Previously, we already compared the Niva VAZ-2121 with the UAZ-469 (3151). Today we’ll compare the regular short Niva with the Chevrolet Niva. We will not delve into the history of the creation of these cars, but will try to highlight the main advantages and disadvantages of each SUV. And if the comparison of Niva with UAZ was not entirely correct because... These cars belong to different classes, but now everything is in order in this regard. The Chevrolet Niva is essentially a development of the VAZ-2121, so technically these cars are similar. So, let's start the comparison.
Which Niva is better to buy?
Niva cars are almost all the same)) There are just three doors and five. However, point by point:
1.Better injection - more economical on gasoline and easier to start, especially in winter
2.1600 is enough for the eyes, not that big of a difference
3.Better five doors - more convenient for passengers (Niva-Chevrolet)
4. In terms of cross-country ability, a three-door is best (there’s nothing to say, the short wheelbase allows this)
5. In winter, any of them spin (the wheelbase is too short, even a Niva-Chevrolet gets across the road on spikes - they don’t save)
6. Nuances: top trunk (rails are better, it would be nice with a winch), be sure to have full crankcase protection, not the factory one, but this will have to be taken into account (it will get into the mud, it can sit right on the protection and will hang)7
7.Which one to buy - a three-door is better in cross-country ability than a five-door, comfort in a Niva-Chevrolet is better (modern design)
No matter what, I would take a Niva-Chevrolet luxury, in addition to it, mud tires with a large tread.
PS The windshield wipers do not work well, especially on the passenger side and rear.
In my opinion, it is best to purchase a Niva with an engine capacity of 1.7 liters and an injection engine power supply system. The injector is not as responsive as a carburetor, but the injection engine is more powerful, more economical and causes fewer problems, especially in winter with cold starts. In terms of cross-country ability, of course, the 3-door Niva is better than the 5-door version. But, if you are planning family outings in not too serious off-road conditions, then it is better to choose a 5-door.
In winter, the Niva is saved only by the presence of all-wheel drive, the car does not have much stability, and the steering is not informative.
The most important thing to consider when buying a Niva, it seems to me, is that the car is still not for everyday driving, it is more suitable for winter and rough terrain.
If the question arises before choosing a Niva, then you need to immediately decide for what purposes it is needed, off-road, fishing, recreation. In fact, the Niva model range is very large. Starting with the old Niva VAZ 2121 and 4-speed gearbox, the model range is diverse and is far from limited to the difference between carburetor and injection engines, 3 or 5 doors. Here you also need to consider the car’s equipment, of which there are a lot. For example, you can take Niva, which was exported. In the 90s, for example, a Niva with built-in air conditioning and an injection engine was supplied to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other hot countries. Model 2131, five-door and long base. And model 2129, for example, has three doors. Its peculiarity is the elongated base of the front doors. The engine, carburetor or injection, and engine size also play a role in the configuration. Therefore, there is actually a lot of configuration and depends on the country. Therefore, in contrast, these models can talk for a very long time.
Niva is a very popular family of cars, which includes many different car models. Niva VAZ and Niva Chevrolet are in particular demand in our country. Both vehicles are very reliable and durable. But many owners are interested in Niva or Chevrolet Niva - which is better, and is it worth overpaying for the second option? Now we will try to find out.
edit Niva and motorsport
And a submarine!
If the front head is equipped with straight arms and a keen desire to have sex, the Niva can drive not only well, but also well. This is what the Paris-Dakar rally raids of the early 80s showed, in which the Niva in its class lost first place only to Mercedes. The main role in this was played by Jean Jacques Poc, the official representative of VAZ in France. At his own expense, he regularly sent a team on Nivas to the Paris-Dakar rally raid, where in the early 80s it no less regularly took high places.
“Niva” in raids, especially “second only to Mercedes”, has a very distant relationship to “Niva” just like any other raid prototype, having only the name and some insignificant details in common with the production car. Whoever says that this is enemy propaganda, let him remember the “Samara T4”, which did take the “Eight” podium, but about the specs of which the racially Soviet magazine “Behind the Wheel” wrote: “Porsche 959 transmission and suspension, Porsche 911 engine, body elements repeating VAZ-2108 form." So…
In the 2000s, in the Russian rally-raid championship/cup, “Nivas”, in order not to completely suck everyone away, were allocated not just to the national class, but even within its framework they were separated from “UAZs”. And this is despite the fact that in the evening, after a day of combat, the UAZ is slightly tweaked by its own crew and moves on, and the Niva almost inevitably requires repairs by mechanics, up to the level of a major one.
The Niva, unlike the UAZ, has permanent all-wheel drive (FWD) on all wheels, but not at the whim of the Secretary of the Council of People's Commissars of Kolkhoz, but because the six-wheel drive on which the Niva has been living for four decades, if it were wrong with connected front axle, it would certainly fall apart. And it fell apart during the tests. Therefore, we had to invent the world's first cultural shit mix.
The maintainability of the Niva is high due to the availability and low cost of spare parts, but Russian designers are such designers and such Russians - just look at the starter, which can only be replaced by lying under the car and having cardan hands. But in any case: “Niva” is an excellent startup; many work-jeepers started with it.
Main characteristics
Both vehicles are equipped with gasoline power units. In Chevrolet the volume is 1.7 liters, in the case of Lada 4x4, the engine is 1.8 liters. Power units comply with Euro-5 environmental standards.
The last major update to the engines occurred back in 2008, since then there have been no significant changes. In fact, everything is the same here, including an interchangeable block, head, connecting rod and piston group, crankshaft, etc.
True, to be extremely precise, the engine from the Chevrolet SUV is a development of the VAZ-21214 engine from the Lada 4x4.
Based on the main technical parameters, it is impossible to determine whether the Lada Niva or the Chevrolet Niva is better, since the characteristics are almost completely identical.
For Chevrolet they look like this:
- power – 79 horses;
- torque indicator - 127 Nm;
- required fuel - AI-95 gasoline;
- maximum speed – 150 km/h;
- acceleration to 100 km/h – 17 seconds;
- transmission – five-speed manual;
- drive – permanent all-wheel drive;
- fuel consumption – 9.6 l/100 km in the combined cycle;
- fuel tank volume – 58 l.
In the case of the VAZ Niva, the parameters are slightly different:
- power – 82 horsepower;
- torque – 139 Nm;
- required fuel - AI-95 gasoline;
- maximum speed – 135 km/h;
- acceleration to 100 km/h – 22 sec;
- transmission – five-speed manual;
- drive – permanent all-wheel drive;
- fuel consumption – 12.3 l/100 km in the combined cycle;
- fuel tank volume – 65 l.
Despite the fact that both cars come with permanent all-wheel drive and a five-speed manual gearbox, there are still some differences.
On a Chevrolet car, the gearbox is not attached to the engine, as in the case of the VAZ competitor, it is separated from the engine. In addition, the generator is located on top of the unit (in a regular Niva it is at the back). Elements such as intake pipes, receiver, and throttle pipe also differ.
Chevrolet has one more transfer case mounting support than in the case of a Lada 4x4. The intermediate shaft is also slightly different.
Few cars can boast of the longevity of the Niva.
Few cars can boast of the longevity of the Niva. For almost forty years, the famous Russian SUV has not let its owners get bored
Over the entire production period, the VAZ-2121 has undergone several modernizations. The largest and most interesting occurred in 1993 and 2009. Then the car index changed - first to VAZ-21213, and then to VAZ-21214M. We will tell you what problems owners of the latest generation of SUV, which is now called Lada 4×4, encountered.
The interior creaks, crackles and whines on every bump, no matter what you do to it.
The dashboard from the VAZ-2115 suffers from the backlight switching off without permission and the visor being weakly attached
Electrical package is not provided on cars manufactured before 2013
The 2009 update was purely technical and concerned primarily the chassis of the SUV. As you probably remember, then we changed the geometry of the front and rear suspension, finally transferred the engine to the Euro-3 environmental standard, and soon to Euro-4, installed new mirrors, large headlights and added some cosmetic details in the cabin. Modernization, however, is still ongoing. For example, the body priming system has become more progressive cataphoretic, the interior plastic has become better, Isofix fasteners and new body kit parts have appeared. Finally, they added ABS and even air conditioning. Moreover, innovations also extended to the five-door model, which was produced at pilot production facilities. It is interesting that the popularity of Niva, which one would like to call just that, is not decreasing, but, on the contrary, is steadily growing. Promises to discontinue it, therefore, are not being realized, which cannot but be welcomed, since this Russian SUV is still one of the most affordable on the market and has a number of unique qualities.
ETERNAL THEME
The main problem that any crop driver faces is corrosion. Merciless and inexorable, it will overtake everyone who has been using a Tolyatti SUV for more than two years. Sometimes even one salt-soaked winter season is enough to reveal red streaks and ubiquitous “bugs.” And if the bottom and hidden cavities can be treated with anti-corrosion compounds, then the joints of the roof with the pillars on the VAZ-2131, the edges of the doors and the rear door cannot be saved from repair. But you need to constantly monitor the drainage holes! In general, everything rusts. Headlight rims, fasteners, exhaust system, bottom edges of body panels, wheel arches if fender liners are not installed. And if they are installed carelessly, then the places where they are attached to the body rust. In addition, the color quality varies greatly. And not only from year to year, but also depending on the color. For five- to six-year-old cars, you should pay attention to the condition of the sills and side members. Most likely, there will be no holes there, but if cracks are discovered from merciless use, then holes will soon appear. The area of the body where the transfer case is mounted also requires attention. Recently, the situation has improved significantly, but the six-year warranty against through corrosion promised by the manufacturer can only be achieved by operating the SUV in a dry and warm climate. Residents of the middle zone and the north can be advised not to skimp on anti-corrosion treatment and protective mastics. And still this is only a half measure. Corrosion is inevitable. In the fall of 2016, a “metal” body, that is, primed and painted, with anti-corrosion and bitumen-mastic treatment, cost about 150,000 rubles for a short car, and from 200,000 for a long car.
The flow from the stove to the feet must be directed with a lever
You can install the air conditioner yourself, but buying a car with a homemade installation by unknown craftsmen is risky
THE SHIP IS LEAKING!
The joke about the absence of an oil stain under the car, signaling the absence of oil in the car itself, is not so relevant for the modernized Niva, since the most current oil seals were replaced with double ones. And most often the rear oil seal of the transfer case leaked. However, again, oil can ooze from anywhere. From the differential housings of the axles, engine, gearbox and transfer case... There are practically no used Nivas on the market with a clean bottom. On the other hand, the nivovods joke, additional anti-corrosion protection! Practice shows that it is difficult to completely dry the units unless you start the car completely. However, it is necessary to check the levels before or immediately after purchase. In addition to oil, coolant leaks chronically. The culprit is the clamps, which are usually replaced with screw clamps. There were cases when the system's pipes turned out to be of such poor quality that they began to literally dissolve from the inside. The suspension clogged the radiator channels and settled as a dark coating in the expansion tank. Flushing helped only at the beginning of the disaster, otherwise - local overheating of the block head, replacement of the gasket, sometimes even the radiator costing 2000 rubles. If an oil suspension and bubbles appear in the expansion chamber, it’s time to prepare for more expensive repairs, including replacing the cylinder head. This could cost as much as twenty-five thousand. The brakes leak much less often, but the clutch needs a closer look. After 50,000 km, the master cylinder may require replacement.
The headrests of the rear sofa are still listed as an option, and we probably won’t see separate folding of the backrest of the second row.
CHANGE WITHOUT WAITING
In an Italian off-road magazine at the end of the last century there was an article about the Niva, which provided a list of what needs to be replaced immediately after purchase. There were about thirty positions in it. In the first place were the wheel bearings. Now it is fashionable to replace them assembled with a hub with two-row non-adjustable ones, but in fact, with moderate off-road use and quiet driving on broken roads, you can limit yourself to adjustment. Thirty thousand is enough. It was recommended to immediately replace the brakes, along with hoses, discs and pads, with imported ones. Now this is also not so relevant. Much more attention may require the brake force regulator, which turns sour, and the brake drums of the rear wheels, which sometimes have to be split to replace the pads. Experienced owners are looking for drums not made of light alloy, but of malleable cast iron - they are always easy to remove and cost about three and a half thousand per set versus two thousand for the factory version. Cardan shaft crosspieces began to be replaced with CV joints from the beginning of the 2000s. Little by little, as an experiment, and after 2010 – on a massive scale. By the way, now some owners, on the contrary, are replacing “CV joint” cardan shafts with those with crosspieces, explaining this by their greater reliability on off-road conditions. There are three cardan shafts in the Niva, and the long rear one also has a composite one. Not the most durable part in the car... A new one costs from ten thousand rubles for 2131 and from three and a half for a short one. Personally, I recently had a broken intermediate driveshaft - the one from the transfer case to the outboard bearing. It costs about three thousand, but is not sold everywhere. In general, the availability of spare parts in almost every store is one of the most attractive features of the Niva (which cannot be said about the UAZ). The Italians also recommended replacing the ball joints. Now this is not at all relevant, factory ones take quite a long time to take care of, and their service life depends solely on driving style and wheel size. This, however, determines most of the service life of almost all components, parts and assemblies - from bearings to side members.
Cross-country ability can be seriously improved by installing a self-locking differential
IT'S THE SAME AT THE PIANO!
After 2009, nothing radically new appeared under the hood of the Niva. The same 1.7-liter 80-horsepower engine with multipoint injection, which traces its pedigree back to Fiat engines. In the Euro-3 version it costs about fifty-five thousand with attachment, in the Euro-4 version - a little more than sixty. What I mean is that it is not always wise to invest in an engine for comparable money, which, of course, does not eliminate the need to monitor it. The weakest points are the head gasket, and the head itself with the valve mechanism. Hydraulic valve clearance compensators, chain tensioners, stabilizers and attachments may not last up to 50,000 km. In general, if you’re lucky, the engine can easily run 150,000 km before the first major repair. And the key word here is “calmly”... There is no need to rush to overhaul the engine also because the wall of the fourth cylinder becomes very thin when bored, and this means local overheating, a wedge and “the hand of a friend”, which, in fact, is a new overhaul. It’s somehow even awkward to write about the dynamics and traction capabilities. Not long ago, the Germans recognized the Niva as the slowest new production car. And they haven’t yet measured the speed of the “crocodile”... In fact, for city driving and for forays outside the city, not counting highways, the engine is quite enough. Due to the fact that the transfer case is not entirely straight, but 1.2:1 (which makes the overall ratio shorter, compensating for the greater weight), acceleration to 70 km/h is quite brisk. However, on prolonged overtaking this does not help much, since the engine lacks elasticity, which is why you have to switch to third and crank it up. The most decisive ones install a turbine at 0.5 atm. It costs from fifty to ninety thousand with work. “Supercharged” cars drive very decently, while neither resource nor fuel consumption suffer particularly.
In principle, the short Niva is a four-seater car, but only two people are more or less comfortable in it
ERGONOMICS AS A BOURGEOIS PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Can anyone explain why the Zhiguli and Niva cannot accommodate a person taller than 178 cm with proportional lengths of arms and legs? Sometimes it seems that these cars were designed for orangutans or aliens. No, of course, it’s convenient for some, but still, before you give money, you need to sit in the Niva. About twenty minutes, changing gears. It’s better to drive two hundred kilometers. I was able to drive mine from Gelendzhik to Minsk in twenty-eight hours only because I changed the front seats to imported ones. In 2009, the instrument panel was replaced with version 2115 with digital LCD indicators of mileage, temperature, voltmeter and clock. The same one has been in the Chevy Niva since the beginning of production. The panel is quite sensible, but the backlight bulbs can burn out once a week. One at a time, two at a time. Besides, it squeaks. It must be said right away that there will always be creaking, knocking and grinding noises in the interior of a used Niva. Even if it is remade into leather or completely replaced with a foreign brand. Only after 2012 the situation became a little better. The seats were also installed from the VAZ-2115, they are stronger than the “eight” ones, but also not very comfortable. They stand low, and the steering column is still offset to the right. Noisy door locks will turn sour if you install central locking and do not use the key for a long time. The wiper gear motor often fails; replacing it will cost about a thousand rubles. Provided that you do the work yourself and the trapezoid will be in order. In general, electricians rarely bother you, except that the rear lights may lose contact, and the generator is rather weak. Therefore, by the way, you should not buy batteries for the Niva that exceed the capacity specified by the manufacturer (55 A/h) - you will be constantly undercharged.
You can finish the story about the problems that a newly minted farmer may encounter with the words from an old commercial: “With all the wealth of choice, there is no other alternative!” It is simply impossible to find an inexpensive, more or less comfortable, passable and acceptable-handling car of the same era at the price of a Niva. Even the UAZ will probably be older. In addition, the VAZ-21214 is an excellent option for a second car, as they say, for pleasure, albeit a peculiar one. And, of course, a good choice for a novice driver. And as for the car for our roads and destinations, for short-term tourism and long-distance expeditions, then the Niva is generally perhaps the best option in terms of the balance of characteristics and budget. The same goes for moderate off-road training. What does moderate mean? But read our series of articles “Return to Niva” - you will find out!
OWNER'S OPINION: EGOR, VAZ-2131M, YEAR 2011
The long Niva was deliberately chosen to drive around the city to the store or on business, to forests, fields, and on vacation with the whole family. Large interior, large trunk, sufficient maneuverability with minimal modification, maintainability and accessibility in every sense of the word. After six months of operation, we took the car to a specialized service center, lifted and replaced half of the chassis, clutch and all transmission seals. Almost fifty thousand parts alone were spent. It turned out that if you do everything en masse, it doesn’t turn out so cheap. And if you do it gradually yourself, it will be more than tolerable for the budget, which, in general, was what was required initially.
Dimensions
If we talk about Chevrolet, then the main dimensions parameters look like this:
- length – 390 cm;
- width – 170 cm;
- height – 164 cm;
- wheelbase – 245 cm;
- ground clearance – 20 cm;
- trunk volume – 320 l;
Niva differs from AVTOVAZ in slightly larger sizes:
- length – 424 cm;
- width – 168 cm;
- height – 164 cm;
- wheelbase – 279 cm;
- ground clearance - 22.8 cm;
- trunk volume – 265 l.
If you determine which is better: Lada Niva or Chevrolet Niva in terms of size, then it is worth noting that the VAZ version is larger and more impressive.
At the same time, it is distinguished by increased ground clearance, which increases the vehicle's cross-country ability. At the same time, the Chevrolet car has significantly increased trunk volume, and this is a big plus for country trips.
Driving on the highway and in the city
If you plan to drive on smooth asphalt, then the Lada Niva demonstrates a smoother ride. Thanks to the increased length, the number of jumps and bounces is reduced, so that passengers and the driver will be as comfortable as possible.
But in the city, large dimensions will become a significant disadvantage. The length of 4.24 m makes it difficult to perform various maneuvers.
Chevrolet has one more advantage in this regard - power steering, which is included even in the launch model.
In addition, the Chevrolet Niva has improved dynamics and a higher top speed. But, in any case, the cars cannot be called frisky, and you won’t be able to take part in races with them.
edit Niva and the bourgeoisie
Beware, mutually exclusive paragraphs! As a result of maliciously postmodern literary experiments, a war of edits, the behests of P-tra P-trovich Kashchenko, love for totalitarianism, the raid of holy warriors, or simply because of stupidity, one part of this article clearly contradicts the other. Consider us communists, this is a feature and don’t rack your brains in search of the Truth
She's out there somewhere. It's possible that it's close.
Racial frog annealing. Butthurt in the comments is attached.
SUVs conquer heights. Let's start with Niva
In the Soviet movie "Mirage", "VAZ-2121" was an American armored cash-in-transit car, which the main characters hid in a trailer. In particular, the subject is given out by the opening hood (like the Moskvich-412 and rear-wheel drive TAZs), the instrument panel and the steering wheel.
Also, "VAZ-2121" appeared in the film "Detroit - City of Rock" about four rabid fans of the group KISS, for example. More specifically, the episode with the delivery of pizza to a parochial school; the delivery man arrived in a sub. And also in the funeral episode of the film “Largo Winch: The Beginning,” a red Niva with horizontal optics flashed.
Also in the film “The Corsican” a local mafioso drove a Niva. Plus, a white Niva also appeared in the film “Crimson Rivers.” At the same time, one of the characters in the film asked the other to hit the base with all the white Nivas in the area, which hints at the presence of at least one white Niva in a separate French Mukhosransk. I don't know how many of them are white, but there were one hundred and thirty-two Nivas in the area (unless the numbers were distorted during dubbing in order to titillate the ChSV).
Niva also appeared in the American series “Beauty and the Beast,” which takes place in New York.
The Niva was featured in the film “The World Is Not Enough,” where James Bond rode in the trunk and then hit the driver.
In the racially Brazilian series “Cruel Angel”, a Niva with horizontal optics takes a Land Cruiser to a local rally, and even rides in the trunk of one of the negative characters.
Moreover, the police Niva even appeared in the sixth Fast and the Furious (the scene where Hobbs arrives in Moscow).
The Niva also appeared in the film ROBOCOP, released in 2014. At the very beginning of the film, when journalists are shown the work of OSP Corporation robots in the Arab quarter, the Niva, without a fawn, stands on the side of the road.
Jackie Chan brazenly cuts off the Niva in Who Am I?, which subsequently flies into a ditch.
Finally, in the plankton film “The Incredible Life of Walter Mitty,” an Icelandic native on a Niva tries to escape the Eyjafjallajokull eruption together with GG.
Varg Vikernes owns Niva and is very pleased with it.
In 2001, AvtoVAZ management managed to sell its only asset - a VAZ-2123 prototype almost ready for mass production. This prototype was slightly modified by the GM-AvtoVAZ joint venture (in particular, they stuck on a Chevrolet badge, leaving the engine from the old Niva) and turned into the Chevrolet Niva. Prooflinks: , .
It was since 2006, left without a label, that VAZ was forced to call the car “Lada 4×4”. And the wonderful Chevy Niva immediately earned the saying: “The engine is from a Niva, the price is from a Chevrolet.”
Safety indicators
When choosing a Niva VAZ or Niva Chevrolet, special attention should be paid to safety indicators. The crash test was carried out by the Autoreview publication, and the methodology repeated the European EuroNCAP tests.
As a result, the VAZ version received 0 points. The brainchild of the Chevrolet brand has not advanced much either – the safety index here was 1.6.
However, after some modifications, including the installation of belt pretensioners, an anti-lock braking system and two airbags, the figure increased to 12.5 points.
Now Lada 4x4 also has ABS. True, airbags come only in an improved configuration, and there are no belt pretensioners at all.
Production
If you are hesitating between a VAZ Niva or a Chevrolet Niva, then you need to understand that both vehicles are produced in our country, in Tolyatti.
True, the first option is made at the facilities of AVTOVAZ, while Chevrolet is manufactured at the GM-AVTOVAZ plant. But the components (engines, chassis, bodies, etc.) are supplied from the same AVTOVAZ. The quality is about the same.
