Lada Niva - What are they like?

[cros]

Experiences please.

[Squire_Dawson]

Just do it.

[nacho man]

When I was a rascal at primary school the headmaster drove me home in a riva I think I was more worried about people seeing me in it than the hurricane my mum was gonna bring down on me.

 

However times have changed and I am a certified saint and I would like to try some eastern block goodness.

[red5]

Slow, noisy, somewhat agricultural.

Old-school engineering  - some (a lot) robbed, some home grown.

Odd USSR foibles/strokes of genius.

Very capable off-road.

 

I'd have another.

 

And i'd align the transfer box properly so it occasionally tries this 'doesn't shake like a bastard' I keep hearing about.

 

[Felly Magic]

Gearboxes seem to be a weakness on them, as well as rust, BUT they are still in production today, and bits are available via a firm in the Netherlands, just some right hook bits can be tricky to find. Later models have a 1.7 injection lump, and there are a few left hookers imported here that have power steering. I say go for it

[dave21478]

Nivas are for WINNERS.

 

I had this beige one and loved it. I couldnt keep it through for a couple of reasons - mainly it would only legally tow 750kgs and I have a 2 ton trailer for work, and it was too uneconomical for me to financially justify keeping it as another car for pleasure at that time in my life.

 

 

Robust, tough and basic, it never let me down. Nothing worked on it....heater controls were all jammed on max heat, both window winders were broken, quarterlights flapped open randomly, none of the dash lit up......all minor stuff that never stopping it from actually going.

On the plus side, hi and lo box, full time 4x4 with centre lockable diff, so same basic layout as a Disco/Defender. Coupled with very short overhangs, light weight and ok ground clearance, it was a VERY capable machine offroad. It lacked the grunt to yank a stuck car out of a muddy ditch, but would certainly go anywhere the bigger cars could go and often to places they couldnt.

On my test-track round a steep field on the farm, this Niva ranks second overall in off-road capabilites.

On the road it was pretty civilised. Much, much better ride and handling than an SJ or Sportrak or anything like that - actually quite car-like. Mine had Carlos Fandango wheels as standard so I wonder if the wider track helped the handling? Relatively cramped inside though due to super-wide centre console with many gearlevers poking out of it.

 

Mine was an early one so a 1.6 pez. The carb was dogshit and needed fiddled with every week. I hear there is a webber variant that is easy to fit for better reliability.

It came with an awesome faux-leather tool roll with the chunkiest, crudest cast spanners you have ever seen, stamped "CCCP".  Those tools were pretty much everything needed to basically rebuild the entire car.

 

Would I have another? yeah - if I needed a small 4x4 a Niva would be my first choice. Watch for rust though - they can rot badly.

 

 

[MrDuke]

Great for trolling the OLLI brigade.

 

On an unhelpful note, many moons ago there used to be an outfit in N London called Scorpion Racing that would sell you any tuning part for Nivas that you could want. A friend at college had one with a huge Weber, doctored cam, and stainless exhaust, which used to go like the proverbial off a shovel.

[dollywobbler]

Bloody awesome things.

 

Some Shitefest 2013 Winning action.

 

Mind you, we also discovered that weekend that Fronteras are good fun too.

 

Gosh that was a bloody good event.

[Bucketeer]

I'm surprised/disappointed it took eight posts to get a picture of Olga.

 

Nivas are everywhere here in Bulgaria, most of the Police and local authority vehicles are Nivas and they are utterly dependable.

I've had a couple in the past and loved them too. No downside I can see, as long as you don't value comfort.

[UltraWomble]

Apparently these ones are being sold here now

GR9 for Chelsea Tractor Yummy Mummy

[dave21478]

[AnthonyG]

Great for off-road and rural workhorse stuff. Bit crude and basic, but that is why it is so good at doing those things. They will rust badly given half a chance, albeit probably no worse than a Disco.

 

When they were more widely available they were a lot more popular in some other European countries than here, due to image being less important to buyers. A friend who lived in France in the 1990s said he saw many more over there then here, and it sounds like the Dutch were fans as well from what Felly said.

[John F]

Nivas are ace, especially Olga.

 

In terms of the driving experience, think 1970s Fiat and you're most of the way there. They're light, so manage OK on and off-road with their small pez engines. A diesel Niva would be ace and a half... Will? Time to upload pics of your new Niva / mutant beast?

[scruff]

I had a 1600 Cossack and it was brill!! Loved the toolkit and the smelly plastic interior. Very fast in low range from memory.

 

To drive it reminded me very much of a small version of the early early RR with no power steering. Just missing the V8 soundtrack.

[MrDuke]

I do hear that an XUD conversion is relatively straight-forward, for extra WIN.

[twitcherman]

In my competitive off-roading days, a mate of mine fitted a 2 litre twin-cam from a Supermirafiori into one of these, easy swap coz all Fiat really. He took it on a Comp Safari, third lap round, bang - no drive. Had to replace gearbox, transfer box and both diffs, as the extra power had blown everything at one go. Memorable quote was "I just kept chucking parts at it until it would go again!" All ex-scrappy, of course.

[Andrew353w]

For more information you ought to try the Lada forum (www.lada.co.uk) where you'll find loads of like-minded fools  enthusiasts. Lana Nivas are great! HUGE ability to go ANYWHERE, including a few places a Land Rover might not go! They're truly repairable with a hammer and a stick at the roadside and are the only car I've ever heard of that has a warning light telling you it's -40 degrees C outside....

 

Definite winner buy!

[UltraWomble]

Lada forum (www.lada.co.uk)

Om Nom Nom

 

[Vomiting dog.jpg]

[cros]

Good info. How hard is it to put the Pug 1.9 in?

[Asimo]

They are / were sold in some areas with the XUD engine. A lot of the Nivas I have seen in the Pyrenees are Diesel engined.

[Felly Magic]

The latest Nivas have such luxuries as electric windows and even aircon! It has become a Chelski Tractor

[steve_earwig]

I don't think they're sold with XUDs in them, maybe there's some deal worked out with the importer for cars with no engines. Although these days they're getting HDi's (which may or may not be a good thing.)

 

Load of them here (I was just behind one, it was crabbing). Small as a Mk 2 Escrote inside, reputation for being easy to spin or flip, great off road (loads of vids on yewtoob), awful on road, about the only 4x4 here not subject to 4x4 tax (where almost everything 4x4 sells at a premium, even Pandas). Ones here are mostly converted to LPG (so Z'd expect them to eat cylinder heads because whoever converts cars here to LPG has no idea what they're doing), LPG tanks sit below the rear door looking rather vulnerable to collisions. Most seem rather rusty but that's probably due to a hard life.

 

I'd have one, if I was allowed...