Test drive Renault Duster, Suzuki Jimny, UAZ Patriot: who wins?
Test Drive

Test drive Renault Duster, Suzuki Jimny, UAZ Patriot: who wins?

It is believed that real SUVs are no longer needed, and modern crossovers are no worse than them where the asphalt ends. In general, we went to check it off-road

The plan was simple: go to a field familiar from previous tests with tractor tracks, drive two SUVs Suzuki Jimny and UAZ Patriot as far as possible and try to follow their tracks in a crossover. Renault Duster was chosen as the latter - the most prepared and combat-ready of this category of cars.

That is, either we prove that a car without a frame and a rigidly connected all-wheel drive is not capable of anything in serious conditions, or it turns out that classic SUVs are already outdated, and a sturdy crossover is quite capable of replacing them. But everything went wrong almost immediately.

First, a helicopter hovered over our trio, and after a while, a UAZ Patriot arrived on the field with security - almost the same as ours, but with "mechanics" and released before last year's updates. We looked inside and made sure that the current one looks more modern and noticeably tidier. However, the visitors had no time for comparisons. It turned out that the field is a protected area, under which a gas pipeline is laid, and we need to leave as soon as possible before the police intervened.

Test drive Renault Duster, Suzuki Jimny, UAZ Patriot: who wins?

Fortunately, we still managed to climb off-road, but we had to shoot in other, more sterile conditions. However, they, too, had time to twitch their nerves when it turned out that the smooth slopes of the hills are very steep and covered with ice, and away from the rolled primer it is not difficult to fall into the snow.

In such conditions, in mono-drive mode, both UAZ Patriot and Suzuki Jimny are completely helpless, but connecting the front axle changes everything: both cars climb onto an icy slope, dive into ruts and crawl out of liquid mud, and snow is not an obstacle at all, if at least two the wheels are clinging to something more or less solid.

It is not easy to directly compare the capabilities of these machines on the off-road. UAZ has a more serious arsenal and an adequate "machine gun", but it is heavy and clumsy. The Suzuki, on the other hand, is very easy to climb, but sometimes it just lacks the mass to punch its way through. And in terms of geometry - almost parity: the lack of corners and large dimensions Patriot compensates for the huge ground clearance, but there is a feeling that it is easier to overcome ruts and shallow ditches on Jimny.

Test drive Renault Duster, Suzuki Jimny, UAZ Patriot: who wins?

How does Duster look in this company? For a crossover, it is very good, because it has excellent geometry and a very reliable rear wheel drive clutch. But it's still too early to put them next to them. The Duster can go really far, but the ground clearance here is large only by passenger standards, and the all-wheel drive electronics work with some delays. One thing is for sure: this is the most comfortable option in off-road conditions.

The same goes for normal roads. In fact, the Duster is an ordinary passenger car that holds the road well, easily swallows road irregularities and is quite comfortable in urban conditions, adjusted for the heavy steering wheel and some weakness of the power unit. The Jimny is even less dynamic, but it has other problems: a large turning radius, very stiff suspension and poor handling, which requires a lot of effort.

A large UAZ Patriot in the city, oddly enough, seems almost more lightweight compared to Jimny - and all thanks to the "automatic". It was almost possible to get rid of noise and chatter, and the thrust of the power unit seems quite decent. Finally, in terms of capacity, it has no equal at all, and for a person who chooses a car to overcome off-road, and not for fun on it, this is the best choice.

 

It seems incredible, but in three days of owning a Suzuki Jimny, I received about as much attention as in the previous three years driving different cars, including the newest and most luxurious ones. The paradox: everyone likes it, but no one seriously considers buying it. Everyone is ready to chat or take a picture nearby, even ask about the price, so that later they can slap you on the shoulder and drive off into the sunset.

Test drive Renault Duster, Suzuki Jimny, UAZ Patriot: who wins?

However, there was one exception. A young couple approached the parking lot, the man asked some very correct questions and said that he wanted to buy this car for his wife. Sorry buddy, but Jimny won't work for her. You wondered how comfortable it was inside, and you yourself found the answer by looking into the salon. You asked if he was capable of driving on the highway, and I honestly answered that this was not his element at all. You wanted to know how maneuverable he is in the city, and I honestly listed all the shortcomings of the frame structure with heavy bridges and a small turning radius.

I also remembered that your wife did not ask anything, because everything immediately became clear to her. She looked at a cute cube with the shape of a box, at a retrospective salon made of hard plastic with climate control and saw in this a wonderful toy worth as much as 1,5 million rubles. And when you asked the question about off-roading, she lost all interest, but you turned into one big ear.

There is only one answer to the main question about this car: yes. The Jimny is absolutely beautiful off the highways, and of course it doesn't need a road to go off-road because it has a road everywhere. Huge ground clearance and gigantic angles of entry and exit allow you to dive into any ditch, and if you are embarrassed by 102 liters. with. gasoline engine, then we must remember about a small mass and a large downshift. In general, there is no such hill that would not take this little car.

Test drive Renault Duster, Suzuki Jimny, UAZ Patriot: who wins?

Jimny has a double wow factor: it is very effective on the outside and even more effective off-road. This car travels wherever it does not fall through the hood. It is not a fact that it will go around the huge UAZ Patriot, but it passes along its track, and in terms of maneuverability and geometry it beats it quite easily. The only thing that Suzuki lacks in such conditions is the feeling of a large and reliable car, which the UAZ gives from the doorstep with an “automatic”, because Jimny is not only compact, but also shaking. And also - some kind of interwheel differential lock to combat diagonal hanging.

Test drive Renault Duster, Suzuki Jimny, UAZ Patriot: who wins?

But it gives an intoxicating sense of unity with the car and a sense of absolute permissiveness where crossovers do not even stick. All this in return for stability on the track, good noise insulation, a large trunk and electronic assistant systems, which are simply not there.

These are the very reasons why your wife does not need Jimny, buddy, but they are exactly the same reasons that you need him. So you can really buy your wife Jimny, just do not forget to first give her your Qashqai, which she will happily ride.

I have déjà vu: a huge clumsy UAZ Patriot again went to me - the only person in the editorial office who really knows what narrow Moscow courtyards are. Not the ones that are built up with high-rise buildings and crammed with tiny sedans on the outskirts of the city, but the old Moscow courtyards in the center, where it is difficult to enter in a big car and where it is almost impossible to turn around.

Test drive Renault Duster, Suzuki Jimny, UAZ Patriot: who wins?

But here's the surprise: the 2020 Patriot has an automatic transmission and a media system with a rear-view camera, making it much more convenient. And this fully applies to the ability not only to easily spin in parking lots, but also to drive calmly in the stream. "Automatic" completely changes the perception of the car - instead of a rattling box with twitching transmission levers, you find yourself in a tall SUV that drives almost the way a modern car should do it.

Test drive Renault Duster, Suzuki Jimny, UAZ Patriot: who wins?

The suspension and steering wheel here seem to have been tuned even earlier. In any case, on the highway, the Patriot does not require constant steering, although it does not spoil the stability of the VW Golf GTI. I will say this: now it is more comfortable to drive it around the city, even taking into account the fact that you still have to climb into the salon, and the oak door locks have not gone anywhere.

Test drive Renault Duster, Suzuki Jimny, UAZ Patriot: who wins?

There was some fear that the automatic machine would not stand the test of Russian off-road conditions, but the sensations in the field were exactly confirmed by the city ones: with the twitching of the rear axle and the swaying of the high body, the Patriot still reminds itself of its former self, but it calmly climbs along the gullies, allowing you to gently and calmly dose traction. The driver does not even have the feeling of losing one of the communication channels with the car - you put the box in "drive", select the desired transmission mode with the selector (not the lever) and steer the car by the steering wheel. There is no need to invent anything else.

Test drive Renault Duster, Suzuki Jimny, UAZ Patriot: who wins?

If you still do not go, you can use the killer feature: the rear differential lock, which is also elegantly activated here with a button. And then there are buttons to disable ESP and activate Offroad mode, whatever that means. But I never got a chance to use either one or the other. Much more often I turned to the neighboring buttons for turning on the heating of the front seats and the steering wheel - it seems that the XNUMXst century has come to Ulyanovsk, and I like it.

The guys gave me a Duster, and with "mechanics", and asked to come to the shooting as a guest. It was assumed that a girl without off-road driving skills in a simple crossover would calmly wipe her nose to guys on real SUVs. But when I saw a snow-covered field with deep ruts and ruts, at first I did not even understand how cars can drive on it at all.

Test drive Renault Duster, Suzuki Jimny, UAZ Patriot: who wins?

I got under way, drove first in the footsteps of Jimny, then along the track of the UAZ and, finally, struck my own. No wisdom was required, but when it was necessary to turn the car across the tractor track, problems began.

Test drive Renault Duster, Suzuki Jimny, UAZ Patriot: who wins?

At first, Duster relished the bottom, and then just started to slip with one front and one rear wheel. The electronic clutch lock did not help, so I started experimenting with disabling ESP and rocking the car, quickly switching from first to rear and back. It helped: the wheels caught at some point, allowing the crossover to jump out of captivity. There was a feeling that with the “automatic” this trick would have failed and Duster would have had to be dragged in tow.

Test drive Renault Duster, Suzuki Jimny, UAZ Patriot: who wins?

The guys repeated my maneuver with the same success and agreed that the idea of ​​driving the crossover on serious off-road terrain was meaningless. But the very fact of exactly where he drove in the process really made him look at the Duster with respect. Having examined the body and the bottom, we made sure that there are no problems with the car. It was possible to understand this from the outside - it was clear that the Duster had never caught on bumpers, although in the whole trinity it had the worst geometry. By the standards of real SUVs, of course.

Test drive Renault Duster, Suzuki Jimny, UAZ Patriot: who wins?

To be honest, even after this discovery on the asphalt I felt like in my native element. After off-road conditions, both the uncomfortable landing and the strange arrangement of the controls faded into the background. It is clear that the first generation Duster is already outdated and does not look too modern, and the girl behind the wheel of this car generally looks strange. But if you do not find fault, it turns out that this is a normal car, which can comfortably drive around the city, stand in traffic jams, load the trunk in stores and even carry children. Although here all the same I would like to "machine".

 

 

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