We independently tune the Lada Kalina

"Lada Kalina" has always been in great demand among domestic motorists. However, to call this car a masterpiece of design thought, the language does not turn. This applies to both sedans and hatchbacks. Therefore, motorists are still trying to improve Kalina. Both externally and internally. Let's see how they do it.

Engine

The Lada Kalina car began to be produced in 2004, and in 2018 it was discontinued as it was replaced by new models. The car was produced both in the sedan and in the hatchback. It should be noted right away that the differences in tuning of these models are minimal, since most of the improvements in Kalina traditionally concern the engine and chassis. These elements are the same for sedans and hatchbacks. As for the interior, Kalina's is made in such a way that there is little that can be improved in it at all. Now more.

The maximum engine capacity of Kalina is 1596 cm³. This is a 16-valve engine with 4 cylinders, which is capable of delivering a torque of 4 thousand revolutions per minute. Its power is 98 liters. c. But many motorists are not satisfied with such characteristics. And they do their best to improve it. Here's how it's done:

• installation of a direct exhaust system. This increases the motor power by 2–4%;
• performing chip tuning. Not a single owner of Kalina can do without this operation today. It comes down to replacing the standard firmware in the car's electronic unit with an "advanced" one. Craftsmen have developed a lot of firmware, which can be divided into two categories - "economical" and "sports". The former allow you to save fuel, the latter, on the contrary, increase consumption. But at the same time, the dynamic characteristics of the motor also increase. It becomes more torquey and high-torque;
• installation of an air filter with reduced resistance. This allows the engine to literally “breathe freer”: the combustion chambers will receive more air, and the combustion of the fuel mixture will become more complete. As a result, the motor power will increase by 8–12%;
  

  Low-resistance filter allows Kalina to breathe easier
• installation of a larger intake receiver. It reduces vacuum in the combustion chambers, which gives a 10% increase in power;
• replacement of the stock. Moreover, the camshaft can be “upper” or “lower”. The first increases the traction of the engine at high speeds. The second increases traction at medium speeds, but at high speeds there is a noticeable power drawdown;
  

  This "horse" camshaft increases the traction of the Kalina engine
• valve replacement. After replacing the crankshaft, you can not do without replacing these parts. Sports valves are usually installed, which, during intake strokes, rise slightly higher than regular ones.

Chassis

Chassis tuning comes down to strengthening the suspension design. Here is what is being done for this:

• the steering rack is equipped with additional fasteners;
• regular shock absorbers are replaced by sports ones. As a rule, sets of gas shock absorbers from the domestic company PLAZA are used (Models Dakar, Sport, Extreme, Profi). The reason is simple: they are distinguished by a democratic price, and you can buy them in almost any parts store;
  

  PLAZA gas shock absorbers are very popular with Kalina owners
• sometimes lowered springs (with variable pitch) are installed in the suspension. This allows you to significantly improve the controllability of the car;
• replacing drum brakes with disc brakes. Drum brakes are installed on the rear wheels of the Kalina. It is difficult to call this a successful technical solution, so the owners of Kalina always put disc brakes back. Kevlar discs produced by Brembo are very popular.
  

  Brembo discs are distinguished by their high reliability and high cost

Appearance

Here are the main improvements in the appearance of Kalina, which are carried out by the owners of both sedans and hatchbacks:

• installation of new disks. Initially, "Kalina" is equipped with only steel wheels. Their appearance can hardly be called presentable, although they have a definite plus: in case of damage, they are easy to straighten. Nevertheless, tuning enthusiasts almost always remove steel wheels and replace them with cast ones. They are much more beautiful, but with strong blows they simply break, after which they can only be thrown away;
  

  Alloy wheels look great, but they can't be repaired
• spoiler. This element is installed on both sedans and hatchbacks. The only difference is the location. On sedans, the spoiler is mounted directly on the trunk lid. On hatchbacks, the spoiler is attached to the roof, above the rear window. You can get this part at any parts store. The choice of material (carbon, plastic, carbon fiber) and the manufacturer is limited only by the wallet of the car owner;
• body kit. This element is sold in kits, which include bumper covers, sills and wheel arch inserts. Plastic kits "S1 Team" and "I'm a robot" are in the greatest demand. For hatchbacks, plastic air intakes are additionally purchased for these kits, which look very organic on this body.

Video: installing a spoiler on Kalina with a hatchback body

Spoiler (deflector) installation LADA Kalina hatchback

Salon

The interior of all Kalina variants is designed in such a way that it is extremely difficult to make any radical improvements to it. Therefore, car owners are usually limited to cosmetic changes:

• backlight setting. Literally everything is illuminated in Kalina: floor, ceiling, pedals. Recently, motorists have begun to highlight even door handles. For all this, LED strips are used. Often they are attached to the illuminated surface with ordinary universal glue. The highlight of the instrument panel stands apart. To install it, drivers have to remove the instrument cluster, unscrew the incandescent bulbs used in factory lighting, and replace them with LEDs;
  

  In the cabin "Kalina" LED floor and dashboard lighting
• upholstery. Not everyone likes the regular leatherette with plastic inserts, which the manufacturer installs on Kalina. Drivers replace leatherette with carpet, and sometimes velor. These materials will look great in the cabin, but they last 5-6 years, no more. After this period, even the highest quality carpet becomes unusable, and velor wears out even faster. The instrument panel "Kalina" is usually pasted over with a vinyl film. Especially popular is the film with the color "carbon look". The service life of even the best film does not exceed 5 years;
• steering wheel replacement. The regular braid on the Kalina steering wheel is made of rather slippery leatherette. So drivers almost always change it to something rougher. The range of steering braids today is incredibly wide. They do not require any special modifications. All that is needed is to simply put the braid on the steering wheel and sew it with a clamp needle with nylon thread.

Lighting

In the case of Kalina, there are only two options:

• replacing standard headlights with brighter ones (usually with LED bulbs);
• installation of xenon backlight in standard headlights, followed by dimming this backlight with a special spray. This is necessary in order to avoid questions from the traffic police.
  

  The xenon headlights of the Kalina shine too brightly and raise questions from the traffic police

Trunk and doors

Here are options for tuning doors and trunk:

• door handles are almost always replaced. At Kalina, they are not very comfortable, and they look rather clumsy. So they are often changed to chrome handles, deeply recessed into the door;
• door card replacement. This is practiced by music lovers. They install speakers right in the door. Speakers need additional holes. They are either cut through on their own, or (which happens much more often) they buy ready-made door cards with holes of the right size;
• audio system. It is installed in the trunk of a car. Moreover, the trunk of a hatchback is better suited for installing massive subwoofers compared to the trunk of a sedan. Such systems occupy the entire space of the luggage compartment. Therefore, it will not work to use the trunk for its intended purpose;
  

  After installing such a system, there is simply no space left in the trunk.
• luggage compartment lighting. The standard incandescent lamps in the luggage lights are not too bright. Therefore, the LED strip, which was mentioned above, is often glued onto the shelf.

Photo gallery: tuned Lada Kalina, sedans and hatchbacks

The hood of this sedan is trimmed in "carbon look", which creates a contrast with the red color of the car.

The massive spoiler of this sedan immediately catches the eye

The black pattern on board this "Kalina" is organically combined with black tinted glass

The blue color of this "Kalina" is successfully combined with black "metallic"

A massive air intake stands out on this sedan, which clearly hints at the considerable power of the engine underneath.

The owner of this "Kalina" limited himself to installing a massive carbon fiber spoiler

The owner of this hatchback installed not only a spoiler and alloy wheels, but also tightly tinted windows

This "Kalina" uses the body kit "I'm a robot" in combination with a small spoiler

The S1 Team body kit is the second most popular among Kalina owners after the I'm a Robot kits

A small, almost imperceptible spoiler combined with a massive body kit and alloy wheels

So, it is quite possible to improve the appearance of Kalina. How radical these improvements will be depends primarily on the thickness of the car owner's wallet. But in any case, you should not be too zealous. Because in everything you need to observe the measure.