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How Off-road Vehicles Are Escorted

2024

Video: How Off-road Vehicles Are Escorted

Video: How Off-road Vehicles Are Escorted
Video: Best Off-Road Vehicles of All Time 2024, March
How Off-road Vehicles Are Escorted
How Off-road Vehicles Are Escorted
Anonim

EQUIPMENT

Test

HOW ATV CARS

ALEXANDER BUDKIN, SERGEY VOSKRESENSKIY. PHOTO: Konstantin Yakubov

FORMER AND THOUGHTS

For two years the experimental Niva has been working in the editorial office and for almost half a year side by side with it, the serial Chevrolet Niva (we recall, both with the index 2123). That touching moment came when it was time to give the baton away forever. The old woman survived to the final test in the company with the assignee.

What task have we prepared for them? I wanted to evaluate the usefulness of the changes that went into the series: a stabilizer bar of smaller diameter, reduced stiffness of the rear springs, and other characteristics of shock absorbers. Therefore, in our test we focused on handling and comfort. The traditional “rearrangement” and “turn-in” maneuvers were complemented by riding on an asphalt serpentine that imitates a mountain road. Such a subjective perception is sometimes much more convincing than dry numbers.

Three sets of tires were also tested in the test. Starting point - installed on the conveyor Barguzin

K-175 ". No less interesting are the Cooper-Discovery STT" run by us in a production car (see ЗР, 2003, No. 6). On heavy off-road, they will give odds to any universal tires, but how they behave on asphalt (recall that finally, the third applicant is Pirelli-Scorpion S / T. These were also not chosen by chance. Firstly, they proved themselves very well in one of the tire tests (ЗР, 2002, No. 9) And secondly, the Chevrolet Niva is ideally suited for dimensionality. Well, let's try.

TWO FROM THE Casket

Riding in two cars, even inexperienced people will surely feel that the serial Chevrolet Niva is quieter and more comfortable, gently reacts to irregularities and no longer shakes stern in short waves. Chevrolet is less inclined to tumble out of corners. He tries to the last to obey the steering wheel and more readily turns it under the thrust. An important role is played, of course, by the hydraulic booster and a smaller gear ratio of the steering gear. If you force “Niva” to turn, then “Chevy” is enough to ask about it. The pre-production car, as it were, is trying to drive "a little straighter" than you need. Intuitively, the driver rolls the wheels harder, which is why at the exit from the turn you have to work more intensively with the steering wheel to stabilize. And at a maneuver speed close to critical, the car lifts the unloaded front wheel just above the road, requiring fine steering.

So we got to the "rearrangement": seeing an obstacle 20 meters away, the driver should change lane dramatically. A complex maneuver once again emphasized the benefits of a production car. And although the difference in the ceremonial numbers is small (see tables), behind the scenes there were more even results shown by Chevy, and it was easier to stabilize the trajectory. So, in a dangerous situation, you are more likely to get dry out of the water.

ORDINARY MIRACLE

Comparison of the three tires already mentioned on a production car was a bit surprising, although pre-built assumptions seemed obvious.

The first surprise was waiting on the dynamometer road, where the purely off-road Cooper suddenly showed results very similar to the rest of the models. Of course, the large diameter of the wheels negatively affected the elasticity, but in such nominations as coasting, maximum speed and even acceleration to “hundreds”, these tires frightening with the anger of the tread exceeded the Barguzin highway!

As if playing against the rules, “Cooper” perfectly passed the tests for controllability, showing enviable stability and absolutely predictable behavior. But that is not all. Recall: when tested in an experimental car (ZR, 2002, No. 9), the Barguzin K-175 road tire slightly outperformed the universal Pirelli-Scorpion. But as soon as the same shoes were put on the Chevrolet Niva with more precise handling, the thoroughbred Scorpion began to win in all driving categories. In general, the samples are much more interesting than expected. Now more about each of them.

"COOPER-DISCAVERER STT"

Born for uncompromising off-road combat, where it is sometimes necessary to reduce pressure, this tire combines a stiff sidewall with a no less stiff, coarsely tread tread. Thanks to such a "monolithic" design, the tire rolls easily and quickly responds to steering actions. And although the total contact area with the supporting surface is relatively small, the elasticity and adhesion properties of the tread are quite enough to perform the most insidious maneuvers.

Slippage here begins earlier than others, but this is not a reason to talk about an exclusively off-road character. The most interesting thing is that the "oak" tire does not cause a feeling too stiff on bumps. Of course, it loads it with vibrations, but not so much as to cause rejection. Having given preference to such toothy shoes, one will have to put up with increased noise.

Perhaps the only obvious weakness is that the car on the Cooper is more inclined to hang out the inner wheel during the “turn” maneuver.

"PIRELLI-SCORPIO"

The soft tread, designed for year-round operation, naturally spreads the responses of the machine, removing sharpness from them. However, due to the best grip properties, the “scorpions” demonstrate high and stable results.

At first, a bit late at first behind the actions of the driver, then they seem to catch themselves and cling well to the asphalt - both in the longitudinal and lateral directions.

These tires are also noisy and in some detail pass on to the steering wheel coating defects. Only unlike the Cooper, which recounted medium-sized holes, but swallowed a trifle, the Pirelli were ready to collect almost everything from the road. However, just such a tenacious grip on the asphalt allows the tire to drive the car along the mountain serpentine best of all. On these tires, the Niva obeys the steering wheel more easily than on the Cooper, and requires less amplitude when operating the steering wheel than on the Barguzin.

BARGUZIN K-175

The standard version of road tires made the Niva really plush. The car, against expectations, did not become faster and more dynamic, it does not shine with controllability either. The tire introduces too frank slippage of the front axle, some thoughtfulness, especially when approaching the limits of its capabilities. And although the results shown are not bad, the car has now become boring, uninteresting.

The tire does not like fast turns, it is scary to climb into the mud on it. All that remains is a comfortable ride on asphalt at a moderate speed.

It seemed to us that the reason for excessive thought was in the soft sidewall. From here, on the one hand, the ability to swallow fine bumps well, on the other hand, a large retraction of the tire in turns makes it more difficult to turn the steering wheel.

YES HELLO NEW KING

The serial "Chevrolet Niva" managed to dash over a little more than twenty thousand during its short century, go through two scheduled maintenance and visit the dealer for a guarantee five times. Not so much to draw conclusions about the durability of the machine as a whole or its units, but enough to judge the reliability of the first production samples.

In our specimen, it is between a four and a three with a plus. It is good that the oil does not flow, the transmission does not howl, and in general, in terms of its level, the new Niva has gone far from the old. Of the obvious weaknesses - the replacement of the pump in the second thousand, the wiper gear - in the eighth and the constant struggle with leaks "Tosola". First, in one place because of the clamps flowed, then in another they loosened up. In the heat, antifreeze tends to evaporate all the time, since the cooling system operates in the heat stroke mode. To work after the engine is stopped, the fans (two of them) are not accustomed, but it is worth starting up - they are cut in pairs. In the summer - even after 5-10 minutes of parking.

Very worrying, in our opinion, is the front gearbox cover - it can withstand standard tires, of course, but on a toothy Cooper that increases the load on the transmission and its fasteners, we managed to break this part twice - its margin of safety is apparently minimal (see ZR, 2002, No. 6). It is interesting that in this regard, the plant will undertake - will strengthen the weak spot over time or prohibit climbing into good dirt on good tires.

We know that the debugging continues - we hope that today cars are leaving the assembly line better than ours. For the sake of this, let me make a couple of remarks.

GOOD IF …

… dealers' service capabilities matched the number of machines they sold. It is possible that the GM-AvtoVAZ joint venture is guided by the Dzhemovsky standards - how many posts the dealer has. But “Niva” requires attention much more than “Blazer” or “Frontera”. So it turned out that in January we were scheduled for service for a day or two in advance, in March - for three or four, and in June we were already offered to come in a week! Will something come next?

It is necessary to strengthen the front gearbox cover, say - generally make it steel. Otherwise, not only the "evil" tires, but the "evil" engine already expected in the fall, will cause similar breakdowns not only for ZR testers.

Engine cooling fans must certainly cool it after stopping - you can not keep the system in constant thermal voltage.

It is worth abandoning VAZ threaded clamps: they cut into hoses without tightening them.

Many owners of production cars already complain about huge backlash and, as a result, jerks in the transmission, and dealers shrug: say, until nothing is broken, go to health. Apparently, it’s time for the plant to stipulate the maximum permissible total backlash in the transmission.

The “rubber” parking brake cable can be tightened to any number of clicks. Obviously begs a larger cable cross section. And another question: did anyone try to use a regular jack?

THINK POSITIVE

In order not to put an end to the shortcomings, let us say in passing about interesting changes on the conveyor.

Firstly, for several months now, Niva has been painted in four colors: white, gray, dark green and cherry. On all cars, including a simple complete set, put fog lights and a cabin filter. From this, however, the minimum price is no longer $ 8000, but $ 8500. But in the meantime, old "cornfields" have risen in price: for example, the three-door "214th", taking into account the anticorrosive and other "obligations", is difficult to buy for less than $ 6000. Against this background, the Chevrolet does not seem too expensive. And if sores are cured, the question “Would I buy it for myself?” Will cease to be difficult.

On the off-road Cooper, the car noticeably tears off the wheel in the ultimate turn.

"Barguzin K-175" 205/70.

"Pirelli-Scorpio" 205/70.

"Cooper-Discovery STT" 215/75.

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