I firmly decided that I would achieve my goal. If after a walk through endless traffic jams the trip computer shows a consumption of less than four and a half liters per hundred, then with a uniform unhurried ride along the night Moscow ring road, I can reach the passport three liters!
As in spirit: I saved with all my might. Selected Eco mode. I got into the slowest row on the Moscow Ring Road. Barely pressing the pedal, he maintained a modest 80 km / h, staring at the graphic accelerometer on the instrument panel. Several times I even joined behind the truck, trying to stay in the slipstream. But the problem is that rare truckers drive along the night ring at the pace of a 90-year-old old woman. And when the next trucks began to honk, I freaked out! I switched to Normal mode, accelerated to 100 km / h and finished the 108-kilometer circle in just such a rhythm - natural for myself and adequate for others.
When the Prius came to a halt at the same gas station it had started from a little over an hour earlier, the trip computer showed an unexpected result: 4.3 l/100 km. This is only a “ten” less than what Toyota and I brought from the most exhausting Moscow traffic jams! Does the hybrid power plant work so efficiently and the modest city consumption is largely the merit of regenerative braking?
Everything is relative. To evaluate the effectiveness of the Prius in real conditions, we will be helped by two very traditional power plants - with a small diesel engine (1.6 l, 120 hp) and a Mini Cooper with a gasoline three-cylinder turbo engine (1.5 l, 136 hp) . How much more voracious are they than the hybrid Prius, and are they more voracious in principle? During the week we persistently searched for the answer to this very question.
Toyota PriusThe world's first mass-produced hybrid entered the assembly line in 1997 and was sold only in Japan for the first three years. The current generation is the fourth in a row. The new Prius made its debut towards the end of 2015, and in 2016 won the title of the most popular car in Japan, dispersing 248 258 copies. ENGINE:hybrid: 1.8 (122 hp) - from 2,112,000 rubles. | Mini CooperIn the recent history of the Mini brand, the current generation of Cooper hatchbacks is the third in a row. The car with the F56 index debuted in November 2013. In addition to the classic three-door, a five-door version with an increased wheelbase is offered. ENGINES: gasoline: | DS4 CrossbackThe pre-production car was shown in the fall of 2010 at a motor show in Paris. The following spring, sales were launched in Europe, a little later the Citroen DS4 got to us. In the spring of 2015, the French singled out DS as a separate premium brand: DS4 ceased to be Citroen and turned into DS 4 Crossback. Along the way, he survived a light restyling and got a 6-speed automatic. ENGINES: petrol: diesel: |
City's legends
Night. Eyes are closed with fatigue. And then there's this lulling smoothness, coupled with deafening silence and a soft, damn comfortable driver's seat. When I am in good condition, I am ready to sing praises to Japanese engineers. But when tired, the lulling Prius is dangerous. God forbid, something lyrical from the Coldplay repertoire will pour out of the speakers of the JBL audio system - you can go to the realm of Morpheus without leaving the wheel. And since, despite the general high technology and more than two million rubles on the price tag, the Russian Prius is deprived of autopilot, there is every chance of “parking” in the bump stop.
Irony irony, but there is some truth in what was said. Half asleep, for once, I rejoice at the policeman who stopped me a couple of songs from home. And they don’t care about documents, they are interested in something else. The Prius has never been handsome in the conventional sense, but it has made a fine show stopper in every generation. The debut of the current Prius was completely delayed for six months - the design was refined so that the board of directors, headed by Akio Toyoda, was satisfied with every little thing. And it was also necessary to “drop” the aerodynamic drag coefficient by at least one hundredth - for the sake of image. Now C x is 0.24 versus 0.25 for its predecessor, which is an impressive result.
It's brand new, the one for two million?
A surprisingly well-informed inspector scrutinizes the Prius from all angles.
Yep, fourth generation. This particular one is two million one hundred. Power? The 1.8 petrol engine produces 98 hp. Yes, plus an electric motor, the total return is 122 forces.
The next day I took the Mini. Just for the sake of being invigorating in the morning. If one of our trinity has an anti-sedative effect, it's Cooper. Even in a dull “wet-asphalt” color, and even if there is no nameplate in the form of the letter S on its body.
Behind the wheel of Cooper you smile and enjoy life. I want to crank up the volume of the audio system to the maximum and rush to Blink’s What’s my age again? - and it does not matter that there is only a 1.5-liter "three-pot" engine with a capacity of 136 forces, which works in conjunction with a 6-speed automatic. After the 122‑horsepower Prius with viscous, like chewing gum stuck to the sole, CVT is fireworks, the apotheosis of happiness! To celebrate, I even forget that I have to deliberately drive through the most hopeless Moscow traffic jams.Big little lies
Start, as usual, at the gas station. Full tank, zeroing of odometers - and our string goes to an unusual run.
Against the background of deliberately standing in traffic jams, yesterday's circle around the Moscow Ring Road looks in the eyes of the townsfolk as a highly logical act. Fortunately, Cooper allows you to enjoy even a leisurely ride. The steering wheel is tight and filled with feedback, the front seats are much more rigid, but no less comfortable than in Toyota. The smoothness of the ride is clearly not up to the Prius, but on small things the Cooper is surprisingly impenetrable. And after Toyota, it's a sin not to praise the brakes. In the Prius, an electric motor (recuperation) can unceremoniously wedge into the braking process at any moment, so the effort on the pedals walks, and deceleration is unpredictable.
But the start-stop system on the Mini works harshly. At least - after Toyota, in which you recognize the moment of connecting the internal combustion engine only by the characteristic sound during intensive acceleration. Not only did BMW engineers fail to completely defeat the “three-cylinder” vibrations, but also the automatic start of the engine at the beginning of the movement is accompanied by a noticeable poke.
In ordinary life, I always turn off the annoying one, but today I put up with gritting my teeth. Although when looking at the fuel gauge it becomes clear: Cooper still does not appreciate such a sacrifice.
The declared six liters in the urban cycle are fairy tales. And although we have long been accustomed to the excessive optimism of manufacturers, in the city the difference between passport and real Mini data exceeds indecent 25%. After fifty kilometers driven through traffic jams at an average speed of 22 km / h, the trip computer shows 8.3 l / 100 km. At the same time, Toyota, which follows, spends exactly half as much. And the diesel DS 4 eats six and a half liters per hundred against the declared four and a half: more than in the case of the Mini, as much as 31%.
Be that as it may, the obvious conclusion follows from the urban experiment, which suggested itself last night. It is regenerative braking that helps Toyota to be so effective in city traffic, and not blinds on the grille. And definitely not a flat bottom.
Today I'm going on a night trip driving a Mini. And before the start, I decide for myself this: since the Prius did not turn out to be one hundred percent eco-rally, it would be honest to do the same with the “Englishman”. And you know what? After a couple of tens of kilometers, the result of about five liters per hundred seemed quite achievable: at some point, after a long descent, the trip computer showed an incredible 5.1 l / 100 km! And yet, a couple of small rises, of which there are much more on the Moscow Ring Road than you notice in ordinary life, were quite enough to spoil the statistics again. At the finish line, I wrote down in my notebook: 5.5 l / 100 km. In general, not bad, but, whatever one may say, Mini is not about saving.
Recently, while browsing the Internet, I wandered into a site where the publication conducted a large-scale study on which cars are now most in demand among the population. Of course, it was already clear that a typical man who has lived for more than half a century wants something large, solid, comfortable and rolled. Home sofa with the function of moving through the streets. But what really struck me was that a significant part of the respondents answered that they wanted some kind of crossover! Damn it, is this really true?! Everyone needs a Jeep. Big or small, all-wheel drive or not, high or low - it doesn't matter!
It's cool to drive an SUV in Russia. Especially if it's big and black. But after all, this purchase is banal and, if you think carefully, is also meaningless. You get a huge mass, which impairs handling. Because of it, the car accelerates worse and slows down worse, and in addition, extra fuel consumption, because you have to constantly carry this mass. And what in return? Here is the most interesting part. In return comes the opportunity to go a little further into nature when you are going on vacation with your family. That is a couple of times a year. But this is just as pointless as carrying coal and barbecue with you all year to work, so that when you are going to the store, you can save half an hour on a forced march with a grocery cart. Fortunately, a note of common sense and reasonable minimalism is brought to this absurdity by those who do not sit on sites like this.
Daewoo Matiz
Jokes aside, most female drivers (at least beginners), as we all know, need good looks, easy handling, safety and acceptable comfort. Simply put, a small room to feel "in the house." And the first copy that is in stable demand among women is. What is worth knowing about this car?
Let's start with the bad. And there is a lot of it, if you look at things soberly. Firstly, the car is officially a five-seater, but I'm afraid that this is possible only if we are talking about a teacher carrying four children to a nursery. The materials are simple, the plastics are cheap, the build is somewhere between bad and disgusting, and yes - there is still no tachometer as standard! Of course, the engine in the "Matiz" costs from a toothbrush, but still, coupled with the "mechanics", the speed readings would not interfere with him either.
There are, however, positive aspects: despite its solid period of presence on the market, the car still looks pretty nice on the road to this day; it is moderately maneuverable and agile, and if a good copy comes across, then it will have an “automatic” box, power steering, air conditioning and even a sunroof. A three-year-old fresh copy can be found, on average, for 150-170 thousand.
smart fortwo
A very inexpensive and high-quality purchase for a girl whose spiritual impulses just ask for a holiday. We will not pull, immediately to the price. It is quite possible to find a copy of 2003–2005 for a modest 200 thousand, and since it is so accessible to many lovers of manicure and ice cream, it is worth continuing our conversation.
It is quite rare to find a bright car both outside and inside, moreover, for such money. If you came to the salon 15 years ago, when choosing a color, you would be asked the question: “What would your wife want, mister,“ crazy red ”or“ black jack ”?”. And the equipment on the copy I liked is not called “Norma” or “Lux”, but “passion”! And damn it, I'm not kidding! I wouldn’t be surprised if in the new car, even at the factory, samplers of perfumes and shampoos were laid out in pockets, and under the seat was a fresh issue of Vogue magazine.
But what about the technical side? This is perhaps the most controversial part of the car. On the one hand, the Smart has a frame, and the seller will probably tell you that thanks to it, the car will remain intact even if a meteorite falls on it. But as for the engine ... This is some kind of nightmare. You see, originally there was an engine, the volume of which was less than a pint of beer. He gave out 45 horses, that is, about the same as a trimmer on your razor in the bathroom. You might think that this should be enough, the car is small. But I'm afraid that's not entirely true. Or rather, not at all. With a driver behind the wheel, it weighs nearly 800kg, which is insanely heavy for a sneaker-sized car. Fortunately, the company realized its mistake and a year later installed a monstrous turbocharged engine here with 55 “horses” that force themselves to be respected. With such a motor, children on scooters will no longer overtake you, and the maximum speed is declared as 135 km / h. True, when I once went with a friend to such, we did not succeed in developing it. So, probably, marketers had in mind the speed in free fall. Seriously though, this is a good choice for a novice girl who wants to ride a girlfriend, albeit the only one.
Nissan Micra
The next instance is not so flashy in terms of appearance, but still consistently in demand among the beautiful half - Nissan Micra (aka Nissan March). And we will talk about the most popular model of the third generation today. The most reasonable purchase, perhaps, in terms of price / practicality. It is quite possible to find a car of 2004 for the same modest 200 thousand. And it's not a waste of money, I must say! The machine is literally saturated with common sense. There are rear doors and mounts for child seats, the car is equipped with anti-lock brakes, stabilization, and there are as many as five cup holders in the cabin! And that's not it. A reminder for an important date can be entered into the on-board computer, the glove compartment has a recess under the A4 sheet, and a hook is hidden to the left of it, on which you can hang a bag of groceries. At night, the headlights lead the hostess to the front door of the house, as it continues to illuminate the path for another two minutes. If she forgot to turn off the lights in the cabin, after a while the lamps will go out automatically. Are you serious?! Yes, half of these functions are not even in the Range Rover Sport!
But here's what's strange: for all its reasonableness and the right approach to detail, Micra for some reason is not so incendiary. And your girlfriend will want one as a gift, except perhaps for her seventieth birthday. This practicality hides the essence of the machine, and something tells me that this is why all Micras are painted in the colors of pillowcases and scarves brought by your relatives in 1974 from Gelendzhik. If cars came to life, I bet this one would turn into a grandmother. Therefore, you can advise "Mikra" to those for whom comfort is much more important than charisma.
Ford Fiesta
Frankly, I spent more than half of the article and I'm not sure that you and I have come to some kind of reasonable solution. But stop fooling around. This time I have a trump card. If you have a little more money, then for 300-330 thousand you will get a win-win option. The royal flush among women's cars is the penultimate generation Ford Fiesta. Yes, yes, the car of 2009 can be taken at a price of , and this is an amazing thing! It won't make you feel like a lethargic car like a generation ago, and it doesn't have the gaudy looks of the newest sedan that is supposed to pull Ford out of a crisis. In front of you is a real car. It looks great, drives great, is cool inside and has a bit of insanity in case your girlfriend has a driver's spark and a sense of adventure.
When this model came out, dealer warehouses emptied out twice as fast as expected. The company itself did not understand what kind of candy it had made until it launched it on the market. A lot of nice interior solutions like a panel a la a cell phone, a hefty climate control and senseless, but outwardly interesting windows located behind the mirrors, make the car attractive for a girl of almost any age. Of course, there is a power steering, an automatic transmission and a radio tape recorder. But you will find all this in any of the machines listed here, so the reason lies not in them, of course. Ride this little one just once and I bet you'll remember it.
Mini Cooper
I thought about the end for a long time. The car should be feminine or at least cute. It should have charisma, be compact, easy to steer, have seats in the back, an interesting interior, and preferably not look like an artifact after the release of each next generation. Namely, this was the case with everyone from this list, except maybe Smart. That is, her appearance should be in some sense classical. And in addition to combining all these qualities (which, by the way, no one has yet succeeded in), the car should, at least for reasonable reasons, not exceed the cost of the Fiesta. Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present you the headliner of our review - the Mini Cooper. For the same 300-330 thousand as Ford, you will get a real thoroughbred English car with an excellent pedigree of 2002-2003 release.
For those not in the know, the Mini is a car that was developed in the late 1950s during the British fuel crisis, so it's a little ironic, but it's very relevant in the current crisis to remember it. The car was originally designed as compact as possible, with the condition that there would be rear seats in the cabin. Inside, the car has the famous huge speedometer that crashes in the middle, a winged badge on the steering wheel, aircraft equipment control toggle switches and many other nice little things. The glazing is curiously made - it is almost vertical, which, coupled with frameless doors, makes it very charming.
The technical filling went to the baby from BMW, it is under her leadership that Mini creates its cars today. Therefore, the in-line “four” from the BMW 3 Series in the 46th body, which stands here under the hood, is not a revelation at all, giving out 115 hp. There are, however, also disadvantages. So, the disgusting variator spoils the driving experience a little, and you can only put a yoga coach in the back - anyone else will break his leg or get stuck. But all these are trifles compared to what emotions such a car will give to its owner.
You can look for flaws in "lady cars", endlessly repeating to girls that there are millions of reasons to choose something more practical, comfortable, calm and unpretentious. But if a woman wants one of these "clutches on wheels", then this is a sign that a playful girl still lives in her soul, and isn't that what we value so much in women?
The Japanese Suzuki Swift is often compared to the British Mini Cooper. Well, there is indeed some resemblance to this iconic Briton in the outlines of Suzuki's bestseller. However, a cursory inspection of the car up close, and even more so next to the "celebrity", says that they are not much alike. The Japanese Suzuki has only a British name - Swift. Apparently, the fate of all cars of this class is to be compared with the Mini.
Suzuki Swift is swift, fast, even a little aggressive. Although the Japanese is weaker than the British in terms of engine power, however, this has a positive effect on the transport tax - Suzuki Swift with its 94 horses falls into the lowest tax rate in Russia. In addition, when comparing these two models with a manual transmission, the Swift wins in fuel consumption per liter of gasoline.
There is no need to talk about the price of these cars: you have to pay for addiction to cult things, and a lot. The difference in price between these two machines can exceed 100 percent.
Well, comparisons with the Mini Cooper are enough. Let's now turn our attention to the actually tested three-door Suzuki Swift.
Our test Swift turned out to be unusual: with the help of Square's signature film, he was given a "personality" that distinguishes him from a number of his fellows. The gray-blue stripes emphasized his elegant athleticism. In addition, it was only thanks to them that the white car stood out against the endless white background of freshly fallen snow (and bad weather accompanied us all the time, and even the assurances of advertising booklets about the fabulous number of sunny days in the northern Crimea - Luga) did not help. And when the track was finally sprinkled abundantly with salt, the same strips did not allow the car to turn into an ordinary dull, unrecognizable something of the color of dirt.
Such decoration of the car will cost about 30 - 35 thousand rubles. But it seemed to me that it was worth it, at least for a white car - the striped Swift immediately acquires additional glamor.
Only thanks to the striped coloring with the help of the "Square" self-adhesive film, our Suzuki Swift stood out against the background of endless white snow.
Thresholds also pleased the eye with a gray-blue trim.
Inside, the Suzuki Swift proved to be very mature, and a noble gray color scheme with silver and black accents emphasizes the car's sporty warehouse. However, the shape of the glass, designed to emphasize the sporty character of the car, also gives some disadvantages. At first, the overhanging roof and small side windows make you feel like you are sitting in a tank - there is already a lot of iron around. At the same time, from the inside, Swift seems wider than it actually is. Because of this, getting used to the dimensions is slower. This is especially felt when parking in narrow spaces in reverse: high doors reduce visibility. But the situation is saved by mirrors - you can see them well, the dead zones are very small, however, nevertheless, in such a car I would like to have a parking sensor.
On the road, despite the abundance of iron, the visibility of the car is good, and the wide stance does not interfere at all on the road.
On a wide windshield, without blocking the view, there is a whole set of auto gadgets taken with you on the road. A teXet DVR-1GP video recorder perched behind the rear-view mirror, a Sho-Me 530 radar detector lay on the torpedo. True, the sticky mat-holder Sho-Me did not want to be glued to the torpedo polished for tests, but the friction force between it and the surface was quite enough for the radar detector to remain in its place even on the bumps of the M10. There was enough space in the corner for the navigator in the Lexand SR-5550 HD video recorder, which guided us using the NAVITEL Navigator 5 navigation program.
The noble gray range of the interior with silver and black accents in the test car is complemented by a "family" decoration of the gear knob. A trifle, but pleasant. In general, Suzuki Swift has a lot of pleasant little things regarding comfort: comfortable glove compartments and various niches where you can put various small things you need on the road.
Fuel consumption
This parameter should be marked with a big fat plus. No, Suzuki Swift doesn't "eat" gasoline, he sniffs it elegantly!
Dimensions Suzuki Swift
Looking at any small car and trying it on a city street, especially a Russian one, you involuntarily think that the small size of the car is somehow dissonant with the big picture. A small car is knocked out of the general stream. However, when looking at the Chinese car Lifan-320 "Smily" - such a feeling does not arise, although its dimensions are not large.
Probably, the whole point is that this Chinese car in many ways resembles the appearance of a “proud Briton named Cooper and the surname MINI”.
The body of the five-door hatchback Lifan-320 "Smiley" has absorbed only some of the features of the appearance of its iconic "twin". Although the general features of the exterior echo the appearance of the MINI, some details still make the “320th” car original.
Chinese automakers, however, like the people of the East in general, are prone to car decoration, often empty. In the case of this Lifan, the situation is radically different. The body design of the car is made in the tradition of European minimalism. Manufacturers have only slightly changed the rear roof rack, slightly expanding it. This gives the car some massiveness in comparison with the same MINI, at the same time depriving the body style of a certain integrity. The manufacturers themselves say that their brainchild is more like Japanese than European cars. It's up to the consumer to decide. The one for which the “clothing” of the car matters.
Those who are more interested in a comfortable interior, comfortable driving and ergonomic control of the main systems will be pleasantly surprised by the implementation of all the above points in the Lifan 320. The automaker, apparently, professes a philosophy according to which the driver is in charge in the car. All the comfort of the interior is aimed specifically at him - the leading car. Even the center console, which in other cars is oriented strictly in the center, here, as it were, is slightly turned towards the driver. And, of course, only being in the cabin of the 320th Lifan, you understand the deceitfulness of the visually small overall dimensions of the car - there is more freedom inside than when viewed from the outside. The color scheme as a whole is strict, but not so much as to use the word "presses".
Comfortable interior for the driver, plus small dimensions - and once! To the delight of the consumer, a car ideal for hassle-free movement in the pandemonium of city highways.
If we talk about the technical characteristics of the "Smily-320" ... It drives, let's not be afraid to say so, the "miracle" is a sixteen-valve power unit with a volume of 1.3 liters. The engine develops 86 hp. Thanks to this engine power, this car can accelerate to “hundreds” in 14.5 seconds. The torque generated by the engine, which reaches a maximum of 5800 rpm, is transmitted to the front wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox. The maximum speed with which Smiley-320 is capable of moving is 150 km / h.
In the urban traffic cycle, fuel consumption is slightly less than five liters per hundred kilometers. The engine configuration is nothing special - a four-cylinder in-line with two camshafts, common for this class of cars. The characteristics of the motor are in accordance with the Euro-5 eco-standard.
The suspension of Lifan Smily (320) is lever, and is traditionally divided into front and rear. Both are equipped with suspension struts and anti-roll bars. As a result, the car has good handling when driving on most road surfaces.
The condition of the coating does not matter much due to the relatively high ground clearance - 170 mm. This clearance allows you to operate the car, in some cases, even on rural roads.
The car is equipped with reliable brakes - front disc and rear drum.
Of course, the tests carried out at the factory test site can be called a test drive with a big stretch, but, nevertheless, comparing the results of factory tests and the real driving experience of other Lifan models, the experts came to the conclusion that, in general, the 320th Smily in terms of performance, it is quite consistent with its segment.
As some media outlets officially put it, “a decision was made to start” the production of this model at the Derways automobile plant located in the North Caucasus, in Karachay-Cherkessia. The plant plans to reach the capacity, which will allow to meet the demand of the consumer, by the middle of 2011 (in 2010 this car has already passed all the necessary certification tests).
The price of Lifan Smiley (320) in 2014 (for the basic configuration) is ~ 320 thousand rubles. In essence, this is a small price to pay for the opportunity to "rush at full sail" (roughly translated into Russian as "Lifan") across the Russian expanses in a car that looks so much like a "British".
As they say: Toyota Mark. How actually: Toyota Mark II.
The right-hand drive model "Toyota Mark 2" is so popular in Russia that many have heard about it even in St. Petersburg and Moscow, not to mention the regions east of the Urals. There is an opinion that the car is called Toyota Mark, and the deuce in the name refers to the generation.
Meanwhile, initially, in 1968, the car was called Toyota Corona Mark II, that is, the "second version of the Crown", and it was created in order to fill a niche between the luxury Crown and the mass Corona. By the fifth generation, that is, by 1984, the Corona name had disappeared, and the model was simply called the Mark II. Such Russians knew her during those 20 years that right-hand drive cars could be imported to us on the cheap.
It is curious that Toyota decided to beat the tenth generation Mark II, and called it Mark X, that is, "Tenth Mark". But then confusion again went on, because the second generation of this model was also called the Mark X, and not the Mark XI at all. Read about the most outstanding cars of the Japanese market in parts of our large review of models from the Land of the Rising Sun.
3rd place
As they say: Mercedes ML Class. How actually: Mercedes M class. The Mercedes SUV, which appeared in the early 2000s and quickly gained recognition not only from bandits, but also from officials, businessmen and glamorous party-goers, we used to call "Emelka" or "Emelya". The indexes included ML350, ML550 ... But there is no ML-class in the list of Mercedes-Benz models. How so? It's all about legal subtleties. BMW had exclusive rights to use the letter M in its indices, so the M350 and M550 could not be born, but no one forbade Daimler to establish the M-class. And so a logical inconsistency appeared, which worsened after the release of the more prestigious GL-class. Until now, no one can understand why Daimler did not like the idea of naming the car Mercedes-Benz ML-class. About how profitable it is now to buy a used "Emelka" and how much it will cost to repair, we figured out one of.
