Crosswind XUVi review --- from another channel

**rsnald** · July 19th, 2004 09:22 AM

I found this review of the xwind XUVi from motioncars.com. Kakaaliw :D

Ascent of Crosswind
(by Jason Ang)

Let’s play a game called evolve the AUV. The objective is to turn a light truck-based utility vehicle from its primitive origins into a well-mannered, civilized creature that wants to pay a visit to the opera.
First evolutionary task is walking upright. Not that difficult because AUVs are already tall to begin with. Among them, the Crosswind XUV stands out, its height equaling that of its full-sized SUV sibling, the Trooper. Add some visual muscle using a two-tone paint job with corner-to-corner body cladding, flared fenders, aluminum stepboard, and glittery taillights. Attach large tires, front bumper cap with extra lights, functional roof rails, and tailgate-mounted spare tire, and it handily passes for a more advanced specie of utility vehicle.
The next important upgrade is to the interior. Let’s cover the seats in an acceptably luxurious material—how about leather? The Crosswind goes so far as to provide black-and-gray Montana leather. The XUVi dispenses with fake wood, which is quite a relief. Simple black plastic is the material of choice for dashboard and consoles. Instruments are also straightforward, offering all the necessary readings in a no-nonsense font. For controls, there are ancient slide switches for the aircon and a twist-type handbrake lever—undoubtedly retro, but we doubt that these will ever become hip.
Brute force capability is almost a given in this category. With its 2.5-liter, direct-injection, normally aspirated diesel producing 80 hp and 167 Nm of torque, the Isuzu seems tepid on paper. How does it do in the concrete jungle? As expected, the Crosswind excels at truckish tasks. Throw a bunch of boxes, crates and furniture in the rear compartment and it’ll merely shrug. Ask it to climb a steep incline (say, Eastwood City’s parking ramp) with a full load of people and it won’t break into a sweat. Bags of low-end torque allow it to drive uphill as easily as if the landscape was flat. Strangely, when the landscape is flat, it doesn’t seem to accelerate that much faster. There’s enough grunt for decent initial getaways at stoplights, but it loses steam as the speed climbs past 80 km/h. The automatic may save you from the rubbery manual gearshift, but it will subject you to being passed by Kia Prides.
It’s also quite loud in here. The engine is front-mounted, but it might as well be under your seat as in a refrigerator-type van. Thrashing the engine past 4000 rpm, as you will likely do to cut through traffic, will have your ears begging you to give it a rest. This isn’t the kind of soundtrack that will have you fantasizing about driving in the Monaco Grand Prix; more like the Monaco pit lane, where the transporter trucks are. There is a stereo, but better save it for the parking lot when you can at last hear it. Perhaps a powertrain transplant from the D-Max offers the best chance of evolving our creature here.
Seating is still a remnant from the Fiera age. Front seats are reasonably roomy, with second row seats that are adequate for three. The rear seats though are still side-facing benches—more like upholstered ledges just one notch above our typical PUJ’s. There are some welcome touches such as rear airconditioning and headrest-mounted VCD monitors. For 2004, Isuzu added even more luxury features, such as a pneumatic massage device for the front passenger. If Lexus and Mercedes thought they had an exclusive on this built-in backrub machine, wait till they see the XUVi.
Then we have to teach our vehicle some manners. Road manners, that is. The unfortunately-named vehicle is prone to leaning even when the air is still. Show it a corner and it will fight to keep going straight. Isuzu has performed reasonably well in taming the Crosswind’s ride; it’s still firm, showing crashiness only on heavily raised surfaces like humps.
So how does the Crosswind rank on the evolutionary scale? Despite its flashy exterior decoration and the near-luxury interior appointments, the crude mechanicals will have you believe that the XUVi is the equivalent of Cro-Magnon man in an Adidas track suit. In contrast, Ford’s Everest may look like a Neanderthal, but there’s some advanced thinking going on inside that brutish façade. Features like ABS, intelligent seating and individual aircon vents are well integrated into the design. It may not be ready for opera, but it can probably appreciate Sting already. Crosswind needs to evolve further, and quickly, if it wants to stay in the game.●

Natawa ako sa comment na to
"The automatic may save you from the rubbery manual gearshift, but it will subject you to being passed by Kia Prides." :lol: :lol:

buti na lang manual trans yun sakin

pero I agree with some of his comments... habang tumatagal... I'm beginning to get irritated by the noisy engine. nakakadagdag din sa stress pag long driving. In terms of engine noise level... mas tolerable ang Nissan diesel. At least yung sa Nissan Eagle pickup.

**RedHorse** · July 19th, 2004 09:28 AM

Bags of low-end torque allow it to drive uphill as easily as if the landscape was flat. Strangely, when the landscape is flat, it doesn’t seem to accelerate that much faster.

he he he

**5Speed** · July 26th, 2004 05:04 PM

hehehe yup some of his comment was true...

I drove my friends XUV last holy week and maingay nga sya talaga compared to other AUVs....like REVO na diesel...yung adventure mas tahimik pa.... kelangan mo talagang lakasan yung stereo mo...pero kung may baby kang natutulog eh di ko magagawa yon at pag pinatay mo naman yung stereo ay maririnig mo naman yung ingay nang makina lalo na kung panay uphill climb yung byahe mo.....hehehe or andon ka sa 100+KPH cruising speed...very noticeable talaga yung cabin noise....

well sabi nga nang friend ko eh linkin park cd lang daw ang katapat nung cabin noise....hehehe ayun yung dalawa nyang tsikiting eh rockers na ang dating...yun parati ang naririnig sa sasakyan eh.....hehehe

actually parang mas tahimik pa yung cabin nong 10 yr. old na L200 nung pinsan ko kesa crosswind....

btw.... manual din yung XUV nung friend ko...okay naman yung acceleration...yun nga lang iniiwanan kami sa rektahan nung 4X2 na everest na kasama nung friend ko at that time....

talaga bang mas mabagal yung matic nang XUV?

**revoGSX** · July 26th, 2004 05:14 PM

Originally posted by rsnald

pero I agree with some of his comments... habang tumatagal... I'm beginning to get irritated by the noisy engine. nakakadagdag din sa stress pag long driving. In terms of engine noise level... mas tolerable ang Nissan diesel. At least yung sa Nissan Eagle pickup.

ganon din kami sir rsnald,
kaya hindi din diesel binili namin dahil long drive kami every weekend.. between revo diesel and gas, revo gas pa rin kahit na mahal oil ngayon, meron kasi revo diesel erpats ko at liteace, mas relax ako pag liteace drive ko going to dagupan..

meron ng sound insulation sa engine compartment ng mga crosswind, sa revo diesel wala pa din, pero mas maingay pa rin crosswind.... opinion ko lang po ito

kung meron lang crosswind na gas variant, malamang talo nila revo sa sales hehe

**5Speed** · July 26th, 2004 05:28 PM

agree ako dyan sa sinabi mo revogsx....hehehe

pero kung may gas variant ang crosswind eh parang hindi na isuzo yan di ba, yan nga ang trademark nila eh...hehehehe

**mbt** · July 26th, 2004 05:34 PM

sa review ng C! kinawawa din nila yung acceleration ng crosswind hehe... hindi daw nakaabot in time for the article sa sobrang bagal hehehehe

**boknoyxtrm2001** · July 26th, 2004 05:51 PM

ako ang comment ko diyab..

driven the 2 brothers the XTRM Highlander and the XUVi Crosswind.. bantad na ang ingay sa akin.. na immune na ako.. ang lagi ko na lang tinatanong eh.. sino kaya sa dalawang ito ang mas iingay pa heheheheh

di naman maingay sa cabin yan pag maugong... siguro sir dahil you came from a gas ride pag dati mong sa diesel medyo bantad ang ingay eh... so yunnn hope to help

**revoGSX** · July 26th, 2004 05:51 PM

halos lahat ng engines ng mga AUV eh kinakawawa naman nila hehe..
dahil nasanay na sila mga hi-end SUVs na malalakas mga engines hehe

mag-test drive sila ng patrol or pajero or dmax, bmw or volvo.. syempre oks diba, after a week, test drive sila ng auv.. natural mahina hatak hehe...

**5Speed** · July 26th, 2004 05:54 PM

hehehehe medyo biased nga sila nang konte towards the high end vehicles.....

pero sana auv vs auv ang comparison...tapos diesel variant vs diesel variant...kasi kapag diesel vs. gas engine eh medyo magkaiba pa rin sila di ba?

well hindi naman comparo yung sa C....just a review... yun nga lang, me nabasa ako dati na comparo and they compared an auv characteristic/behavior to suv...di naman yata fair yon.... iba syempre ang SUV.