Brand new lada 4x4 in a spanish dealership

In Germany they start under 9000€. They have a 1.7 naturally aspirated inline4 8valve with some sort of indirect injection, maybe multipoint injection system. 5 gears and diff lock central and on some models even rear. The front axle is independent, rear is a live axle with watt’s link.

The car will probably not be sold in European Union after 2020 due to impossible improvements in safety and engine efficiency/cleanliness.

The engine is heavy, rough and inefficient. Also quite weak at 83 hp and 129Nm. The numbers do not tell the whole story, but the output is considerably lower than any today’s 1.4 or 1.5 liters including the new Jimny.

A replacement engine from another manufacturer is not to be expected, because nobody makes medium displacement longitudinally mounted engines anymore.

The 1.7i is very reliable though with only weak points being a possibility of warping heads due to poor quality of head gasket material. The car can not reach 140 kph. High speed steering vibration is often reported to be noticable already at 100 kph.

The funniest thing about the Niva is its longer version called URBAN 4X4. The Russians did not want to build new dies for the longer chassis, so they simply keep making the short version and then they cut some of them in the middle, weld in a pair of doors and some sheet metal for the roof and floor. That is how they make the 5door version.

If you think this is not crazy enough, think of how they solved the rear window washer. Remember they did cut the car and welded it back together. Sooo… they put a plug on the hose leading to the rear and they put another tank an pump in the trunk. OMG

Got a multi port injection 1.700cc engine with 80 some horses, it costs round 17.000€ because imported unnoficially