2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42
VAZ off-road cars, which include Lada 4x4 (Niva) and Chevrolet Niva, are characterized by high cross-country ability even in stock form. This is due to the good geometry of the body and suspension, the presence of an all-wheel drive system with a reduction gear and a center differential with a lock.
However, there is always room for improvement. Moreover, these cars also have obvious flaws, first of all, insufficient engine performance. Further in the article, the preparation of the Niva for off-road is considered.
Features of "Niva"
The classic "Niva", known as the VAZ-2121 and Lada 4x4, is a compact SUV of a small class, produced since 1977. It has a monocoque body, found in 3 and 5-door versions. Equipped with 4-cylinder petrol engines with a capacity of 80-94 liters. With. with 4 and 5-speed manual transmissions. The drive is full, with a reduction gear and a lockable center differential. Front suspension - independent, rear -dependent.
Chevrolet Niva Features
Chevrolet Niva is also a compact SUV. It has been produced since 2002. It has a 5-seater body. Most of the cars are equipped with an 80-horsepower Niva engine with a 5-speed manual transmission. The design of the transmission and running gear is similar to it.
Principles of tuning
Preparing the Niva-Chevrolet for off-road, like any other car, must be carefully thought out and calculated. However, its tuning must be approached with extreme caution. This is due to the fact that their design has a small margin of safety, which determines the potential for tuning. That is, the elements of the car function almost to the limit, and the preparation of the Chevy Niva for off-road can easily break it. This will reduce both performance and reliability.
So, engines have low performance even for standard cars. If you load them with heavy additional equipment and install large wheels, the low dynamic performance will become even worse, and the load on the already weak engine will increase, which will lead to a decrease in its resource. Approximately the same situation with the running gear: the elevator, by installing long shock absorbers and springs or spacers without additional intervention, will lead to a deterioration in handling and stability and accelerated wear of both suspension and transmission elements.
Besides, serious intervention in the design is expensive. Therefore, the stages of preparing the Niva for off-road are distinguished. And the initial (tourist) involves a change andinstallation of only individual elements, with almost complete preservation of the original design.
The cost of tuning is determined both by the degree of intervention in the structure and the level of parts used. As you know, most owners of VAZ SUVs are poor people. Therefore, the preparation of the "Niva" for off-road do-it-yourself is common.
For the same reason, most owners maintain and repair the car themselves. They are well aware of "Niva". Off-road preparation, the photo of which we will provide in our article, therefore, they can also do it.
Body
It is extremely important for an SUV to protect the bottom by covering the main components such as the engine, gearbox, front driveshaft, front axle gearbox.
Protection is represented by plastic or metal sheets. The first one is very fragile. Even 1-2 mm metal sheets can only protect against small stones and weak contact with the surface. Therefore, for serious off-road use protection with a thickness of 4-6 mm.
As for the area, you should choose the widest sheets that cover the largest possible surface. In this case, it is necessary to make sure that there are technological and ventilation holes. Such preparation of the Niva for off-road will cost about 30 thousand rubles.
Sometimes they provide body protection by installing stronger metal bumpers and sills (power body kit). It will cost approximately 20-30 thousand rubles.
In the case of installing wider wheels, use wheel arch extensions. The simplest universal options cost from about 2 thousand rubles.
"Niva" has fragile and small towing eyes, which are necessary on the road to remove a stuck car. At the Chevrolet Niva, they are stronger, but they are located very inconveniently. Therefore, it is advisable to prepare the Niva for off-road by installing a removable towbar with a 50x50 square socket at the back and winch mounts at the front.
This will allow you to change these devices in places, using a towbar instead of towing eyes, pulling trailers and using a hi-jack. The cost is approximately 15 thousand rubles.
The price of an electric winch is from 20 thousand rubles. Another 4 thousand will cost the fastening system.
Many professionally trained SUVs are equipped with an expeditionary trunk. This device, of course, does not increase patency. However, off-road use of a vehicle often involves carrying a large amount of cargo that may not fit in the cargo hold. For the cars in question, this is especially true, since they both have small trunks. In addition, the Niva has a spare wheel in the engine compartment, so it loads the front end, worsens engine cooling and safety.
By installing an expeditionary trunk, it will be possible to solve these problems by moving the spare tire there. ToIn addition, many options have mounts for additional equipment. When choosing a trunk, you need to pay attention to the method of its attachment: it is better if it is prepared for installation on factory roof rails, gutters or arcs, since permission is required for a rigid mount.
Many modified SUVs have additional lights installed. Standard headlights may not be enough off-road. In addition, they quickly get dirty in the mud. Therefore, additional headlights are installed higher - usually on the roof. Many forwarding trunks have specialized mounts. LED chandeliers cost from 3 thousand rubles.
Engine
As noted, the engines of the cars in question are very weak for off-road, where they lack traction capabilities. This is especially evident in the heavier Chevrolet Niva. The situation is aggravated if the body is weighted with additional equipment and large wheels are installed. There are 2 ways to solve this problem: replacing the engine with a more powerful one or tuning the original motor.
VAZ-21126 and Toyota 3S engines and others are most often used for swapping on Chevrolet Niva. 3S is also most often installed on Niva. It is the cheapest to buy it (from 30 thousand rubles).
As for modifications, the same technologies and methods are used here as in sports tuning of VAZ engines. Only the target character of the motor differs: in contrastsports, with off-road tuning, they strive to get maximum torque at low revs.
The main off-road modification for the engine is the snorkel. This device is an external air intake, which is brought to the roof to prevent water hammer and ensure clean air intake from above, where there is less dust. In addition, snorkels are equipped with separators. Their price is the same and starts from 3 thousand rubles.
Transmission
To ensure uniform rotation of the wheels, the car is equipped with front and rear cross-axle differentials with locks. The cost is about 15 thousand rubles. Both SUVs have center locks in stock.
As noted, both cars have engines of low performance, not high enough for serious off-road. This problem can be solved without interfering with their design. To do this, change the gear ratio of the main pair. Price - from about 3 thousand rubles.
Both cars have a low gear. However, there are lowering kits that further reduce the gear ratio. Cost - from 10 thousand rubles.
Pendant
The most important off-road suspension parameters are ground clearance and travel. Standard carshave high ground clearance and good geometry. However, over time, especially when used under load or off-road, the suspension can sag. To avoid this, the springs and shock absorbers are changed to reinforced ones. They are characterized by increased rigidity, but have better energy intensity and are more durable. They cost from 12 thousand rubles.
Increasing ground clearance requires much more serious intervention in the suspension design. If you simply install spacers or longer shock absorbers and springs, the service life of CV joints and universal joints will be significantly reduced, controllability, stability and braking efficiency will decrease. Therefore, it is necessary to perform a significant amount of work with the replacement of a large number of elements to ensure the durability of the structure, which is the preparation of the Niva for off-road with your own hands. Photos clearly demonstrate its implementation.
Wheels
To a large extent, patency is determined by tires. Standard tires are not suitable for serious off-road use. Off-road tires provide better grip on mud, loose soils and other surfaces. There is a specialized off-road tire for winter. Therefore, changing tires is the simplest preparation of the Niva-Chevrolet for off-road do-it-yourself.
It should be borne in mind that without increasing the ground clearance and widening the wheel arches, it is possible toinstall wheels no larger than 15-inch 215/75 or 16-inch 215/65. The first option is more relevant, as it provides a better ride and a larger selection of tires, and the deterioration in handling is not very significant for these cars. Such preparation of the Niva for off-road will cost about 16 thousand rubles.
Interior
For off-road operation, the interior is trimmed with simple, easy-to-wash materials. Most often, the flooring is changed with aluminum panels. Otherwise, the interiors of the cars are quite simple.
Sometimes additional equipment is installed, depending on the equipment of the car.
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