SUMMANDER 2005 - 2007 SUV Test Drive
When the road is a hindrance
The word jeep, which has once been mistakenly entered into our vocabulary as the general name of any car intended not only for smooth roads, in recent times gives way to more appropriate terms. But nothing can change the classic idea of \u200b\u200bwhat Jeep cars are. So the new Commander is made in accordance with classic jeep standards. For some unacceptable, for someone-the only ones, checking with which, and it is worthwhile to engage in automotive industry.
Close your eyes and imagine such a car. Strict forms, the predominance of rectangular elements both outside and inside; deliberately a rough grille of the radiator; wheeled arches that give Jeep a resemblance to the tank; A hard -opened powerful door compartment door, on the sides of which powerful handles sparkle with chromium, what kind of car is it? I think many will call Hummer! But no, we are talking about the largest of the jeeps - Commander.
The foregoing should not be understood as an application for a comparison of two competitors: Commander and Hummer are completely different cars. But the brutality of the brainchild of Daimlerchrysler cannot be perceived without looking at the new generation of the General Motors model. Both cars, if you want, are one of the few classic markets on the market: if not technically, then in the spirit of Americans, similar to their harsh appearance. Although Commander looks more quarter.
What did you want to note right away without even starting the engine? Perhaps the same that is allocated in DC: the new Commander is the first 7 -seater Jeep SUV in recent history. Otherwise, it is the charismatic Grand Cherokee. That is, we can say that on our test there is a more spacious version of the Indian.
I reacted wary of the first 7 -seater statement, because for a long time you can list cars in which the third row of seats is suitable only for transporting extremely calm babies - and where did you see such ones? But one of my colleagues willingly settled on the raised gallery (in the car, each row is located about 10 cm above the previous one), here the other followed ... The reaction is clear: it is quite comfortable here! Of course, this is not the comfort that Commander provides to the passengers of the first rows, but still there is no need to clamp the ears with their knees!
Prices: You can purchase a Jeep Commander with a 4.7-liter 235-horsepower engine in the basic configuration for 47,800 euros. The standard equipment will include ABS, the Brake Assist and EBD, ESP, on-board computer, steering wheel, immobilizer, cruise control, 6 airbags, airbags. A SUV with a 5.7 -liter engine will cost 63,500 already, and with a maximum equipment - 67,000 euros.
And how do you like such a trifle as a personal climatic installation for sitting in Kamchatka? Or windows (in DC they are called hatches, but, it seems to me, these are the windows: they don’t open) with curtains located in the roof above the second row of chairs and giving additional light to the rear passengers? So, the presence of 7 seats in Commander can be discussed with the full basis.
After an absentee assessment of the dimensions of Jeep and the geometry of the doors, there was a fear that folding-rangeing seats from the outside would become a problem. Not at all: the second and third row of seats change their position very easily - literally in a few seconds. And this is important, because with the laid out third series of Commander actually remains without a trunk.
But Down with city traffic jams, stuffiness and heat coming from asphalt and walls. We go out of town - to the river, in the field, to the forest. On off -road!
True, at first we still have to go on public asphalt roads. They used them, as usual, from the heart, and the first test of the Commander suspension is already here. We will not hide: poor asphalt is not the most advantageous coating for springs. Comander's irregularities are held for one or two: one unevenness - two pitching.
On a particularly successful site sitting on the third row - what a fun! - He hit his head on the roof (here it is - the relative minus of the amphitheater!) Even a small crack on the road is significantly transmitted to the body, and excessive side and vertical swinging are worried in the cabin. But nothing can be done, the dimensions of the body and the high center of gravity affect. We will be condescending: nevertheless, we are not testing a sports coup.
Say, the driver did not have to neglect the seat belt? But I did not neglect them. It’s just that the front chairs are designed for a large person, and as a result I fidgeted between elements of lateral support.
And why couldn't the front passenger reduce the unpleasant shaking? The answer to this question reveals another strangeness of the Commander cabin: above the right front door, the pen was not discovered in this place. It is on the front rack, which allows you to climb into the salon with some chic, but such a holder does not solve the above problem.
Due to swinging, it does not very much fully evaluate the capabilities of the 5.7-liter 326-horsepower Hemi. And it's a shame! After all, if the Kick-Down mode is not impressive in the car, then overall acceleration is very good. The acute reaction of the car to the work of the gas pedal allows you to overtake and maneuver, remembering that it is a separate task to keep such a fraud in corners. Moreover, the steering wheel here, to put it mildly, is not acute, and you can’t immediately feel its connection with the front wheels.
Here I want to say a few words about the brakes. They are non -aggressive: if you press a little, you will suspend a little. The main feature of the system: a very early entry into the ABS inhibition process, which is why, with persistent pressing on the left pedal - especially in corners - the car begins to shake that you are slowing down in summer rubber on bare ice.
But here we turned off the highway and rolled on a soil washing board. Drinking is a completely accurate word, although most of the cars in such conditions would have crawled as a maximum. However, although our speed has decreased, we raised dust clubs regularly. Moreover, no matter how paradoxical, on a less even, but less rigid coating, the suspension provided much more comfort. When the geometry of the path became completely unthinkable, and the track disappeared at all, I recalled that Commander, like Grand Cherokee, has a constant full-wheel drive of Quadra-Drive II with three self-locking differentials. (On the Russian market with a 5.7 liter engine, it goes in the standard). If necessary, QUADRA-DRIVE II can block not only the inter-Eose differential, but also the rear and front axis. I admit that we could not hang out 3 wheels at once, when the whole torque had to be transferred to the last worker. But what succeeded, allows the Commander the highest rating for cross -country ability.
Small overhangs, large clearance and large passages provide more cumbersome than Grand Cherokee, the machine is excellent geometric cross -country ability. And the engine, as active as possible from about 2500 rpm, and a box with a lowering nearby, turned on with a lever in the central tunnel, allow you to not worry too much about the quality of the soil under the wheels - they will take out from everywhere.
The new Commander Jeep is the faithful son of his brand. On such a car, you feel much more confident not on the smooth asphalt virage, but where the wheel of the car has not yet passed. And the one who sits behind the wheel of Commander will not torment himself with a question like it I need?. The answer to it should be received before the trip.
The car was provided by the official jeep dealer in St. Petersburg, Olympus
Text: Philip Berezin
Photo: Roman Zubko, Margarita Muradova
Source: Wheel magazine [No. 105/2006]
