Land Rover Defender 110 test drive since 2007 SUV

Personality has been studied

The Willys brand is perhaps no less than Levi's in relation to the United States and the T-34 tank in relation to military history. And it will not be an exaggeration to say that this legendary army SUV certainly influenced the course of the entire World War II. Willys turned out to be so successful, reliable and unpretentious that subsequently a number of automobile companies developed its own models based on its design. Some of them, of course, have survived over time, have survived to this day.
 
Here they are all three. Three heirs of the legendary Willys. Perhaps, of all three, Wrangler only retained some similarity with his ancestor. The other two are completely unlike him. This is not surprising for so many years! Is there really nothing left? We will not draw hasty conclusions, about everything in order. Immediately note that the task of this test was not a direct comparison of these cars. It is clear that the modern Land Cruiser falls out of this trinity. And he would rather have completely different, approximately equivalent models from the same manufacturers. For example, Range Rover and Jeep Grand Cherokee. But we have other goals, so you can safely start. They, of course, are very different, but there is one point that unites them all. And you know what it is? It carries a mile away from them! It is very difficult, almost impossible to imagine a woman behind the wheel of any of them.
 
And all of them are ugly. Muscular yes, powerful in appearance, too, huge again yes, but you can’t call them beautiful. Willys utilitarian genes take their own. But there is some special attractive force in this ugly. Land Cruiser, of course, stands out. The course on Lux SUV, which Toyota took back in the 60s, makes itself felt. The off -road entity has overgrown with a huge body and comfortable salon. The diet of two hundreds of unknown, he seriously recovered and weighs three times more than a military Willys! On the back there were fat folds of wheel arches, a huge forehead of the radiator lattice, from under which square-frail eyes, and an impressive ass. But many people like this fighter. Especially in our country. In general, we have a special attitude to Land Cruiser, this is a particular machine-pheny, hello from 90 x, when Land Cruiser and six hundredth were symbols of a successful life.
 
The echoes of this are still heard. On the road from him shy in different directions. At the wheel of this mastodon, you feel like a complete master of position. And, apparently, this feeling wants to experience so many of our compatriots. And how else to explain more than an annual queue for this not a cheap car? Wrangler and Defender attract others. These are incredibly charismatic cars! They have written on their forehead: I am a story! And this is true: behind each is more than half a century of life. It is impossible to confuse them with any other SUV, everyone has their own family traits.
In the appearance of Wrangler and now, here and there, Willys guesses. Take a look at this angular body with separate wheeled arches, round headlights and front -line front bumper. Is very similar! Even a folding windshield is removable doors and a roof. And the radiator grill is almost the same, only vertical slots on it are not nine, like Willis, but seven (this is a branded feature of Wrangler). This similarity is not surprising, because Jeep is just the heir to the first stage.
 
As for Defender, it, if it looks like Willys, is only round headlights and general angularity but its own, special. And this has its own explanation. Initially, when the Wilks brothers came up with their car, they did not try to make it like an army SUV outwardly. It is unlikely that then they even seriously thought about design. First of all, the internal component was important to them. Nevertheless, the shell that the British pulled on the off -road chassis turned out to be very original and interesting. And now, after several decades, during the general chase for good aerodynamics, the cubism of the body of Defender suggests that this car seems to be from another world. And in this, I must admit, there is a share of truth.
 
You open the thin flat door of Defa, climb somewhere upstairs and finally flop into the seat installed on a square podium. The seats, by the way,, unlike the previous generation car, have become much more convenient. But this is perhaps the most significant change in the cabin. A new dashboard and a more advanced ventilation system also appeared, but otherwise it is all the same Defender a car from another world, from the world of anti -ergonomics. The driver, like the pedal node, is strongly shifted to the door, because of which the left arm and leg do not find their place. But if the elbow can be stuck out into the open window, then you don’t have to get anywhere or hold on the clutch pedal, or clumsily put it on the floor.
 
The seat adjustments are clearly not enough for a tall person, and the steering column adjustment is not provided at all. Yes, and mirrors need to be tuned with hands. Remember when you did it for the last time? In the middle between the front seats, a box with a lid, he is a boxing box made of plywood! The black box that is carried out in the program is very reminiscent of what? Where? When?. Music loses only the average frequencies, and they are drowned out by a stove that works only at first speed. And you will go a little faster, then aerodynamic and transmission noises will begin to soloize here. Yes, and you can’t call the diesel quiet with all the desire. His sound is truly tractor, and besides, he generously transfers his vibrations to all governing bodies. Here is such a paradise for a masochist. But you can get used to it. And after a while you feel quite normal, and even begin to rejoice. What? The fact that you are going in a real honest car, without any modern ergonomic nonsense.
 
Land Rover, as a time machine, transfers in those summer when the qualities such as reliability and patency were put at the forefront, and ease of use was faded into the farthest plan. The soldiers of the Second World War at the wheel of their Willys were, one must think, still uncomfortable, they did not even have a roof over their heads. You can remove the roof only from one car from our trinity at Jeep Wrangler. In the summer, of course, this is a special buzz for a ride without a top, as in buggy. But we conducted a test in early spring, so we did not experiment.
 
Wrangler, despite the fact that in its genealogy is the closest to Willas, in terms the arrangement of the internal space has gone much further than Defender. There is already a completely modern interior with a completely ordinary landing and controls. It is immediately obvious that in this generation they paid great attention to comfort (relative, of course) and the quality of materials. Winning a huge bagel (for sure, like Willis) no longer beat your elbow on the left door, and the front panel is finished with a magnificent plastic for Wrangler. But their ergonomic delights are also present here.
 
The windows buttons, as well as the deferes are located on the central console, the doors without clamps must be constantly held, otherwise they will be given a leg or arm, and through the cracks between wind glass and a removable roof blows air at speed. But in general, Wrangler is much more calm, quiet and modern than his English fellow. Although it feels this same world, the world of the military past. But where he is not felt at all, so it is in Toyota. Over the years, Land Cruiser has gone so far from his roots that an ignorant person will be unreasonable, from which car he actually grew up. The spacious interior of the two hundredth walks in the leg with the times. There is everything that is inherent in expensive SUVs of today's generation: a convenient tall landing in chic leather chairs, light pedals and steering wheel, high-quality finishes, branded instrument lighting, 4 zone climate control, a decent audio system with a decent sound and Touch-Screen in the panel with built-in navigation .
 
All this did not even dream of two other participants in our test (moreover, recall that the equipment of this level is in others corresponding to models from the same manufacturers)! The Land Cruiser salon surrounds its inhabitants with unprecedented comfort, silence and gives rise to an unattainable sense of security and superiority over other participants in the movement. This feeling is even more intensifying when you click on the accelerator. The three -ton colossus breaks down with an unexpected renunciation. The new D-4D turbodiesel tells Toyota an acceleration, which both Defender and Wrangler can only dream. Their weak motors (2.4 liter turbodiesel in Land Rover and a 3.8 liter low -formed gasoline engine in Jeep) do not differ in such agility, even taking into account the smaller mass of these machines.
 
On the go, Land Cruiser is striking in calm and insensibility to various kinds of irregularities. Perhaps this is one of the most comfortable cars in the world. At the same time, the Japanese SUV behaves well and adequately reacts to the steering wheel on the high -speed highway and is slightly fired during rebuilding. This is the merit of the KDSS electronic stabilizers system. But the land cruiser stops not so willingly, a huge mass affects, and cool turns are not a high center of gravity for him.
 
Wrangler is not so good on the freeway. You still feel a purebred off -road genealogy. In his actions there is some kind of inappropriate, and pair 4 step-step automatic gearboxes and the engine does not work very harmoniously. The reaction to the gas is strongly damped, overtaking has to be planned in advance. In addition, the steering wheel lives its life and on the irregularities of Jeep itself a slightly rearranged the rear bridge makes itself felt. Nevertheless, Wrangler remains a machine on which it is quite possible to drive every day, pretty much sacrificing a sense of car in favor of originality and image. But nevertheless, its true purpose is overcoming those areas where more civilians have been ordered to more civilians.
 
Defender separate story. During the test, I and my colleagues have repeatedly appeared analogies with our native UAZ. And this is not without reason. Asphalt movement for Land Rover and its driver torment. The answer is hidden in the design of the chassis two bridges, spring suspension, a long steering wheel and cotton brakes do not allow you to control the machine in the generally accepted sense of the word. In order to, for example, to squeeze the clutch (the only participant in the test with a manual checkpoint, the machine is not provided in principle), you need to make a serious effort. At this moment, it seems that you feel how the disk and flywheel are closed. And two other pedals require male power. Living car, real, with a minimum of auxiliary mechanisms and systems. This liveliness (I would even say animal) and dislike of the city and asphalt pulls Defender into its native element. To where he feels like a fish in water. Def wants to soon show what he was born to the light, and Wrangler, and once Land Cruiser, and the same Willas. He breaks off -road. Well, we could not refuse him this pleasure, naturally taking with us the other two participants in the dough. The Meshchersky Territory, sung by Turgenev, accepted us with a characteristic cordiality. In the suburbs in the early fall, almost immediately after the snow has come down, you can find a huge number of natural obstacles that will be insurmountable for the vast majority of cars. But our trio heirs of army all -terrain vehicles who fought year -round in the most terrible conditions. Therefore, we boldly turn into a field that has spread after the winter and break on further to the banks of the Desna River, reproducing nomadic insidious woods.
 
Without going into the technical details of the device of the all -wheel drive of our subjects, I can only say that all cars have a lowering row in transmission and blocking of the center differential. The role of inter-normal locks is played by electronic systems, nevertheless, the 21st century in the yard. By the way, Willys did not have these very inter-long locks, so to some extent the participants in our test are even better adapted for off-road. From the very first meters, an understanding of how much Land Cruiser has far away from his ancestor comes. A huge mass, impressive dimensions and unimportant geometric patency do not allow it to speak on an equal footing with Defender and Wrangler. Those raw slopes that these two overcome playfully, even without turning on the lowering row, not that interaxic blocking, Toyota are difficult. To take these slides with the passage of a scary soft suspension makes Land Cruiser peck with your nose, you can easily damage the bumpers or hit with steps. The cruise is reluctant to climb in the way, you have to resort to the help of the entire off -road arsenal. But even with him there is a great risk of putting Toyota on the belly almost out of the blue there are three tons, the car simply sucks into a slush.
 
Meanwhile, Jeep and Land Rover are worn through the fields, like March hares, and are happy to bathe in mud baths. The reduction row they require only to overcome particularly slippery and steep areas. Land Cruiser stops helplessly on such lifts. But, if a clean field is ahead, Toyota will fly along it, almost not disturbing its riders. Incredibly energy -intensive and comfortable suspension! Jeep and Land Rover, which are kozli on the asphalt, can also go quickly through the fields, but it talks in them in such a way that you look at the ceiling with your head! You need to hold on tightly. But is Land Cruiser able to fly over all pairs through the track, the left gas 66 or, worse, a tractor? Most likely, he will remain there.
 
But Wrangler and Defender can! For them, this is in the order of things. They can calmly move her, filled with spring slurry, in a lie. The car throws from side to side, clay flies from under the wheels, but in the end the target is achieved in the ears in the mud, but already on the other side. It is interesting that, losing to his rivals in almost all off -road nominations, Land Cruiser showed himself perfectly in the conditions of diagonal hanging. Here, again, the already mentioned KDSS system came to the rescue, which completely dissolves stabilizers on the off -road, providing a huge stroke of pendants and a large angle of crossing the axes. Toyota clings to the soil to the last, but even after the separation it stubbornly continues to move forward, provided that the wheels are sufficiently adhesion to the surface. Wrangler and Defender do not have such an advanced system, but even without it the axes are very significant. Even on two wheels, all cars are quite capable of continuing progressive movement. In fact, the most cross -country ability is limited precisely by geometry, and here Defender and Wrangler with their short overhangs and impressive clearance are invincible.
 
But still we managed to plant this couple. Of course, the bad thing is not cunning, but we were wondering what could stop these crooks. To such vandalism, we did not reach the swamp with the bumps of Land Cruiser, sticking out everywhere, but we experienced Jeep and Land Rover. We did not manage to move to the above obstacle in the reducing series of transmission and with the lock on. Both cars, sitting on bridges, only helplessly rotated with all four wheels. However, these wheels were shod in quite ordinary tires. It must be assumed that if the tires of the pelvuses, the chances of breaking out of captivity on their own would be much more. And so I had to get the cable and pull each in turn. By the way, we did it quite easily. Maybe the swamp chose the baby? Look at the photos, do you know a lot of cars that can overcome this?
 
Dirty, but satisfied we get back to the asphalt and go to the nearest sink, where the appearance of the cars horror all Kerher's workers and rags. All three cars from head to toe are covered with spring mud, shreds of hay and grass hang under the poor. It is immediately obvious that these three recently had fun on a real off -road! In the meantime, the cars are washing, there is time to summarize our test. So, is there anything left of the Willys military army SUV, thanks to which they all once were born? Although he himself did not take part in our test for obvious reasons, but without this, in the case of Jeep and Land Rover, the answer will be unequivocal of course, yes. Throughout all these 60 years, these two persistently honored the traditions laid down during the Second World War. Despite the constant modernization, improvement and the use of modern technologies (much to a lesser extent than on most other modern vehicles), Defender and Wrangler remained perhaps the most conservative cars on the planet (unless, of course, the VAZ rear -wheel drive classics) and preserved Those qualities that were laid down in Willys: reliability, amazing cross -country ability and endurance. In addition, their appearance is characterized by outstanding charisma, which distinguishes them from the general flow of machines. They are able to break any person’s ideas about off -road driving, can move in real terrible conditions. For this they are loved, appreciated, respected and bought, sacrificing comfort and handling.
 
With Land Cruiser, not everything is so simple. Yes, in comparison with the overwhelming number of all -wheel drives that are now being produced, it is very, very good on impassability. But all the same, Land Cruiser is different, and to the results that were demonstrated by two other participants, how far he is. Toyota back in the 60s began to actively move away from truly off -road topics, creating an event that became no less famous and legendary than his military relative. During production, he lost almost everything that Willas was famous for, but acquired many other valuable qualities. Its initial task is comfort, respectability and detachment from the outside world. It is only a pity that most of the owners of modern Land Cruiser are unlikely to once remember how their car began. And what else is capable of.
Dmitry Krotov
 

Source: Motor magazine [May 2008]