Station Wagon And & Nbsp; I Will Universal: Detailed Test Lada Vesta & Nbsp; SW

Appreciate the irony: a body type that, even because of its name, should suit everyone and everyone, has become an endangered species on the Russian market. The station wagons turned out to be not so universal, and today we have literally a dozen models, three of which are produced by Lada. And if Largus and Granta have a frankly utilitarian image, then in West SW you can even see European values. If desired

She is not "off-road", not "charged" - it's just a passenger wagon. Abroad, almost any model, from SkodFabi to BMW 5 Series, has such versions. They are not considered less status-conscious than sedans, they are not shameful to ride, and buyers love them for their practicality and - often - for their beauty.

Come to think of it, LadVestSW, with its piled-up C-pillars and floating roof, is the fruit of the same field. And it is certainly the only such option in the “up to a million” budget. We are testing a station wagon in the Luxe Prestige configuration with a 1.8 engine and a manual transmission. Without additional payment for color, it will cost at 860,900 rubles.

Interior

If you do not forget that Vest is, first of all, an inexpensive car, then you get quite positive emotions from the salon. There is design, ergonomics and other concepts that were considered outlandish for domestic cars quite recently. At the time of its debut, Vesta's interior, perhaps, even surpassed Hyundai Solaris and KiRio, but the Koreans won back with the change of generations. Lada is also waiting for a quick restyling, although right now it is quite possible to live with it.

Practicality

LadVestSW is the case when the designers can be scolded for being overly economical, but you don't want to. The station wagon was obtained from a sedan by simply installing a "cap" on the trunk - no one increased the rear overhang for the sake of greater spaciousness, and up to the glazing line the cars are absolutely identical. But the designers won back with a few pleasant and practical notions.

Technics

The development of Vesta took almost ten years, if we count from the "Project C" of the mid-2000s. The architecture is traditional for cars of this class: front-wheel drive, MacPherson struts at the front and a twisting beam at the rear. Transmissions - a five-speed "mechanics" or a robotic AMT box with the same number of gears. In addition, sales of Vesta with a Jatco CVT and a 114-horsepower 1.6 engine manufactured by Renault-Nissan should begin just a few days ago, but there is no detailed information on the timing and prices yet.

Riding

They waited a long time for the 1.8-liter engine on Vesta and hoped for it strongly - at least for the sake of winning a whole one and a half seconds in the passport acceleration to a hundred. But the engines of the first batches were disappointing with poor traction at the bottom, and when the Togliatti residents wrote a new firmware and fixed the problem … That, of course, became better, but not much.

The character of the motor turned out to be emphatically even, if not boring, and with the old "torsional" 1.6 subjectively life is even more fun. Moreover, the older version, with its almost 11 seconds to a hundred, is still not able to impress with dynamics: in practice, Vesta accelerates to standard city 80 km / h for a long time and thoughtfully, with an accelerator recessed into the floor and twisting the first two gears “into the ringing”. And you will not get the pleasure of such active aerobatics: the light and indistinct clutch pedal interferes, although there are no complaints about the selectivity and clarity of the transmission lever.

Another strange moment is the accelerator setting. At the very beginning of the stroke, the pedal is super sensitive, and if you just put your foot on it when neutral is on, the tachometer needle will go as far as two thousand revolutions! Perhaps the engineers wanted to add subjective dynamics in this way, but in practice, such a solution (in combination with the clutch operation) simply interferes with maneuvering in yards and crawling through traffic jams.

However, if you accelerate Vesta to normal speed and get on an interesting track, you will still get pleasure from it. The steering wheel pleases with a well-chosen effort and surprisingly rich feedback; Lada reacts to its deviations without far-fetched pauses. The rolls are relatively small, and the only frustrating thing is the early drift of the front axle in limit modes.

But this may be a consequence of the mediocre Matador Elite 3 tires, in which there was a test specimen: perhaps, in a better "shoe" Vesta will return to the habit of playing along with the rear axle a little, adding excitement.

Then the level of comfort will match. This Lada cannot be called the softest car in the world: it broadcasts minor irregularities to the interior in some detail, and even on a fairly decent road, the background itch will not leave you for a second. But the worse the coating, the better Vesta's suspension works: the energy capacity is excellent here, and the principle "more speed - fewer holes" works flawlessly.

In general, this is what is needed for Russian roads, and it would be ideally combined with a more sporty character of the car - but with a phlegmatic motor, you want a lighter gait. Especially considering that the sound insulation here is quite decent, and even there are no eternal clicks, creaks and howling that pestered in all previous Frets.

Equipment

Compared to a sedan with the same set of equipment, the Vest station wagon will cost 37 thousand rubles more. Moreover, the two simplest versions are not provided for it - Standart and Classic, and everything starts with Classic / Start for 688,900 rubles. And already there are two airbags, a stabilization system, air conditioning and ISOFIX mounts.

The next step is called Comfort, and you will have to pay at least 716,900 rubles for such a car. Here, an armrest grows between the front seats, the driver's seat has height adjustment and an adjustable lumbar support, an audio system, cruise control and rear parking sensors are added. Another 30 thousand on top - and yours will be heated front seats and windshield, as well as 16-inch alloy wheels instead of 15-inch stampings.

The top grade is Luxe, and prices start at 799,900 rubles. From the useful options, side airbags, organizers in the trunk, light and rain sensors appear here, and from the pleasant ones, for example, the background lighting of the passenger compartment. The Multimedi package adds, in fact, multimedia with a color touch screen - the surcharge will be 28 thousand rubles.

Finally, another 18 thousand will be more expensive than the Luxe Prestige version, which improves life in the second row: heated seats, armrest, tinting, USB port - everything is there.

Competitors

Vesta's rivals have not changed for years: this is actually the entire segment of budget cars. At the same time, the station wagon actually has no direct competitors - therefore, instead of the hackneyed listing of Solaris and Rio, let's look at the most "passenger" of the front-wheel drive crossovers up to a million rubles. Which, as if on selection, will turn out to be Chinese.

Chery Tiggo 2

Chery Tiggo 2 - это молодёжный дизайн, 420 литров в багажнике и единственный мотор на 1,5 литра и 106 лошадиных сил. Выбирать можно из пятиступенчатой «механики» и четырёхступенчатого «автомата», а цены предельно близки к вестовским: от 673 до 845 тысяч рублей" style="width: 823px; margin-right: 8px;">

JAC S3

Компания JAC давно пытается привлечь внимание российских покупателей, но знающих, что такое модель S3 и с чем её едят, до сих пор исчезающе мало. Рассказываем: в багажник помещается 600 литров поклажи, двигатель 1.6 развивает 109 лошадиных сил, вместо пятиступенчатой «механики» можно заказать вариатор, и всё это по цене от 749 до 909 тысяч рублей" style="width: 823px; margin-right: 8px;">

Brilliance V3

Этот «китаец» похож на Весту SW «парящей» крышей и объёмом багажника: там 455 литров. Мотор – единственный, и его параметры почти такие же, как у машин с предыдущих слайдов, то есть полтора литра и 107 сил. Правда, в отличие от Chery Tiggo 2, передач в опциональном «автомате» тут уже пять – столько же, сколько и у «механики». Цены – от 839 до 939 тысяч рублей" style="width: 823px; margin-right: 8px;">

FAW Besturn X40

Ещё дороже – FAW Besturn X40, его базовая версия с пятиступенчатой «механикой» обойдётся в 949 тысяч рублей, а за полный фарш и шестиступенчатый «автомат» придётся отдать уже 1 049 000 рублей. При этом в 1,6-литровом моторчике будут знакомые 108 лошадиных сил, а багажник не сможет предложить ничего больше 350 литров объёма" style="width: 823px; margin-right: 8px;">

KiCeed SW

Ну, и для общего понимания ситуации с универсалами в России: самый доступный после Весты - KiCeed SW. И базовая комплектация со 100-сильным моторчиком 1.4, с пластиковым рулём, без мультимедийки и на штамповках обойдётся в 1 109 900 рублей. Кажется, здесь должна звучать музыка из финальной заставки «Ералаша»." style="width: 823px; margin-right: 8px;">

conclusions

LadVestSW is a beautiful and, in the main, pleasant car, which makes no sense to find fault with it. The aging interior will soon be corrected with a planned restyling, and good ergonomics and a cool trunk will not go anywhere. A well-tuned chassis should also stay in place. The only thing that seems incurable for now is the stunted dynamics. But, in fairness, in this price segment, no one is capable of more.

Another question is that the positioning of the traditional station wagon is initially questionable - simply because there is also a raised version of LadVestSW Cross. Yes, it is 80 thousand more expensive, but it has a ground clearance of 203 millimeters, it is better suited for our conditions - and in addition it looks prettier, as if the station wagon was originally drawn in combination with a plastic body kit.

Therefore, the usual VestSW is a rather niche product. Although, if Cross does not fit into your budget, you can always console yourself with the thought that in this way you are simply supporting traditional European values.

Rating: 4/5

Okay

• - Spectacular and "expensive" design
• - Beautiful and comfortable salon
• - Coolly designed trunk
• - Nice chassis settings
• - Decent sound insulation

bad

• - Poor dynamics
• - Unsuccessful clutch and gas setting
• - Outdated multimedia
• - The presence of the Cross version in competitors