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Just like its predecessor, the new Oka will be a subcompact A class car. New Lada Oka 2022
The fact that the Renault-Nissan concern plans to introduce a new budget model in Russia has been known for a long time. However, it was initially believed that the model should be released in our country under the budget Datsun brand. Under this brand, the On Do sedan and the Mi Do hatchback based on the Lada Granta were presented in Russia. However, last year the corporation's management decided to completely liquidate the Datsun brand. The latter showed its ineffectiveness both in Russia and in other markets where it was presented. Let me remind you that this brand was created specifically for developing countries. These primarily include Russia and India. As a result, those models whose release was previously planned began to be presented under other brands.
Nissan Magnite for Indian market
So, quite recently, the subcompact crossover Nissan Magnit was introduced to the Indian market, which was originally supposed to be released under the Datsun brand. This is directly evidenced by the shape of the front radiator grille, made in the Datsun corporate style. The latter was not redesigned in order to save money. On the Russian market, Datsun planned to release both an ultra-budget crossover, which Magnit could have become, and an ultra-budget A class model. Due to the liquidation of the brand, now this model should be released under the Lada brand, which on the Russian market is the most budget-friendly of all the Renault-Nissan brands represented in our country. The model itself should receive the well-known name Oka, which is well associated among potential buyers with a compact city car.
The car will be a redesigned version of the Datsun Ready-Go, which has been on sale in India since 2016. And last year it underwent restyling. However, the model there has recently been going through far from the best times. For example, in the last full year of 2022, only 11,284 cars were sold on the market. This is also due to the increase in the living standards of Indian citizens, who have recently increasingly given preference to more expensive and comfortable models.
Platform
The car is based on a simplified modular platform CMF A. The version for Russia will be transferred to the slightly more expensive budget platform CMF B/LS, on which all future models from Avtovaz will be built. The future subcompact will have a length of 3435 millimeters. However, due to its minivan-like layout, it can accommodate five adult passengers. Naturally, it will be a bit cramped for three people in the back seat, but you can drive. The ground clearance is an extremely impressive 190 millimeters, so in fact, this is a real budget crossover.
Design
The design of Datsun will be redesigned in the corporate VAZ style. So the car should get an X-shaped front. But there are no plans for X-shaped stampings on the sides. This will save on the production of new dies for door production. Thus, the equipment can be simply transferred from India to Russia. The new hatchback will be equipped with conventional halogen headlights. Expensive versions will feature LED daytime running lights.
Depending on the version, the wheels will have a diameter of 13 to 14 inches. In combination with narrow wheels, this, on the one hand, ensures low rolling resistance, and therefore low fuel consumption, and on the other hand, it will allow you to install the most budget-friendly and affordable tires on the car. In general, the exterior design of the car turned out to be very nice and well-designed. Ideologically, it is, of course, closest to the original Daewoo Matiz, and not the Oka, precisely due to its minivan-like layout. The very use of such a layout in a car of this class is essentially without alternative. Make the car in the form factor of a regular hatchback and it will simply be too cramped.
New Oka: how to make it truly budget-friendly
Technique
The body and interior are unified with the Priora: this reduces and in some cases completely eliminates the costs of expensive equipment, and will also allow the use of body elements already mastered in production and, in fact, the entire interior.
“Priora” can hardly be called poorly equipped, so technically the “Oka” of the initial configurations should be different. You need to save on everything. Windshield wiper - in the center, with one blade, possibly rear view mirrors with external adjustment, non-rolling windows in the rear doors, etc. This is Oka! But rich configurations could inherit all the achievements of the Priora, and even more. No one is stopping you from creating “youth” versions with a factory body kit, wide possibilities for customization and other joys available to buyers of the Opel Adam and other “kids” in Europe. All this is inexpensive, but attractive.
The engine is a two-cylinder, four-stroke, transversely located, structurally similar to the VAZ 11113. That is, half of an 11183 or 11186 engine with a balancing shaft to reduce vibrations, a volume of 798 cm3 and a four-valve cylinder head. You might consider a half 1.8L (0.9L) and eight-valve cylinder head (four valves per cylinder) for more equipped versions. Why this design? It will create a compact engine and transmission compartment and, accordingly, a short hood and front overhang. Transmission - manual, four-speed or four-speed AMT (that is, “robot”), front-wheel drive.
The car must meet all modern safety and environmental requirements and be equipped with a driver's airbag as standard. A full-size spare tire can be placed under the rear passenger seat on the left, and the fuel tank is located on the right. The width of the body allows this to be done. Access to the spare tire is through the rear left door, with the need to fold back the sofa cushion and lift the dirt curtain onto the backrest. The exhaust system muffler, I believe, will have to be installed longitudinally in front or transversely under the trunk floor.
The front wheel suspension is independent, MacPherson type, spring with anti-roll bar. Rear - semi-independent, lever, spring with telescopic shock absorbers. Wheels are 12 inches.
We summarize the approximate parameters in the table:
Basic parameters and characteristics of the car
Interior
Images of the interior of the new Oka have not yet appeared on the Internet, but here we can focus on the interior of the same Datsun Ready-Go. The differences will come down to the original VAZ steering wheel, and of course, naturally our car will be left-hand drive. Datsun, in contrast, has a right-hand drive layout due to left-hand traffic in India.
Datsun Ready-Go interior
The interior itself will be made from the simplest and most inexpensive materials possible. The instrument panel is analog.
Please note: I found a car on the secondary market for 250 thousand rubles, for which I will not be ashamed. I show you!.
However, premium options such as electric power steering, a multimedia system with support for apple carplay and android auto, air conditioning and power accessories will be offered for an additional fee. In addition, cars for the Russian market must be optionally equipped with heated windshields, steering wheels and front seats. ABS, ESP and front airbags will be included as standard.
The ultra-budget Oka-2021 was presented in Russia
City cars are the real salvation of the urban environment. In large cities of Russia, where you sometimes have to park on any piece of land, where in the evening the nimblest cars can squeeze in near your house, where paid parking has become the norm of life, minicars come to the rescue.
Despite the fact that industrial production stopped the production of Oka in the fall of 2008 due to unprofitability, it can be resurrected and made available for purchase. The main thing is to combine price and appearance, get rid of Chinese spare parts and cover the metal with anti-corrosion protection. There are chances for this, because the equipment of the legendary Soviet plant has not yet been sold out, and the required number of vital workshops of the enterprise is maintained. There is a possibility of reviving the most popular Soviet “disabled woman”, but what would it look like?
Photo source: inforeactor.ru and Alexander Storm
The modern Oka would be a hit if artists put their hand to it and designers made it safe and economical. In collaboration with iReactor, designer Alexander Storm drew the Oka-2021 and told details about the car itself.
The first thing that catches your eye in a new car is the optics. It resembles echoes of the budget SUV Jeep Renegade, from which many are trying to pinch off some of the experimental solutions. Even the new Duster is guilty of this, having completely copied all the rear attributes of the most budget-friendly Jeep.
Photo source: inforeactor.ru and Alexander Storm
The car is protected from corrosion by an abundance of plastic. "Oka-2021" has fog lights made in a square shape. In the render haze, you can see how effectively the light beams through the lenses, scattering beautifully and allowing the driver to look at the road even in difficult conditions. The car doors have been simplified as much as possible. The small trunk was made deliberately to reduce the cost. For those who need to store a large number of things, it is possible to install a roof rack. The radiator grille is as simple as possible, but it protects against penetration into the engine compartment and theft of the battery, which owners of its predecessor often encountered.
The experimental glazing of the interior allows us to call the car truly youthful. Naturally, an inconvenient entrance may turn away representatives of this age group from a minicar, but if necessary, the entrance group can be redesigned in more expensive versions.
The price of the car, according to Storm himself, for Oka to become a commercially successful product should be 350,000 rubles. However, as the designer himself admits, even in the best case, the cost of a minicar will vary from 400,000 rubles for the simplest generation and higher.
Photo source: inforeactor.ru and Alexander Storm
The renderings show the Oka 2021 with expensive alloy wheels. It will not be possible to sell such a configuration in the budget segment. For this reason, the cheap versions could be offered with stampings, while the prestige models would receive a “casting”. According to Storm, the implementation of the project is only possible if a large and large domestic company, for example Lada, undertakes the implementation of an ambitious project. Also, to conquer the ultra-economical audience, a gas version of the car is possible. Trends in this are dictated by the fashion for environmental friendliness and the general price of gas fuel.
In the future, the new vehicle may become an ideal car for couriers, delivery workers, new drivers and fans of domestic cars. Transport is easily branded, and due to its small size it can be easily modernized, painted and covered with film. The appearance of SURF and skate versions would be especially chic.
Photo source: inforeactor.ru and Alexander Storm
Among the advantages of the project are wide brand recognition, low price, elegant design and global demand for city cars. Tuners will especially like the version, because every self-respecting video blogger tries to make an SUV out of Oka. The angular design will obviously fit well with the X-style of its larger brothers. Needless to say, under an incredible set of circumstances, a unique city car could enter the market as early as 2021.
The main disadvantages are inconvenient doors, low probability of successful implementation of the project and similarity with the German prototypes of golf carts. However, do not despair: if Lada feels from consumers the importance of implementing the project, it can be implemented. Oka 2021 is not Storm’s first experiment in an attempt to modify Oka. Previously, the convertible version, also created in collaboration with iReactor, received a wide response from readers.
Technical part
As for the technical part, here the new Oka will be significantly improved compared to the Indian source code. The body will be significantly strengthened, because the original Datsun Ready-Go scored only one star in the crash test safety rating. The level of passive safety of the new Oka will be noticeably higher. Approximately at the level of the more expensive Grants. The new Oka will receive a McPherson-type front suspension and a rear semi-independent beam. Front brakes are disc, rear drum.
The motor range will be completely different from that of the Indian prototype. In India, Datsun is offered with two 3-cylinder engines: a 0.8-liter engine with 54 horsepower and 72 Newton-meters of torque and a top-end liter engine with 68 horsepower and 91 Newton-meters of torque. The younger one is available with a five-speed manual transmission, and the older one with both a manual and a robotic gearbox. Oka will receive a fully-fledged 8-valve 1.6 engine developed by AvtoVAZ.
After the latest modernization, it develops a quite decent 90 horsepower and 140 Newton meters of torque. Even Granta, equipped with such a motor, does not suffer from a lack of dynamics. Oke him just for the eyes. Such an engine will be combined with a VAZ five-speed manual transmission, and for an additional fee with a robotic gearbox. The latter currently continues to be installed on Grant, although Vesta is no longer available with it. It should be noted that this robot works quite adequately on light models, so it will suit Oka just right.
The undoubted advantage of such a box is its efficiency at the level of a manual box, as well as its low cost. Let me remind you that at the moment Ladas equipped with such an AMT robot are only 25 thousand more expensive than similar cars with mechanics. For comparison, the surcharge for a Jatco variator is 60,000. Acceleration to a hundred for a similar car equipped with mechanics will take approximately 11 seconds, and with a robot 13. The new Oka may appear on the AvtoVAZ conveyor in 2022-2023. Then, when the serial assembly of cars on the new CMF B/LS platform begins.
The Oka-2 project: how did it develop and why did it not go into mass production?
The appearance of the small civilian car "Oka" took place in 1987, shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The model was produced until 2008, which is the reason why fully functional copies can still be found on city streets today. This small car was perceived positively, and the level of its popularity increased more and more, despite its austerity and low degree of safety. The model was interesting for mass purchase, so the question gradually arose about a successor, the distinctive features of which would be a more modern design, as well as improved driving and performance characteristics.
Although this did not have the best effect on the cost of the car, it would still find its buyers. Starting in the 90s, the manufacturer made the first attempts to create a next-generation machine. But they were so uncertain and insignificant that a full-fledged project, called Oka-2, was ready only by the end of the century. But it never remained realized. What was the reason for this?
The emergence of the idea of creation. The author of the idea for the development of the Oka-1 car was Viktor Nikolaevich Polyakov, who at that time held the post of director of VAZ, and the Minister of Transport of the USSR. In the 90s, he came up with the idea of combining the VAZ-1111 with updated technological solutions and other existing ideas. The result should have been the appearance on the Russian market of a simple and economical, but at the same time stylish and powerful modern car.
Presumably, Oka-2 was supposed to be a unified version of the first model in terms of chassis and body, but with changes to the engine, gearbox and interior equipment. In order to coordinate production, the Volga-Kama Industrial Group was created through the joint efforts of the AvtoVAZ and KAMAZ companies. To resolve all bureaucratic issues, a separate LLC was created, and the main goals were set as follows:
- The retail price of the vehicle must not exceed $3,500;
- The free space under the hood should be enough to accommodate an engine with a capacity of 0.75-1l;
- The cabin should accommodate 4 people.
Decor. After complete approval of the design and assembly of the engine compartment, the question arose in developing the design. For this purpose, a competition was announced in which three designers from the state - Yuri Vereshchagin, Oleg Shapkin and Alexander Kolpakov presented their own versions of the vision of the car. The commission had the greatest success with Kolpakov's version, and Shapkin, who was in second place, was appointed responsible for interior design.
The result was an interesting version of a city car for its time, which did not lose touch with the first generation. The car now had a truly ambitious look, after redesigning the door handles, installing new side mirrors, and low and high beam reflectors from the Ford Fiesta.
Why the project was not implemented. At the beginning of the new millennium, two cars became priority work for the AvtoVAZ plant - Lada Kalina and Chevrolet Niva. The design of the VAZ-2111 was carried out practically through force. There was only one person who tried to somehow promote this car - Viktor Pavlovich Polyakov, but in 2004 he passed away, which largely determined the fate of the Oka-2 car.
Conclusion. By the time the project was closed, it was almost ready for launch into mass production. We just needed an interested person who was capable of bringing the car to assembly line production.
