Jeep Compass test drive since 2006 crossover
Breakfast is tourist
On North? South? To the west? You decide! As a rule, if the car carries four proud letters J E E P, the choice of your route is not very limited. And this newcomer with the name that does not require translation, as it were, excludes doubts about its capabilities. But Compass is also the Americans, the limit remains to understand: where is he, this limit?
Not for patriots
It turns out that in the United States, domestic cars get no less criticism than our long -suffering vases. For example, one of the Megezins named 10 worst cars of the year, of which 9 were Made in USA. Jeep Compass is the second on this list: it is second only to the triple-wales of GM production. Moreover, overseas journalists filled out not only about appearance, but also the running characteristics: Compass trampled the Jeep reputation as a supplier of genuine vehicles for US off -road. That's how it was trampled!
The Americans did not like the car with seven oval slots and four letters on the radiator grille, which is able to get bogged somewhere. It doesn’t matter where and how, the main thing is Jeep's cars. Did not have. And the point here is not in a single website of a separate magazine. For the United States, Mark Jeep Part of the National Culture. The release of Jeep, which cannot pave the path where he wants, is how to find out for a Russian person about the transition of national alcohol producers to non -alcoholic vodka. Spilled into bottles with a pink label and a lid with a fringe
For us, Compass is not ideological, but marketing. Its release is aimed not at maintaining the previous image of Jeep, but at solving old and new consumer problems: to go to the store, to park at a high curb, while not washing the family budget for fuel and transporting themselves and loved ones with comfort that are previously not inherent in the cars of the American brand . And yet: what will happen if the Compass is placed in conditions intended for its truly off -road predecessors?
Another It would not be ready to say that SUVs for SUMPASS were not ready. And to argue that the plans of the owners of the SUVs include daily tests of the car in the mountains and dirt to the waist, more than unfair. After all, it’s not like his older brothers: he has a carrier body, a Freedom Drive all-wheel drive system, a unaccounted variator and a 2.4-liter corporate motor of the World Engine set is not for Jeep, but rather for an advanced crossover
The 170-horsepower engine is not very active on the bottom, and indeed it accelerates the car quite smoothly and evenly. You will not lead you in a chair, but the result should not be depressed. The noise of the motor is also not striking in good or in a bad sense.
Prices
The American -made SUV costs from 24,900 euros. For this money, you can purchase Compass with a 2.4-liter 170-horsepower engine, mechanical transmission and all-wheel drive. Also, the standard equipment includes the front and side pillows of the safety, ABS, ESP, electric windows, side mirrors with heating, adjustable steering column, air conditioning, immobilizer, CD magnet, 4 columns. A car with a variator costs from 25,800 euros.
In dollar terms, our test car cost about $ 37,300 to look for an alternative investment. For example, a top-end Subaru Forester with a 2.0-liter atmospheric is more expensive for $ 200. And a couple of hundreds are less asked for Hyundai Santa Fe with a 2.7-liter engine, mechanics and basic equipment. Do you want a used Land Cruiser Prado 2003? For $ 37,000 there is something to choose from Now about ideological competitors for $ 27,990 you can choose the basic Hyundai Tucson in a 2.0-liter 142-horsepower version with a mechanical 5-speed checkpoint. For the machine, you will have to pay extra $ 1,400. And for $ 30,990 you can get a package with a leather salon. Mitsubishi Outlander in the most affordable version, with a 2.0-liter engine with a capacity of 136 hp, costs from $ 27,390. A decent packaged Outlander 2.4 with a mechanical gearbox costs already from $ 30,990, and you will have to give $ 32,250 for the same car with a machine gun. At least $ 33,500 will have to pay at least $ 33,500 for the Toyota Rav4. But the buyer receives a 2.0-liter 152-horsepower crossover with a constant all-wheel drive in the basic and in the most complete configuration. It remains only to decide: which type of transmission and the level of equipment. The machine is offered starting with $ 34,900, and the top, completely sophisticated version for $ 38,400.
The variator left a good impression: although he has an unpleasant habit of pulling the car with dynamic acceleration, but if we balanced with gas, guessing the moment of switching, acceleration is more comfortable. And the all -wheel drive system can give odds to the schemes of most competitors. Firstly, Compass turns from the front- into a full-wheel drive car not after slipping the wheels, but even before that based on the readings of various sensors. For example, the rear axle is connected when the gas pedal is very drowned, and the risk of slipping is possible. The only minus to make such a decision goes, it seems, about a second ... Secondly, the differential can be blocked independently: for this you only need to pull up the T-shaped chrome lever on the central console.
Despite the impressive, by the standards of crossovers, the clearance (200 mm), the low front bumper inevitably struck the snow lying on a small hill. Another centimeter is forward and we will tie the frozen ground with plastic. The reverse, the compass pointed to us to the plains, where 21 degrees of the angle of entry would not be an obstacle. We make a couple of frames and vice versa, on the asphalt: frozen, covered with a layer of dirt with a snowball.
Excreted rubber of a famous manufacturer, stabilization system plus Freedomdrive drive and as a result of any complaints! The car holds the road well, rolls and swinging are extremely insignificant all the more so when comparing Compass with other representatives of the glorious family. But the suspension is too actively reacting to pits in the asphalt and ice ranges. Sensitive blows make you immediately reduce speed. There is enough space
Smooth, rounded lines and shapes; A warm, homely cozy atmosphere is not familiar with the last Jeep model. The chopped shapes with barely rounded faces, the angular lines of the torpedo and the central console seems to be the echoes of the design of those very Jeep, for which American patriots did not have to blush.
The driver's place has been well worked out: there are plenty of space in the legs and above the head; The central console is given forward, red arrows are clearly visible on the black and white scales of the devices. The central armrest can be shifted forward by more than 7 cm, which makes it comfortable drivers of various growth. A tray for a mobile phone or a pack of cigarettes is built into the arm of the armrest. By the way, smokers who are afraid that the salon will smell of smoke may not worry. The seats are upholstered by YES Essentials, which, according to manufacturers, does not absorb odors, repels pollution and, moreover, does not fade.
In their profile, the front seats are not like buckets, but not as flat as the rear seat. The spaces in the cabin are enough for five passengers, but if you are worried about comfort for the third and fourth, fifth to send by taxi. As in Dodge Caliber, there are folding speakers in the rear door cover that can voiced a small Open-Air. And in the trim of the roof above the luggage compartment is the built -in lighting ceiling. If necessary, it can be removed from the holder and used as a lantern or carrying. We found sompass as the limit of the capabilities of the Jeep crossover. He appears earlier than the rest of the famous family, but does not prevent the compass of to be a serious player in the league of inexpensive SUVs. After the test day, we came to the conclusion that we were embarrassed by the low corner of the entrance, the outstanding appearance of the new Jeep and the driver of the car.
But it is impossible not to evaluate the all -wheel drive transmission, manufacturability, excellent smoothness and a decent level of comfort. The compass always points to the north. Jeep Compass where the driver will indicate. If it is in difficulty, the compass is included in the basic configuration.
The car was provided by Olympus, the official dealer Daimlerchrysler
Text: Alexander Korobchenko
Photo: Roman Ostanin
A source: Wheel magazine [No. 111/2007]
