RE: SOTW: Lada Niva Cossack
Discussion
300bhp/ton said:
thewheelman said:
Yeah, coming from Gloucestershire, where there are a s
tload of farms, i can tell you they were a laughing stock. So dream away all you like, all the country types drove Land Rovers or Land Cruisers if they wanted to get jobs done.
Well you see, that's funny as I grew up on a farm too. And guess what.... yep, that's right a Niva tload of farms, i can tell you they were a laughing stock. So dream away all you like, all the country types drove Land Rovers or Land Cruisers if they wanted to get jobs done.
thewheelman said:
Again, you're wrong. As i had the same tyres he had on his stbox Lada as i did on my Defender, & i had no problems what so ever. I was for ever pulling his stbox out of situations that my Defender just went through.
That proves little. All it says that it was either driver or something was broken.tbox Lada as i did on my Defender, & i had no problems what so ever. I was for ever pulling his stbox out of situations that my Defender just went through.The only time a Defender would have had a real advantage would maybe be ground clearance or a severer axle twister (although Defenders aren't good here either).
Did you try swapping vehicles at all? Maybe suddenly the LR would have started get stuck everywhere?
I'm not trying to diss your observations either, but step back and look at it from a mechanical point of view.
A LR splits power via a locked centre diff (Diff Lock) and sends equal power to the front and rear axles via the prop shafts. Each axle has an open diff and also sends power to each wheel.
Open diffs mean should you lift diagonally opposite wheels off the ground you'll be stuck. And in slippery conditions even with all 4 wheels on the ground it may not spin all of them at the same time. This is perfectly normal.
The Niva also has a transfer box with a Diff lock, so when locked it too sends equal power to both front and rear wheels. Each axle again has an open diff, so it does exactly, 100% the same thing as the Land Rover does.
I guess it's possible that your "mate" simply selected low range and either didn't engage diff lock or the mechanism was broken so that it wasn't engaging correctly. With an open centre diff, a 4x4 will quickly become a 1wd vehicle on surfaces like wet grass, mud or heavily rutted terrain.
The only other real difference is the Niva has IFS, so is likely to flex less than a Defender and be more prone to becoming axle twisted. However IFS would have had zero affect on ability on a flat grass field.
thewheelman said:
So you've been "doing it wrong" for quite some time then. Go have a look how many Lada Nivas are being used today, then go & count the Land Rovers & Land Cruisers in use. I think there are out & out winners, & it isn't the Niva.
That's kind of missing the point.The Lada due to it's brand reputation was never going to be a huge success in the UK, nor did they even have the infrastructure to sell them on mass either. Not like LR did or even Toyota.
But more logically it's time. Most of the Landy's in use today as working farm hacks tend to be fairly new ones, not 1985 examples.
As the Niva was withdrawn from the UK market many years ago, it isn't surprising you don't see many.
And at the end of the day, it was never going to replace something like a 90 when it couldn't tow similar amounts (one of the main reasons I suspect the 90 is still highly popular).
XJSsometimeSoon said:
I grew up on and around farms and saw no ladas, guess that goes to show car buying is variable.
There's no denying they were a lot rarer, but they weren't unheard of. A bit like the old Subaru pickups you used to see 15-20 years ago, all of which now seem to have vanished completely.300bhp/ton said:
There's no denying they were a lot rarer, but they weren't unheard of. A bit like the old Subaru pickups you used to see 15-20 years ago, all of which now seem to have vanished completely.
Around us it is all Defenders, with the odd Daihatsu Fortrak, G wagen and SJ40, all weirdly good farm hacks in their own wayIt's nostalgic, but other than for novelty value or to wrap it in cotton wool and hope it appreciates in value, I don't "get" why anyone would buy one of these when for the same amount of money you can get someting like a v6 SWB Trooper.
Okay, so the Trooper will drink like George Best (mine does about 21 mpg, tops) but it's great fun for hooning around in, makes a proper noise and is good offroad. It will tow 3300 kg and if pressed, will do 100mph on road (apparently).
Okay, so the Trooper will drink like George Best (mine does about 21 mpg, tops) but it's great fun for hooning around in, makes a proper noise and is good offroad. It will tow 3300 kg and if pressed, will do 100mph on road (apparently).
When I was back in Primary school, my best mates Dad bought one. One of the 'Cossack' models with the colourful green/blue squiggle decals down the side of it.
My fondest memory of it was on school summer fete day, when it was parked on a hill outside the school. Of its own accord, it decided to empty its fuel tank onto the road, and eight gallons of unleaded formed a torrent, all on a baking hot day. The fire brigade were called, the road was closed. All very amusing.
I think it all went wrong after three years his finance deal on it ended, and the final payment on it was about three times what it was worth.
My fondest memory of it was on school summer fete day, when it was parked on a hill outside the school. Of its own accord, it decided to empty its fuel tank onto the road, and eight gallons of unleaded formed a torrent, all on a baking hot day. The fire brigade were called, the road was closed. All very amusing.
I think it all went wrong after three years his finance deal on it ended, and the final payment on it was about three times what it was worth.
I've always wanted one of these for some reason! My grandad lives in the sticks and I've been looking for something cheap that would reliably get me there if he got snowed in and one of these would be a guilty pleasure.
I grew up in rural Worcestershire and have to say that not one of my farming mates has/had one of these. Weirdly I did see three in one of the the car parks at Aberystwyth Uni when I visited a mate about ten years back though, so someone must have bought them for country use.
I grew up in rural Worcestershire and have to say that not one of my farming mates has/had one of these. Weirdly I did see three in one of the the car parks at Aberystwyth Uni when I visited a mate about ten years back though, so someone must have bought them for country use.
EDLT said:
if it uses Fiat mechanicals could you put a twin cam engine in it?
Of courseski comrade! The Fiat twin cam will fit onto the Lada gearbox, but you need to be quite imaginative with the front diff mounting, exhaust manifold etc. You will also probably end up lunching the gearbox regularly as well. Hell, why not go for a full turbo 16V Fiat/Lancia conversion for a morning?
Then just put some ridiculous wheels and tyres on it:
My Grandmother had a Riva back in the 70's (she got it free with a house)she used to work in a hospital deep in the wilds of Northumberland and during the winter would often rescue stranded Doctors who had got their BMWs and Mercs stuck in the snow.
I suppose if they are built to be used in Siberia then whatever Blity can through up must be small beer. Good shed.
I suppose if they are built to be used in Siberia then whatever Blity can through up must be small beer. Good shed.
My dad used to sell Lada's through the 80's & his garage had a Niva as a recovery vehicle (for all the other Lada's that broke down no doubt). It was an 86 on a C plate, in brilliant white. He used the Niva through a cold winter when the car was new. I remember it having a brilliant heater and enjoyed travelling in it purely because it was something different.
I bet it's long gone now though.
I bet it's long gone now though.
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