The “weekend travel” format has become extremely popular among Russians. Having left the city on a Friday evening, you can return home even on Monday morning, filled with vivid impressions, but without compromising your work schedule. The editor of Motor magazine and his family tested this format of recreation while driving the updated Belgee X70 crossover. The starting point was Moscow, and the end point of the route was Vladimir, one of the pearls of the Golden Ring. More precisely, “almost final”.
The three of us went on a “weekend trip” in an all-wheel drive Belgee X70 with a 150-horsepower 1.5-liter turbo engine, a 7-speed preselective “robot” and a 48-volt dynastarter. During braking, the latter charges the battery, and during acceleration it releases energy, increasing torque to 300 Nm.
This set of units is known for its harmonious character and trouble-free operation in Russia. The car is peppy enough to confidently overtake, and lower gears are engaged quickly, but completely unnoticeably. When pedaling quietly, the gearbox prefers high gears, including sixth already at 80 km/h.
The most convenient way to travel east from Moscow is along the new M-12 highway. We filled up the 58-liter fuel tank in advance because we knew that on Friday evenings, during the summer holidays and on long holiday weekends, there are queues in front of gas stations in which you can lose up to an hour of time.
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However, the Belgee X70 is known for its fuel efficiency. In the extra-urban cycle, according to the passport, the car should consume 6.6 liters of gasoline, and, as the current drive showed, the declared data practically does not differ from the real indicators. Especially if you use adaptive cruise control and select the Eco driving mode.
On the 144th kilometer of the highway in the Vladimir region in the direction from Moscow, there is a special “musical marking”, which is warned about in advance by special signs. If you move at a speed of 110 km/h, then when you hit the plastic lines with your right wheels you can hear the melody “Kalinka-Malinka”.
But in order to appreciate the motive of the Russian song, it is better to lower the side windows, otherwise the sensations will be incomplete. The Belgee has good noise insulation for its class, thanks to which passengers can avoid raising their voices during conversations at highway speeds.
Belgee X70 against the backdrop of the Golden Gate in Vladimir
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Belgee X70 against the backdrop of St. Demetrievsky Cathedral in Vladimir
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Belgee X70 against the backdrop of Cathedral Square in Vladimir
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Belgee X70 in front of the Crystal Museum (Holy Trinity Church)
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Belgee X70 against the background of the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir
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In the current tourist season, Vladimir was not quite ready to greet guests with postcard views. The main attraction of the city – the Golden Gate of the 12th century – is currently undergoing restoration, and therefore almost to the very top of the dome is wrapped in thick green fabric.
Moreover, during our visit, workers began to fence off Cathedral Square in front of the Assumption Cathedral with corrugated sheets (the cathedral itself is famous for the frescoes of Andrei Rublev). It turned out that the monument dedicated to the 850th anniversary of the city was undergoing large-scale cleaning. The figures of the Worker, Warrior and Architect, with whom tourists so loved to take pictures, cannot be approached now.
However, there are other points of attraction in the city. For example, private museums – the Detective Museum, the Museum of True Stories and the Spoon Museum. The latter’s collection includes about 30 thousand silver, tin, wooden and other spoons from 150 countries, of which approximately 3 thousand are on display for inspection.
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In the Museum of True Stories you can see an extremely interesting artifact – the Golden Ring collection of perfumes. It turns out that during the Soviet era, Soviet perfumers dedicated original scents to Vladimir, Suzdal, Rostov, Uglich and Zagorsk. In the Suzdal perfume, modern experts, by the way, unexpectedly caught notes of pickled cucumber.
The main thing is to remember that parking on some streets in the historical part of Vladimir has become paid. For an hour of parking you need to pay 40 rubles, and forgetful motorists will face a fine of 2 thousand rubles. Parking on the Belgee X70 is a pleasure: the car has large mirrors, and parking sensors and an all-round visibility system act as assistants.
Belgee X70 interior
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In general, the list of equipment offered by the model is very extensive, and even buyers of basic configurations cannot complain about the poverty of equipment. For example, six airbags, a set of electronic assistants, a large central screen and virtual instruments are included as standard equipment.
After seeing the sights of Vladimir, most tourists choose ancient Suzdal as the next (and, as a rule, final) point on the route. However, in the summer the museum city is literally crowded with both people and cars. Knowing this, we chose another point on the map of the Vladimir region – the little-known village of Muromtsevo, Sudogodsky district.
A rather interesting road leads to Muromtsevo. About half of the route is a wide four-lane highway, where you can activate cruise control, open the curtain of the panoramic roof and enjoy calm, measured driving accompanied by good music – the interior of the top version of the car is sounded by 8 speakers.
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The second part of the journey is a “taxi” track, on the three-dimensional turns of which the driver gets real pleasure. The crossover reacts adequately to steering turns, in addition to pleasing with minimal roll. It’s not for nothing that the chassis of the original Geely Atlas Pro, from which the Belgee X70 grew, was tuned by engineers from the reputable British brand Lotus.
Muromtsevo is a village not far from the town of Sudogdy, the key attraction of which is the castle complex, built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries by the timber merchant Vladimir Khrapovitsky. People call the building “the estate of Count Khrapovitsky,” although Vladimir Semyonovich never bore the title of count.
Unfortunately, most of the structures are dilapidated, but even now the scale of the undertaking is impressive. The founder of the estate, in addition to seven dozen unusual buildings, founded a system of cascading ponds, an arboretum and a now lost railway station. The complex of buildings for horse, cattle and carriage houses, according to legend, resembles the castle of a certain French nobleman.
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It is important to know that the roads around the estate leave much to be desired. But the tight suspension of the Belgee X70 is prepared for such conditions. It confidently swallows long asphalt waves, unpleasant little road bumps, and serious-sized bumps, and on a frankly broken road it doesn’t bother you too much with excessive shaking.
In general, comfort is about the Belgee X70. From suspension settings to nice touches like a wide rear armrest, a cooled box and adjustable rear seatback, the car tries to be pleasant for every passenger.
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The trunk volume is not the most impressive in terms of figures: 378 liters. True, as a pleasant bonus there is a low loading height, a small hidden compartment, a mesh pocket, a standard curtain, and in the flagship version, like ours, a 12-volt socket and fabric upholstery.
The surviving buildings of Muromtsev give rise to only one thought: they knew how to build! Reliable, monumental and very beautiful. Belgee, as the experience of Russian machine operation has shown, is also reliable. Its 1.5-liter turbo engine is considered resourceful, causing owners a minimum of hassle. The main thing is to undergo maintenance in a timely manner.
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In our case, the engine is assisted by a “robot”, whose service life during routine maintenance, according to experts, is approximately 350-400 thousand km. Front-wheel drive comes with another unit – a classic 6-speed automatic transmission from the famous Aisin brand, whose reliability has also been confirmed by experts.
At the same time, the taxis contain copies of the original model, the mileage of which has exceeded 400 thousand km, without major repairs of the engine and gearbox. Both transmissions, as well as the power unit, are provided with a 5-year warranty (or 150 thousand km).
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And one more thing about reliability. The AWD system is built around a BorgWarner electro-hydraulic clutch. “Electrohydraulics” differs from the electromagnetic analogues common on other crossovers in greater endurance, improved temperature characteristics and high transmitted torque.
It is clear that crossovers spend most of their time on the asphalt, but by activating the auxiliary electronics mode called “Off-Road”, you can allow yourself some exercises outside of good roads. Moreover, the body geometry is quite successful. The main thing is not to get carried away.
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It’s difficult not to get carried away when it comes to traveling, and you have a comfortable, versatile and, at the same time, economical car at your disposal: you want to visit as many interesting places as possible. The only pity is that the weekend is only two days.
