The new Russian SUV was equipped with a system that allows the car to provide 200 mm more ground clearance. They decided to be the first to "pump" LADA XRAY in the cultural capital of Russia.
Craftsmen from St. Petersburg decided to modify the new Russian compact crossover. The manufacturer of air suspension for various brands and models of Aride cars and trucks is based there. With the system implemented in LADA XRAY, its ground clearance has increased to a record 400 mm. With such ground clearance, this car is ready to compete for the title of the highest urban crossover. In addition, the vehicle has increased its carrying capacity. Now the driver can take on board the maximum amount of cargo without fear of hitting the mud flaps on the asphalt. Together with the new functions that were recently introduced by AVTOVAZ, the air suspension will make it possible to make a front-wheel drive SUV out of an urban crossover.
The very "recipe" for increasing the clearance has long been known to drivers of buses, trucks and fans of "understated" cars. The first two categories set this system up for a practical purpose and use it to improve load capacity. Second, they use air suspension mainly at demonstrations, where an understated car is of particular value. So the practical application of the latter is a rare case in operation. By design, experts distinguish between two types of suspension. The first is an auxiliary one, where the air element is installed in addition to the main element such as a spring or spring. It performs an auxiliary function and only takes on a portion of the vehicle's weight. The second is the main air suspension, when the stops support the full weight of the car. With this design, the weight of the entire vehicle is supported by air springs. The compact crossover LADA XRAY is equipped with the latest type and allows not only to raise, but also to lower the car as much as possible.
https://www.instagram.com/airride_spb/
Buying a set of air suspension for a Russian crossover will not be taken seriously by most. Nevertheless, in the presence of good geometric cross-country ability and electronic assistants, the modified car is able to surprise with its capabilities. The main thing is the competent use of the full potential of this device. It's that simple! Pneumatic stops will help to overcome various obstacles precisely because of the ability to change the vehicle's ride height at the right time. For example, if a driver wants to drive through deep snow and increases the ground clearance to a maximum of 400 mm, then when he gets stuck, his own system will save him. The driver will just need to “bleed” the air from the “pillows” and the snow will be washed under the weight of the car. By increasing the ground clearance to the previous height, the car will be able to pick up the obstacle on the move again without any problems. Diagonal hanging for such a car is also not a problem - the sagging strut is pumped up so that the wheel touches the ground, and the car is ready to leave even without traction control.
https://www.instagram.com/airride_spb/
The cost of the kit for LADA XRAY is about 100,000 rubles. Such a kit is far from the most affordable device for owners of a compact crossover, but its presence can increase the capabilities of the car by an order of magnitude.
Perhaps one of the main parameters of a car for a Russian buyer, especially one who lives outside the Moscow Ring Road, was and remains the car's ground clearance. Even city sedans, adapted by the manufacturer for Russian roads, can often demonstrate a ground clearance of 170-180 mm.
Renault Logan and its co-platforms - Sandero, Sandero Stepway - remained the leader among budget cars in the "ground clearance" category for a long time. Having shared the conveyor with them and part of the technical solutions, XRay was also positioned from the very beginning of development as the owner of a decent ground clearance.
What is the ground clearance of the Togliatti crossover?
"Rey" received a suspension typical for budget crossovers: "MacPherson strut" on the front axle, at the rear - an elastic beam. This suspension is not only simple, but also allows the manufacturer to easily change the vehicle's ground clearance, producing a "bad road package" in the form of extended springs and shock absorbers.
The recipe for creating a tall and affordable one-wheel drive car has already been tested on the Sandero Stepway, and was repeated on the Lada using the same B0 platform: the X-Ray's ground clearance was the same 195 mm as for the crossover without rear-wheel drive more than enough - he will be able to drive off the asphalt successfully, and a greater ground clearance is needed only to conquer serious off-road conditions.
However, remembering the successful creation of the all-wheel drive Duster on this platform, one can think about whether Lada is planning something similar? Indeed, the all-wheel drive XRay based on the Duster units has been announced several times - either as Lada X-Ray Cross or Lada XRay X. Alas, the timing of the release of new items is shifting all the time.
Considering the unification of many units of the XRay family with Renault cars, we should expect that the X-Ray Cross clearance will be similar or close to this figure for Duster, that is, 205-210 mm.
Car versus competitors
What can comparable models of other brands oppose to a car with a Lada nameplate? With the closest relatives carrying a rhombus on the hood, it is already clear - Logan and Sandero are 10 mm lower, Duster is as much higher, and Stepway is a twin brother. What is the ground clearance of other brands of cars?
If we take cars of a similar class, then the market can offer the following options:
- Nissan Terrano - in its current incarnation it is the same Duster with its 210 mm.
- Lifan X60 is only 179 mm, and to this we must add a widespread prejudice about Chinese "quality".
- The Lifan X50 with its 200 mm figure as a crossover is significantly better than the X60, but the lack of even engine and gearbox protection in the basic configuration seriously limits the car's capabilities out of the box.
- Although Lada Kalina Cross is not a direct competitor for XRay, 200 mm to the crankcase protection and a lower price can still persuade the buyer in their favor.
- The Suzuki Vitara is not only more expensive, but also 10mm lower than the XRay.
- Suzuki SX4 is lower than the "Rey" in any version: if the all-wheel drive car has a difference of only 5 mm, then the front-wheel drive loses all 20 mm to XRay.
- Geely MK Cross pretends to be an "SUV", but the figure of 157 mm for a crossover looks almost indecent.
It is worth recalling ordinary city sedans and hatchbacks, although they will clearly lose to the Togliatti crossover:
- The market's bestseller, KiaRio, offers the wearer a distance from the lowest point to the ground of just 160 mm, and this figure is measured without load. It is no wonder that in the hinterland "Rio" noticeably loses to "Logan", "Lada X-Rey" in comparison with him is also almost an SUV.
- Hyundai Solaris has similar cross-country parameters. It is obvious that the Korean couple cannot oppose anything to the Togliatti novelty when driving off the asphalt, "Rey" significantly wins.
Not a single figure
The cross-country ability of a car is made up of many parameters, and it cannot be described only by numbers of body geometry. How does the novelty from Togliatti really behave outside city roads?
When adapting the B0 platform to the new model, the engineers changed the steering settings. As a result, it became noticeably sharper than on the Stepway, but the price paid for this is the clear transfer of all the irregularities to the steering wheel. Obviously, to match a sufficiently powerful motor, the engineers relied more on active city driving.
However, the short overhangs allow you to overcome obstacles that most city cars cannot, and the powerful steel protection adds confidence to the owner.
Unfortunately, the impossibility of turning off the stabilization system on soggy ground goes sideways for the X-Ray: the slightest slipping of the wheels leads to a forced “choking” of the engine, the driver has to go vnatyag, extremely precisely dosing the gas.
Overall dimensions dimensions of Lada X Rey ceased to be a secret. The manufacturer himself has unveiled the official dimensions of the Lada XRay. As expected, the X-Ray turned out to be close in width, height, and wheelbase to Renault Sandero Stepway, but the length of the domestic crossover is slightly longer. Actually, all this is not surprising, because the cars have a common platform and will be assembled on one conveyor. Representatives of Avtovaz claim that they copied only the lower part of the Sandero, the power structure of the body, the subframe, and the suspension. But all the external body panels of the Lada XRay are their own, for greater rigidity they even had to install original amplifiers.
XRay body length is 4164 mm, width 1754 (according to mirrors 1983 mm), height 1570 mm. The wheelbase that determines the space in the cabin is 2592 mm. Short overhangs equal to 830 mm at the front and 742 mm at the rear allow us to speak of a good geometric crossover crossover. And if you consider that the ground clearance of Lada X Rey is 195 mm, then we can say about good cross-country ability even in the front-wheel drive version.
Lada XRay trunk so far no one has seen, but the data on the volume of the luggage compartment is already there. According to official data, the trunk of the crossover holds 376 liters, and if the rear seats are folded, this figure rises to 1382 liters. You say very modest figures, but the car is not big either. Further more detailed mass-dimensional characteristics of X Ray.
Dimensions Lada XRay
- Length - 4164 mm
- Width - 1764 mm
- Height - 1570 mm
- Front overhang - 830 mm
- Rear overhang - 742 mm
- Base, distance between front and rear axle - 2592 mm
- The track of the front and rear wheels is 1482/1513 mm, respectively
- Trunk volume - 376 liters
- Trunk volume with rear seats folded - 1382 liters
- Curb weight - 1130 kg
- Gross weight - 1575 kg
- Fuel tank volume - 50 liters
- Ground clearance (clearance) Lada X Rey - 195 mm
Actually, if this crossover ever gets all-wheel drive, and the manufacturer promises that it will be
However, a clearance of 195 (or 190) millimeters is quite enough for Russian roads, even somewhere in the outback. The hatchback confidently overcomes obstacles and bumps on rough terrain, and the driver does not need to listen, holding his breath, if the car has sat on the bottom. Still, do not forget that X Ray is not a full-fledged SUV or even a crossover. Manufacturers have repeatedly explained - this is just a tall hatchback. Therefore, the vehicle's clearance can be called sufficient.
In the process of adapting the platform for the X-Ray production, the designers decided to change the steering settings. In practice, it turned out that it added more than just positive aspects. Yes, the X-Ray's steering is slightly sharper than the Renault Sandero Stepway. However, this had to pay off with the comfort of the driver. The fact is that due to the changed settings, all the irregularities are very clearly transmitted to the steering wheel.
Apparently, the designers decided that their brainchild would be used mainly for active driving on city asphalt. This, by the way, is facilitated by a fairly powerful 122-horsepower 1.8-liter engine. Sharp handling combined with good dynamics is a really great option for driving around town. Well, for the conquest of serious off-road there are many other cars.
As soon as the manufacturer ceased to keep the dimensions of the Lada X Rey a secret, motorists had an excellent opportunity to evaluate the new car in many ways.
The similarity of Lada X Rey with Sandero.
The clearance of the Lada XRAY impressed the Russian consumer, as the manufacturer warned, the wheelbase is as close as possible to the Sandero Stepway, both width and height, but the length turned out to be several centimeters larger.
There is nothing to be surprised at, because both machines were created on the same platform, they will also come off the same conveyor. AvtoVAZ explained that it was decided to take a subframe, body structure and suspension from Sandero. The elements of the external design are original, and to increase the rigidity of the structure, it was decided to install amplifiers.
Wheelbase and its capabilities.
The wheelbase largely determines the amount of space inside the cabin. Its size is 2592 mm. The overhangs were made short both front and rear, so at first glance it can be argued that the car has excellent cross-country ability. In terms of wheelbase dimensions, Lada X Rey took the honorable second place, the first place was taken by ASX.
The ground clearance (ground clearance) of the Lada X Ray is 195 millimeters, which means that even front-wheel drive models will not have problems with cross-country ability.
The all-wheel drive model will be larger than the front-wheel drive model. The clearance of the Lada X-RAY will not exceed 170 millimeters, if this is a modification created for the city. For SUVs, this figure will increase by an average of 10-15 millimeters.
