VAZ-2108 is the basic model of the family. A passenger car with a closed three-door body. Engine with a working volume of 1.3 liters. Gearbox 4- or 5-speed.
VAZ-21081 - differs from VAZ-2108 by the installation of an engine with a working volume of 1.1 liters and the use of only a 4-speed gearbox.
VAZ-21083 - differs from VAZ-2108 by the installation of an engine with a working volume of 1.5 liters and the use of only a 5-speed gearbox.
VAZ-2109 is a passenger car with a closed five-door body. Engine with a working volume of 1.3 liters. Gearbox.
4- or 5-speed. Differs from VAZ-2108 mainly in the body design, which has four side doors.
VAZ-21093 - differs from VAZ-2109 by the installation of an engine with a working volume of 1.5 liters and the use of only a 5-speed gearbox.
Front-wheel drive VAZ cars differ from their predecessors in both design, layout and appearance (figure 1). They have a wedge-shaped body with curved side windows and large angles of inclination of the windshield and rear windows. The outer surface of the plastic bumpers and headlights smoothly merges into the shaping surface of the body. All this gives it a better aerodynamic shape and reduces the drag coefficient. As a result, losses associated with air resistance are reduced.
The body is a two-volume, hatchback type. This is a type of closed body that occupies an intermediate position between a sedan (for example, VAZ-2101) and "universal" (VAZ-2102) and differs from the latter by a more inclined and shorter rear door, which does not reach the floor of the body. It combines the versatility of a cargo-passenger body with the rapid lines of sports cars. The luggage compartment is separated from the passenger compartment by a folding plastic shelf installed behind the rear seat. The body is easily transformed into a cargo-passenger version by folding the cushion and back of the rear seat forward. The rear door makes it easier to load and unload luggage.
The front "anatomical" seats with headrests significantly increase comfort. They, like the rear seat, are made of polyurethane foam with knitted material upholstery. The stepless adjustment mechanism allows smooth adjustment of the angle of their backrests. In addition, the front seats can be moved forward and backward, both to select their optimal position and to ensure comfortable seating for passengers in the rear seat (on VAZ-2108 and its modifications).
All cars are characterized by a transverse engine arrangement and torque transmission to the front wheels. This arrangement, compared to the rear-wheel drive, allows for a more complete use of the length of the car, a reduction in its weight, a more comfortable interior, and easier boarding for the driver and passengers. All this was possible due to the absence of a gearbox casing, which took up a significant amount of space in the footwell area on rear-wheel drive cars, and a reduction in the tunnel on the floor, which housed the cardan transmission to the rear wheels.
The front drive wheels provide high stability of the car against lateral skidding. The coincidence of the direction of action of the traction force on these wheels with the direction of their movement provides the car with good control, maneuverability and cross-country ability, especially on slippery and icy roads.
The cars are equipped with a new engine, specially designed for transverse placement, for which its length has been reduced as much as possible. Optimization of the combustion process due to the correct selection of valve timing, combustion chamber shape and gas channels has allowed the compression ratio in the engine to be increased to 9.9. In combination with a new carburetor and contactless ignition system, this has improved the engine's efficiency.
The transmission of cars is simple, compact and reliable. It is a unit consisting of a clutch and a gearbox with a main gear and differential. The compactness of this unit allowed the power unit to be located across the car and drive the front wheels directly from the gearbox. It is possible to install a five-speed gearbox, which allows the most rational use of engine power and reduces fuel consumption.
The cars use a front wheel suspension of the "swinging candle" type, also called the McPherson suspension after its inventor. The spring in such a suspension is located actually above the axis of the turning device and is loaded less than in double-wishbone suspensions. The suspension has only one lever - the lower one. Such a suspension has less weight, greater wheel travel and is more elastic. The rear suspension of two levers swinging in the longitudinal plane, connected to each other by a crossbar, which plays the role of a stabilizer, matches well with such a front suspension. The elastic element in it, as in the front suspension, is coil springs.
The transverse engine layout and McPherson suspension are well combined with rack-and-pinion steering. It does not require intermediate levers, is compact and simple in design.
The brake system has effective front disc brakes and rear drum brakes. The brake drive is with a vacuum booster, dual-circuit, with diagonal separation of circuits. If one of the circuits fails, the car maintains a straight-line direction of movement and loses no more than 50% of braking efficiency.
Much attention was paid to safety, both active and passive, when designing cars. Active safety is the sum of factors that help prevent accidents. In addition to the use of front-wheel drive, which in itself increases the safety of driving, there is a whole range of technical solutions. This includes a dual-circuit diagonal brake drive, a dual-circuit pressure regulator in the rear brake drive, an effective vacuum brake booster, a large glass area that provides the driver with good visibility. This also includes windshield and rear window wipers and washers, external and internal rear-view mirrors, glare-free instrument cluster glass, etc.
[The text is published on the portal: www.VazBook.ru]
Passive safety measures, i.e. preventing possible consequences of an accident, include the development of such a power scheme of the body that helps to preserve the living space of the passenger compartment during impacts. Other passive safety elements include energy-intensive bumpers made of fine-cell polyurethane, seat belts, soft lining of the instrument panel and body pillars, trauma-safe steering, seat headrests and much more.
In order to reduce the weight of cars, which significantly affects their dynamic characteristics and fuel consumption, plastics are widely used in the design of units. Bumpers, various casings, heater parts, interior and trunk trim are made of them. The weight of plastic parts reaches 80 kg. The radiator and many engine and gearbox parts are made of aluminum alloys, which also made it possible to reduce the weight of the engine and the car as a whole.
The labor intensity of technical maintenance of the cars has been reduced. This has been achieved, firstly, by using "eternal" grease in the wheel hub bearings, in the front wheel drive joints, in the steering system and in other units. Secondly, due to the use of wear-resistant materials and progressive design solutions, many units have been made maintenance-free or self-adjusting. Such units, for example, include self-adjusting wheel brake mechanisms, non-adjustable wheel hub bearings, "low-maintenance" battery, etc. As a result, it was possible to increase the inter-service mileage of the cars to 15 thousand km instead of 10 thousand km for previous cars.
Almost all units of the cars have been developed anew and have an original design. Therefore, the degree of unification of the cars of the new family with the cars of the family VAZ-2101—2107 is very insignificant. Only the oil filter (small-sized, type 2105), air filter element (with VAZ-2121), electric fan of the engine cooling system and a number of smaller units, such as some control instrument sensors, fuses, etc.
The cars are available in various versions (or configurations), to meet the needs of different categories of buyers. For example, some need a simpler and cheaper car, others need additional comfort, etc. There are three types of configurations: "standard", "norm" and "luxury". The simplest configuration is "standard". Then comes "norm", which additionally includes a headlight corrector, a rear window cleaner and washer, a five-speed gearbox. Basically, all cars are produced in the "norm" version. But some VAZ-2108 cars can be in the "standard" version, and VAZ-21093 - in the "luxury" version. The main features of this configuration include: a headlight cleaner and washer, an electronic instrument cluster with additional sensors, a trip computer and improved interior trim.
