Test Drive Land Rover Range Rover 2005 - 2009 SUV

Strying in ...

What a strange couple did you pick up for the test? The one who needs a real sacrifice will not even look in the direction of this Merce! Such a reaction is fully explained, because so far a few know that sales of ML with the so-called off-road package began in Russia.
Mercedes-Benz ML350
The second generation of the soughs is represented by the public at the Motor Show in Detroit in 2005.
Engines: gasoline 3,56.2 liters
(272510 hp), diesel 3.0 and 3.2 liters (190 and 224 hp).
Transmission: 7-speed automatic.
Fitting: individual.
Price in Russia: 61 800 125 000
($ 78,500,58,750).

Range Rover.
Leads a pedigree since 1970. The next generation debuted in 2001 with BMW Motors; In 2005, restyling has undergone.
Engines: gasoline 4.4 and 4.2 l with turbocharging (306, 396 hp), diesel 2,9 (177 hp).
Transmission: 5-, 6-speed
Machines.
Complete set: hse, vogue, supercharged.
Price in Russia: $ 100 900 125 900.

And with him, as claimed, the parco lawn acquires the properties of adult osculustal models. Once so no overlook! The opponent will be serious we chose Ranj Rover.
How old steel ordered
So, Mercedes-Benz ML350. It is intended primarily for the US market, there it is collected there. In a country where such machines often equipped with a drive per axle and where the departure for the village happens no more than Halloween, once a year by promise. What can be expected from off-roud package with such a situation? As it turned out a lot! The brilliant protective plates on the front and rear bumpers were not at all with a bout, but most of them are steel; The engine compartment is covered with a solid shield, there are practically no protruding parts under the bottom.
As soon as in the cockpit, notice the transmission control knob. Wow! It contains the inter-axis and rear inter-track blocking, lowering. Supplements the unslab arsenal of a pneumatic suspension with adjustment of the road lumen.
Ranj Rover is responsible worthy. In its asset, naturally, also four-wheel drive, but blocking is exclusively in charge of electronics (anti-duct system). In addition, there is also a pneumatic suspension. Mud duel will leave for sweet, but still concentrate on other qualities of our decent pair.
For business
What are buying cars such as ML or Ranj-Rover? Of course, not only in order to get to the country mansion after the February blizzard. Both cars are potentially suitable for executive purposes: prestigious names, solid dimensions and prices comparable to real estate. Mercedes, in addition, also suitable color black. Watching the car, involuntarily pretending how the rooms with the tricolor and a blue beacon will look at it.
We are in the center of the capital, slowly rummage past the Duma. The cloth is in no hurry to customize us, if anyone sits on the back sofa. In the black cabin you feel protected not in vain raised the glazing line. If you move closer to the window, from the height of ML it is convenient to admire the facades of the old new Moscow. But the city is drawn under the onslaught of the night, and the garden ring remains behind.
With access to country tracks in the rear seat, ML is no longer so comfortable as the city's 4050 km / h. Similar to that tangible shaking. The transition to the comfort mode of the shock absorbers' settings is also saved: Mercedes is still too tough on small irregularities. The lot of this car is perfect coverage. Then ML seems to boil over the road, hitting excellent noise insulation.
Range Rover The only car in history, which at one time was exhibited at the Louvre Museum (France) as the highest achievement of automotive design and technology so the section on the English car on the official website of the company opens. If the German resembles a banker with a tie, then the Englishman, rather, Lord in Polo, who does not bother an excessive official.
It is almost impossible to penetrate the Rome salon, without applying to the panta to the wet wheeled arch or not wipe the dust from it. Inside you feel like a fish in water, more precisely in the aquarium. You sit outdoor to all your eyes. The width of the salon in combination with light finishes and low windowsill creates a feeling of space in such a car passengers as if on an endless excursion.
The Englishman is slightly noisy German, but surpasses him in comfort. Even decent irregularities Range extinguishes so confident that riding more reminds the walking boat. It remains to state: Lord Rover is more suitable in limousines.
FOR THE SOUL
The driver of small trains is much easier to get used to Mercedes. Landing typically easy, pretty low, seat with good lateral support. The steering wheel of a small diameter with pleasant effort, the pedals are quite male, requiring certain work. But to manage Mercedes is undoubtedly rest, not work. Considation in the urban cycle about 18 liters per hundred, it has excellent dynamics.
Companies, as always, overloaded with the function to the left-wing switch, a 7-speed automatic control joystick is symmetrized by a typical American steering knocker. But the parody is extremely successful! For entertainment, you can undermine the buttons on the back of the steering wheel and try to promote the machine in switching speed, but it is unlikely ... in electronic mode, everything is very fast and smoothly, except for the inclusion of kykdauna requires a few unnecessary fractions of a second.
As for manageability, Mercedes is almost always reliable. Almost, because the behavior of ML is so easy that you sometimes forget about it. Then the car also begins to squeeze all four wheels, smoothly slipping off the trajectory and reminding his class affiliation. The only complaint was caused by the brakes subjectively absolutely reliable, when measurements they issued a noticeable spread in the brake path
Ranj Rover Representative of another school. A huge steering wheel with a thin rim, a set of multi-colored plastics, leather and wood on the front panel, the seats trim in the spirit of the 60s at first, all this quashes and causes an association with a yacht. Look through the windshield in front of you extends a suitcase shape hood
The rate of movement is dictated by Range's tendency to rolls with a very comfortable suspension and a little informative steering wheel. And in turns, the centrifugal force seeks to land you from the chairs that did not hear about lateral support.
According to the power of the engine, the Englishman surpasses the German more than thirty horses, but the 6-step automatic machine is not so terminated and logical. As a result, a promising roar from under the hood is sinking somewhere in oil, washing the gears of transmissions. On the other hand, it can be seen so that the yachts are worn like tremendous? Their movement is stepwise and beautiful.
For confidence
So it's time to bring the car in the most responsible part of the test. We will not storm the impassive ravines and sink in mud lakes. Just try to make a remote corner of the suburbs in moderation to measure the remote corner of the near Moscow and moderately with steep slides.
Mercedes in the standard position claimed 181 mm clearance. It can be stepped in step by step to 211261291 mm, and the maximum speed in the highest position will fall up to 30 km / h. The process of lifting smooth and quiet, takes up to the half-minute, in the undermined state of the ML acquires a somewhat comic view.
Touch, and immediately it becomes clear: it will not work faster 10 km / h. The fact is that the moves of the suspension on the back are practically selected, so riding is accompanied by terrible shaking and cutting hearing breakdowns. Pretty fast Merce bursts in the sand and gets up. We fall on the step below and turn on the blocking of differentials. Soon another host turn on the downstream transmission. In this mode, Mercedes confidently overcame the slippery slide and climbed to the edge, it was calmly unfolded, without turning attention to the rut, and safely descended back. On the descent, we estimated the DSR system, allowing you to forget about the pedals the car itself kept the set 18 km / h.
What is our Lord? Publishing a snake hiss, the Ranj Rover quickly rose from 225 mm to the upper 275 mm and moved in the footsteps of ML. Unlike the German, the crossing of the England is significantly more. On a reduced gear, he jumped into a small ravine and climbed into a familiar mountain, while the driver did not need to stop and connect this or that mode everything made electronics. But it was in it that turned out to be a snag! Sometimes the electronic collar is so zealously fought with slipping, which simply stifled the motor. But this unique bit of tar is still unable to spoil honey. The descent from the mountain was remembered for a long time! He was accompanied by multiple trills of alarmed parking sensors, and from under the bottom, a system of controlling the movement for the HDC slope was crack.
The result of the fight was for many of us unexpected. The gluable ML with off-road package performed off-road exercises, maybe not so easily as Ranj Rover, but did not think to give up. So from the discharge of parquet it can be moved to the league of real oscidence. Mercedes is transformed in the city and behaves like a spacious wagon. Ranj Rover is big and calm, confident of off-road, but not so multifaceted as ML. Both the main thing is: the inscriptions like an extraneous entry is prohibited for them.

Mikhail Gzzovsky:
ML turned out to be a worthy rival Ranj Rome on the off-road, but during the measurements showed unstable braking qualities, which influenced the final assessment.

Mercedes-Benz ML350 One of the most universal ossels on the market combined a high level of comfort, elegant appearance and permeability.
Total estimate of 8.4
+ Excellent dynamics and handling, high off-road opportunities in combination with urban comfort, thoughtful controls, comfortable seats.
- Not the most efficient brakes, a noticeable shaking in the backseat.

Range Rover as almost any English thing has specific design and manners. A solid car, which is good on a straight line and on bad roads.
Total estimate of 8.4
+ Spacious rear sofa, recognizable design, good brakes, comfortable suspension.
- high fuel consumption, non-informative steering wheel, not the highest quality finish.
 
 
 
Mikhail Gzovsky
 

A source: Journal "Behind the wheel"