Opel Frontera Sport 1998 test drive - 2004 SUV
Border guard days
Since the time of his debut in Geneva in 1991, the General Motors - Opel Frontera and his Japanese analogue of ISUZU Rodeo - acquired a reputation as reliable and unpretentious machines. This is evidenced by the fact that they are in production to this day. Of course, it would be naive to think that all this time they did not deal with cars. There was a restyling, the interior was modernized, the suspension design was improved, new options for standard configuration and additional equipment appeared. Before us is the 1998 Opel Frontera. 
The car is produced with two types of body - short -driving three -door (Frontera Sport with removable panels above the rear seat and Frontera Soft Top with a folding awkus above it) and a long -drawn five -door (Estate, in Russian - station wagon). The choice of engines - gasoline motors with volumes of 2 and 2.2 liters, as well as 2.5 l of turbodiesel. The word Frontera is Spanish and means the border. The name for the SUV is quite decent: cool guys are immediately seen - a border patrol, dashing chase, of course, with the participation of the corresponding cars ... romance. So during those few days when we had at our disposal a five -door Opel Frontera 2.2i, we had the opportunity to feel a little border guards.
There is no particular need to describe the appearance of Opel Frontera. It is well known from earlier versions - on the roads of Moscow, these cars can be found every day. A strict and functional design with a shade of timelessness immediately tunes in a serious way. Powerful rubber 255/65R16 inspires confidence in the off -road qualities of the car, and on our roads with the so -called hard coating you can feel calm. From the external attributes of the SUV, a kangaroo, as well as thresholds, are immediately noticeable, part-time performing the function of protecting the lower part of the body sidewalls. The placement of a full -sized spare wheel on the back door is in the best traditions of increased cross -country ability.
We check the salon for ease of operation. Let's start with the door. It was not difficult to sit down in the driver's seat, and you can use two ways to enter the car with equal success - both with the help of a footboard and without it. The front seats are made in the style of classic sports (not racing) seats of the RECARO company with developed lateral support. The pillow with the side rollers turned out to be surprisingly soft, and only at the time of landing, bending under the influence of weight, did it gain the necessary hardness and elasticity. The seat has two adjustments ranges - along the length and angle of inclination of the back. For the exacting drivers, it is possible to adjust the height of the seat. This is done using a handle located at the base of the pillow. There was no this option on our Frontera, which, however, did not prevent it from getting comfortable. The steering column can be unacceptably adjusted along the angle of inclination. The rim of the steering wheel is sheathed with leather, a compact airbag is mounted in the hub, which does not spoil the appearance of the steering wheel and does not interfere with the viewing of the combination of devices. Their placement on the panel is unusual - the tachometer is located to the left of the speedometer. On the right is a regular group of comrades: voltmeter, thermometer, fuel level indicators and oil pressure.
Torpedo calm and laconic shape fits perfectly into the stylistic concept of the exterior of the body - nothing more. The governing bodies are well arranged, everything is at hand. I liked the location of the watch with digital indication. They are located to the right of the combination of devices next to the buttons of the heating of the rear window and the alarm - and in sight, and are not distracted from the control. To the left of the combination, the outdoor lighting switch and the switches of the front and rear fog lights settled. On the central console - a proprietary radio and air conditioning controls, typically Japanese and, I must say, rather archaic - were the same on Japanese cars of the early 80s.
Farther. On the tunnel there are two levers with comfortable handles, united by a common soft casing. The left is the lever of the box, it is located a little further from the driver than usual, but this is quite compensated by its length and size. The mechanism works extremely clearly.
To the right, even further from the driver - the transmission operating mode switch, with which you can turn off the front wheels (2H), and turn on the reduced row of gears (4L) in all -wheel drive mode (4H).
Of the objects that make life easier, you can note the mirrors with electric drive, heating the seats and electric windows controlled by the buttons on the tunnel cladding. For the passenger of the front seat, an individual protection means is provided - the airbag integrated in the torpedo.
The level of the rear seats is slightly higher than the front ones, but this does not make them inaccessible. There is enough space for the legs. The spaces above the head, of course, are smaller than the front, but it is quite enough. And this is despite the ledge in the ceiling that hides a niche for a sliding hatch. And what's back? On the fifth door to the right of the spare - a pen with a button. Press the button - the upper, glass, half of the door is opened. It turns out that the back door is converted - now it consists of two parts. The glass half is thrown up manually and in the raised position is held by gas springs. In this case, the lower metal part, which opens to the left, is released. As a result of these manipulations, the opening is formed of impressive size. Loading and unloading through it occur without problems. This is tested in practice - during the transportation of tiles and plumbing.
We were satisfied with the salon. This is a well -organized space for those who do not chase excesses and new -fangled bells and whistles. Simple and strict, but all necessary - in stock. The quality of manufacture and assembly of interior parts is very high.
Starting the engine, short work on idle, and - on the way. The gas pedal is light, allows you to smoothly control the engine speed. The clutch pedal liked the good ratio of the size of the course and the effort, as well as its sensitivity, which is completely useful when driving on a slippery road or, if necessary, without slipping, to move out of place. Some inconvenience creates too small the distance between the clutch pedal and the side wall of the salon - there is nowhere to go to the left leg. In our case, the position is also exacerbated by winter boots of the 47th size into which the driver is shod. Due to such a pedal arrangement, many will surely forget to remove the leg from her, which will inevitably lead to the rapid wear of the clutch.
Everything is in order with visibility. A higher, compared to an ordinary car, landing and sloping hoods make it possible to see the road at a close distance from the car, and the front racks of the roof do not close what is happening on the sides, which is especially important in corners. Surprising rapidly the feeling of dimensions, it made it possible to confidently move in the constrained road conditions of the city, and subsequently, when driving through the crossed terrain, to feel the location regarding the obstacles of literally each wheel. 
But all in order. First - asphalt. We switch the handout to position 2N (increased row of gears, the front bridge is disabled). The car behaves as a station wagon of a classic layout. The acceleration dynamics is very decent for a car with a equipped mass of almost 1800 kg, the motor is exactly pulling from idle to higher speeds, and in a rapidly changing road environment, we feel quite confident. The engine demonstrates enviable elasticity, allowing a long time to move in higher gear, without moving down. During the test, the car passed almost the entire Kutuzovsky Prospekt in the fifth gear - this is in the daytime! The suspension and rubber work perfectly on the irregularities and defects of city roads. I understand those who buy such cars for traveling around the city. Chips, joints, cracks and potholes in the asphalt, pits and hatches - all this can be ignored, knowing that the suspension will cope with its tasks. You cannot call a particularly hard suspension. However, soft too. The characteristics of the shock absorbers are selected very successfully, which does not allow the body to excessively roll in corners and sway greatly when moving through large irregularities.
Car handling is good. The hydraulic wrap does not create the impression of an extra gear link between the driver and the steering mechanism, and on the go provides proportional speed and the degree of rotation of the wheel on the steering wheel. Frontera rotation is close to neutral, we did not expect another from this balanced car. The brakes work perfectly, the slowdown is confident, so the ABS (option) seems to be not needed here. In any case, on even and dry asphalt.
As an ordinary city car, Frontera liked. The machine does not require the development of additional skills and addiction - it sat down and went. But the car is declared as an SUV, and we still arrange an impromptu cross -country exam. To do this, we go to Krylatskoye - on the highway of the club 4x4 ...
Dry asphalt is replaced by an icy primer (here ABS was very useful), which leads us to a field covered with snow with a solid nast. Do not wonder. The specifics of the monthly magazine is such that the May number begins to prepare in March, which this year has not been warmly pleased. We try the snow to the touch, connect the front bridge and the reduced row of transmission (4L) and carefully delve into the snow virgin land. Nothing happens - the car is completely calm, without a tear, continues to move, although the snow sometimes reaches almost the center of the hubs of the wheels. Add the engine speed - nothing changes. Confident movement without the slightest hint of slipping. Smerelev, we return up (4n) - the same result ...
From the snow field we move to a ravine, along the slopes of which a track is laid, replete with bulk hills, longitudinal and transverse slopes and large pits. A good overview of Frontera was useful here - it allows you to not make mistakes in choosing the direction of movement. In the mountains, the car climbs with the ease of extraordinary, confidently moving along the intricate trajectory and demonstrating excellent maneuverability and accuracy of control. When the car rides well, a desire to add gas arises subconsciously. What we do.
This leads to a series of small jumps. The car and the passengers inside were not injured.
Of course, without liquid dirt with deep ruts, the off -road part of the tests looks incomplete, but there was no dirt due to frost. Frontera can easily cope with other tasks. The car confidently feels both on the highway and off -road. It is very good in the conditions of daily urban operation. The car fits perfectly into the transport flow and demonstrates good economy - during the test, which was held mainly on Moscow streets, fuel consumption was about 10 l/100 km. A good capacity and convenience of loading and unloading operations make Opel Frontera 2.2i a reliable assistant in suburban family events. Sergey Ivanov
Source: Motor magazine [No. 5/1998]
