VAZ 21099 became the last model of the Samara family of cars. Having received a sedan body, the Lada 21099 no longer has any differences from its predecessor, the “nine”. Over the 15 years of production, the model has been modernized several times, but has always been popular and in high demand among domestic car enthusiasts.
Cars of this brand still occupy one of the first places in sales on the secondary market. Despite the fact that the car was discontinued in 2004, its number on our roads is still large. In this regard, one should recall the technical characteristics inherent in the VAZ 21099 and consider in detail the features inherent in this vehicle. You should also consider the carburetor and injector, engine technical characteristics.
VAZ-21099 Tank volume, trunk Load capacity Fuel consumption
VAZ-21099 “Sputnik”, a compact front-wheel drive car with a transverse engine. First show - 1984. Produced by the Volzhsky Automobile Plant since 1990. The final model of the Samar family differed from its older sisters not only in its more spacious trunk. It had an original radiator trim, the hood and front fenders were made without a plastic “mask”, and the interior was distinguished by a new panel (popularly called “high”) with a tachometer in the instrument cluster. Subsequently, these decisions passed on to the entire family.
Getting to know the body
The main part of the VAZ 21099 body is the frame. It includes several elements connected to each other by welding. The latter is mostly made with dots or seams, but those components of the frame that bear a large load are reinforced with an arc.
Frame
Thanks to its non-separable design, the frame or frame of the VAZ 21099 car is incredibly resistant to destruction and has sufficient rigidity. All the main units and components of the car are supported on it, including the attached parts of the body, as well as various interior components.
Attachment parts
As for the mounted parts of the body, these include those parts that are already connected with bolts or spot welding in some places (tack welding):
- Doors also belong to the hinged parts of the body. They come with sliding windows (side windows). The rear fixed glass has a distinctive slope inherent in VAZ models. The windshield is made of 3 layers and well polished;
- “99” bumpers are installed in a classic way - front and rear. They are plastic, but have metal beams that significantly strengthen them;
- The seats are separate, have many adjustments, and headrests for safety. A comfortable driver's seat is installed. The rear sofa on the VAZ 21099 is not the same as that of hatchbacks and is structurally different.
Main differences and weight "99"
It will be interesting to know that the VAZ 21099 is a kind of modification of the “nine”, originally intended for export sales. Another name for the car is Lada Forma. Began production in 1990.
In terms of its design features, the Lada Form is slightly different from the Lada Samara models. The main differences are in the rear of the body. As you know, instead of a fifth door, a trunk appeared here, like all classic sedans.
The VAZ 21099 turned out noticeably better than its predecessors. It showed enviable handling and high stability on the road, which was largely due to the well-designed body.
Just look at the ground clearance, which is 15 cm. For a convenient, comfortable ride on our roads, this is exactly what is needed. True, the ground clearance of the “99” is less than that of large crossovers and all-terrain vehicles, but if you take into account the light weight of the VAZ 2109, the advantages of the car are clearly visible. In addition, the ground clearance can be increased slightly if the wheels are “shod” with larger rims, although excessive zeal in this matter will clearly be out of place.
Note. Let us note, in particular, that the “99” body made it possible to get rid of the main drawback of all “Samarov” hatchback models, and for the most part the VAZ 2109 - the rapid contamination of the rear window in rainy weather.
In general, the ascetic “VAZ” body, due to its transformation into a sedan, allowed engineers to achieve a greater permissible load.
People often ask on forums how much the body of the VAZ 21099 weighs? Indeed, it is very important to know this. A lot depends on the weight of the car, including dynamics, fuel consumption, etc. In this regard, the weight of “99” is practically no different from its predecessors. The curb weight of the car is 950 kg, but the body weighs about 250 kg (this is more than that of the “eight” and “nine”).
As for the overall dimensions, they, in fact, did not receive any obvious differences, apart from the length. It naturally increased by 200 mm, as a rear “sedan” overhang appeared. The exterior is the same, the interior too.
The luggage compartment allows the transportation of various cargoes. It is quite roomy, although loading things into such a high trunk is often difficult.
VAZ-21099 - tuning video
The Samara sedan, which has long been known among the people as the most prestigious model, was and is produced only with a 1.5 liter engine (with the exception of export versions - 1.1, 1.3, Wankel rotary piston engine). It is noteworthy that this is the first VAZ model (not to be confused with a modification), the index of which consists not of four digits, but of five. This is explained by the fact that during development it bore the index “tens”. During the development work, it was decided to make the VAZ 2110 different, and the resulting sedan from the “nine” was assigned the “number” 21099. The injection version can be distinguished by the additional number “2” at the end of the index. Today, the Samara-2 modification with the interior (instrument panel and door trim) is in particular demand - its index is 21099-04.
Body reinforcement
The body of the VAZ 21099 needs, whatever one may say, modernization. It was made at the factory as a simple body, not distinguished by any “tricks”. Let's not forget that in 1990, the entire automobile production of our country was still at the “Soviet” level and, accordingly, there was no advanced equipment there.
Many car enthusiasts began to bring the car body to the appropriate level, introducing foreign tuning ideas. You can still find ready-made “99” tuning kits on sale.
Note. For the most part, door handles, rear lights and bumpers were previously subject to tuning.
Recently, fans of this car have begun to tune the suspension. Instead of the standard classic suspension, they installed a sports one. The struts were installed with short strokes and had special springs. The ground clearance was also lowered, which made it possible to better corner and maneuver at medium and high speeds.
But tuning to increase torsional rigidity is especially important. What this will give, read below.
“Tweaking” body rigidity
The higher the body's torsional rigidity or quality of life, the better the car turns, makes maneuvers and maneuvers in city traffic. But if this body indicator is, so to speak, “smeared,” then it becomes impossible to carry out the above actions. In addition, the body deforms and twists faster, and the suspension begins to function not as it should.
When designing the body, the designers certainly took into account a number of factors affecting the quality of life during the operation of the vehicle. They could not help but mean weight, the operation of passive safety elements, and much more. But constant loads, general environmental deterioration, extreme driving conditions - all this has a bad effect on the metal base of the car. In this case, the modernization of the vehicle is definitely prescribed.
“99” needs tuning more than its other relatives, since the car body is a sedan. And as you know, sedans can withstand loads worse than hatchbacks, the metal of such a body “gets tired” faster, and welding points are destroyed soon. Also, the rigidity indicator and the number of doors are affected.
The quality of life of the VAZ 21099 is 5500 Nm/deg, which is 1300 Nm/deg less than the quality of life of the “nine” and 2700 Nm/deg less than the quality of life of the “eight”. The fact remains that the torsional rigidity of sedans is inferior to that of 3-door and 5-door hatchbacks.
Note. On VAZ sedans, the designers managed to increase the quality of life already on the “ten” and on the VAZ 21102. 8000 Nm/deg and 8400 Nm/deg, respectively.
Spacer
Increasing the quality of life of the body with your own hands involves, first of all, the introduction of spacers. This device is capable of increasing the indicator several times, strengthening the body. Many tests have been carried out to prove the effectiveness of such amplifiers.
Note. In addition, thanks to the spacers, the degree of deformability of the body is reduced, which cannot but have a beneficial effect on the durability of the metal frame.
It is recommended to install a spacer of medium hardness on the VAZ 21099, but it must be from well-known companies; the products are stamped in a handicraft fashion, somewhere in a garage, which cannot be considered a plus. When installing the wrong, “left” strut, there is a risk of not only wasting time and money, but also deteriorating the performance of some vehicle components.
Most often, front-wheel drive models are equipped with a front strut, but sometimes it wouldn’t hurt to install a rear strut. It can significantly strengthen the rear pillars, and the entire rear of the sedan. True, such a spacer is more necessary for Vases of recent years of production, in which the rear sofa serves as body rigidity.
So, the strut can increase the quality of life of the body by 25 percent, which will turn the standard 5500 Nm/deg into 5720 Nm/deg, which is already good.
Other Upgrade Methods
Along with installing spacers on the VAZ 21099, it is also important to introduce other devices that increase body rigidity. Here are the types of tuning known in this area, except for installing a spacer.
- Front shield reinforcement
- Subframes
- Roll cage
- Bottom brace
Also watch an interesting video about strengthening the threshold at the place where the jack is installed on the VAZ 2109 and 21099
Car Features
Passenger cars of the “Sputnik” series, as models 2108 and 2109 were also designated, in addition to the same front-wheel drive, also had a similar appearance, popularly nicknamed “chisel”. Also, small cars had many common body parts and similar overall dimensions, but the weight of the VAZ-2109 was 15 kg more.
The five-door “nine”, compared to the “eight”, was considered by domestic car enthusiasts to be a more practical and versatile car. Such qualities allowed the VAZ-2109 model to first equal the 2108 version in terms of production volume, and in 1998 to become the first in terms of the number of copies produced.
The manufacturer constantly made changes to the design in order to improve the “nine”. Among the most notable are:
- new design of the front part;
- rear wiper;
- hydrocorrector of head optics;
- improved clutch design;
- increased volume of the washer fluid reservoir.
In order to reduce the weight of the VAZ-2109 and 2108, a lighter and easier to manufacture plastic gas tank was developed, but such a tank was subsequently abandoned due to poor ventilation.
Malfunctions
| FAULT | CAUSES AND REMEDIES |
| The appearance of a pronounced knocking of valves when the gas pedal is sharply pressed. | The reason for this is improper operation of the carburetor, the use of low-quality low-octane gasoline, or incorrectly set valve clearances. In the latter case, the repair consists of opening the valve cover and adjusting the valves. |
| A warning signal indicating insufficient oil pressure appears on the dashboard. | The weak point of these engines was the oil filters, which often broke, causing the engine to lose oil. As a result, the insufficient pressure sensor was triggered. Repair consists of identifying the location of the leak and replacing leaky seals. |
| The motor runs with obvious interruptions. | These modifications of the power unit were equipped with Solex carburetors, which were not particularly reliable, which led to problems in the operation of the engine. The repair consisted of replacing the carburetor with an improved modification. |
| Engine cooling problems. | The cooling system used was also not reliable, which led to regular breakdowns of the pump and thermostat. To eliminate such problems, it was necessary to change the thermostat or open the engine and replace the failed cooling system pump. |
Painting
Painting “99” will also have a beneficial effect on the car body. If the car owner has little knowledge in this area, then you can start with less significant and visible parts, gradually moving on to more complex ones. Proper painting of the body of the VAZ 21099 will be an excellent way to modernize the car without spending a lot of money. The price of painting and tuning cars at a service station is known to be very high today.
Practical experience in painting a vehicle is, of course, the main factor in a successful result. But the technical part of the process, the basic rules, also cannot be underestimated.
Reducing the weight of passenger cars
The weight of any car is the most important parameter, which is directly related to the fuel consumption of a particular model. An increase in vehicle weight with the same technical characteristics of the power unit increases fuel consumption by approximately 5%. Therefore, the Volzhsky Automobile Plant, like any automaker, is constantly striving to reduce the weight of cars produced.
For comparison, the VAZ-2101 weighed 955 kg, and the VAZ-2109, which had increased in height and width, weighed 915 kg. This result in the design of the “nine” was achieved through the use of a significant number of elements and parts made of high-strength metal, aluminum and plastic. The main ones include:
- plastic door trim;
- plastic bumpers;
- plastic door sills;
- a large number of plastic inserts and bracket linings.
- aluminum radiator, etc.
The total weight of plastics used in the VAZ-2109 device is 80 kg, or almost 9%.
