Test drive Lada Vesta Cross
Sedan, naturally aspirated engine and ground clearance like an SUV - AvtoVAZ has created an almost ideal car for Russia
It is strange that none of the automakers have previously offered Russian buyers an off-road sedan. Yes, we remember that nothing new was invented in Togliatti, and Volvo has been offering the S60 Cross Country for several years, which even has four-wheel drive. But in the mass market, Vesta is still the first. And formally it even plays in its own league, so it has no direct competitors yet.
In fact, the Vesta with the Cross prefix is pretty redesigned. We were convinced of this when we first met the SW Cross station wagon. As it turned out then, the matter was not limited to just screwing the plastic body kit around the perimeter. Therefore, the sedan with the Cross attachment almost completely adopted the solutions that had already been tested on the five-door.
Unlike the standard machine, there are different springs and shock absorbers installed here. However, the rear ones are still a couple of turns shorter than those of the SW Cross, since the sedan's lighter stern loads them less. Nevertheless, thanks to the processing, the vehicle's ground clearance reaches 20 cm.
The figure is comparable to the ground clearance of some purebred SUVs, not to mention the compact urban crossovers. On such a "Vesta" it is not scary to drive not only on a country road, but also on a dirt road with a serious track. Traveling along the agricultural road, along which a rusty tractor "Belarus" was walking a minute ago, is given to "Vesta" without any problems. No bumps, no hooks: in the cabin you can hear only the rustle of grass rubbing against the bottom.
The redesigned suspension improved not only the geometric cross-country ability, but also the vehicle's travel. The Vesta Cross drives differently than a regular sedan. Dampers filter road trifles slightly noisy, but rather gently, practically without transferring anything to the body and interior. Only from sharp irregularities on the front panel and steering wheel vibration runs. But there's nothing you can do about it: 17-inch wheels rotate in the arches of our Vesta Cross. If the disks were smaller and the profile was higher, this flaw would also be leveled.
Pits and potholes are generally the native element of the all-terrain Vesta. The rule "more travel less pits" with a sedan works no worse than with a VAZ "Niva". You have to try hard and purposely drop the car into a very deep hole so that the suspensions work into the buffer.
On the other hand, such an omnivorous chassis and high ground clearance affected the car's behavior on a good road with smooth asphalt. The gambling control of Vesta, which we noticed when we first met, has not gone anywhere. The all-terrain sedan also perfectly obeys the steering wheel and is famously screwed into sharp turns. And even slightly increased body rolls do not interfere with this. The Vesta is still understandable in corners and predictable to the limit.
But what really suffered was the high speed stability. When driving on the highway at cruising 90-100 km / h, you already feel that the Cross does not hold on to the asphalt as tightly as the usual Vesta. And if you accelerate to 110-130 km / h, then it becomes already uncomfortable.
Due to the high clearance under the bottom, more air enters, and all this oncoming wind flow begins to act on the car with serious lifting force. Immediately you feel the front axle unloading, and the car does not follow the given trajectory so precisely. We have to steer it periodically, and catch it at high waves of asphalt.
Otherwise, Lada Vesta Cross is no different from a regular sedan and station wagon. She received the same combination of gasoline engines and 5-speed transmissions. In basic versions, the novelty can be purchased with a 1,6 liter (106 hp) engine, and in more expensive versions - with 1,8 liters (122 hp). Both options are combined with both "robot" and mechanics. And there is still no four-wheel drive.
| A type | Sedan |
| Dimensions (length / width / height), mm | 4424/1785/1526 |
| Wheelbase, mm | 2635 |
| Ground clearance, mm | 202 |
| Cargo space | 480 |
| Curb weight, kg | 1732 |
| Gross vehicle weight, kg | 2150 |
| engine's type | Petrol, R4 |
| Working volume, cubic meters cm | 1774 |
| Max. power, hp (at rpm) | 122/5900 |
| Max. cool. moment, Nm (at rpm) | 170/3700 |
| Drive type, transmission | Front, MKP-5 |
| Max. speed km / h | 180 |
| Acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h, s | 10,5 |
| Fuel consumption (average), l / 100 km | 7,7 |
| Price from, $. | 9 888 |
