Test drive Volkswagen Passat B5 2000 - 2005 sedan

Flight business class

Probably, each of us, leafing through bright pages of autocatalogs, represented ourselves behind the wheel of Ferrari F50 or Mercedes S from Lorinser. However, when the time comes to choose a real car for real life, the vast majority turn their eyes not to the objects of luxury insanely expensive and far from the people, but to much more practical and affordable vehicles.
The spring of the year is already knocking on the windows with the last wet snow, when snowdrops begin to bloom, and in the car dealerships of official importers it becomes crowded. In anticipation of the spring sale of the 2001 collection, a completely new Ford Mondeo arrived at the zealous Moscow land. It arrived so that, according to the competent employees of the Russian representative office of Ford Motor Co., to take part of the long-established market for business class cars from strong, stable and almost impeccable from the consumer point of view of competitors. The expert group of the magazine of cars, without hesitation, decided to reduce Mondeo in a confrontation with the best -selling classmates, so as not in words, but in fact, it is so terrible for Ford as they are painted ...
Mitsubishi Galant is the oldest and become familiar from this company. If you can call an old and gaping car, which appeared in the fall of the 96th. I do not dare to evaluate his appearance from the point of view of the purity of the lines and the depth of drawing basic elements, Professor Rozanov will do it better than any domestic expert. Nevertheless, from his bell tower, it is ready to assume that when the first Galant came off with the slipways in the Land of the Rising Sun and went on open automobile swimming for endless European autobahns, many respectable Germans who hastened to fork out in the BMW 5 series, in despair refused beer with pork A leg and made a harakiri for themselves. The bright, aggressive, brave and memorable design of the new Galant quickly brought him to the leaders of European sales! Representatives of Mitsubishi tried to make sure that our test fell into the most expensive of all the proposed sets. I won’t even come up with what should have been in the cabin so that it would become even more luxurious. Leather upholstery of seats and door cards, climate and cruise control, all possible from the electro-regulations known to me, hatch, armrests, cup holders and so bad in our latitudes heated what, as a rule, always froze to non-heated seats ...
There are no complaints about the driver's place. On the contrary, the ergonomics of the Mitsubishi salon was developed by the best Japanese specialists in this field. It seems that the internal space was sewn right for you after repeated examples. Moreover, in a duet with magnificent external data, the salon creates a unique feeling of comfort and warmth, despite the apparent diplomatic inviolability of strict black skin. And when, after turning the key in the ignition lock, the black hole of the dashboard comes to life with a matte-axial light of dials and arrows, I never want to leave the hospitable interior.
The central console, as has already become traditional for Mitsubishi, is crowning the climate control display is very informative, logical and convenient for the user. I am sure that only Tamagochi can give more timely information about life and the environment ... it only upset that they decided to put the Pioneer folk radio as musical accompaniment, the appearance of which does not at all harm with the interior's native details. In the rear seats, two places will be just right, but the third, most likely, will be superfluous. I was pleased with the view throughout the road to the rear passengers can look at the surroundings not only through the side glasses, but also through the frontal gaze unexpectedly accessible to them. But the trunk, despite the impressive length and width, is quite small in height, apparently, it was calculated for some special Japanese model of flattened suitcases. At least, from the entire three, according to this parameter, Galant clearly lost to competitors. True, the volume of the cargo compartment can easily be increased thanks to the folding backs of the rear seats. I would like to look at an individual who decided to put them up and turn an expensive leather salon into a practical cargo -passenger ...
In the Galant motion, despite the powerful V-shaped six of 2498 cm3 and a capacity of 163 hp, it is not impressive dynamic capabilities. This, of course, is not GDI. In principle, the start from the place of Mitsubishi is quite frisky, but the general concept when constructing this machine was clearly contrary to the philosophy of Driver's Car. Apparently, Tokyo decided that it was enough to charm a person with appearance, while tormenting him with crazy accelerations and braking. If you want to quickly ride Mitsubishi, buy Lancer Evolution and don't deny yourself anything! And this car is designed for the consumer calmer Tommy Myakinen or Stanislav Gryazin. For people who distinguish an even suburban road from a winding rally specialized world. At 4500 min-1, the peak of the engine torque (223 Nm) is necessary, and there is practically no sense to unscrew the tachometer for this mark. Galant is holding on the road like a Japanese metro for a monorail: the suspension is tuned to maximum comfort and practically does not go into a breakdown what else is needed in a sluggish city stream or with a reasonable suburban ride? You can accelerate in 200 km/h, but tune in to the fact that ABS on this machine panickically reacts to any more or less urgent braking and raises a lot of noise from nothing. Alas, you can turn it off, as in any serial car, only by pulling out the appropriate fuse, but at the same time you automatically lose the help of an anti -wings system tied to ABS sensors.
Volkswagen Passat B5 is already almost a classic of the genre. They have a truly folk car. We have Wagen for dreaming about the eyes of the Mercedes of class E, but not ready to buy it for financial reasons. You must admit that somehow, imperceptibly, marketers from Wolfsburg managed to translate their miracle of German technology from the estate, so to speak, workers and peasants into representatives of the intelligentsia. And if 5-10 years ago, a person in the Passat (most often with the station wagon) was perceived by us as a wholesale from Kalmykia shuttle, now, managing B5, its owner has the right to count on universal respect and honor our nascent middle class unequivocally He allocated this car from the variety of classmates as an ideally corresponding image of a prosperous resident of Moscow or the near Moscow Region.
Two words about design: my convex testing eye saw in the appearance of the new VW only light traces of refreshing cosmetic repairs: they changed the wallpaper and plumbing in the house, but did without redevelopment of the walls and did not touch the family oak furniture. Inside, a real thoroughbred German. DAS IST FANTASTISH! Made strictly, soundly and with knowledge of the subject. On the one hand, nothing outstanding or striking. On the other hand, impeccable quality of materials and manufacturing, warm texture and soft tones of the interior. True, it seemed that the salon was too official, and the Passat B5 would look more harmonious as an official, not a private car.
From the point of view of Volkswagen options, both Mitsubishi and Ford were slightly inferior in this configuration. Frankly, we met folk cars and richer (respectively, more expensive). However, the entire standard set of functions and adjustments is in full. The driver easily gets comfortably in his place and will feel just as comfortable throughout the entire hours of working day. The only significant claim to ergonomics is a small right external rear -view mirror. Since I first encountered this ingenious find of German designers, I could not get an intelligible explanation from them why they made this left circumcision on the right. By the way, Mondeo in this regard is also not a gift from the angular small external mirrors on this large machine not only look foreign, but also do not provide a normal review back. And only Galant in this three was not struck by an epidemic of a mirror disease.
Passat is spacious behind. However, from a person’s position of 1 m 91 cm, I note that the seat pillow is raised too high while driving you feel almost on the theater galler. A little more space appeared above his head than that of his predecessor (before the facelifting for the too low line of the roof of Volkswagen, except for the lazy one). Nevertheless, deviating back and still resting his head on the ceiling, the tall passenger will feel like an element of the security frame tightly welded to the roof of the N. Ring Passat. In fairness, I will note that tall people will encounter a similar problem in Mondeo. Moreover, Ford even outlined his awareness of this trouble with the help of a noticeable, but almost useless additional groove in the upholstery of the ceiling. After a short ride on the back couch, I want to catch the one who came up with the unfortunate circuits from the cars, tie it back with seat belts and take it on our bumps and bumps until it apologizes and takes its frontal resistance coefficient!
In the movement, this Passat left a double impression. On the one hand, there are no complaints about the smoothness of the stroke and the ability of the suspension to deal with road irregularities almost soundlessly and keep the car on a given trajectory in a bend. On the other hand, I am absolutely convinced that on a representative or family sedan there is no point in using high -pressure turbocharges. A high turbine came to a car conveyor from automobile sports and is very harmoniously combined with charged road versions of sports cars. There, the transfers in the KP are selected closer, and the suspensions with brakes are configured accordingly, and in general another automobile philosophy is used. And on our Passat, the 1.8 Turbo motor is with a maximum capacity of 150 hp, taken out at 5700 revolutions per minute, and a boost pressure of 0.9-1.1 bar worked, to put it mildly, a peculiarly up to 3000 min-1, the engine lazily rotated The turbine was idle and rather sluggishly reacted to the supply of fuel, and after 3000 he began to turn with the wheels, like a circular saw on the forestry! I do not exclude that the engine's ability to confidently and evenly disperse the car in the snow was great at the inexpensive German wheels of Fulda Kristal Iglu 195/65 R 15, which unconditionally lost in this test the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 1 (195/65 R 15, mitsubishi) and gislaved nord nord. Frost II (205/55 R 16, Ford). Nevertheless, I would decide to purchase a VW Passat, opted for one of the four impeccable German atmospheric engines or even ordered an all-wheel drive turbodiesel with a machine gun and felt a truly happy person in the stream! And for the soul, I would bring VW Polo G40 SLALOM from Bochum and came off on weekends with a hydraulic coat to the fullest!
And finally, Ford Mondeo. Our magazine talked in sufficient detail about this car after its first sled presentation in San Trope (cars, b11/2000). There is no need to repeat myself, so I will express only a few subjective considerations about it. At the first glance at Mondeo, I had a involuntary, but, in my opinion, very indicative in our case, the FordSwagen reservation! It’s not ready to prove his innocence with a pencil in his hands, but in the silhouette the birth features of large cars from Wolfsburg and Ingolstadt clearly appear (there are stubborn rumors that one of the authors of the Audi A6 project, which had moved to Cologne, took an active part in the design of the design) ... To note that the car looks very safe, presentable and elegant, especially in black with a light salon. In general, you can’t clearly find it outside.
Inside, complete harmony and European quality. Ergonomics of the seats are perfectly adjacent to planting a person of any complexion. True, ahead of the tall passenger hangs a little on the knees of Torpedo, this is the same new line that any person sitting in Ford should feel. Otherwise, complete bounty! Heating of the frontal (!) And the rear glasses, heating seats, a climatic installation with very logical algorithms of settings and work, multifunctional on -board computer, very convenient cup holders and spacious containers under the roads taken on the road ... Stylish inserts for real aluminum are used in the interior design, Upon closer examination, those made from ... real aluminum. We also note a completely new instrument shield for the Ford, superior to a similar dull green part of the previous model, and a branded oval of a watch, successfully integrated into a monumental, like the Cologne Code of Hall, the central console ... It was only embarrassed that the standard Fordovskaya looks greeted from the last millennium from the last millennium Balalaika, somewhat falling in style from the common Gothic ensemble. In addition, including the first or third programs, you will spontaneously turn on/off the radio, then unexpectedly for yourself and others adjust the volume. The reason is in an unsuccessfully located convex steeple, acting as a switch and volume control.
There is a lot of space behind, as in the business class salon. If you do not take into account the already mentioned problems with the gap of the head-heading head for very tall passengers, the rest of Mondeo is more spacious than competitors. And in terms of the level of comfort, he was more likely to relate to cars of a higher class Ford, he tried to take into account all the wishes of numerous expert groups at an early stage of development and thoroughly studied the pros and cons of cars in this market sector. Those who had to ride in the previous Mondeo will be difficult to believe in the word, it hurt a lot of flaws of ergonomics after that the car was introduced to the consumer ...
In addition to the radio, from the old car to a new one without changes, a 2.5-liter 24-valve V-shaped engine with a capacity of 170 hp migrated to the power unit. And the torque of 220 Nm (by the way, in relation to the thrust from below, the unconditional leadership here holds Passat as possible 210 nm transmitted to wheels already at 1750 min-1, which somewhat raises its rating in our eyes after an unsuccessful attempt to take control of turbocharges). With this engine, Mondeo easily accelerates in incomplete 9 seconds to the first hundred, confidently goes along the highway in 200 and perfectly feels at any speed on any road (within reasonable limits, of course, but the limit is raised quite high!). A little alerted the appetite of the car according to our estimates, in the city cycle at a temperature of air -17C, our Ford demanded to pour 13-15 liters into it for every 100 km of run. I remember that during the autumn presentation a less powerful, but more effective in all modes, the new 2-liter Duratorq DI engine with a rather gambling driving along the mountain road in the first three gear did not go beyond 12 liters per hundred ...
And the gambling on Mondeo on a snowy road practically returned us in those days when at the mention of the name Ford, motorists around the world respectfully shot hats! A perfectly configured and balanced car allows you to just work miracles with a minimum skill of slippery driving! In addition to the calm and correct Ford engineers, the riding qualities of the machine brought to mind all the courts of the Ford Ford Racers from Jackie Stuart with Eddie Irvain to Carlos Sayns with Colin Mastramy. True, in such modes, a normal person is unlikely to operate this large representative machine, but she will almost always be higher than her master’s sled potential! I don’t know how, in comparison with competitors, but at a corporate level it is time to rephrack the well -known saying of the beginning of the century you can buy Ford of any color, provided that this Ford Mondeo!
Let's summarize:
In our opinion, Galant is perfect for the role of a family car or second transport in the family, which, as a rule, is controlled by the mistress of the house. In addition, this machine will be not only the face of the owner (as always, they are met by clothing!), But also a reliable workhorse that meals daily operation in our directions, the quality and reliability of Japanese technology, thank God, no one needs to prove to anyone in our country . Passat will become an ideal business carrier, especially if there are Germans among your partners who do not think in the old fashioned way that cars are divided into Mercedes and everyone else. This machine owes its impeccable reputation in our market to many generations of fresh winds, and the current copy will allow Russian VW dealers for a long time to be among class sales leaders.
As for Mondeo, with the proper positioning of this machine in our country, a great future is destined. It is difficult to imagine the amount of work done by the European Ford when preparing a car for access to a large light. And now it's time to start taking the cream from this tidy pie. Ford Mondeo is universal, multifunctional and many times. A real diamond in the faded was a Ford necklace. Something tells me that his competitors of a sweet life clearly does not have to wait ...
 
Alexey Mochanov,
Photo by Alexander Nozdrin
 
How do they look:
Nikita Rozanov

Outside:
If not for participation in the Mitsubishi test, then the conversation about the design of the other two participants would be short. Indeed, the appearance of Mondeo and Passat is simultaneously very different, and is surprisingly similar. The similarity lies, first of all, in the architecture of the main volumes and proportions of the bodies verified by aerodynamics, which are not enough to call relatives. Differences are manifested in details and are found during a closer examination. But the essence of the differences is that Passat is a facelifting modernization of a well -known model, the debut of which took place 12 years ago, and Mondeo was a completely new machine, which replaced not a particularly popular precursor of the 1993 of the release of the same name.
As much as he could, the former Mondeo tried to promote the New Edge style entering the world orbit. As for Passat, its style has always been flesh from the flesh of healthy German functionalism, and no one expected to exchange it for newfangled delights. As a result, Passat became only more solid and stricter, and thanks to the changed xenon lighting technology, he acquired a new and somewhat arrogant head of the headlights. However, Passat and Mondeo, and, for example, in the design of Mondeo, this contribute to some technicians of techno, manifested exposed to geometrically circular wheel arches, clean lines of bumper connectors, as well as the drawing of the rear lamps, behind the laconic triangles of which are distinguishable, began to look more solid and richer. clear circles. Galant is often called the Japanese BMW, which is really true: a similar aggressive reverse inclination of the radiator cladding and the evil gaze of four separate headlights, and the back of the window line is also characterized in the opposite direction.

Results:
Ford Mondeo The new image of the model is well reflected in its architecture, and the design successfully develops the previously found new Edge style, combining its decorativeness with the rationalism of the technique of techno.
Grade ****
Mitsubishi Galant is a sharp -shaking pattern of the front of the front part of the image of the entire car. But the aggressiveness of the plasticity declared at the same time is gradually lost on the sidewall and completely disappears in the design of the back of the body.
Grade ****
Volkswagen Passat is a very solid and traditionally high -quality German design.
Grade *****
Inside:
The interiors of the entire three cars look more conservative, although in relation to Mondeo and Passat it sounds in a positive sense as a praise of adherence to a certain style. Galant loses from this, because the declared aggression does not find support either in the architecture of the instrument panel or in its details. So, in Volkswagen, this commitment is manifested in traditional German functionalism. Mondeo and Galant are more affordable, although the central Mitsubishi console solidly gleams with varnished wooden inserts. However, sympathy for the Bavarian design appears in the architecture of the panel and in the layout of the Galant devices, and it seems that only the absence of a branded for the BMW reversal of the central console saves a dangerous resemblance. In Mondeo, the console is traditionally loaded with parts for Ford cars, and the dial of the arrow watches has silver decorative finishes. Silver are made and the rims of devices and four knitting needles of the steering wheel are made. Door handles and gearboxes also have a similar silver finish. Such a predominance in the interior of aluminum indicates the sympathies of designers to sports style. The upholstery of the doors of all three cars is traditionally complex in shape and is much large and is finished with at least two materials differing in color or texture, and the Galant doors are also decorated with a folded leather insert.

Results:
Ford Mondeo is a fairly solid and high -quality design adjacent to some oversaturation of details. The architecture of the instrument panel is not fully combined with plastic and decoration of the door panels.
Grade ****
Mitsubishi Galant The whole interior and each of its details permeates the spirit of calm and balance. But these properties do not correspond little to the appearance of the eccentricity of style and sports aggressiveness.
Grade ****
Volkswagen Passat style and quality of interior design demonstrate intentions to affirm the car as a flagship in the gamut of the company, and, as it is fulfilled, worthy of attention of connoisseurs of rationality and functionalism.
Grade *****
 
How they sound:
Maxim Rakitin

Unfortunately, only one of the three Mondeo contestants is equipped with a full -time audio system. The rest made the following program: Passat audio training and eight speakers, Galant standard acoustics and Pioneer KEH-110 CD reserve. The standard acoustics of Mitsubishi consists of six speakers: four in the front doors and two pancakes on the rear shelf. The front panel (with a slot under the disk) is not the most expensive Pioneer includes a fluorescent screen, a volume control, a cross -shaped menu regulator, preset button and fixed equalizer settings. The screen displays the frequency of tuner settings and the timing of the track. In a separate window of equalizer settings: Flat all imaginary frequency regulators are bred to zero; Superbass emphasis on low frequencies; Custom for pop music; Vocal emphasis on the middle and Curve for classics and jazz. On this header, low, high and even medium frequencies are separately regulated, which will especially please lovers of classical music and jazz.
A tuner with AM and FM ranges is equipped with RDS. The stations automatically are located from the first to the last in the range. For each range, four banks of memory of six cells. The tuner also has an additional service menu. In addition to standard memory cells, the user can bring six favorite stations into a separate cell. RDS recognizes the names of the stations and switches to those that transmit road messages. A tuner with a sensitivity of 30-35 dB works great even in development conditions and outside the city. The CD player, which is distinguished by the smooth operation of the loading mechanism and very good vibration resistance, reproduces the disk in free mode and loses the first ten seconds of each track. When connecting a chainer, it becomes possible to record the names of the disks. The Acoustics Galant and KEH-110 turned out to be quite a soup with a couple: 45 watts per channel are quite acceptable for the full-time speakers. From below, the dynamics are slightly overloaded especially with the low -frequency settings of the equalizer, so rock and dance music should not sound loud.
The Mondeo audio system also consists of a cd receiver and an acoustic system with four speakers in a pair in the rear and front doors. The Ford 6000 head device is a two -day device, which also implies the presence of a cassette player. However, it is not here, but there is a tuner AM, FM, Sydyuk and remote control on the steering wheel. Part of the front panel is removable. On the front panel, a large liquid crystal screen with huge symbols is released, where all the most necessary information is displayed. If the RDS line goes along the screen, then the information about the frequency at which the tuner is configured appears in the upper right corner, it is very convenient and useful. The control buttons and the volume control is large, with clear symbols. True, when you press the buttons, a slight force is required. The tuner, unfortunately, has no manual settings. In the automatic mode of the station are located in 18 cells for each range. The tuner lacks sensitivity, so some stations are especially ignored in the building area. Otherwise, the work of this part of the system left a pleasant impression.
The compact disinteum enters the head through a wide slot. The loading mechanism, slightly resisting, swallows the disk and after 2 seconds displays information on the display. The player can lose tracks in free mode, and at the end of it, the tuner will turn on. From the nest, the disk comes out reluctantly by one and a half centimeter, and it is inconvenient to stretch it. We note the absolute noiselessness of the player and his exemplary vibration resistance. The sound of the system, given its class, can be estimated at the hard five. The speakers are located extremely successfully. The design of the doors allows the system to work out each frequency, and to achieve overload is almost unrealistic. The bottoms are especially good: they do not clap and do not mutter, namely, they bash powerfully and here. On Ford 6000, both the rock band and the jazz ensemble sounds equally high-quality. The system pleases with its versatility and a wide range of functions (there is even a muffling of sound when talking on a mobile phone!).
 
 

Source: Cars