RAF-2203: owner reviews, specifications, photos

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42

"Rafik 2203" is a favorite of many motorists, and even today it evokes nostalgic notes in their souls. And even now, when this model is no longer in production, this minibus remains a valuable rare copy for lovers of retro and antiquity.

Nimble and maneuverable RAF-2203

RAF model 2203 was produced in Riga from 1976 to 1987. It was intended for a variety of purposes. Most often, this vehicle was used as shuttle cars, ambulances and just as civil and official vehicles.

The layout of the RAF-2203 minibus is a wagon. His salon consists of 2 compartments:

1. Front compartment containing the driver's seat and one passenger seat.
2. Rear compartment equipped with nine passenger seats, behind which there is luggage space.

I must say that the reviews about the minibus RAF-2203 are extremely positive. People who happened to work on this "rafik" do not hide their enthusiasm for the named vehicle. According to themwords, the car is magnificent, high-speed, hardy and economical. In addition, the good assembly, excellent maneuverability and agility when turning and turning this tractable car are highly appreciated.

The motor is the heart of any car

The RAF-2203 engine with carburetor fuel supply, which was equipped with a minibus, ran on gasoline. For this model, an engine from the GAZ-24 was used. It was located in front and powered the rear wheels. The engine had an in-line layout, 4 cylinders and 8 valves. Actually, I must say that this model was equipped with two types of engines:

• ZMZ 2401;
• ZMZ 402-10.

That the second engine was more powerful was the only difference between them. However, there was one more distinctive nuance - the first engine ran on AI-76 gasoline, and the second on AI-93.

The 4-speed manual transmission of the minibus has synchronizers in all forward gears, which increased the life of the Rafika gearbox.

The car could reach speeds of one hundred and twenty to one hundred and thirty kilometers per hour.

Minibus body and suspension

The RAF-2203 body is load-bearing, all-metal. The car has 4 single doors:

• 2 of them - on the right - are intended for boarding passengers;
• the door on the left is for the driver;
• back door gives access to luggage space.

Sprung suspension of a minibus with shock absorbers, and whatAs for the "rafik" brake system, it is made according to the system of drum brakes installed on all four wheels of the car. If necessary, RAF-2203 could be repaired at many domestic service stations.

Production - Latvia

The very first production models of RAF-2203 minibuses, photos of which you can see in this article, left the assembly line of the new Latvian automobile plant in December 1975. And the very next year, a green street was opened for their mass production. A year later, a separate modification also got on the conveyor - an ambulance RAF-22031.

When the car was modified as a minibus, its capacity allowed carrying up to eleven people in a row. Thanks to this and other other qualities, RAF-2203 was widely distributed throughout the USSR. After the collapse of the country into separate states, these minibuses were replaced by new models, in particular the Gazelle car. But individual copies are still preserved in some countries of the former union.

Some vehicle specifications

The technical data and dimensions of the RAF-2203 are as follows:

1. The car is 4m 980cm long, 2m 035cm wide and 1m 970cm high.
2. The track of the front wheels of the "rafik" is 1 m 474 cm, the track of the rear wheels is 1 m 420 cm.
3. The weight of the minibus with equipment is 1670 kg.
4. Its gross weight is 2710 kg.
5. Carburetor engine, 4-cylinder, ZMZ 2203/2, 445 l.
6. Number of seats -11 plus driver's license.
7. Braking distance at a speed of 60 km/h is 25.8 m.
8. The front overhang is 1 m 200 cm.
9. Rear overhang - only 1m 120cm.
10. The height of the car step above the road level is 40 cm.
11. Dry single plate clutch.
12. Manual transmission.
13. Hydraulic dampers.
14. Spring front suspension with independent wishbones.
15. Dependent rear suspension on longitudinal semi-elliptical leaf springs.

Features of the RAF minibus

Favorite to all minibuses, which the people affectionately nicknamed “rafiks”, were distinguished by a rounded front bumper without “fangs”, window vents on the front doors, overall white lights on the roof, round rear-view mirrors and chrome-plated wheel caps, like at Volga GAZ-21.

Until the end of 1976, the RAF-2203 serial minibus was equipped with an original high instrument panel equipped with round dials. In 1977, the model acquired a new panel with a combination of instruments adopted from the GAZ-24 car. At the same time, it was decided to abandon the ventilation hole located under the middle window on the left side.

Reviews about "rafiq"

Let's turn to what people say about RAF-2203. Owner reviews, as mentioned above, are very good. There are only a few small details that can be considered a minus, but they are not so significant for the general state of affairs. Representatives of companies, as well as those who acquired RAF forbusiness, they say that given the low price of the car, its payback is simply excellent. This is firstly, and secondly, an important fact is the absence of problems with spare parts. Almost everything you need comes from the Volga car, except for the body iron.

Small reliable "tank" - this is what some motorists call RAF-2203. The reviews of the owners are mostly imbued with respect for this auto-workaholic. Some noted a comfortable fit in the car, so you can get used to it in just one day. And although the instrument panel is not rated at the highest score, but the majority found it quite convenient. The high clearance of the minibus makes it possible to drive on a dirt road.

From the negative it is said that in winter the handling is a little worse, but again, a habit is needed here. A little training for the driver, and skill will come. As a minus, it is also noted that the position of the engine is ahead, due to which the weight of the minibus is shifted to its front part. And, of course, the high fuel consumption of RAF-2203 can be attributed to the minus.

The van's features (which everyone agreed on) make it great for small businesses as it's inexpensive and highly practical.

Starting production of model 2203

In the late 60s, the Latvian auto industry experienced a catastrophic shortage of production space. Because of this, it was almost impossible to meet the needs of a large country in minibuses. And so in 1969 they began toconstruction of a new plant, which was located 25 km from Riga in the city of Jelgava.

Actually, this giant plant was originally designed and built for the production of a new minibus model and was equipped with the most modern equipment at that time. Officially, production began its work in 1976. It was in the same year that the production of serial production of a minibus with an index of 2203 began.

Serial production

In terms of production, the minibus "Rafik-2203" has significantly surpassed its predecessor, the 977 model. In 1984, in February, the plant produced the 100,000th anniversary RAF-2203 - and this is only 9 years after the start of mass production!

In the 1980s, the factory in Jelgava already produced up to about 17 thousand minibuses a year. For this, all the old workshops and buildings of the enterprise in Riga were also involved, but basically they now assembled small small-scale batches of cars on special orders. Both the design bureau itself and the special bureau intended for testing were located in Riga.

Moments of history

The earliest RAF cars have their own distinctive features, such as sidelights from GAZ-24 and the presence of a factory emblem on the rear door. The turn of 1978-1979 was marked by the replacement of optics from the Volga with single bus repeaters, plus the emblem of the plant was removed from the rear door. Then, for almost 10 years, minibuses were produced in this form without making any significant changes.

Seal of quality at its peak

In 1979, the RAF plant received the State Quality Mark for its products. But by some irony of fate, immediately after that, the quality of produced cars began to fall every year. The plant increasingly began to receive claims, complaints and complaints, especially from medical workers using an ambulance. An unpleasant incident also happened in February 1986, when the state acceptance department returned almost 13% of new minibuses to the plant to eliminate the detected defects.

Disagreements among senior management

In the same 1986, a public discussion unfolded among the management of the plant. The sharply raised topic just concerned the reasons for the steady decline in the quality of the products of the Jelgava automobile plant. During the conflict, it was decided that in order to improve the current situation, the plant needs to release not only new models of minibuses, but also another director.

After the elections, it was Victor Bossert. In connection with everything, the Riga Bus Factory received significant funds from the country's budget for total technical re-equipment with the requirement that the technical characteristics of the manufactured models, including the RAF-2203, be significantly improved.

Stop production

After the collapse of the USSR, the RAF plant, like many other similar B altic industrial giants, was doomed. The break with Russia did not play into the hands of production. Because the production cycle of the plant required supplies from Russia, and this concernedalmost all components. At the same time, still due to the rupture of ties with Russia, the sales market declined sharply, due to which production had to be reduced to the production of 4-5 thousand cars a year.

Trying to survive and stay afloat, the management of the plant made attempts to expand the range of products. A number of new cargo-passenger cars and minibuses for special purposes based on the RAF-2203 were launched into production. RAF-2920 vans, RAF-3311 cargo-passenger pickups and other vehicles were produced in small batches. But, unfortunately, such measures did not bring success to production, because, in fact, the basic model of "rafik-2203" itself was completely hopelessly outdated by this time.

The production of the sensational "rafiq" was finally closed

1993 was marked by the start of production of the Nizhny Novgorod Gazelle, as a result of which the B altic plant producing Rafiki finally lost its largest sales market - Russia. Local, that is, the B altic citizens, also did not particularly show their interest in products, their preferences were given to used cars from Western Europe.

Changing the basic model could help the company, especially since around the end of the 80s, the plant created 2 modern concepts at once, these are Roxanne and Stills. There were high hopes for these models. But in order to switch to their mass production, a radical modernization of the enterprise and significant investments were required. The search for an investor did not bring success, the number of issued “rafiks”every month it became less, and besides, the plant's debts grew.

The moment came when in 1997 the B altic plant RAF produced its last batch of products, and in the spring of 1998 the company was declared bankrupt. This was the end of the history of the most massive minibus in the entire history of the Soviet Union, and the history of the Latvian auto industry also ended with it.