Test drive Lada Largus 2021
The penultimate "X-face", the salon from the first "Duster" and the eternally lively eight-valve - with which the most practical Lada enters the tenth year of its life 
The future is already here, and it looks like an updated Lada Largus. If the Russian economy suddenly does not get better, transplanting a VW Polo into the body of a Skoda Rapid and other budget tweaks will seem like a luxury. After all, "Largus" is essentially the first generation Dacia Logan station wagon. When this model entered our market in 2012 under the Lada brand, the Romanians presented the next "Logan". Nine years have passed, and Europe has already received the third version.
And this is exactly the case when it is unfair to let all AvtoVAZ dogs go down. Look at the new Renault Duster for almost one and a half million - and you will understand how technical progress turns out in the current conditions. In Togliatti, they worked strictly according to Roosevelt: do what you can, with what you have, where you are. And the increase in the base price of the station wagon by only 22 thousand rubles is an almost heroic achievement.
For this money, you will be given, first of all, a different design - and it looks like this is the penultimate new "X-face" in the history of Lada. After all, Steve Mattin left the walls of Togliatti, and ahead only the restyling of Vesta two years late and the merger with Dacia, which does not yet look particularly inspiring.
Largus also received slightly modified headlights from the "second" Logan, around which were lined up a new hood, bumper and radiator grill, and a bonus appeared mirrors from Vesta with integrated turn signals - the front fenders, respectively, are now "clean", without bulbs. But with the rear part they decided not to do anything at all, so as not to spend the precious budget - and how much can you create there, in two vertical lanterns?
But in the cabin there are much more changes - however, everything is done according to the same cunningly economical principle. There was a front panel from the first "Logan" - it became from the first "Duster", with the same patterned visor over the instruments and trays for things in the upper part. There were instruments from "Kalina" - steel from "Logan", only with orange scales designed for all modern "Lada".
The old MediaNav multimedia with navigation and a faded low-set screen is also painfully familiar from the "state employees" Renault and Lada XRay, but before that it was not there either. By the way, at the same time, the electronic architecture as a whole has been updated: now the same version of T4 is used here as on Logan / Sandero / XRay.
XRay, on the other hand, shared with the Largus and the steering wheel, which is by no means prettier and more convenient than the one used before ... But do not think that the whole update was reduced to screwing in spare parts from other models of the alliance. For example, a long-awaited armrest with a small box has appeared between the seats, and the door cards here are their own - with the window regulator keys transferred from the center console. In the opposite direction, that is, to the console, the buttons for heating the front seats, which were previously hidden on the sidewalls of the pillows, migrated. The only pity is that the joystick for adjusting the mirrors is sitting under the "handbrake": this ancient ergonomic incident could not be defeated with little blood.
But restyling brought a lot of previously unavailable options. Largus can now be bought with heated steering wheel and windshield (although the threads are so thick that they really interfere with the view), passengers in the second row have a USB port, a 12-volt outlet and, again, heated pillows, light and rain sensors are provided, cruise control, rear-view camera - and even the key in all trim levels is now "adult", with a throw-out tip. Do you feel where Lada is heading? From a purely utilitarian model Largus turns into an ordinary car for those who want to drive with at least some comfort for minimal money. Simply put, in the "state employee" of the new reality.
Feelings, however, cannot be called new - they are just old and not so good. The body instantly realizes that it is in the uncomfortable amorphous Logan chairs, albeit with improved lateral support. The steering wheel is still not adjustable for takeoff, so you sit either in a vorkoryaku or with outstretched arms - in the right one of which lies the same lever of the five-speed "mechanics" Renault.
They often have to wield, because the test version of the Largus Cross with a 106-horsepower 16-valve "aspirated" frankly does not go. There are no special complaints about the motor itself: it is familiar from other Ladas and, in general, is quite cheerful and responsive. But a much shorter lead pair just asks here. Even if you forget about all the speed limits and try to heat up the Largus to the maximum passport 170 km / h, you will not succeed - the power is really only enough up to one and a half hundred, and even in fourth gear, and the fifth is simply useless.
One has to suffer from such a "long" transmission even in the city. The dynamics are so depressing that the only positive argument sounds like this: on the other hand, you can drive this car everywhere and always to the fullest without disturbing anything. Amazingly, the junior "eight-valve", which is supposed to be in the van and the most affordable station wagons (but not the Cross version), rides even more vigorously.
In fact, one should be amazed that this motor is still alive in 2021 - and even thoroughly modified. But you and I already understand everything, right? Therefore, we must thank the VAZ engineers for their work: there is a new cylinder head, valves, pistons, connecting rods, a camshaft, a fuel rail, a valve cover - in a word, the changes did not affect only the block itself, intake and exhaust. The result seems to be minimal: 90 forces instead of 87, 143 Nm instead of 140 ... But the engine began to pull significantly better at the bottom, and this is important for the city. And most importantly, the Granta will probably receive the same engine soon. Which is inexorably turning from an extremely cheap option into a completely reasonable one.
If we return to the Largus, then on the move it does not give anything new: the same dense, but impenetrable suspension, the same indistinct and hammering steering wheel - in a word, the genetics of the B0 platform in its original and preserved form. The only thing is that the Togliatti residents are great, almost maniacally worked on soundproofing: wherever you stick, additional upholstery and linings or, at worst, plugs in the cavities.
And it works! Indeed, in Largus now, if not quietly, then it is acceptable - even when you turn the engine into a ringing sound, trying not to lose to the neighboring Gazelle, or rush with “free” 130 km / h on the highway and feel like a hero.
True, the pumped-up "Shumka" is the privilege of only the older Luxe trim levels, for which you have to pay 898 rubles in the case of the usual Largus and 900 in the case of the Cross version. But there is also an optional Prestige package, just with heated steering wheel, windshield and rear seats, as well as with power for the second row. Thus, a fully equipped Largus Cross in a seven-seater configuration will cost 938 rubles - yes, almost a million for the modified Logan of the last generation.
