speed of 6080 km/h, and the steering wheel so much that it is not far from trouble. Although the ESP stabilization system is installed on the machine with the ERM overturning function, the premise sticker in the sunscreen about the risk of a revolution of excess does not seem.
The sound insulation was pleasantly surprised. Having fallen under heavy rain, I looked through a small, almost vertical windshield at the riot of the elements, while I almost did not hear how the jeep wheels raised the drills in the growth of a passenger car
The gearbox is typically Mercedes: there is a characteristic slot of the selector, and the softness of the work, and the speed of switching. For lovers to participate in the process, it is equipped with a manual regime, in which it holds the selected gear without deception. But you are ready to fight about the laying, in a fully automatic position you will accelerate faster.
The cruising speed of the commander is 100110 km/h. The jeep is controlled on it reliably, and the smoothness of the course pleases. Yes, the suspension is soft, and the unscrewed masses are great. Therefore, on the waves, the car shakes, like a caravel, and once rushing from the asphalt the wheel does not calm down for a long time. But by all -terrain standards, this is rather a norm than an annoying misunderstanding ...
Listen to my team
Take a height 315! Fulfill!
There is a height of 315!
The commander was built on the basis of the Grand of Cheroki, in terms of patency of a very authoritative. To check the beginner in the case, I throw him on the enemy trenches today is the dunes of the sand career. Despite the pacifist tread tread, the commander is enthusiastically eager for battle. Sand becomes deeper. Pass: Time to turn on the reduced gear in the transmission. Tikhonya five minutes ago, the Quadro-Drive II transmission now reminds of itself, with each transmission of the selector to a new position, either a sharp impetus shake the whole powerful body of the commander, then the bottom with a grinding of the bottom.
Fulfill! If something can restrain the onslaught of the jeep, these are the tires and common sense of the owner already mentioned above. Having paid fifty thousand euros, not everyone risks digging into the mud on the door, risking to scratch the varnish. And decent overhangs sobering. But, as a rule, the potential of the commander is more than enough. The main thing is not to release the gas pedal. The car will be slowly but surely crawling forward, continuing to crack with a smart transmission.
At the request of the photographer, I cut circles, lifting the sand. After a dozen circles, this stage of shooting is completed, and I try to get out of the jeep. Wow! The commander turned an almost perfectly even sandy platform in five minutes into a kind of plowed field. I had to go to the cottage, there would be a job there
On the way from the training ground, the commander again requested a gas station. I did not resist the colonel earned contentment. For cool off -road qualities, for a high level of acoustic comfort, for what is capable of towing a trailer weighing 3500 kg, and most importantly for devotion to style. Perhaps this is what will be chosen for it. I understand such buyers very well.

Jeep Commander will enjoy connoisseurs of an American approach to the car. Equally good on direct haweve (and permitted speed) and serious off -road.
+ Appearance successfully stylized as the classics of the genre; Excellent accelerated dynamics, acoustic comfort, high off -road opportunities, soft operation of the machine, small turning radius.
- empty steering wheel, not very informative brakes, modest, against the background of dimensions, the size of the cabin, high fuel consumption, poor visibility through the salon mirror.

For the same money
Land Rover Discovery
$ 55,00084,000
One of the most stylish and authoritative all -resistant models, a typical representative of the European school. Competitor to the tested jeep at a price of an eight -cylinder version with a capacity of 295 hp. With pneumatic suspension.
(ZR, 2005, No. 3)
Hummer H2
$ 87 50093 400
Perhaps the most shocking among modern all -terrain vehicles, the embodiment of the Militari style. The assembly is established in Kaliningrad. By car
6-liter 315-horsepower V8 engine and a four-speed automatic gearbox.
 

Mikhail Gzovsky
 

Source: The magazine "Driving"