Lada Vesta Sport – the best car for boys?

If there was a “national sports car” nomination in automobile competitions, the hero of this test would have excellent chances to become an absolute winner

Fast forward to 25 years ago, when the word “foreign car pronounced” with aspiration. At that moment I was tormented by the choice between the VAZ models – 2108 and 2110, leaning towards the first, because I knew that Porsche engineers had taken part in its refinement. I remember, I was looking forward to how I would conjure with the installation of abnormal springs and shock absorbers, change the factory stamping to fashionable “casting” and improve the “Shumka”. However, the family squeezed the “top ten”, and the planned tuning resulted in the correction of factory mistakes – the brand-new sedan refused to redistribute the braking forces normally, the front panel creaked godlessly, and in winter snow poured through the curved frame of one of the doors to the salon.

And now, after a quarter of a century, on my test, perhaps, the first VAZ car in which the field of activity for fans of garage tuning is reduced to zero. After all, all the “patsan” (and not only) improvements in Vesta Sport have already been made by specialists of the Lada Sport division.

Not a collective farm, but a factory

The first thing that catches your eye when looking at our “athlete” is the lowered ground clearance – 147 mm compared to 178 for the standard Vesta. Moreover, the bow part sank closer to the ground than the stern – just like the “crippled” “eights” and “nines” on spacers from the 1990s. But only in the case of Vesta Sport, all engineering solutions for the chassis are factory ones, taken from motorsport and, accordingly, effectively working to reduce lift and increase directional stability. True, there were no casualties – the turning radius was slightly reduced and the geometric passability worsened. So when maneuvering at the curbs, you need to be more careful, although here a rear view camera and parking sensors extend a helping hand.

One more circumstance helps to keep up the Vesta Sport course confidently – the “athlete” is 10 mm wider than the basic modification. From here, by the way, are muscular plastic front wings that compensate for the increase in gauge. The suspension is shorter-stroke and tuned noticeably stiffer than the rest of the Vesta, the braking system is strengthened, and only 17-inch wheels with famously twisted spokes are provided as “shoes”. And along with the new aerodynamic “suit”, the sports sedan has acquired adaptive “foglights” that illuminate the bend when the steering wheel is turned, which is, you see, useful.

Perhaps the most impressive impression in the cabin is … the ceiling. It is lined with black textile – such arches are more common to see in Jaguar, BMW and Audi sports cars. There is in the arsenal of Vesta Sport and a chubby multi-wheel with a red zero mark, the same red lights “tidy”, pedal assembly, door cards and cup holders in the center console. Well, for the most convenient bucket-shaped front seats of the Korean company Daewon (produced in Izhevsk) of this Vesta, it is quite possible to forgive the cramped back row with a sofa, for which, unlike other top-end versions of the sedan, for some reason you can’t order a folding armrest and a heating option. The luggage compartment is almost the same as that of other versions of the model, except that a third brake light is integrated in the cover spoiler, and the 16-inch wheel underground performs the role of a “dokatka”.

Music Box

Do you know what else bribes the “sported” Vesta? The loudness of a 1.8-liter gasoline engine. The velvety rumble of the VAZ “four” is a balm for the soul of drivers who are looking for an answer to the Volkswagen Polo GT and Skoda Rapid Monte Carlo equipped with a brisk 1.4-liter 125-horsepower turbo engine in the domestic auto industry. True, unlike the rivals from the Volkswagen Group camp, our sedan relies on 145 “atmospheric” horses, and the powertrain design has been thoroughly modified – original camshafts are used, the valve timing system and exhaust system are reconfigured, the pressure in the fuel system is increased and the software is rewritten .

Hence another question: how is the car accelerated, which added 23 hp and 14 Nm? The nature of the motor turned out to be so “high” that the sports sedan literally requires the inclusion of lower gears. If you do not get enough “gas”, the “sixteen-valve” will go down and you will encounter a deficit of traction on the “bottoms”. This box would be “shorter” than the applied 5-speed Renault “mechanics” with the same gear ratios as on other 1.8-liter Vesta.

As a result, you involuntarily adjust to the aggregate link and begin to “twist” the motor from the heart. In this situation, the sedan gets into powerful spurts and the driving rhythm turns out pretty ragged. And just to plunge in the stream on this machine is not at all interesting.
In a word, the Togliatti calls for operational space – somewhere on the Moscow Ring Road, or better yet, on the Don highway, where you can legally legally go faster than 130 km / h. There Vesta Sport feels like a fish in the water, the reserve for quick overtaking is above the roof.

There, on the highway, you finally realize how much to the yard of this car there was a decrease in clearance and “tightening” of the elastic elements of the chassis. The sedan clings to the trajectory just fiercely, there is no hint of vertical buildup, and the rolls on the bends, consider it symbolic.

Sports load

Of course, sports and physical education are different things: pits with road joints are worked out, whatever one may say, harshly. And yet this Vesta cannot be called an uncomfortable car. The ride remained at a completely civilian level, the suspension turned out balanced and, despite the short-stroke, energy-intensive. This is not a “nine” with springs cut in the garage of Uncle Seryozha.

And how cool Vesta Sport rulitsya and slows down! Compared with the rest of Vesta, the steering wheel has added to the information content, and the stabilization system allows more liberties than on “civilian” performances. So not even a motor provokes a ride to the brink, but a retuning of the chassis, steering and braking system. When bringing to mind the latter, by the way, vazovtsy used Renault Megane structural elements – in particular, larger brake discs and pads, as well as larger diameter pistons.

So is the whole range of improvements worth 1,049,900 rubles that they ask for a basic Luxe? And even more so in the amount of 1,085,900 rubles, in which the top-end version of Luxe Multimedia is rated? Here you should decide for yourself whether you need navigation, a rear view camera and heated windshield, relying on the “older” version of Vesta Sport. I answered in the affirmative for myself. However, there are certainly young Russians who are ready to give preference to a more accessible version, so that it doesn’t work out as I did in my youth, when instead of the uncompromising G8 I bought the very same 2110.

In general, it should be recognized that VAZ engineers managed to make a small miracle. Thanks to their efforts, we have a factory version of what is commonly called “people’s lighters.” And this car is really worth its million-plus.

The car is tested according to five main criteria:
1. comfort 2. safety 3. dynamics and driving performance
4. practicality 5. value for money.
This technique was formed over the 25 years of the journal.
All identified deficiencies are reported to the automakers for further rectification.

Author

Vasily Sergeev, columnist for the Avtopanorama magazine

Edition

Auto panorama №6 2020

Photo

Kirill Kalapov