Test drive Mazda Xedos 9 1993 - 2001 sedan

The choice of pragmatics

As soon as the Russian has his first more or less decent capital, and the question arises of acquiring the first more or less prestigious car, for some reason he mainly looks towards Europe, or rather Germany. Moreover, the rationality among the criteria of choice here is clearly not in the first place. Especially when it comes to representative or business class. Without belittling the merits of respected German brands, we note that in this sector the French, Japanese and even Koreans today offer models often- almost worse and, as a rule, noticeably cheaper.

However, in Russia a group of citizens leading an active lifestyle that earns well, and at the same time did not want to throw money are right down. When choosing a car, they are not covered with their eyes in a proud name - they are primarily interested in its consumer properties. Considerations of prestige, of course, are also present here, but do not dominate.

It is on them that the solid sedan of Mazda Xedos 9 is designed. Its appearance is not as pretentious as more prestigious Germans - it will be more likely. The original optics, the active embossed hood is added to the appearance of the Xedos 9 aggression, and a massive, almost without substettlement, the sidewall - weighty. At the same time, the car looks very solid, does not scatter visually into parts.

A wide doorway, and a wide leather chair takes me into its arms, convenient - I don’t want to get up. An impressive volume of the salon is finished with light materials and therefore seems even greater, with some damage to comfort. The chair has all the necessary electrical adjustments, allowing a person to choose the right position to a person of any height.

The chubby bagel was perfectly on the arm, but the height adjustment range seemed insufficient - I wanted to lower the steering wheel lower. On the steering wheel, there are a cruise control buttons, so you can control it without taking off your hands from the steering wheel. Verser levers (a set of functions standard) are easily accessible. The instrument shield during the ignition is completely dead - neither arrows nor numbers are visible through its dark glass. To the left and right of the shield are the buttons responsible for the fog and heating of the glasses. Having a very immodest size, the buttons are deprived of illumination, which at first is somewhat disoriented. In the middle of the torpedo is a microclimate control unit that is extremely convenient in everyday life.

The temperature is set by the rotation of the round handle, while the numbers are displayed on the display, and the stream configuration is selected with a sequential pressing of one button - the display reacts with the change of icons. Below is a radio - it sounds quite acceptable, but the exacting music love, most likely, will not satisfy. Between the front seats is an automatic box selector, next to it is the disconnection button of the anti -circus system. Next is an armrest with a voluminous box with a 12V outlet.

The rear seat is wide enough for three passengers to feel quite free. True, the place is not enough in the legs, and if the chair is in front of a person with an increase above the average, then there is nowhere to put his knees.

The trunk is impressive with its volume, but access to it in bad weather is associated with the risk of getting very dirty - first you need to press the button on the outside, and then pull the lid for something up (there are no handles).

I turn the key in the ignition lock, and the deadline for the instrument flap flashes with bright light. Clear, contrasting bluish-white scales and numbers, ruby \u200b\u200barrows hanging in a dark space. Everything looks very beautiful and expensive. To the left and right of the speedometer and tachometer, the indicators of the engine temperature and fuel temperature are added, respectively, the automatic transmission mode indicator is in the middle.

Well, it's time to go - the selector to position D, and go. Gas to the floor. Xedos, without thinking twice, is smoothly removed and slowly accelerates, while the tachometer arrow does not climb into the sky -high heights - switching occur in the region of 5500 rpm. (In addition, the sound of the motor does not annoy). As for slowly - this, of course, is purely subjective sensations, because according to passport data, acceleration to hundreds takes less than nine seconds. But too thoughtful automata still spoiled the picture - when overtaking and restructuring with acceleration, it was necessary to reinsure.

The dimensions are well felt, and you can drive around the city without particularly straining. However, with the posterior visibility due to highly littered glass and high head restraints, there are some problems that complicates the parking lot. The external rear -view mirrors with a variable of the curvature of the reflector are somewhat improves somewhat.

The steering wheel has good informativeness, it increases as speed set, therefore, regardless of the latter, you can easily withstand the desired trajectory of movement. The suspension pleased with high energy intensity - even serious potholes and tram tracks you pass almost imperceptibly. The machine manifests itself perfectly in corners - a separate thanks to the rear suspension, which is equipped with elements that provide the steaming of the wheels (though, unlike the previous Xedos 9, it is passive). In smooth turns, her work is almost invisible, except that you can go faster than others, the steep stance effect is more clearly manifested, so you even have to slightly dissolve the steering wheel. It is quite logical to assume that in certain conditions this can even provoke a skid.

For the experiment, I chose a wide running turn; 90 km/h - everything is wonderful, 100 km/h - the loads are growing, but the trajectory is still perfect, 110 km/h - a slight demolition of all four wheels went, and Mazda returns to the previous trajectory. I try in a different way: the speed is about 100 km/h, but in the middle of the turn I sharply bring the steering wheel, imitating the detour of an obstacle that suddenly appeared, the rear axle is too active, and a smooth skid follows, which, however, is easily extinguished by the steering wheel and gas. Someone will surely like it-you can quickly and beautifully pass turns on some uninhabited suburban highway. Such a reaction can be scared, but if you do not cross the boundaries of the reasonable, everything will be in order. In addition, the brakes showed excellent efficiency and sensitivity.

Summing up, I would like to note that the Mazda Xedos 9 is the choice of pragmatics, which always requires the maximum and does not want to throw money down the wind. And the money for the car in the configuration that has been on the test will require $ 35.900.

Text: Alexander Nadens
 

Source: Motor magazine [No. 4/2002]