We decided to do a research on crossovers cars, the big and rather expensive ones.
So we set ourselves the following limitations: the overall length of the car – it must be not less than five meters, the cost – it is around 65 000 dollars. And one more required condition – its belonging to a premium brand that relentlessly cuts such models as Toyota Land Cruiser 200 and Nissan Patrol. BMW X5 and Porsche Cayenne, the real favorites of public, also will not appear in this review – because they are too small. It refers to Range Rover too, because in our opinion it is rather overrated. Nevertheless, there will be 6 participants: three European cars, two Japanese and the American one. Although it is no secret that the US market is a priority for all automobiles, each of which can be equipped with a third row of seats. Tips for buying a car seat
Volvo XC90: runabout car
We start with the Volvo XC90 – we have closed our eyes to its lack of growth of 5 centimeters. Swedish new flagship is very interesting, not only because it is the most compact and lightweight car in our review. It is the only one whose curb weight is of less than two tonnes. Read here why Americans love huge trucks
This car is so light thanks to the front-wheel drive transmission (gearbox in all models, one – eightfold “automatic”) and a promising platform SPA, which will later be transferred to other Volvo models. Also it has an interesting design of the rear suspension, which is used instead of conventional springs exotic transverse spring.
Gamma turbocharged two-liter engine is made up of petrol and diesel units, as much as possible unified with each other. Besides diesel crossover with 225-horsepower is more economical, and more dynamic than with a 249-horsepower gasoline engine: 7.8 second acceleration to 100 km / h to 8, 2 seconds. 320-strong version reaches the cherished “hundreds” for six and a half seconds, and it is also available to us.
Prices, discounts, bundling
Prices for the XC90 start from 45 000 dollars for a front-drive car with the SUPER SAVER 190-strong turbodiesel (D4) by Momentum. The minimum set of equipment – alloy wheels, heated front seats, partly powered (height), the driver’s seat, dual-zone climate control, cruise control, parking sensors, a leather multifunction steering wheel, rain sensor, and tire-pressure monitoring system, tracking the markup , warning of a possible collision, help during the descent from the mountain and rolling on the rise. If you add the $ 3,500, you will be able to fill up this list a complete set of servo, leather trim and interface driving mode settings – it’s Inscription execution.
Top version of the R-Design will be more expensive at $ 2,300, where the main emphasis is on the external effect: the 20-inch wheels (the standard size – 18 inches), body kit, special interior trim, etc.
Audi Q7: reasonable sufficiency
The new Q7 is closer to the XC90, rather than all the other competitors by the age and by ideology. Audi is slightly larger and heavier than Volvo, but still in class is one of the “lightweight champion” due MLB2 modular platform and extensive use of aluminum. Besides the famous quattro all-wheel drive is offered by default, also it has much more impressive engines – turbocharged three-liter “six”, petrol and diesel ones. From the first, 333-strong, Q7 accelerates to 100 km / h at 0.4 seconds faster than the top version of “ninety”. By the way Audi has the eight-speed automatic transmission, as in the Volvo, and it is also a classic planetary fluid.
German crossover is inferior to the Swedish one by size of car clearance. But it has the optional air suspension, to be able to lift the car with 175 mm to 235. Fortunately updated quattro with a compact and lightweight center differential ensures traction permeability not worse. The new Q7 has the same unique feature – driven rear wheels: they are rotated at very small angles, but depending on the speed maneuverability can either improve significantly or increase stability.
Prices, discounts, bundling
In view of the above circumstances, it is natural that the starting price of Q7 is significantly higher than the XC90 – 47 000 dollars. And it is quite the same for models with petrol and diesel engines, so that the latter can be considered as the base only conditionally, as less powerful and more economical. However, if we compare the initial wheel-drive version, the difference in price is reduced to almost 2000 $, while the top-end performance of Business Audi is even cheaper than similar options of Volvo – almost 57 000 $. But at the same time he already has adaptive air suspension, LED headlights, multicontour front seats with massage, heating and electric options of everything, including the fifth door closers and other four ones.
On the other hand, for the leather seats you have to pay extra, as well as for the third row of seats, though it is cheaper than in the Volvo, just 700 $. But MMI navigation is more expensive almost tripled – 2 600 $, but we can afford it. And yet – the very thruster rear suspension miracle, advanced matrix headlights, panoramic roof, the pressure monitoring system in tires and electric adjustment of the steering wheel. But the “outside” of our financial capacity will be plenty of pleasant things: for example, for 4 500 $, you can get a high-end sound system Bang & Olufsen, for about 2000 $ – night vision system with pedestrian recognition, but also for about 2000 $ you can get S line kit with exclusive 21-inch wheels.