LEGENDS
The first trolleybus in Germany. In 1936 he appeared in the city Insterburg- Now Chernyakhovsk, Kaliningrad region.
However, already in January 1945, trolleybus traffic stopped there due to the approaching front line. And there were no more trolleybuses there. According to the official version, before the retreat, Nazi troops removed all contact lines made of copper wire. According to the unofficial story, it was not without evil spirits. Trolleybus passengers sometimes saw glowing greenish ghosts. During thunderstorms and dark evenings, they appeared in front of the vehicle or overtook it, and sometimes even took the driver’s seat. According to legend, everything happened in only one place - on the suburban route from the city to Georgienburg Castle. Fortunately, no one was harmed by the unknown ghosts. And today, only buses carry residents of Chernyakhovsk around the city. There are no ghosts left, nor, alas, trolleybuses.
STORY
The catchphrase “meter with a cap” appeared thanks to the tram. In the first half of the 20th century, the problem of free travel for children was solved in an original way. At the entrance to the carriage, a line was made at a height of 1 meter. Children under one meter tall rode for free. You already had to pay for the higher ones.
A great idea to avoid arguments about which child is considered small. Alas, there are no fewer scandals. Parents who did not want to pay the fare told the conductor that their child was less than a meter tall. And his height only seems taller - and all because of the headdress. They say this is where the expression “meter with a cap” comes from.
IN THE WORLD
The slowest city bus. This is the M79 in New York, America. It travels at an average speed of less than 5 km/h on 79th Street. A fast walking pedestrian can overtake him without much effort. The bus moves along busy highways, there are a lot of passengers, and the driver is also a conductor, hence the slowness of the 79th.
However, this spring the situation may change for the better. New York authorities have promised to place ticket kiosks at bus stops and create dedicated lanes only for buses. In the meantime, the route remains the most leisurely transport, and even collects comic anti-awards for such achievements.
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The Swedes, of course, say: crossover. The body of the Cross Country version is actually 35 mm higher compared to the regular magpie, and a few more millimeters of overall height are provided by roof rails. Total - 1458 mm. Not much: after all, the height at the withers of the Subaru XV crossover with roof rails is 157 mm higher, the BMW X1 is 87 mm higher. Compared to them, the V40 Cross Country is a meter with a cap!
By the way, do you know where this expression comes from? At the beginning of the last century, children no taller than one meter could ride free on St. Petersburg trams - the conductor checked their height against a meter-long wooden fence in front of his seat. And many thrifty parents specially put caps on their grown-up children: they say, without it there would be just a meter...
The finish is superb, and the front panel has a texture reminiscent of expensive wood that no German competitor can boast of.
Tips on economical driving, sometimes curiously translated, are “wired” into the media system
The glove box is deep and cooled
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And why, “with the cap,” did the declared ground clearance of the V40 Cross Country increase by only 12 mm, to 145 mm? Because in order to preserve the suspension kinematics, the front subframe remained in the same place - in fact, the body was raised above it! And only larger wheels provide an increase in ground clearance.
So much for crossover. In fact, this is just an ordinary C-class hatchback with optional all-wheel drive - built, by the way, on the Ford C1 platform from the “second” Focus. The modifications only affected the steering mechanism and steering column - by analogy with the Volvo S60, the steering gear is now with electric power and a parking system (though only parallel to the sidewalk).
The seat is flat, but not hard and therefore comfortable
And the V40 Cross Country doesn’t look like an off-road fighter: only silver trim on the bumpers and an extra charge of 15 thousand rubles on the door sills. But he's handsome! The interior is Scandinavian-style conservative, the finishing materials are “expensive”, the handles click nobly. Seven backlight colors can be manually selected, plus its color automatically changes depending on the outside temperature. But like an eyesore - a cheap insert made of transparent plexiglass on the automatic transmission selector with an indication of the selected mode. Thank goodness this is an option.
The seats are comfortable, but simple, of medium hardness and almost without lateral support. It's tight in the back! The knees seem to rest slightly against the backrest, and the head is quite spacious, but the size 45 winter boots barely fit under the front seat. The tightness in the rear floor area is a legacy of the C1 platform in its Volvo implementation: we noted the same thing seven years ago in the S40 sedan. The trunk is also “hereditarily” small.
A liquid crystal instrument panel is an option even for the richest Summum configuration. It has three modes with a different set of indicators and colors. From left to right: the “default” Elegance, Eco with an econometer and Performance with a large tachometer. In the first two, the “drawn” speedometer is especially convenient, right on the scale of which the speed limit read by the camera from the signs is marked, as well as a display of the operation of the cruise control. True, the price of such a shield is 30 thousand rubles. How much does a 27-inch computer monitor cost...
A liquid crystal instrument panel is an option even for the richest Summum configuration. It has three modes with a different set of indicators and colors. From left to right: the “default” Elegance, Eco with an econometer and Performance with a large tachometer. In the first two, the “drawn” speedometer is especially convenient, right on the scale of which the speed limit read by the camera from the signs is marked, as well as a display of the operation of the cruise control. True, the price of such a shield is 30 thousand rubles. How much does a 27-inch computer monitor cost...
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Only a mechanical handbrake is available for the V40, but the number of electronic assistants in the menu on the central display dazzles the eye. The City Safety auto braking system now works not up to 30 km/h, but up to 50 km/h. Active cruise control is active from 0 to 200 km/h and works without surprises. The BLIS blind spot monitoring system is less glitchy than before because it uses 76-gigahertz radars in the rear bumper rather than cameras under the side mirrors. A nice “bonus” is the ability to “look around the corner” when maneuvering in reverse and warn the driver about a car approaching from the side. But the performance of the lane keeping system was not impressive - the promised steering is not felt, and the warning vibration on the steering wheel is very weak.
And the V40 is the first Volvo with a knee airbag for the driver and an airbag for... pedestrians! It operates in the speed range from 20 to 50 km/h: if one of the seven sensors in the front bumper detects a collision with a person, then a cushion shoots out from below the windshield, raising the rear edge of the hood by 10 cm and covering the body pillars. Of course, “you have to love pedestrians,” as Ilf and Petrov said, but I wonder how many Russian V40 Cross Country buyers will order this pillow for 40 thousand rubles?
Against the backdrop of good ergonomics, the most noticeable miscalculation is controlling the media system with the upper right “twist”: you have to keep your hand suspended
The feet of the rear passengers are cramped, but the head is spacious only on cars without the optional non-opening panoramic roof for 36 thousand rubles
In the driver's door pocket there is an ice scraper compartment equipped with drainage
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It was not possible to try the basic front-wheel drive car for the Russian market with a 180-horsepower T4 turbo engine (on Ford cars it is known as EcoBoost I-4). But I drove the all-wheel drive V40 Cross Country T5 - and the younger, 213-horsepower version seemed more harmonious. The Swedes have almost abandoned Ford's PowerShift robots, and the classic six-speed Aisin automatic shifts logically and smoothly. The dynamics are quite sufficient, and the only spoiler is the boring “trolleybus” howl of the engine, after 120 km/h, supplemented by the subtle and distant whistling of the wind in the roof rails.
The more powerful 249-horsepower T5 sounds more cheerful and, of course, drives faster - according to the passport, acceleration to hundreds takes 6.4 seconds! But the ride turns out to be less smooth: barely touch the gas, and the “automatic” immediately goes down one gear, although there is already enough traction. Moreover, in “manual” mode, the box responds to downshifts with a delay, and steering wheel paddles are not offered.
But the chassis is great! The reactive action on the steering wheel is almost in perfect order, the reactions are accurate. For 13 thousand rubles, you can order force adjustment on the steering wheel with three presets, and in the “light” position, even on ice, you continue to feel what is happening with the front wheels, and in the “heavy” mode, excess viscosity does not appear on the steering wheel.
A pedestrian airbag raises the hood and covers the windshield pillars. In the photo on the right you can see the lid of its compartment and the squibs that “open” the hinges of the hood so that it can rise
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The suspension is tuned a little softer than on the regular V40, but at first it also seems a bit harsh on medium bumps. But you will come across a couple of larger holes or more noticeable waves - and you understand that the energy intensity is excellent. And at speeds over 100 km/h, the stiffness goes away - excellent settings for long trips!
And on the ice of a frozen lake... Forget all the prejudices about the “no” handling of a Volvo and ridicule of leisurely “Volvo drivers” - the all-wheel drive “magpie” is miraculously good at gliding! As soon as you turn the steering wheel slightly and press down on the gas at the entrance to the turn, the stern screws the car in. Now - a little more gas, and the V40 simply and clearly “licks” the inner edge of the arc. The rear axle drive uses the latest, fifth generation Haldex clutch. Since you don't feel the moment of switching on or off at all, the V40 Cross Country glides like a good car with full-time all-wheel drive.
But first, of course, you need to enable the sport mode of the DSTC stabilization system in the menu. And do whatever you want! You can turn around completely, you can turn the steering wheel from lock to lock - the electronics will only crunch the brakes slightly, distributing torque between the right and left wheels, controlling the traction vector. But if you fully release the gas while sliding, demonstrating fear, then DSTC must intervene and return the car to the trajectory.
The BLIS system's radars also help when leaving a parking lot “blindly”. Tested - it works!
By the way, all-wheel drive versions have a hill descent assist system that maintains a speed of 10 km/h. But electronics cannot deal with diagonal hanging on a country road. Because the V40 Cross Country is not a crossover!
And what? In my opinion, this is a new genre at the intersection of crossovers and “hot” C-class hatchbacks. The V40 Cross Country will have real rivals only by the end of the year - first of all, this is the Mercedes GLA, built according to a similar recipe based on the A-Class.
The trunk is small - 335 liters, but the transformation is very convenient. For just 1,700 rubles you can order a double floor, and the folding backrests of the rear and front right seats form an almost flat surface
Prices in Russia are quite reasonable - from 1 million 189 thousand rubles for the front-wheel drive version of the T4. All-wheel drive cars are at least 90 thousand more expensive, but the basic equipment is very rich: climate control, seven airbags, the City Safety system - the only important things missing are cruise control, a rain sensor and radio control buttons on the steering wheel. Diesel versions will appear later.
According to the plan, every fourth V40 coming off the assembly line in Ghent, Belgium, should be “with a cap.” The full capacity of the production line is 125 thousand cars per year, but the task for this year is more modest. Around the world, primarily in Japan and China, 17 thousand V40 Cross Country should be sold. Every tenth car will go to Russia. And it seems to me that the owners of these “magpies” will not go wrong.
The body of the Volvo V40 Cross Country is completely identical to the front-wheel drive V40 hatchback, with the exception of the position of the front subframe. Plastic parts are marked in black, aluminum parts in green, and mild steel parts in gray. Different types of high strength steel highlighted in blue, yellow, orange and red
| Passport details | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automobile | Volvo V40 Cross Country | |||
| Modification | T4 | T5 2.0 AWD | T5 2.5 AWD | |
| Body type | five-door hatchback | |||
| Number of places | 5 | 5 | 5 | |
| Dimensions, mm | length | 4369 | 4369 | 4369 |
| width | 1420*/1458 | 1420*/1458 | 1420*/1458 | |
| height | 1783 | 1783 | 1783 | |
| wheelbase | 2646 | 2646 | 2646 | |
| front/rear track | 1552/1540 | 1552/1540 | 1552/1540 | |
| ground clearance | 145 | 145 | 145 | |
| Trunk volume, l | 335-615 | 335-615 | 335-615 | |
| Curb weight, kg | 1452 | 1509 | 1513 | |
| Total weight, kg | 2010 | 2070 | 2070 | |
| Engine | petrol, with distributed injection and turbocharging | |||
| Location | front, transverse | |||
| Number and arrangement of cylinders | 5, in a row | 5, in a row | 5, in a row | |
| Working volume, cm3 | 1984 | 1984 | 2497 | |
| Cylinder diameter/piston stroke, mm | 81,0/77,0 | 81,0/77,0 | 83,0/92,3 | |
| Compression ratio | 10,5:1 | 10,5:1 | 9,5:1 | |
| Number of valves | 20 | 20 | 20 | |
| Max. power, hp/kW/rpm | 180/132/5000 | 213/157/6000 | 249/183/5400 | |
| Max. torque, Nm/rpm | 300/2700-5000 | 300/2700-5000 | 360/1800-4200 | |
| Transmission | automatic, 6-speed | |||
| Drive unit | front | full, with Haldex clutch in the rear wheel drive | ||
| Front suspension | independent, spring, McPherson type | |||
| Rear suspension | independent, spring, multi-link | |||
| Diameter of front brake discs, mm | 300 | 300 | 300 | |
| Tires | 205/60 R16, or 225/50 R17, or 225/45 R18 | |||
| Maximum speed, km/h | 210** (215) | 210 (220) | 210 (235) | |
| Acceleration time 0-100 km/h, s | 8,7 | 7,2 | 6,4 | |
| Fuel consumption, l/100 km | urban cycle | 10,4 | 11,3 | 11,6 |
| suburban cycle | 5,8 | 6,3 | 6,4 | |
| mixed cycle | 7,5 | 8,1 | 8,3 | |
| CO 2 emissions, g/km | 174 | 189 | 194 | |
| Fuel tank capacity, l | 62 | 57 | 57 | |
| Fuel | gasoline AI-91-98 | |||
| * Without rails ** Electronically limited, theoretically possible maximum speed in brackets |
||||
Sideways under current
Driving a hybrid along an ice track? This has never happened in my experience... But if Maxim Kadakov drove a pre-production Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid (AR No. 21, 2011), then production cars were already rolled out to us. At first, Volvo planned to produce only 1,500 station wagons, but demand was such that the plan for this year was increased to 5,000 hybrid V60s - production capabilities do not yet allow for more. The price of the car is 56 thousand euros, and 80% of the production should be distributed to corporate parks.
The production car differs only in the color of the buttons for switching the modes of the hybrid power plant - they are not white, but regular black. And the software “glitches” have been completely cured - the diesel engine simply does not stall, but starts softly and imperceptibly, reminding of itself only by vibration at idle.
The first lap on ice is in the main Hybrid mode, when the front axle is driven by a 215-horsepower diesel engine through a six-speed automatic transmission, and the rear axle is assisted as best it can by a 70-horsepower electric motor. Boring! The Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid slides out of the turn with its entire two-ton body, almost not responding to attempts to “throw” the stern with thrust.
I press the separately located AWD button - forced all-wheel drive mode works up to 75 km/h. More fun now! It feels like the electric motor is turning the rear wheels more actively. But if you select the Power mode, the reactions to the gas become more intense. If you overcome the car’s initial desire to turn outward by boldly stomping on the gas pedal, you can get an “all-wheel drive” thrill!
The Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid has five driving modes: the main ones Pure, Hybrid and Power, as well as all-wheel drive AWD and Save mode, which supports a 20-kilometer range on “pure electricity”
But the battery will run out, as happened to me. And after that, no matter what mode you choose, the assistance from the rear electric motor becomes minimal. Demolition, just demolition...
And then I drove the Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid to the airport. On half a charge I easily drove 15 km, without denying myself the maximum allowed 80 km/h. And then he pressed the Save button, and in 25 km the diesel engine recharged the battery with a capacity of 11.2 kWh (of which 8 kWh is used) to a cruising range of 20 km. What was surprising was that recuperation during braking begins, as a rule, only when you touch the brake pedal - if you just release the gas, the V60 Plug-in Hybrid even accelerates downhill. The brakes are unambiguous, there is no “two-stage” feel, and only during emergency braking does the pedal go down excessively.
And the average consumption of diesel fuel at minus ten degrees outside was only 5.8 liters per 100 km. Much less than the V40 Cross Country, where even with a two-liter engine, during the quietest driving, it did not fall below 10 l/100 km.
Meter with cap Simple. Iron. About a short man. He is the smallest in the class - a meter with a cap... Who was he born to be so small?.. His father is tall, his mother is also large and stately, and he, Yurcha, is a meter with a cap(S. Esin. Imitator).
Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language. - M.: Astrel, AST. A. I. Fedorov. 2008.
Synonyms:See what “Meter with a cap” is in other dictionaries:
meter with cap- baby, short, runt, short, squat, short, small, tiny, not tall enough, barely visible from the ground, short, not visible from the ground, small, short, a meter without a cap, not visible from the ground Dictionary of Russian synonyms. meter s... ... Synonym dictionary
Meter with cap Dictionary of Russian argot
Meter with cap- CAP, and, w. Men's soft headdress with a visor. Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary
meter with cap- About a short man... Dictionary of many expressions
Meter with skating cap- Zharg. they say Joking. Same as meter with cap 1. Cor., 172 ...
METER- until demobilization. Jarg. Arm. The period of service after the start of the countdown is 100 days before the day the order on transfer to the reserve is issued. Cor., 172. Meter [twenty] with a cap (with a cap). 1. Simple. Joking. About a short man. NHS 80; F 1, 298; Mokienko 2003, 57. 2.… … Large dictionary of Russian sayings
meter- 1. METER, a; m. [from Greek. metron measure] 1. The basic unit of length in the modern measurement system, equal to one hundred centimeters. The board is six meters long. The width of the road is five meters. The height of St. Isaac's Cathedral is 101 meters. 2. Ruler, tape of this length with... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
meter- METER, a, m. (or meter with a cap, meter with a cone, meter without a cap, etc.). A short man... Dictionary of Russian argot
Meter without cap- METER, a, m. (or meter with a cap, meter with a cone, meter without a cap, etc.). A short man... Dictionary of Russian argot
meter with a lump- METER, a, m. (or meter with a cap, meter with a cone, meter without a cap, etc.). A short man... Dictionary of Russian argot
Books
- Equipment, Koshevar Dmitry Vasilievich. What makes a locomotive move forward? Why does a trolleybus need a mustache? What do a car and a carriage have in common? Which part of the train is called the locomotive? What is an escalator and why is it needed? Like a steering wheel in... Buy for 737 RUR
- Technique, D. V. Koshevar. What makes a locomotive move forward? Why does a trolleybus need a mustache? What do a car and a carriage have in common? Which part of the train is called the locomotive? What is an escalator and why is it needed? Like a steering wheel in...
