Not much has been heard recently about Russian carmaker Lada, which stopped releasing new models following the country's invasion of Ukraine three years ago, so the news that the company has upgraded its popular Lada Niva SUV is a surprise.
The Niva is the longest-running off-road vehicle globally and has stayed largely unchanged since 1976. During that time, for instance, the Volkswagen Golf has undergone eight distinct transformations.
Lada was originally due to introduce a brand new Niva model, built on the Renault Group's CMF-B platform, but this launch has been postponed.
Lada claimed the Niva Sport was designed based on a rally vehicle used in the 2024 Silkway Rally, a type of Asian counterpart to the Paris-Dakar event, covering more than 5,000 kilometres through Russia and Mongolia.
The Niva Sport inherits a significantly more powerful engine from its rival vehicles.
The power output of 122 horsepower is quite impressive, especially when matched against the current Niva series engine, which puts out 83 horsepower. The performance boost is significant, up by nearly 50%, and this can be attributed to the new engine's ability to produce 151 Nm of torque. This is a conventional petrol engine that meets Russia's less stringent emissions regulations.
Given the Niva is handily small at 3.7 metres in length and a light 1,285 kilograms, the upgrade should make it a much more practical off-road vehicle.
The engine is placed lengthways and linked with a modified gearbox, in which the fifth gear has been strengthened for long-distance travel at high speeds. It's reported that the suspension and brakes have also been improved, although Lada isn't revealing exactly how.
The new Lada Niva Sport also says goodbye to old-style transfer case controls that have been in use for decades. The centre differential lock and off-road gear reduction are now controlled by a single gearstick.
Production of the car is due to start this year at Lada Sport LLC, which is a subsidiary of the vehicle manufacturer AVTOVAZ, with the first vehicles from the production line reserved for rigorous testing.
Lada, whose cars are hard to find in most countries outside of Russia, said details about the start dates for delivering production vehicles to the dealership network, along with prices and specification information, will be made available at a later time.
