Lada Kalina or Lada Kalina Cross: luxury versus cross

100–1

Cross has black trim on the trunk door, arches, sills, and bumpers.
Wide door moldings. Black door handles, mirror caps and grille. Silver trim at the bottom of the front and rear bumpers. Light alloy wheels with 195/55R15 tires. Suspension with increased ground clearance: modified front and rear shock absorbers. Gearbox with main pair 3.9 instead of 3.7. Cross has black trim on the trunk door, arches, sills, and bumpers. Wide door moldings. Black door handles, mirror caps and grille. Silver trim at the bottom of the front and rear bumpers. Light alloy wheels with 195/55R15 tires. Suspension with increased ground clearance: modified front and rear shock absorbers. Gearbox with main pair 3.9 instead of 3.7.

The Cross has black trim on the trunk door, arches, sills, and bumpers. Wide door moldings. Black door handles, mirror caps and grille. Silver trim at the bottom of the front and rear bumpers. Light alloy wheels with 195/55R15 tires. Suspension with increased ground clearance: modified front and rear shock absorbers. Gearbox with main pair 3.9 instead of 3.7.

Clearance parameters

The appearance of the VAZ-21946 (factory index Kalina Cross) makes it clear that this station wagon was created not only for asphalt.

183 mm.

According to the technical specifications declared by the manufacturer, the Lada Kalina Cross has a ground clearance of 183 mm . But, you need to understand that when the car is fully loaded ( passengers + loaded trunk ), the ground clearance is significantly reduced. This is important to consider when planning an off-road trip to the countryside.

If necessary, the ground clearance of any car can be increased, but then it will begin to lose in its other technical indicators, for example, in maneuvering and speed .

Photo

Clearance is everything! Measured on tires 195/55R15.

SNOW

Country paths and virgin snow, as expected, put “Cross” in the lead. It is taller and better protected from below. In these conditions, a manual gearbox, a 3.9 main pair and an engine with acceptable traction at low speeds are what you need. You can move through loose snow with even throttle, almost under pressure. Where there is more snow, you accelerate a little and scratch further with a slight slip - the Cross confidently crawls forward.

Stuck? It’s not difficult to jump back using the old-fashioned method of swinging. Small twigs, branches, and hard crust are not a problem: the black plastic body kit protects the sills and bumpers well from scratches. The tight suspension instills confidence that the car will not nosedive or hit an obstacle at the most inopportune moment.

Technical data

It's time to mention the technical characteristics of the Lada Kalina Cross. The car was developed on the basis of a station wagon modification in the “Norma” configuration, under the hood of which an 8-valve 87-horsepower 1.6-liter engine is installed, paired with a 5-speed manual transmission. True, the engineers decided to improve the traction of the new product by installing a different gearbox ratio - 3.9 (for the base station wagon - 3.7).

The fresh Lada Kalina Cross of the 2014 model year will also be sold with a 16-valve valve in a few months. At the moment, representatives of AvtoVAZ are in no hurry to talk about which engine they are talking about. It can be assumed that the unit that is currently offered for the base Kalina model will be used. If this is true, then the crossover will receive a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder engine developing 106 horsepower. It will be combined exclusively with “mechanics”.

NOT EXPENSIVE AT ALL

Will you have to overpay a lot for Cross?

At the end of January, when we conducted this test, the station wagon closest to it in terms of equipment with a manual transmission and the same engine cost 427,800 rubles. And for the Cross, dealers asked 451,000 rubles. The difference is about 23 thousand. Great offer! After all, “Cross” means large light alloy wheels, an off-road body kit, increased ground clearance, a modified suspension, a short main gear in the transmission and a more pleasant interior. It is promised that the Cross will soon appear with a 16-valve engine, more powerful, and another 10 thousand more expensive. It's also tempting.

Against this background, the price of the test "Kalina" station wagon seems inadequate - 523,800 rubles. But it’s “automatic”! And the “Lux” package comes with a stabilization system. Look through the price lists: foreign cars of this class with automatic transmission, climate control and other benefits are significantly more expensive.

Options and prices

According to official data received at the Moscow Motor Show, the price of a Lada Kalina Cross with a basic 8-valve engine will start at 409 thousand rubles. Even after the appearance of a more powerful power unit, the bar should not exceed 450 thousand rubles.

The basic version, which will be available for purchase in September, will only be offered in the “Norma” version. This package includes electric front windows, electric power steering, two front airbags, ABS, BAS, heated front seats, heated exterior mirrors, a sound system with Bluetooth and USB, air conditioning, roof rails for installing an additional luggage compartment and 15-inch alloys. wheel disks.

The company plans to produce 15 thousand copies of the new Lada Kalina Cross during 2015. Let us remind you that this year the “hot” modification of the Lada Kalina 2 Sport also debuted.

Below are the main technical characteristics of the Lada Kalina Cross station wagon / Lada Kalina Cross 2017-2018 for the Russian market.

The table shows the main parameters: overall dimensions, fuel consumption (gasoline), ground clearance (clearance), mass (weight), trunk and tank volume, engines, gearboxes, drive type, dynamic characteristics, etc.

Having declassified the main part of the information about their new product - Lada Kalina Cross in June 2014, the authors of the model officially presented the car at the international auto forum, which ended in early September 2014 in Moscow. Almost immediately after this, Kalina Cross began to arrive in the showrooms of official dealers. It is noteworthy that the company of the new model of the Lada brand was a modification of another station wagon from Tolyatti - Lada Largus Cross, as well as the classic Niva, which had undergone another modernization, which received the respectable name Lada 4x4 Urban.

Manufacturers of Lada Kalina Cross classify their new product as a crossover. However, calling a car even a pseudo-crossover is a very big stretch. In fact, Kalina Cross is a standard Lada Kalina station wagon with increased ground clearance and some attributes of off-road car design.

As already noted, the main distinguishing feature of Kalina with the “Cross” prefix was the increased ground clearance. The distance from the bottom of the Kalina Cross body to the road surface is an impressive 208 mm for an empty car with a driver at the wheel. The ground clearance of a fully loaded vehicle is 188 mm. According to this indicator, the pseudo-crossover is 23 mm higher than the standard station wagon. Such a significant difference was achieved thanks to the use of special gas-filled shock absorbers, a modified location of the spring supports, as well as some reconfiguration of the main suspension elements. The updated chassis made it possible to obtain an increase in height of 16 mm, another 7 mm of additional distance from the ground to the bottom of the car was obtained by installing light alloy wheels of 15 diameter, “shod” in 195/55 R15 tires. Wider and larger tires increased the track of both pairs of wheels by almost 5 mm, forcing the designers to reduce the steering rack travel by 3.6 mm. In connection with this technical solution, the car's turning radius increased to 5.5 meters versus 5.2 meters for the standard Kalina station wagon.

099–1

The difference in ground clearance is in favor of the Cross, of course.
A simple station wagon, putting an obstacle between the wheels, would touch it with the gearbox housing. The difference in ground clearance is in favor of the Cross, of course. A simple station wagon, putting an obstacle between the wheels, would touch it with the gearbox housing.

And now - away with the economy! Three days behind the wheel of the new Kalina - and even the author, who is “well over forty”, prefers the youth model. That is, “Cross”. All-terrain capability, non-standard appearance, smart suspension. Drive, finally!

It’s just that the “Kalina” station wagon seemed somewhat pensioner-like, despite the 16-valve engine. And something tells us: buyers will look for peace of mind, coziness and comfort in cars from other automakers.

The editors thank MPO Tekhinkom and AutoHERMES - West for the cars provided.

Lada Kalina or Lada Kalina Cross: luxury versus cross

Ground clearance Lada Kalina Cross

First of all, potential buyers of such cars are interested in ground clearance. So, the new Kalina Cross has a ground clearance of 208 millimeters. When fully loaded, it shrinks to 188 mm, which is 23 mm more than the base model. The specialists were able to achieve such significant results by using exclusive gas-filled shock absorbers, adjusting the suspension settings, as well as a different arrangement of spring supports.

Installing a different chassis made it possible to increase the ground clearance of the Lada Kalina by 16 mm, and the remaining millimeters were obtained by using 15-inch wheel rims. The use of larger tires meant that the front and rear tracks grew by 4 mm. As a result, it was decided to reduce the steering rack travel, which is why the turning radius of the crossover reached 5.5 m, which is 0.3 meters more than the original model.

On the side panels of the body there are large moldings with the version designation. On the contours of the wheel arches and sills of the new Kalina Cross you can see massive black plastic linings. The bumpers now have beautiful metallic elements. Oversized roof rails were installed on top. The only thing missing is all-wheel drive...

Overall dimensions of the Lada Kalina Cross 2014 model year:

• length – 4084 mm;
• width – 1700 mm;
• height (including roof rails) – 1562 mm;
• wheelbase – 2476 mm.

As mentioned above, the ground clearance of the Kalina Cross pseudo-crossover is 208 millimeters.

Technical characteristics of Lada Kalina Cross