Car_and_Driver_USA_July_2017

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PRICE DIMENSIONS LENGTH WIDTH HEIGHT WHEELBASE CAPABILITY CAPACITY TURNING RADIUS GROUND CLEARANCE MAX INCLINE POWERTRAIN MOTOR TYPE BATTERY LB PER HP DRIVELINE TRANSMISSION DRIVEN WHEELS CHASSIS TIRES GOLDEN TECH BUZZAROUND EX $2199 45.0 in 22.0 in 35.0 in 34.7 in 330 lb 42.0 in 2.2 in 6.0 deg permanent-magnet DC, 0.4 hp air-cooled lead-acid, 0.8 kWh 377.5 1-speed direct drive rear Unbranded 9.1 x 3.0-6 CAR AND DRIVER TEST RESULTS PRIDE MOBILITY VICTORY 10 LX $2765 47.0 in 22.2 in 39.0 in 35.0 in 400 lb 65.0 in 2.2 in 6.0 deg permanent-magnet DC, 0.5 hp air-cooled lead-acid, 1.0 kWh 458.0 1-speed direct drive rear Primo F: 10.4 x 3.6-6.5 R: 10.8 x 3.6-6.5 WHILL MODEL A $12,999 39.5 in 23.7 in 36.0 in 20.3 in 220 lb 28.0 in 3.5 in 10.0 deg 2 permanent-magnet AC, combined output 2.4 hp air-cooled lead-acid, 1.2 kWh 102.9 1-speed direct drive all F: Omni wheel 9.8 x 2.3-5.5 R: Cheng shin 12.5 x 2.3-8.0 ACCELERATION 0–5 MPH 1/4 MILE @ MPH TOP SPEED CHASSIS BRAKING, 5–0 MPH WEIGHT CURB %FRONT/%REAR RANGE C/D OBSERVED 3.8 sec 170.8 sec @ 5.4 5.4 mph (gov ltd) 7 ft 151 lb 30.5/69.5 22 mi 3.4 sec 171.2 sec @ 5.5 5.5 mph (gov ltd) 4 ft 229 lb 30.6/69.4 25 mi 1.5 sec 160.9 sec @ 5.8 5.8 mph (gov ltd) 4 ft 247 lb 38.5/61.5 15 mi thrust. A rheostat allows the throttle to be fine-tuned to sustain walking speeds. Brake by releasing the throttle; it’s fairly gentle. The secondplace Pride Mobility Victory operates almost identically. The Buzzaround is a highvalue proposition. And that’s tough to resist. With 0.4 horsepower on tap, the Buzzaround is the least powerful of the gathered devices. But at a svelte 151 pounds, its powertoweight ratio was secondbest. Still, it took 3.8 seconds to zip up to 5 mph, or 0.4 second slower than the Pride scooter. The Buzzaround’s 42.0inch turning radius made it easy to navigate the aisles at CVS, and without much in front of the rider, it was also a snap to reach items on higher shelves and dump them into the small, attached basket. The seat itself is flat, shapeless, and covered in cheap vinyl, but it’s squishy enough to contour around even this author’s awkward thunder butt. A rocker switch directs the battery current to produce forward or rearward The Whill’s front wheels have rubber rollers around the circumference, allowing them to move laterally when the power chair needs to spin around. /// 2. PRIDE MOBILITY VICTORY 10 LX Running the long, straight Mulsanne from C/D’s posh offce reception area back to the clandestine testing garage, the Pride Mobility Victory 10 LX hunkered down at 5.5 mph. Blowing past a fresh crop of webdevelopment hires, the coilspring suspension smoothed every carpet divot while the four Primo tires swished in harmony with the 0.5hp electric motor. Built to swallow entire yards in comfort, the Victory swept mere pedestrians aside with its electric horn while the LED turn signals flashed to signal the driver’s indomitable will. The reardrive Victory is only two inches longer than the Buzzaround, but its fourth wheel means it feels more substantial and stable. Even on grass or uneven berms, the scooter remains composed. Unfortunately, the fourth wheel also increases the turning circle to 65.0 inches, 23 inches greater than the Buzzaround’s, and enough to make turnarounds in the aisles at a local Meijer superstore three-point affairs. It also means more effort to move the steering tiller. Weighing in at 229 pounds, the bulkier Victory takes more effort than the Buzzaround to muscle into a van or onto a rack, although each scooter can be disassembled into three pieces without tools. But the Pride scooter is 0.4 second faster to 5 mph than ILLUSTRATIONS BY PETE SUCHESKI 066 . COMPARO . CAR AND DRIVER . JUL/2017
FINAL RESULTS GOLDEN BUZZAROUND EX PRIDE VICTORY 10 LX WHILL MODEL A Maximum points available the three-wheeler and stops three feet sooner. And at $2765, it’s still affordable. Rated to carry 400 pounds, the Victory became C/D’s scooter-to-scooter photography platform. It’s not built for two, but with the driver in the nicely shaped seat, photographer Roy Ritchie could stand on the floorboard and shoot back to the other machines as they orbited the Village of Rochester Hills mall. And even while carrying that heavy load, the suspension remained supple and the scooter went through corners flat and secure. The Victory feels as if it could tow an Airstream across Montana. But assistant technical editor David Beard would like to see it equipped with an ashtray. /// 1. WHILL MODEL A Whill’s Model A has all-wheel drive, is covered in Star Wars–style stormtrooper white plastic, and comes with an iPhone app for remote operation. And at $12,999, it costs almost six times what the Buzzaround EX does. Launched in 2011, San Francisco–based Whill refers to its products as “personal electric vehicles” and not wheelchairs. The Model A is, however, a chair with wheels. Vastly more complex than the scooters, the Model A’s primary control is a one-hand joystick on the chair’s right arm, with a three-position speed control located on the left. Using the joystick is intuitive; push forward to go forward, right to go right, etc. But it takes some acclimation for the moves to become graceful. And because it steers GOLDEN TECHNOLOGIES BUZZAROUND EX [+] NIMBLE, LIGHT STEERING, EASY TO TRANSPORT. [—] UN-QUICK, SOMEWHAT TIPSY, PLAIN WRAPPED. [=] FITS INTO LIFE WITHOUT REDEFINING IT. — PRIDE MOBILITY VICTORY 10 LX [+] HIGHEST PAYLOAD, CUSHY RIDE, LONG-HAUL COMFORT. [—] AWKWARD IN TIGHT QUARTERS, CAN BE A CHORE TO TRANSPORT. [=] THE F-150 OF PERSONAL MOBILITY. —WHILL MODEL A [+] QUICK, SLICK, AND SUPER TRICK. [—] OCCASIONALLY NERVOUS OPERATION, NO STORAGE, LOW WEIGHT CAPACITY, HIGH PRICED. [=] BOLDLY SCOOTING WHERE NO SCOOTER HAS SCOOTED BEFORE. — RANK VEHICLE DRIVER COMFORT ERGONOMICS WEIGHT CAPACITY* CARGO SPACE* FEATURES/AMENITIES* FIT AND FINISH PORTABILITY STYLING REBATES/EXTRAS* AS-TESTED PRICE* SUBTOTAL POWERTRAIN 0–5 MPH ACCELERATION* MOTOR BRAKING* SPEED CONTROL SUBTOTAL CHASSIS OFF-ROAD ABILITY STEERING EFFORT MANEUVERABILITY RIDE SUBTOTAL EXPERIENCE FUN TO DRIVE TOTAL 10 10 10 5 10 10 10 5 5 20 95 20 10 10 40 10 10 10 10 40 25 200 1 2 3 8 9 6 0 8 9 5 5 0 5 55 20 10 8 38 10 8 9 9 36 24 153 9 8 10 5 10 7 7 4 1 17 78 11 10 8 29 6 7 5 9 27 17 151 7 7 8 4 7 6 8 3 1 20 71 9 7 7 23 5 8 7 7 27 16 137 *These objective scores are calculated from the scooter’s dimensions, capacities, rebates and extras, and/or test results. by varying the speeds of its four wheels, it can spin around practically within its own width. The turning radius is only 28.0 inches. Helping are front “Omni wheels” with rubber rollers around the circumference that allow the wheels to move laterally. The 2.4-hp Model A is a mobility rocket ship. It rips to 5 mph in 1.5 seconds and tops out at a governed 5.8 mph while completing the quarter-mile in a blistering 160.9 seconds. Remote control may seem gimmicky, but it allows a friend to operate the chair while walking alongside it if the rider needs to nap. It’s also useful for loading the chair into or out of a van. The Model A’s best features include how easily it handles off-path terrain; it can even climb low curbs. And the lack of apparatus in front of the rider also means the chair practically disappears from his or her view. It’s easier to interact with people when there isn’t a tiller acting as a barrier. What holds the Whill back are its limited 220-pound capacity, the lack of onboard storage, a big-ticket price, and the fact that its design means that a van is almost mandatory to move it long distances. And who knows how well this tech-intensive machine will hold up over time? Even so, we have seen the future, and it looks like a giant pair of Beats headphones for your ass. 067
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VW FIXES ITS DIESELS. WE SEE IF IT
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Join the Fuel Rewards ® program to
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Car and Driver vol. 63, no. 1 098 D
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