I compare my Mitsubishi Pajero IO with C or Oberon (low level, puristic, simple, almost no syntactic sugar, but it can be efficiently used, if you know how), and my new Isuzu Trooper to Delphi(not object pascal, but specifically Delphi, with it’s big IDE, because it’s heavy and sluggish).
Probably I would compare some more fat and round SUV, which people in Russia call parquet cars, with Java - looks like powerful OOP language, but only looks like).
The Trooper has automatic transmission, but still you have a manual control over the transmission: there are this options: ‘low’, which correspond to 1’st step, 2nd gear, which means the automat will change the gear, but it won’t be more than the 2nd step, then 3rd gear max, then ‘Drive’ mode, which means, 4nth speed max, then you have Neutral(yes!), etc. So it’s still gives a lot of contral. And the so called ‘Limited speed differential’. And the ‘winter mode’ to drive on higher promptness.
It is hard to drive in the city on a Trooper, it’s indeed too big for that. But it behaves very well outside, both on the roads, and without roads. Last days I was testing it by driving in literally, desert, with stones and bushes, and climbing the mountains. I was keeping in mind, though, that I need to be very careful, because as Russian proverb says, ‘the more cooler the jeep, then from the more deeper dirt/swamp it has to be taken out by the tractor).
I like the Trooper for it’s modernistic look - straight corners, no visible glamorous details, no unnecessary convexities. It’s on a frame, and when you drive it, you feel like you’re on a truck. In my friend’s Kia Sorento, which is also a pretty big car, but not that big, you don’t have this feeling. Also, like on a track, you need to turn the wheel more, than on Pajero. From the inside, it’s also has this appealing to me vintage look, no futuristic details, but unpretentious and usable, simple interface. There is some sugar, like automatic cruise control, but I did not feel the necessity yet, I like to control things myself. And the audio system has much better quality than the default on Pajero.
On the other side, I feel much more comfortable on Pajero very often. Firstly of course because of full manual transmission, and It’s more manoeuvrable, it’s more responsive, and it’s simple. So I won’t sell it. I really have this sport car feeling, when I drive it. And I drive it with much more courage, partly because it’s more responsive, and partly because I know it better. And the heavy trooper has longer breaking distance.
If I will go out of the city only by myself, or with one companion, and the offroad is not hard, I’ll take a Pajero. If I climb the mountain, and there are more than one companion, then the more spacious and stable Trooper is an option.
There are things that make me a bit sad - this is that people afraid me on this car. I am a kind of person, who usually don’t hurry, and I am happy to give the way to others, if they ask. I like to drive, I don’t like to hurry. There are people, who may be enjoy being as they may think ‘smart’, and they change lines often, go very fast, then break very fast, and may be they get to the destination several minutes earlier, but well, I don’t need this. I don’t feel the dignity by being that kind of ‘smart’ guy. Is it about the dignity, to be anxious on the road, squeeze through, rather than to be calm?
Another thing about dignity, or, may be, lack of it: many people in Armenia hack the machines and add natural gas fuel equipment. I don’t understand why one need to use it on a big car - if you want to save money on fuel, get the small car! There is a gas system on my trooper, but I want to get rid of it. I’ve tried to drive on gas, but I feel, that I don’t get the performance I need. It’s not necessary in the city, but it’s very important outside. Also, what disturbs me a lot, is that it’s necessary to wait for 10-15 minutes, to ‘charge’ the gas balloon, and you can only make 80 miles on that full charge. On the contrary, if you feel it’s fuel tank with 80 litres of petrol, you can go without need of ‘recharge’ to much longer distances. Also, I cannot imagine how would I put a companion, especially a girl, to a such uncomfortable situation, where she has to leave the car, and wait for 15 minutes or even more among that kind of guys and men, she would not normally want to hang out with, and who may not be very tolerable to her appearance, or would like to make fun of her because let’s say of her shirt hair(yes, if I would have this look of the brutal dog, with the thorned collar, not the good dog, it’s less likely to happen, but I am good dog). But the most important reason - I need the power, I need my space in the trunk, though it’s still huge, I need the possibility to make a comfortable sleeping place by using that space in the trunk, which is taken now by the balloon, and I don’t really care about the fuel expenses - that’s what you should have if you have a big car. Otherwise take a small and lightweight one.
However, if I try to sell the car, then it would be much easier with this gas system. As the previous owner told me, he spent $1300 on it, and if I get rid of it, and manage to sell, I’ll get max $500. He said, if you travel a lot, in two years (we’ve counted) you can save money to buy a comparable car. Well, I don’t care.
What’s interesting to me, is technology. I’ll dismantle the gas system anyway, but still, it’s interesting. Apparently, from what I have found on the net, looks like the oil remains much cleaner when you use gas, and this technology is even good for the engine in some aspects. On the other hand, because the burning temperature is higher, it’s bad for the valves, which get prematurely worn-out. So I don’t understand, is it really better for the engine, or not? After all, the engine was designed to burn petrol, not something else. You are not supposed to use diesel in it for example.
The funny thing is about the numbers. Well, I believe numbers on cars is a form of oppression. We don’t walk around the city with numbers on us, and luckily face detection still does not work very well, and authorities cannot follow your movements if you have no cellular phone. But when people walk around the city, they also can kill or rob or beat someone on the street. Then it’s a problem of the police to find someone who did something bad on the road, why would we need to help the police to do that? And help the government to trace all our movements. So, I don’t care about the numbers, but people here care. Many tend to buy more expensive, but as they think, ‘cool looking’ numbers, with repeating sequences like ‘999’ or ‘777’. (: People even know, that this or that number means that car belongs to this or that business group. For example, recently I had an incident, and the apparently the car belonged to one of the biggest oligarchs. Whatever.
What I want to tell is, apparently, my new car number, which was chosen randomly, is the coolest one, I could not even imagine to get such a number. It’s 374, which is an post index of Armenia, and index of Armenian telephone numbers.
So, as government propaganda slogan says ‘I am Armenia’. (: