Which is better Daewoo Nexia or Lada Kalina? Comparison with photo

Published by: mrdafk in Reviews 02/21/2018 0 5,

The majority of the expert community draws conflicting conclusions regarding what is preferable for the Russian mass consumer – the domestic Vesta or the Ravon from the “new ones.”

And as for the opinion of car enthusiasts themselves, when you analyze comments on forums, where they either confirm or refute certain conclusions of numerous experts.

Comparing cars is a thankless task, since you can always run into an opinion that is opposite to the one voiced, both positive and negative.

Therefore, to eliminate the subjectivity of assessments, you should first compare the technical characteristics of the brands of cars under study. And only then move on to assessing the interior and exterior design, handling and adaptability of the car to the peculiarities of Russian driving and the peculiarities of the state of the Russian road infrastructure. All these assessments, whatever one may say, will always be of an individual nature.

In order to make an objective assessment of cars, you must first make a comparative table of their technical characteristics. No comments. Let the reader of this review draw his own conclusion that Ravon of various versions or Vesta are better for him.

Comparative table of technical characteristics of Vesta and Ravon of various modifications

Auto parameter name	Vesta	Ravon R3	Ravon R4	Ravon Gentra
Engine volume, cm3	1596	1485	1500	1485
Power, l/s	106	105	106	107,4
Torque Nm	148	141	134	141
Number of cylinders	4	4	4	4
Fuel consumption in city/highway mode	6,2	8,0	7,5	7,5
Acceleration time to “hundreds”, sec	10,3	12,2	11,7	11,9
Maximum speed, km/h	180	178	185	180
Box	robot	manual, automatic	optional	manual, automatic

Ravon Gentra or Vesta: what to buy?

Based on the price advantages of these two cars, Vesta’s home-grown propagandists chose an absolutely unsuccessful advertising strategy, offering to try to buy the Vesta from the owners, and the supposed impossibility of doing this from the current owners due to the merits of a successful acquisition.

The first message of this advertising move is an unambiguous hint at Vesta’s competitive price advantages, which, together with consumer advantages, make this sedan out of competition with others, including “travelled” budget-level sedans. As for the second message, Vesta is supposedly almost the most affordable car on the Russian mass market in this class.

However, both the first and the second, despite or perhaps because these messages are almost identical, they reveal more the desires of Auto VAZ than the actual consumer qualities of Vesta.

There are worthy offers on the Russian market, such as Hyundai or Volkswagen sedans, which are more expensive than the Lada Vesta, but their advantages, in the opinion of the owners of these cars, correspond to the cost. The same cannot be said about Vesta. Moreover, Ravon Gentra is almost an order of magnitude cheaper than its domestic counterpart.

Although the older Ravon Gentra sedan is equipped with modest aesthetic advantages compared to Vesta, it has a far from archaic appearance. Its owners are quite content with the fact that this car brand does not pretend to receive enthusiastic compliments. The car is simple and unpretentious, both in appearance and inside the cabin.

Lada Vesta salon

In addition, it has technical and operational parameters appropriate for its class and price category. Although it does not have advanced options compared to Vesta, such as adjusting the seat vertically and horizontally, it has only one adjustment. Or as for the steering wheel, which on the Lada Vesta is adjustable both in tilt and reach, since the Gentra has only one such adjustment.

salon ravon gentra

We can agree with the statement that the interior of the Gentra, decorated with gray plastic, is somewhat boring compared to the plastic interior of the Lada. Vesta’s, although also tough, has a richer and prettier look.

For the Russian consumer, the size of the trunk of the car is of great importance, since the dissatisfaction of communicating with the mother-in-law or mother-in-law is fully compensated by vegetables and fruits, or even meat products grown on the rural farmsteads of relatives, which are sent to the trunk of the car before the guests leave.

Exterior

Externally, Daewoo Nexia does not evoke any positive emotions. A long-outdated design that was relevant for foreign cars of the 80-90s. Now such an exterior looks rather poor and uninteresting.

The most simple silhouette, square shapes, sharp lines, unremarkable wheel arches, standard bumpers. There is literally nothing in Nexia's appearance that would catch the eye. But due to its design, it is difficult to confuse Nexia with any other modern car.

The second generation of the Daewoo Nexia car from the South Korean brand meets the C class standards of the European classification in its overall dimensions:

• length 4482 mm;
• height 1393 mm;
• width 1662 mm;
• wheelbase 2520 mm;
• ground clearance 158 mm.

But the first generation Lada Kalina is quite far from modern fashion canons. The exterior design of the Russian car is quite boring and outdated. Although the experts managed to make Kalina quite pretty. They added a little aggression to the front part, thought out the front and rear optics well, and provided neat and smooth lines. Kalina definitely doesn’t look square and angular.

The overall impression is quite good. Although the silhouette is disproportionate due to the small hood and sloping line, as well as the almost perfectly flat roof and large door openings. Against the background of the overall compact dimensions and slightly flattened trunk, this does not look entirely harmonious. But Nexia is even worse in terms of design.

If we talk about the dimensions of the Lada Kalina, then everything here corresponds to the European class B. The dimensions of the Russian sedan car are as follows:

• length 4040 mm;
• wheelbase 2470 mm;
• height 1500 mm;
• width 1700 mm;
• ground clearance (clearance) 165 mm.

Daewoo Nexia interior
In terms of dimensions, Kalina is not much inferior to Nexia, although in some respects it is expectedly smaller. Still, the different class makes itself felt. But Kalina is definitely designed for use in Russian conditions, since not all crossovers can boast a ground clearance of 165 mm.

Ravon P3 or Vesta: who should you prefer?

If we compare the design of Ravon and Vesta, then the aesthetic properties of the latter’s appearance are much more attractive than that of a model a la Chevrolet Aveo. As for the dimensional characteristics, preference here, on the contrary, is on the side of Ravon P3. It is smaller in length and width, but taller than Vesta. Which, in a city where there is a shortage of parking space, is an absolute advantage.

In terms of build quality, according to many owners of both car brands, they are identical. But there are nuances that you like more or less. Firstly, the Ravon P3 has obvious advantages in terms of the quality of door fit, and secondly, the cabin height is also higher than that of Vesta. However, the latter has more interior volume, as does the trunk, by the way.

The importance of which for the Russian car enthusiast was discussed above. Even at first glance, it seems almost twice as large as the trunk of the Ravon R3. As for the softness of driving on special Russian roads, the Ravon is softer than the Vesta. For those who like aggressive driving, Vesta has advantages.

Her steering is sharper and more sensitive; when turning, her rear end does not skid, as sometimes happens with Ravon. But the view from the driver’s seat is better in the P3, since its interior is higher and therefore the distance to the side pillars of the windshield is further than that of the Vesta.

The music and climate control panel of the “visiting” sedan is also located more conveniently than that of a domestic car. Since you can reach any control button without bending over in the driver’s seat, unlike Vesta. Which is fraught with loss of visual control of the road situation and corresponding sad consequences.

Appearance and interior features - a few words about the first impression

The first emotion from meeting the new generation Nexia is a misunderstanding of the nature of the car. We've all seen this somewhere before. Indeed, the machine is filled with design solutions from the beginning of the last decade; it does not look very modern. The exterior lines completely coincide with the Chevrolet Aveo of a far from modern generation. The only difference is the headlights, which have a somewhat inharmonious shape. The interior of the car has the following features:

• visually, everything here also remains from Aveo, there are no major changes or specific updates, the Ravon emblem is on the steering wheel, this is where the reformations ended;
• If you look away from the similarities with Chevy, you can note the very reasonable shape of the air ducts, well-thought-out control options on the center console of the car;
• the seats are quite comfortable in shape, there are no problems when traveling even over long distances, and this is a distinctive feature of Rayvon among all its competitors;
• all control elements are located compactly and conveniently, the driver can control all transport functions without any problems and receive a number of important advantages;
• Among the important benefits of operating a car, it is also worth highlighting very high ergonomics and good comfort of the driver's seat in all respects, including visibility.

For a budget car, we have already found many important advantages in the interior. Among the shortcomings, we note the presence of a number of problems with the assembly. The bugs from Uzbek craftsmen have not gone away and clearly continue to irritate the owners of these cars. It should be noted that the quality of the materials turned out to be very suspicious. Hard plastic is clearly not designed to create a comfortable and confident ride.

Ravon R4 or Vesta?

Thanks to competent PR, the Ravon P4 still has good auto rating indicators for a “visitor” from the near abroad, confirming the popular opinion about the absence of a “prophet” in its homeland.

Good assembly, handling and driving characteristics, as well as something that generally goes beyond the imagination of Russian drivers, the high reliability of the Ravon R4 gave, as they say, its rating “fruits” and the car has quite a reputation among both professional experts and amateurs of home-grown expertise good reputation. As for West, here the opinions of both one and the other take such diametrically opposed assessments that one can just grab one’s head.

The main competitors of the entire Ravon model range, and in particular the new Nexia, are primarily cars from AvtoVAZ, since they are similar not only in equipment, but also in price. Thus, the R3 model can seriously compete with the domestic Lada Vesta, which, although it has a large number of offered options, is also much more expensive. It is worth noting that the model of the Volzhsky Automobile Plant is more modern, since its production began in 2015, while the P3 is the well-known Chevrolet Aveo T250, which has been produced since 2006.

Maintenance costs

Cars are quite cheap, and therefore the costs for them cannot be excessively serious. Much depends on the condition of the car.

Daewoo Nexia is widely used in Russia, and therefore there are no problems with finding spare parts on the secondary market and even among new parts. But the demand for them is actively falling, which is why not everything can be found quickly and of the desired quality. Plus, Nexia cannot boast of reliable and durable motors; many components require regular repairs and maintenance.

The first generation Lada Kalina is still widely in demand in Russia, despite the presence of 2 generations and successors. Spare parts are very common, they are easy to buy, and they are extremely cheap. It's just as easy to do DIY repairs. Sometimes all you need to do is refer to the owner's manual.

The advantage of Kalina is considered to be more modest fuel consumption. Although the engines are domestic, their durability and quality are still somewhat superior to the South Korean competitor.

Advantages and disadvantages of Ravon Nexia R3 and Lada Vesta

Fortunately, in Russia there are car enthusiasts who own both of these cars; one of these owners is ready to share his opinion and talk about the pros and cons of each of them.

Comparison of technical characteristics

Both models have a power unit of approximately equal power under the hood; the Ravon R3 has a 1.5-liter engine with 106 hp. and a torque of 141 N*m, Vesta has a 1.6-liter engine of the same power, but with a torque of 148 N*m. In terms of fuel consumption and dynamic performance, the difference between them is minimal.

The big advantage of the domestic model is the presence of an alternative engine with a volume of 1.8 liters and a power of 122 hp. But the price for a version with such a unit will be significantly higher than the Uzbek opponent, so there is no point in taking it into account.

But what’s more interesting is the choice of transmissions; for the Ravon, in addition to the standard manual gearbox, a fairly modern 6-speed automatic is also available, which is perfectly tuned in conjunction with this engine. Lada is a little worse with this, since in addition to “mechanics”, only a “robot” is offered, which, although it has a good smooth ride, is characterized by some sluggishness in switching, however, for a leisurely drive this type of transmission should be “to the taste” of many.

How much money will you have to pay for a budget Ravon sedan?

The issue of cost is one of the most important reasons why we decided to devote so much attention to this car today. In the basic version, the car costs 419,900 rubles, which reduces interest in many competitors. Of course, there is nothing grand in this package, but you get a full-fledged modern car with a decent engine and reliable technology. There are several clear advantages even in equipping the machine:

• Isofix-type child seat mounts are built into the rear seat, so you can easily install child safety equipment without having to figure out the type of mount;
• ordinary steel wheels come even without hubcaps, but the bumper has built-in fog lights, which for such equipment turns out to be quite a serious achievement;
• the fabric upholstery turned out to be of high quality and reliable, there are no special tricky technologies in the interior, everything is very ascetic and inexpensive, but quite comparable with its rivals;
• there is no radio, but there is preparation for installing an audio system, which means that you do not have to run wires across the entire cabin and install speakers in plastic parts;
• More expensive cars have air conditioning, a good audio system and a number of other advantages that make the car more modern and closer to a quality trip.

Of course, the equipment and capabilities of this car are quite meager. But let's not forget that the car is presented in one of the cheapest classes. The basic version with an automatic transmission will cost you from 519,000 rubles. The most expensive version of Nexia will cost 569,000 rubles. This is really a good purchase, but to be convinced of this, you will have to compare the machine with its competitors. It is in comparison that a true understanding of advantages is born.

Ravon Nexia R3

Ergonomics are good without any discounts. And not only in comparison with Grant, but also against the background of the more modern Logan. Every button and key is in its place. Control of all four windows is on the driver's door, and the driver's door has an automatic closer. But the Ravon R3 is nothing more than a Chevrolet Aveo T250, produced from 2006 to 2011 and only slightly rethought by Uzbek craftsmen. Their merits include the idea to use interior plastic in two colors and cover all the seats with beige fabric: I’m not sure about practicality, but it looks good. I don’t rule out that someone will choose Nexia, succumbing to nostalgia: the interiors of early “eights” and “nines” were trimmed with fabric of similar colors.

The USB slot on the center tunnel is also an improvement. I remember very well how we blamed its absence a year ago, after the Ravon Gentra sedan (nee Chevrolet Lacetti) entered the market. The Uzbeks listened - common sense won! For listening to music, there is also a line output and Bluetooth support. By the way, thanks to the location of the USB slot on the central tunnel, not only front but also rear passengers can charge gadgets. By the way, the rear is spacious, just like in the Grant: a person no taller than 185 cm sits quite comfortably “behind himself”. The seat back folds in a 2:1 ratio.

I fasten the beige belt, move the selector to Drive and... What a thrill it is - classic hydromechanics! Remember how sour milk is poured out of a paper bag: it literally falls out in uneven lumps. In exactly the same way, the Lada box (as well as any other single-disc robot) makes its ragged shifts. But Nexia’s transmissions “flow” smoothly and thickly, like fresh kefir or fermented baked milk.

Comparative photos

Exterior (Lada Granta liftback and Ravon Nexia R3 sedan):

Car interior:

general information

The updated Nexia rolled off the assembly line in 2008. In reality, the manufacturer only carried out a good restyling, that is, it changed the appearance without eliminating a single shortcoming, for the abundance of which the first generation of the sedan was actively criticized.

The car is created on the T-Body platform developed by General Motors. Its peculiarity is that the engine is installed along a transverse axis. Korean cars inherited this base from the Opel Cadet.

Independent MacPherson strut suspension is available only at the front. In addition, the Nexia uses rack and pinion steering. Only cars in the most expensive configuration were equipped with hydraulic booster.

Combined brake system:

• there are ventilated discs at the front;
• behind are standard drums.

Kalina began to be developed back in 1993. However, its prototype was presented to the public only in 2000. The car was put into production another 4 years later. Production stopped in 2022. It was this year that Granta appeared. However, later a new generation Kalina was released. This car undoubtedly surpasses the Korean foreign car in all respects. Therefore, it would be incorrect to compare them.

The first Kalina uses the well-proven 2190 platform. It also has an independent MacPherson strut suspension on the front end, enhanced with stabilizers responsible for lateral stability. The latter, by the way, are also on the rear axle.

The steering column has rack rods and an amplifier (electric), which can be considered an advantage. The brake system is structurally no different from its Korean counterpart.

Body:

Even without looking very closely, you can realize that the properties of the alloy and its thickness on the Nexia leave much to be desired, and the first traces of corrosion appear earlier than two years after purchase. Moreover, pay attention to the newest Daewoo from an official representative - open the driver's or passenger door and look at the door lock hinges - yellowness is already breaking through them, which indicates the imminent appearance of rust. Pay attention to the trunk lid, it feels like it was just attached by eye, the gaps are terrible.

You literally won’t find such problems on Kalina. All body parts fit exactly, and what’s more, most of them have at least some kind of galvanization. It is unlikely that you will encounter two-year-old cars with traces of corrosion. From personal operating experience, the machine, which sits outside all year round, in rain and snow, does not have a single sign of rust.

Appearance

Nexia has a completely inexpressive exterior, which is easy to see by watching promotional videos. The outdated silhouette does not evoke good emotions, but those nostalgic for the 80s will certainly like it with its chopped lines, unaccentuated wheel arches and boring bumpers. The inconspicuousness of the car is such that it should be considered as a special feature.

The creators of Nexia position it as a car belonging to class C. Its dimensions are as follows:

• body length is 4482 mm;
• width – 1662;
• height is 1393.

The wheelbase is 2520 mm and the ground clearance is 15.8 cm.

The first Kalina, however, also does not fit well with modern views on design. The car is boring, but overall quite nice. Its front end is moderately aggressive, with well-designed lighting. The taillights are also very good.

At the same time, Lada looks irrational. She has:

• hood too small;
• overly large doors;
• very flat roof;
• flattened trunk.

Nexia, however, has an even worse exterior.

The dimensions of Kalina allow us to classify it as class B. They are as follows:

• body length - 4040 millimeters;
• width – 1700;
• height – 1500.

The ground clearance is quite impressive - 16.5 cm. The wheelbase dimensions are 2,470 mm. As you can easily see, Kalina is noticeably smaller than the Korean, but her undoubted advantage is her complete preparedness for Russian realities.