Named the perfect car that will last 10 years
The world is so beautiful - it has cheap hatchbacks, fast coupes, premium German sedans, KIA Picanto crossovers, healthy SUVs and even a Ferrari FF. However, if you are an ordinary Russian with an average income, children, a dog, outdoor activities on rough terrain, a summer house and a love for boring driving and want to buy a car that will be universal for 10 years ahead, then the list of suitable options is reduced to only three and a half models. .
So I want a good car with a large comfortable trunk where you can put a cage with a shepherd dog or stick fishing rods, push a stroller and a scooter. I need a spacious interior to carry two offspring in child seats and a group of friends. For the same reasons, there should be cup holders, and roomy pockets in all doors. And I need a built-in folding hitch for a boat trailer and bike rack, and roof rails for ski racks. And now the coupe and convertibles immediately leave for the holiday sunset. Sedans and cunning liftbacks disguised as them with the same beveled rear pillar, which reduces the height of the trunk, are also brushed aside, as are slightly more roomy hatchbacks. Minibuses are too big even for a sheepdog and even more so for city streets.
Next - I want a car with good cross-country ability, which means four-wheel drive and a clearance of at least 170 mm. At the same time, it’s too early for me to switch to the retirement group and drive a “vegetable” that picks up 100 km / h for longer than 7-8 seconds and rolls in a turn, like a rocking chair or a minivan, forcing me to give up safe overtaking on the highway and a green wave of traffic lights in the city.
Yes, the car must be fast and maneuverable, but smooth and comfortable, so that the parents whom I take to the country do not compare it to the train on bumps. Spacious jeeps of varying degrees of throughput have to be excluded, because fast and sporty among them are only expensive Range Rover, and the rest are more like crossovers, and also by no means popular brands, and this does not fit into my budget at all. And even among premium crossovers, a quick start can often be provided not by basic configurations, but by even more expensive modifications with more powerful engines.
As a result, only station wagons, station wagons and crossovers remain on the list. The vast majority do not immediately go through the dress code for acceleration - the average 0-100 km / h is 9-10 seconds, even for the sporty-looking Mazda CX-5.
The car must be safe, which means excellent crash test scores, the maximum set of airbags, emergency braking assistance, dynamic swiveling xenon or LED headlights with automatic high beam, parking sensors with a rearview camera and Isofix for child car seats.
It should be modern, with a heated steering wheel and rear seats, a three-zone “climate”, cruise control with a speed limiter, car parking, USB ports, sockets and a function to connect a smartphone to multimedia, with good “music” and an electric tailgate. The car must be comfortable for two permanent drivers, so you need a power seat adjustment with memory.
For this reason, budget cars have to be crossed out from the remaining two categories. Well, it would be nice if the car that I will see at the entrance for many years did not look like an old shoe or like a Subaru Forester, but would have a neat, up-to-date design (and be blue). And you can’t do without protective “off-road” linings made of unpainted plastic along the bottom of the body. And for the life of me, such a machine will cover absolutely all the fantasies that can only arise in ten years.
Unfortunately, I can’t afford the Porsche Cayenne and Mercedes-Benz E-Class All-Terrain, and even the all-wheel drive “shed” Audi A4 - I can spend no more than 2,5 million rubles on a dream car. The same Subaru Forester, despite a good starting price, is suitable only with the most powerful engine, and this is already beyond the budget. The high cost is another reason to exclude the spacious, fast and well-equipped Chrysler Pacifica minivan. Therefore, two Volkswagens remain, almost three Skodas and even two "almost premium" Volvos and Infiniti. All are fast station wagons of the so-called cross-country ability or crossovers.
In the Czech-German family, the choice, at first glance, is the largest, but with reservations. The Superb Combi is very good, but too big for the city and at the same time too small for rough terrain - we cross it out. The new Kodiaq crossover boasts a lot of features (sleepy headrests, car parking, folding towbar, kick-open trunk, 10-color interior lighting), but if you add the necessary options to the only quick modification, then the price will crawl out of the budget. The Octavia station wagon crashes due to insufficient ground clearance. It remains its off-road version of the Octavia Scout. And the price is reasonable, despite the fact that the options will have to earn a couple of hundred thousand rubles.
Volkswagen, which nevertheless makes better, albeit very similar cars for the parent brand, will have to make a difficult choice between the Passat Alltrack and Tiguan. The station wagon has a larger trunk, and the Tiguan is more passable. Also, the Passat doesn't have heated rear seats (but you can order two integrated child seats in the back), and the Tiguan lacks a subwoofer. Otherwise, in terms of equipment and configuration of free and paid functions, the machines are very close and both fit all requests.
Volvo also has built-in child seats and a very good audio system, but for many options (even airbags, this is in Volvo), you have to pay, and pay much more, and LED headlights, a towbar, a car park, a three-zone “climate” and an electric trunk even for the money will not deliver. In addition, Volvo has a small trunk, only 430 liters. For the same reason, we exclude the Infiniti QX30.
… As a result, the Skoda Octavia Scout, Volkswagen Tiguan or Volkswagen Passat Alltrack are the optimal car for all the needs of the average Russian. And what car will you choose for yourself 10 years ahead?
