Skoda Superb, Toyota LC200 and Mitsubishi Outlander drive

Every month, the AvtoTachki editorial staff briefly talks about the new products in the Russian car market: how to maintain them, what to remember during operation, how to choose the optimal configuration and much more. In June, we loaded pallets into a Mitsubishi Outlander, accustomed the Toyota Land Cruiser 200 to Moscow traffic jams, took the kids to the Skoda Superb and tried to save fuel with the Lexus RX.

Roman Farbotko loaded pallets into Mitsubishi Outlander

“Drive up here, just look in the mirrors so that you don’t hit that pin,” the obese guard at the construction warehouse was very happy about my visit. But the enthusiasm of the seller, who suddenly felt like a businessman, disappeared as soon as I drove into the warehouse: “Hey, are you going to load pallets here? Yesterday we barely put three into the XC90 - they killed the whole salon.

 

All the time I drove the Outlander, I was completely confident that the Japanese crossover has a hefty trunk. Meter per meter? Yes, there should have been at least seven such pallets here, and for the rest I would have returned in an hour. But hopes were dashed by the roulette wheel of the same guard: “Don't you believe? Look: 80 by 70. What pallets, you can hardly even shove a refrigerator here. "

With the refrigerator, he, of course, got excited: in Outlander we still did not load what we came for, but Mitsubishi's characteristics should not be belittled. The minimum trunk volume of the crossover is 477 liters, and if you fold out the rear sofa, then the useful space can be increased to 1,6 cubic meters. And this is one of the best indicators among classmates. Ahead is only Toyota RAV4 (577 liters and the same maximum 1,6 cubic meters).

 

Moreover, there is no need to be intimidated by the useful space: yes, there are no convenient nets and hooks, as in the Skoda Octavia, but there are niches under the raised floor where you can put packages from the supermarket so that they do not fly all over the trunk. But there is one problem: if you fit, for example, a set of a motorist into the same niches, then at every turn he will roll on a slippery plastic surface.

The Outlander doesn't have many niches for little things. For some reason, the manufacturer limited itself to a pocket under the center console, a pair of cup holders and a medium-sized box in the glove compartment. It is difficult to attach the phone so as not to miss an important message: all the listed branches are located lower than usual, so it is imperative to synchronize the smartphone with the multimedia system.

“Well, you stop by, if that. My neighbor seems to have the same car, he built a dacha on it. Pallets - no, but we will normally load it with cement, ”the guard shouted goodbye.

Alexey Butenko taught Land Cruiser 200 to Moscow traffic jams

Our great friend Matt Donnelly in his test drive for AvtoTachki said that the updated Land Cruiser 200 is a great car, only Moscow is not the right city for him. I was taught not to argue with the elders, and this witty Briton has tremendous experience in the automobile business, but here I have to object.

The point is this. I am sick with a strange, almost Nabokov's love for small, stupid, awkward cars. So nimble that they are subject to the new dangerous driving law, even when they are parked. Moreover, I consciously and stubbornly buy them, and therefore have long worked out for myself the criteria for an ideal transport for endless Moscow traffic jams, none of which these cardboard boxes match. There are only three of them: high seating position, spacious interior, smooth gearbox.

Another thing is "two hundred". There is so much space inside that you will never see a driver in it who sits correctly at the wheel - he has already lay on the gigantic armrest, sat cross-legged, hung on the steering wheel, called his wife, friends and workers in the country, twirled the iPad in his hands, put back, but when this traffic jam ends, what am I doing in this city, drive through, do not sleep.

 

For some time, this good person spends on setting up the climate control, because it is really convenient to use it in only one way - if you first bring the climate window to the home screen of the multimedia system. Otherwise, in order to increase the fan speed by one division, you will have to thoroughly walk through the menu.

It is also very important that the interior is beautiful. As you know, almost all buyers of the Land Cruiser 200 consider their SUV to be a premium one, which is logical if we start only from its price, but somewhat strange when the Lexus LX is alive. So, after the facelift, they have much more grounds for this statement - the interior has added quality and order, and the traditional values ​​of the "two hundred" have never gone away. Bought myself an 11-inch MacBook Air. Then I was very happy, sitting behind the wheel of the pre-styling Kruzak, that this is the first laptop that fits in the glove compartment. But he has not fit into any glove box of any other car over the past few years.

 

Another important point for noisy Moscow traffic: the Land Cruiser now has much better brakes - it stopped trying to throw me off the saddle with every hard stop, although the nods were still noticeable.

But the main trump card of the "dvuhsotka" is the absolute invincibility of its appearance. I just blinked my headlights at the old Opel that was in the oncoming lane, and it had already taken off backwards onto a busy highway so briskly that I grabbed my heart. Only one car has enough charisma to break this trump card - only against the background of recent events, it seems that Gelendvagens will soon be banned from entering Moscow.

So dear Matt. Yes, the "green" ones hate me, no matter what filters there are on the diesel engines modernized with restyling. Yes, the owners of gas stations idolize, where I visit more often than at home. Yes, in turns the Kruzak tilts so that it is better to leave a glass of sparkling wine on the table in the bar. But this is the first car that cares about me more than I do about him. And in our nervous city it is very useful.

Ivan Ananyev drove children to Skoda Superb

Superb is my first car in which the backrests of the front seats were kept clean. Any young dad will understand me: in a car where children ride in their seats behind, the backs of the front seats are chronically stained with small soles, either for hooligan motives or for the love of art. If your child can reach your seat with his foot, be sure that he will do so. They, of course, tried here, and even in the end they were able, when dad took them to the "weak", but in general, the battle with children's Superb boots often comes out the winner. You have to stretch too far.

 

For one Superb it is simply excessively long, but for family transportation the question is exactly the opposite: how great is it that it is so long. Especially in the trunk area. I didn't have enough things to load it completely, although a usual trip with two young children, for example, to the country house, is always a game of Tetris with boxes, bags and pots. Here it is enough to simply open the compartment, fold everything inside and quietly secure the gift for the father-in-law in the side net so that it does not rattle or break. This machine brings up family values ​​very clearly.

The Superb is so long, fast and comfortable that one replaces all the cars I need at once. If I don't bring children or belongings, then I go for pleasure, and the length is not a hindrance to me - the chassis is tuned in the same way as in the related VW Passat, and I even like the interior with its many little things better. The motors here are one better than the other, and the 220-horsepower version is just fine. It's just that it's already difficult to park in places, and in a perpendicular parking lot, the third Superb always sticks out its nose treacherously.

 

I wonder if there will come a time when the constant growth of machines stops? What will be the next Superb then? Six-meter? I would say that now it is enough. Because just a little more, and it will turn from convenient to clumsy. It is clear that children grow up too, but they also gain intelligence quickly. And they stop pounding on the backs of the seats themselves, and not at all because of the inability to reach them.

Nikolay Zagvozdkin saved on Lexus RX on the way to St. Petersburg

Judging by the economic situation in the country by newspapers and television, the peak of the crisis has passed. Perhaps, but the present time teaches us to save money, so my wife and I decided to go to St. Petersburg for a few days in a Lexus RX. Basically, of course, to be able to move around the city, to get to Komarovo and Vyborg, but also to check which is more profitable: "Sapsan", plane or personal transport.

We left at night, having previously filled up a full tank of fuel. While my wife, having ripped my phone out of the system, was persistently tweaking her favorite radio station in the not very simple Lexus multimedia system, we reached almost the paid M11 section in the Tver region.

 

At first glance, a 300-horsepower crossover is not the best choice for a long trip in terms of fuel consumption. But no, the first refueling was needed only after more than 400 km, and to the end point (the famous Komarovo from Igor Sklyar's song, to which we had to drive 880 km) I drove with a quarter of the tank, but without refueling. As a result, the RX traveled 2 km for the entire trip, and I spent about $ 050 on gasoline. (a one-way ticket for Sapsan for one person will cost about $ 107

) at an average price of a liter of AI-95. we get an average fuel consumption of 10 liters per 100 kilometers.

The result is unexpected, like the victory of Portugal at the European Championship 2016. Moreover, if it were not for the specificity of the road to St. Petersburg (permanent settlements, which means ragged speed, deceleration and acceleration), the consumption could be even lower - on the same paid section, when I was driving 110-120 km / h on a cruise -control, the computer showed a consumption of 9,4 liters.

And most importantly, such a modest appetite does not at all affect the dynamics of the car. This is due to the new 8-speed automatic transmission and the ability to change driving modes. If in "Eco", which I used on the track, the car is unpretentious, like an ascetic, then in sports mode it is very dynamic, albeit a little roll.