Toyota Sequoia 2000 test drive - 2007 SUV
Raised ...
The Americans have always loved large cars, and SUVs - especially. Because of this, a certain competition is even observed in the overseas auto industry - who will build the largest light truck, or rather, Truck. For a long time, the leadership held General Motors with her Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe, then it was intercepted by Ford from Expections. Without stopping the reached, the Fords released Excursion, which - in terms of dimensions - left no chance of competitors (only trunk tractors). Oddly enough, for quite some time, none of the foreign firms tried to penetrate this tidbit of the American market ...
Two years ago, Toyota released for the United States a full -size Tundra pickup, which immediately became very popular there (motor #12, 1998). And a year later - in January 2000 - a presentation of the Toyota Sequoia SUV built on the basis of Tundra was held at the Detroit car dealership. He went on sale in the fall - as a model of 2001. Sequoia has grown in the tundra ... Outwardly, the car does not stand out in its class. (In general, with regard to the SUVs, the fantasy of the designers quickly ran out, and if you open the nameplate from the machines, it will be difficult to distinguish them from the other.) A large and at first glance the massive door of Sequoia opens very easily, and the standard luxury salon of the American SUV appears . Everything is formalized according to the laws of the genre. The driver's seat has a large set of electric regulations that allow a person of any growth and complexion to find a suitable landing, but there is no lateral support, which is why it has to be frantically clinging to the steering wheel and rest on the floor with his left foot. The steering wheel has an adjustment in height, but at the same time the angle of inclination changes too much. The section and diameter of the steering are optimal. On the column there are steering wheel switches, heads of light and wipers, as well as the classic American poker of the automatic transmission selector.
The instrument shield may seem poor enough. In fact, all the important information on it is present: the included automatic transmission, speed, fuel level and transmission mode. On the right, on the console, an audio system and a microclimate control unit, under them - the VSC control button (Vehicle Skid Control). VSC is a system for maintaining exchange rate stability, similar to the ESP used on BMW and Mercedes. There is also a system for the fight against wheel slipping - A -TRAC.
Downstairs of the central console, where the Roll of the checkpoint is located at normal cars, a small lever of turning on the reduced row of the transmission has settled. With this inclusion, differential locks are automatically involved, which is displayed by the appropriate icon on the instrument panel.
Only gloves will fit into the container in front of the front passenger. But between the seats there is a barbox, in which a road refrigerator or bar will quite enter. The handbrake moved and turned into a scabbard.
Access to the middle row of seats turned out to be extremely convenient thanks to a wide door. The places are full. Three people of large addition will accommodate there, completely not embarrassing each other. The legs are free, even when the front seats are shifted back as much as possible. If two are sitting in the second row, then in order to avoid their unauthorized movements, it is worth throwing a armrest to the cabin. To access the rear row, you must first add one of the extreme seats of the average (under the right, by the way, there are a jack and other tools). It turned out to be quite convenient to sit on the gallery, the knees do not rest on the back of the second row, the distance from the head to the ceiling is quite decent, especially if the growth of passengers is less than 180 cm. The trunk has a solid volume, however, the back row of seats is easily removed, and the average folds - it turns out a huge and absolutely flat cargo platform. The glass of the trunk door is lowered (both from the driver's place and from the remote control), so that small things can be loaded without opening the entire opening.
Toyota Sequoia is equipped with a V-shaped 8-cylinder engine from a 4.7 liter pickup tundra and 240 hp. (The same is installed on Land Cruiser and Lexus LX470). Motor does not differ modesty appetite, the route computer showed 28 l/100 km during the test. The transmission and chassis are also borrowed from Tundra, but the hardness of the frame is increased, and the rear suspension is converted.
On idle, the V8 works softly, almost silently. A sharp press on the gas pedal leads to an inclination of the entire car around the longitudinal axis. The automatic transmission sector - in position D. The heavy Sequoia is smoothly, but without delay, it is removed and rushes forward. Yes, it seems that such a machine requires a powerful motor, especially since the machine operates clearly, smoothly, without jerking, even moving even to lower gears.
In general, claims to the box arose only once, when on the rise, the third gear refused to disperse Toyota. I fiercely stomped the gas pedal, but the machine did not do anything.
The steering wheel at small angles of rotation pleased with good feedback and a returning effort, but on more steep turns all this disappears, and it has to be steamed to the touch. The speed of turns is limited by frightening rolls - Sequoia begins to fall on the side so that I want to hit the brakes. And where does the VSC look? But the soft and long -flowing suspension easily copes with any defects in the road surface, completely without disturbing passengers and not allowing the car to move from the intended trajectory by a centimeter. Disk ventilated brakes in front and behind are very effective, the braking distance can be accurately calculated. The brake pedal is characterized by optimally selected effort and stroke. Unfortunately, it was not possible to fully and objectively evaluate the off -road qualities of Toyota Sequoia - the weather was excellent, and the standard transmission regime was enough for any obstacles ...
They thought over the name of the car for quite some time. And his choice once again emphasizes for which market the car is intended: nowhere, except in North America, giant sequoia is growing.
In the USA, Sequoia has been sold for less than a year, and it is too early to judge the results of competition. In the Toyota lineup, this is the fifth SUV. The company positions it between 4runner and Land Cruiser. At first glance, it is quite strange: Sequoia is noticeably larger and more spacious than not only the runner, but also the traveler (compared to Land Cruiser, the Sequoia wheelbase is 150 mm larger, and the total length is about 300 mm). So why between?
The fact is that Land Cruiser is not a mass car in the USA - they are sold about twenty thousand in a year, and prices start at $ 50,000. Sequoia is more affordable - the most -most version of Limited costs $ 42,000, and the power of the plant in the Indiana is 60,000 cars a year. Will Toyota Sequoia be successful in Russia? Hard to tell.
On the one hand, we love large comfortable SUVs. On the other hand, the paradoxes of Russian reality - for Sequoia they ask for ten thousand more than for the sophisticated Cruiser. So American positioning is not suitable for us. And officially Sequoia, most likely, will not be supplied to Russia.
Text: Alexander Nadens
A source: Motor magazine [No. 7/2001]