Jeep Wrangler test drive since 2006 SUV

Grandfathers and grandchildren

Modern SUVs on bumps and bumps rely on the help of electronic systems. Is this approach true? To answer this question, we went to Gorodets, in the Nizhny Novgorod province, on two modern cars: Jeep Grand Cherokee and Land Rover Discovery 4, equipped with air suspension and pneumoned. And in order to evaluate the pros and cons of modern machines, they took with them their grandfathers Jeep Wrangler and Land Rover Defender.


Jeep Wrangler
Well, how not to take the Volga and the huge Gorky reservoir one of the few SUVs-Cabiolets sold in our market? So we could not resist! In addition, Wrangler recently survived restyling, during which the interior has completely changed, and a gasoline V6 Pentastar with a capacity of 286 liters has been registered under the hood. With. and diesel VM Motori 200 liters. With. The latter and we went to the test. We have not a simple Wrangler, but Unlimited Rubicon: a four -door body and off -road performance what else is needed to travel without borders?

Outside and inside
You can relate to Wrangler Unlimited design differently. Someone will scold it for a stretched silhouette, someone for pseudo-milestarism, someone for the fact that the design in this Jeep is sometimes higher than functionality, but this is all the lyrics, and with physics everything is fine. And this is unexpected! I was ready to meet an uncomfortable and obsolete car, but reality pleasantly surprised. It is convenient to climb into the car even without a step, there are no complaints about ergonomics. The steering wheel is regulated only by the angle of inclination, but this does not interfere with finding the optimal landing. Planting in an armchair is typically American, with widely placed rollers of lateral support. The package cannot be called the poor: there is a multimedias system with a hard drive, LCD display and subwoofer, and heating the seats, and electric windows on all windows.
The back seat is comfortable together, but the third one can only take with you to the nearest beach. The trunk is quite large, and access to it is opened by a wide gate. True, exactly in the middle, the opening blocks the bundle of the soft top. But it can be easily pulled out and left at home. But first you will need to remove the hard roof.

As for the panels above the front row, then it is enough to unscrew a few lambs and squeeze a couple of latches. The removed panels climb into the trunk, but to dismantle the remaining booth, you need to twist the nuts. There are not many of them, so five minutes is enough. But in order to remove the roof, I needed the help of comrades.

In move
The behavior of the car on the go has become a real revelation. It is not scary! Wrangler is practically no different from a regular car. Of course, he is noisy, he drives him a little on braking, the pedals lack information content, and the steering wheel is quite long. But the rest of the problems there are no problems: the speakers are enough for driving around the city and the highway, the brakes do not cause complaints, and rebuilding on the Moscow Ring Road does not cause problems even at a speed of 120 km/h. The fact that the acting is striking is the smoothness of the course. Sliding policemen can be held at any speed.

As for off -road, everything can be outside Rubicon. Whether it is a descent to the river, driving along the flooded pebble beach or on dry or wet sand, and even on the stairs for Wrangler these are toys. First, we connected a four -wheel drive and a lowering, then they began to do with all -wheel drive, and then we completely spit only on the back. The main thing is more to gas. Good tires allow you to be naughty. Giant border? Easily! Diagonal hanging? We do not know this! And if we find out, then press the wonderful button and turn off the reptile stability stabilizer, thereby increasing the suspension.

And how great it is to drive on the open jeep on the beach, forest or field. I drove into the waters of the Volga on the hub, sat down on the transverse arc of the safety frame, laid my feet on the frame glass frame and watched the sun drowned in the waters of the Great River. Who else can offer this?

 
Vakhtang Koltsov, PR manager
It would seem that an off -road car and a city car are two diametrically opposite things. The first, as a rule, brutal, rude and ax, smeared with clay, and the second should be compact and pretty, and stand in the parking lot of the summer cafe. It is like a sailor and a student of a humanitarian university. Everything would be fine, but there is Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. In the city stream, he maneuverates no worse than an ordinary station wagon, spends an average of 11.5 liters of diesel, and most importantly does not tire the driver. And it is worth raising a little speed, and it easily and at ease rolls forward. Due to his five -timing, he can apply for the role of a family car, however, the trunk crings the stretch roof frame. With all this, Wrangler is not any curb, but a full-fledged SUV with all the locks.
 
Land Rover Defender 110
This test could not do without a living classic. And let him not have much left to live, the concept of his successor is dragged on the salons with might and main, but this car forever inscribed its name in history. A long version with a 110-inch base, which is reflected in the name of the car, visited Gorodets. After the 2007 restyling, the car received a new 6-speed manual gearbox and a four-cylinder Ford Duratorq diesel, known for the TRANSIT van.

Outside and inside
The classic does not become obsolete. Therefore, Defender will always be beautiful. What can not be said about his interior. Discovery 3 dashboard, blowing deflectors from the previous fiesta ergonomics? This is not about Defender! The steering wheel and pedals are shifted relative to the seat to the left! The thin steering wheel turns out to be unexpectedly heavy, the clutch pedal is pressed to the door, there is no more convenient place to go with the elbow in the window with the left hand in the cabin, the legs are bent at 90 degrees, the back of the seat cannot be put vertically. And all this beauty is accompanied by noise and vibrations. A special conversation deserves the air conditioner. It doesn’t matter which mode is chosen, it will still blow either hot or ice air.

But in the second row it is quite spacious, and the three of them can easily sit. And the trunk is simply amazing. The volume of utility exceeded 800 liters! A walking stroller climbs in a laid out state! If desired, here you can plant four passengers on wheeled arches a kind of bench. But this is only a semblance. Sitting hard, there are no belts, and on the very first potholes you reach the ceiling. There is a seven -seater version with full seats, which can accommodate people of any growth. At the same time, quite a lot of space will remain for baggage.

In move
They say that until the last update in 2007, Defender was even worse. They even say that he slowed down worse, the ventilation system turned the interior into an aerodynamic pipe, and the seats were even less convenient. And the motor in the field also had to be able to sort out? Probably someone recalls those times with longing, but not my back.

Most automobile journalists admire the brutality and utilitarianism of Defender, his old-vocabulary charm. Frankly, in Moscow I also fell under the charm of the old Landy. Everything is so much like a man, so really! But the far road completely changed my attitude to the car. If the brains still tried to find something good in the deferen, then the body was enough 180 km to Vladimir to hate it. The back breaks, the arm was frozen, the left leg was numb, and the nervous system to the limit! Still, after all, the brakes are weak, the steering wheel is long, and the Land Rover itself will captivate with sharp restructures. As a result, you have to constantly analyze everything that happens on the road. If the car brakes in front, you may not have time to stop, so you must predict the moment of inhibition. Or keep twice a distance.

Defender fails to rehabilitate on a country road. The light back of the car, obviously designed for the transportation of a platoon of soldiers, jumps on bumps, forcing to constantly compensate for the fluctuations with the steering wheel. And the smoothness of the course is low. Maybe the beach will bring pleasure? Due to the noise and vibrations, it is not possible to quickly go to the buzz, but slowly crawling deep in the water after Wrangler is not interesting. And on any coating you will get tired of constant switching. The programs are short, but it makes no sense to twist the motor. Therefore, you have to switch immediately after the start, by 20, 40 and 60 km/h!

Of course, on the truly heavy off-road Defender is invincible. I remember very well how, during the Land Rover Experience winter run, I looked at Def, which burst through the snow virgin lands that came to my waist. Slowly, under the measured rumble of the Landy diesel, moved forward five meters, raking a bunch of snow above the hood in front of him. Then he crawled back and hung the snow wall with acceleration. The snowdrift was scattered into fine dust, and the SUV still crawled forward.
Only now it turns out that there is nothing to do outside of extreme off -road on Defender. Well, there is nothing at all.
 
Vakhtang Koltsov, PR manager
This is what the opposite side of the British stiffness looks like. The first impressions of Defender fear of rolling over to the side. In the driving school, we were taught to stop in the event of an emergency. It is difficult to do this here, the pedal is barely plucking, and almost nothing happens. The steering wheel and pedal node relative to the seat are shifted to the left, and the course of the seat is not large, a person with a height of 186 cm is frankly crowded. Adrenaline adds an understanding that, if it happened, there are not many chances. The steering wheel is located right at the solar plexus, but there are no airbags. Maybe all these are attributes of a real SUV?
 
Land Rover Discovery 4
This car was originally created as the most universal car in the line. He had to combine the cross -country cost of Defender and the luxury of Range Rover. A year after year, the generation after the generation of Discovery became more luxurious, but did not lose off -road skills. Maybe he is an ideal SUV? To answer this question, we took vehicles with a three -liter SD6 engine in the top of the HSE.

Outside and inside
The British are able to create and store traditions. The silhouette of Discovery with a step in the back of the roof and a large hatch above the trunk has long become the same symbol of the brand as the appearance of Defender. The only thing that raised issues in the appearance of the disco, starting with the third generation, was the back door with an uneven glazing line, although it was thanks to this design that the folding board did not make loading so much. Since Discovery does not have thresholds, it is very convenient to enter it. It is very difficult to get dirty. Of course, if the car is not lifted to the maximum position of the suspension. But at each stop I blown the suspension until the minimum position, so that the landing height did not exceed it at the car. Say, dreary? But while I was collecting a phone and wallet scattered across the cabin and took a jacket from the back seat, the car managed to go down.

The interior seemed to be specially created for distant travels. On the front row, the famous commanding landing: one hand lies on a wide windowsill, the other on an adjustable armrest. The beauty! After all, they can, when they want! Ranks of steering and seat adjustments are huge, a compact girl and a giant Halfin will find a comfortable position. But at the same time, landing always remains quite high, you immediately feel that you are going in an SUV.

In the second row, it is spacious and three, and on the third row it is still better not to send anyone over 14 years old. Close -up! But the process of transformation of the salon takes a matter of seconds and does not require effort. And if you add two rows of seats, then in the resulting volume, it seems, you can transport an elephant. Well, if not an elephant, then the rhino is definitely!

In move
The power of Discovery 4 is in motion. This is one of their most balanced SUVs in the market. Thanks to the air suspension and thick tires, any road to its passengers seems good.
The only thing you can complain about is the frighteningly large rolls. But this is a generic feature of disco. A high body is swaying on a soft suspension, but the wheels are kept by the asphalt until the last. If you are not afraid, then you can go almost as fast as on Grand Cherokee. Fuel consumption even with active city driving does not exceed 14.5 liters, and on the highway falls below ten!
As for off -road, our Discovery looked like a weak link in the four, because he was shod in ordinary road rubber, while both Jeep flaunted a toothy tread, and Defender, this is Defender, the king of off -road! But do not underestimate Discovery. Let's compare Disco and Def. Grandfather has a blocking of the center differential, and the grandson also has a rear inter -axle. Defa clearance is 310 mm, Discovery has 240 mm, but if the car understands that she is sitting on the belly, he will bring a road clearance to the same 310 mm. Entrance angle: 37.2 versus 49 degrees. The angle of the congress: 29.6 and 37 degrees, respectively. Reducing gear 2.94: 1 versus 3.27: 1. The maximum depth of the ford: 70 cm against 50 cm. Total 4: 3 in favor of my grandfather.

Probably, in a completely extreme situation, Defender will pass further, but Discovery will not stop very far. Land Rover Experience instructors admit that in real life, Defender is in no way inferior in the same rubber. And if there is practically no difference, then why suffer with a deform? Of course, the old man is cheaper by a million, and this is a lot. But the difference between cars is a billion. You will say that Defender is mechanical through and through, and Discovery is full of capricious electronics, but most sores have cured on Discovery 3. So there is nothing to be afraid of!

 
Denis Halfin, editor-recrecer
According to my observations, the success of a two -day tourist trip by car always consists of two approximately equal parts: half depends on the purpose of the trip, half of the car you drive. The guarantee that a 50% trip will succeed in glory and will turn out to be pleasant, give you Land Rover Discovery 4. Living behind this car is a pleasure. This is a car for an egoist. You can go anywhere on it, with anyone, as much as you like, the main thing is to ensure the working technical condition of the car. But be careful on empty and direct highways! A high level of comfort, lack of noise, a soft lulling suspension, excellent smoothness of the move can all this can serve an unkind service, because under these conditions the Discovery 4 acts as sleeping pills. So turn on the music louder, charge your drive and enjoy the flight of this miracle jacket in reality.
 
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Big Chearoki was immediately created as a car, the habitat of which will be primarily asphalt. From the very beginning, the car received a supporting body from the very beginning, but a heavy bridge settled in the rear suspension. And in the fourth generation, the car finally received an independent suspension of all the wheels. The thing is that the new Grand is built on the Mercedes-Benz ML of the previous generation. We took a car with the V6 3.6 base engine in the Overland configuration, the main feature of which is the air suspension.

Outside and inside
Smell! The aroma of expensive skin is what dominates in the Jeep salon. In general, it is difficult to believe that this is the salon of an American SUV. Convenient seats, front panel, skin sheathed, soft plastic, successful buttons. The puncture is only one pedal unit is located too close to the steering column. We have to push the seat almost to the stop and put forward the steering wheel. In general, Jeep gives the impression of a very thought out car. There are many containers for a trifle, the trunk is large, the subwoofer is successfully inscribed in its wall and does not steal a useful volume, and the rear passengers can adjust the angle of inclination of the sofa back.

But the back is not too much space. In addition, the backs of the front seats are made of such hard plastic that it is almost impossible not to put your legs under the chairs and not to earn bruises.

In move
Jeep has not only almost a European salon, but also European handling. The power on the steering wheel is lower than that of Discovery, but this does not interfere with the car along a winding road along the Volga at high speed.

This time, the Pentastar engine, which I always scolded for the fact that he drinks a lot and is not lucky, was pleasantly surprised. The dynamics still leaves much to be desired. Up to 60 km/h, the car simply does not go, and then begins to unexpectedly cheerfully accelerate. But somewhere large pauses disappeared during switching, and fuel consumption decreased. Miracles! On the highway, I managed to spend only 10.5 liters.
Colleagues from other publications scolded the Grand with pneumatic suspension for stiffness on minor irregularities, but I did not notice this problem: Jeep's comfort is almost at the disco level.

And now a few words about off -road abilities. Road clearance can reach 281 mm! Wrangler Rubicon has less than 260 mm. There is a lowering gear with a ratio of 2.72: 1. Exactly the same is placed on standard Wrangler, but on our Rubicon transcendental ratio 4: 1! The geometry is worse than that of Wrangler. Entrance angle: 34.3 degrees versus 38.4. The angle of the congress: 29.3 versus 31.4 degrees, respectively. But look how close the two cars are!
He overcame all the obstacles proposed by the Grand, and on the stairs was even better than Wrangler. He has more angle of the ramp. We tried to hang out the car on a high border, but we could not. Of course, the reserve was less than that of Wrangler, but still impressive.

 
Sergey Gerasimov, System Administrator
Grand Cherokee Name covered in the glory of gangster showdowns. Therefore, it is not surprising that the new generation car looks stern and cool. The stream is parting in front of you, you just need to get closer to ahead of the car. Willy-nilly, you begin to go faster! But if you find yourself on the road alone, especially outside the city, then I don’t want to rush. It is much more pleasant to roll at a speed of 100 km/h, lazily holding the steering wheel with one hand, and enjoy comfort. The salon is unexpectedly of high quality for an American car. And what a smell here! Pleasantly surprised fuel consumption. For its weight and power, Grand eats quite a bit of gasoline. Most of all I upset the pedal node not to stretch, you get tired on the long journey. I did not like that the multimedia system does not know Russian. Instead of the names of the songs of Abracadabra!
 
Summary
The test partly surprised, and partly confirmed expectations. A pleasant surprise was Wrangler, which is much closer to a normal car than I thought. You can ride it every day and enjoy it. He is comfortable in the city and on the highway, and without a roof he gives a real holiday.
Defender disappointed. True torture. It hurts, noisy and exhausts. Probably, in the forests of Sumatra or in the savannah of Kenya, he would have performed better, but even to conquer the off-road middle hand, it is better to find something more germanly. And remove your hands from Jerry McGovern and his Defender Concept! Jerry Genius, and he leads the brand in the right direction. I am sure that the new Def will combine incredible cross -country ability with comfortable daily operation. Like Wrangler.
Moreover, in Solikhal, the dog was eaten on a combination of incompatible. Discovery here is the greatest car of the Land Rover brand! Incredible cross -country ability, outstanding comfort and excellent handling is the most balanced SUV in the world. Disco is my ideal, the favorite of our editorial office and a real bestseller.


Grand Cherokee for the Jeep brand jump from the past to the future. And let him not have enough discovery refinement in some places, even if his handling is slightly less sophisticated, even if he is not so universal, but the Grand is still damn good. In addition, it is cheaper.

So who won: grandfathers or grandchildren? If you do not need to storm a completely extreme off -road, if you are not a fan of pokatushki, then Def and Rubicon do not need you. Grand and disco will cope even with very serious obstacles. After all, they are real grandchildren of their glorious grandfathers.
 

Source: Cars