Comparison of Lada Vesta and Granta suspensions

I will make a comparative technical review, in which 2 well-known and long-known cars will participate - Lada Vesta and Granta. During the review, we will lift them up and discuss the design features, pros and cons, and weak points in the suspension of these cars. At the end we will draw certain conclusions.

Lada Granta

A standard mudguard is installed underneath in all trim levels, but not protection.

Due to its small thickness, it will not protect the oil pan or gearbox from mechanical damage, but will only prevent road dirt from getting into the engine compartment. There is no need to remove it when changing the oil. It has a technological hole. The mudguard is attached at 11 points along the perimeter.

The front suspension is independent - a classic MacPherson strut. The main elements are shock absorber struts with springs and support bearings, a stabilizer, levers with ball joints and braces with brackets.

In technical terms, everything is as simple as possible. The entire suspension has 4 hinges, which is a record for a modern car on the sales market.

Generally speaking, the Granta suspension is the same eight-piece from the 80s. Over the entire period of its existence, it has not undergone major changes, but has only been modernized and refined. Over the years, the suspension has changed the shape of the springs, the characteristics of the shock absorbers, and the design of the support bearings. Now they go separately from the support.

The thickness of the stabilizer bar was also changed, so the dimensions of its struts became different. The suspension arm remains unchanged. This is the same figure-eight lever with the same catalog number. The ball joint has also not undergone any changes.

How to install

We just unscrew the standard fasteners, a bolt and install the cross member - nothing complicated. You can do this in your garage. Without any modifications, it fits into its original position.

The stretch changes the castor, the wheels move forward a little, so you still have to do a wheel alignment. At first I thought that there would be no need to do it.

Next we install the top brace. The only caveat is that I had an alarm siren. It will have to be moved, since everything here is well arranged, and the streamer will interfere with the siren. Installation of the stretcher is simple - it is attached to 2 nuts.

After modernizing the Grant, I drove it and immediately switched to Rio to understand whether there is a difference or not. On Rio, the design itself does not imply that you will put some kind of spacers and braces on top. It has a subframe and a well-tuned suspension, but the “Korean” one costs twice as much.

There is no difference between the modified Granta and Rio. Previously, the Granta tilted when cornering because it did not have a subframe. Of course, my tuning is cheap, it’s better to install a subframe with L-shaped arms, but it’s expensive. Here you put 2 spacers and the steering really improves.

Parts life

I will give average figures, which largely depend on the operating conditions and maintenance of the car. They can be either larger or smaller.

Struts, springs and support bearings last on average more than 100 thousand km. A defective strut can be easily identified by oil leakage. The coil of the spring may break. A faulty support bearing will produce a squeaking sound when the steering wheel is rotated in place and while driving.
Ball joints serve an average of 60-70 thousand km. As the ball pin wears out, play appears, which manifests itself as creaking and knocking in the suspension when driving on uneven roads.
the hinges of the levers begin to crack and rotate in their seats. But for 70-80 thousand they serve normally.
The stabilizer struts can be said to be eternal. Nothing much happens to them.
front wheel bearings , unlike the rear eight bearings, last about 100 thousand km.

In the rear suspension we see the legacy of the VAZ-2108. Aluminum figure eight drums and wheel bearings are installed. Brake cylinders from the “five”. The pads haven't changed either.

They only added a hole for ABS sensors to their body. The rear suspension is semi-independent. The levers are connected by a transverse beam to a torsion bar. Shock absorbers with springs are combined into one unit.

In terms of service life, the weakest unit in the rear is the wheel bearings. They can produce hum and play already at 40 thousand km. Brake cylinders can sometimes begin to leak through the seals as early as 50 thousand. This can be understood by a sharp decrease in the brake fluid level. At approximately the same mileage, the braiding of the handbrake cables may begin to crack, which leads to their jamming.

Otherwise, there is nothing to break at the back. Shock absorbers and springs last more than 100 thousand km. That is, we have the most simple and technically primitive suspension possible. But it is excellent, and taking into account all the improvements and changes at the moment, the maximum capabilities and technical characteristics have been squeezed out of it. The suspension on the Lada Grant is energy-intensive, it provides the car with a good smooth ride. When driving on a poorly paved road, it works quietly, and even quieter than the Lada Vesta.

Plus, this is the cheapest suspension option for a B class passenger car today. Even taking into account current prices, spare parts for it are simply cheap. The suspension is simple in design and easy to repair. You can repair it yourself in a garage with a minimum set of tools.

Why install a subframe on the Lada Granta, what is the result?

We have already looked into the suspension of VAZ cars and compared them with a foreign car. The main complaint about the suspension of VAZ cars is the lack of a subframe. Some Taz fans express their opinion that a subframe is not needed at all, otherwise the car will become super expensive and why would it be needed then. Yes Yes.

Well, let's not take into account the words of these individuals. But let’s take into account that most modern cars have a subframe and this has a positive effect on their driving characteristics.

We will not discuss with you the question of how you ended up with a VAZ car. Perhaps you are a patriot, or maybe your neighbor persuaded you and you agreed to buy this strange cart. Now you pick up a file and modify this car to the level of modern cars. So to speak: the savings come out sideways.

If you wish, you can bring the VAZ suspension to the modern level of a foreign car with your own hands. That is, install a subframe. This will give the car stability on the highway and more comfortable off-road driving.

Let's look at how this can be done using the Lada Granta as an example.

For this car, sets of various parts are sold that will give the suspension modern characteristics.

So you have 2 options: buy 2 spacers at the top and at the bottom, it’s somehow even funny, the car needs to be strutted.

The top one is placed on glasses, it costs about 1000 rubles and the bottom one is more expensive 2000 rubles. At the same time, it does not interfere with protection. Well, the 2nd more expensive option is to install a subframe, which is sold separately.

Yes, by the way, when installing braces, as well as a subframe, you will have to do a wheel alignment and set the caster. However, the suspension characteristics have changed and therefore need to be adjusted.

If you chose option 1 and took 2 stretchers, then you do not lose the warranty conditions and this option, although not better than a stretcher, is very close to it.

But if you install a subframe, then you will have to completely shake up your suspension. And here the warranty is already removed from the car. Therefore, if you have a new Grant under warranty, then it is best to choose option 1.

Also, along with the installation of these components, it may be useful for you to install gas-oil shock absorbers. These shock absorbers are somewhat softer on the move, and also handle various irregularities better. But their main advantages are revealed at speeds of more than 100 km per hour, and this option is more suitable for those who most often travel outside the city on the highway.

Total: As a result of these manipulations, you will receive a suspension comparable to the suspensions of various modern foreign cars. And you won’t feel inferior when the question comes up about whether you have a subframe. Also on the track the car will behave more stable. On off-road terrain, various bumps and potholes will go more smoothly.

Of course, it’s difficult to make a car out of a Lada Granta, much less a foreign car, but you can still get closer to the quality level of foreign cars if you have straight arms and a great desire. And how nice it is to make something yourself and then use it. No foreign car will give you such pleasant sensations! ))

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Lada Vesta

A steel protective screen 0.8 mm thick with zinc coating is installed at the bottom. As in the case of Granta, it has technological holes for draining oil and monitoring the tightness of the box. It is attached at 12 points along the perimeter.

The Vesta suspension is technically more advanced with modern solutions at a fundamentally different level compared to the Granta. A huge advantage of the Vesta suspension is the subframe.

It is composite, the spars come separately. A subframe is a cool thing because it gives the car a number of beneficial advantages. For example, it contributes to the structural rigidity of the entire vehicle, allows it to more evenly distribute the load from the suspension onto the supporting body and prevent local overloads of the power elements. This also simplifies the process of installing the front suspension and steering. The subframe also guarantees the accuracy of the location of the suspension elements.

Advantages of a subframe

Firstly, due to the subframe, or rather the steering rack mounted on it, in the Lada Vesta we get informative and clear “steering”.

Secondly, at Vesta’s wheel alignment post, only one parameter will be adjusted – wheel alignment. The camber is determined by the geometry of the subframe and levers.

Thirdly, when driving on an uneven road in Vesta, shocks will not be transmitted to the steering wheel. The Granta will have this because the steering rack is mounted on the front panel. Accordingly, the impacts go to the body, through direct communication they are transmitted to the rack and directly to the steering wheel. In general, I think that the subframe has a lot of advantages.

Front suspension

L-shaped levers are used, the design of which replaces the longitudinal brace and wishbone of the Granta.

The lever comes complete with a ball, but if desired, it can be replaced separately. This is somewhat more difficult, since it is secured with rivets. But it will be much cheaper. The ball joint costs about 1,000 rubles, and the lever assembly costs more than 3,000.

In front of the lever there is a rigid silent block, which provides the lateral rigidity necessary for precise response to steering inputs. At the rear there is a rubber-metal joint, which allows the wheel to move slightly backward, which has a beneficial effect on the smoothness of the ride.

For Lada Vesta cars of the first years of production, there were several characteristic defects regarding the suspension. The first and most basic thing that 99% of owners of these cars have encountered is the creaking of stabilizer bushings. The point was that with large suspension strokes, the stabilizer bar began to rotate in the bushings, and a creaking sound appeared. There were many complaints; AvtoVAZ sent dealers several methods for correcting the suspension.

At first it was recommended to put a special grease into the stabilizer bushings. Then polyurethane bushings appeared, they were also installed on foreign cars. But even if all this had a positive effect, it was for a short time. As a result, this problem was completely overcome by installing a new stabilizer with vulcanized bushings that were non-removable.

After this the problem completely disappeared. The second problem associated with the suspension of these cars in the early years of production is the stabilizer struts, or rather their hinges. They began to play already at short runs. The play produced creaking and knocking noises when driving over uneven surfaces. This problem was solved quickly, and in recent years the stabilizer links have been running for a long time without causing any problems.

There were also some problems with the front struts for some time. When driving on uneven roads, they made a characteristic knock and were loud. This problem was especially pronounced on Vesta SV Cross cars. Some installed racks from another manufacturer, or simply put up with the malfunction.

But AvtoVAZ has carried out corrective measures, and on cars of recent years of production there are no problems with struts. They serve more than 100 thousand km.

Rear suspension

The Lada Vesta, like the Grant, has a semi-independent rear suspension. The arms are also connected by a cross beam, but there are some design differences. For example, the springs are installed separately from the shock absorbers. This provides more comfort, as shocks from the road are evenly distributed throughout the body. In addition, this design is easier to maintain.

Double-acting shock absorbers provide good ride comfort. Structurally, the rear suspension of Vesta is also simple, there are no problem areas. All units last for more than 100 thousand km.

How I bought a Lada Vesta at minimum wage and what I checked

What conclusions can be drawn?

The suspension of the Lada Vesta, of course, is a definite gain. It is more modern, with technologically correct solutions, providing the car with excellent performance. Plus, when driving along the highway at high speed, Vesta feels much more confident and stable.

The suspension is probably the standard of simplicity and at the same time good technological characteristics. It is simple, reliable and inexpensive.

In the comments, be sure to write your thoughts about what I told you, share your experience of owning a car, and ask questions.

Lada Vesta at minimum or Granta at maximum - which is better to buy

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