In 1990, an event occurred at the VAZ plant in Togliatti. The classic “chisel” VAZ 2109, the popularly beloved “nine” received a new body and, as usual, a few more bells and whistles of the salon assortment. However, minor improvements to the dashboard and various switches did not impress the consumer. On VAZ 21099 reviews rained down, as if from a cornucopia. All attention was focused on the rear of the car. From the fast-moving hatchback, the nine turned into a clumsy sedan. All the visual dynamics of the hull was broken, the line from the roof to the rear bumper failed, the profile of the new trunk was unintelligible and, in general, not aesthetically pleasing.
I retell the opinion of most automotive experts who have had the opportunity to evaluate the new car and express their impressions. The new nine resembled the Romanian Dacia, a primitive car with a flawed design. Of course, the trunk instead of just the luggage compartment in the car is preferable, there is no dust and sound insulation is good, but still the appearance of the VAZ 21099, reviews of which continued to come in, caused complaints. However, over time, people got used to and gradually began to buy a car.
Previously, the nine had a wonderful road holding and easily, playfully, went through any turns. The new car seriously perplexed drivers, it began to tumble in the corners. Slightly, without emergency risk, but considerable discomfort in management appeared. The reason was the elongated back, when switching from a hatchback to a sedan, it was necessary to increase the rear overhang of the car by 20 centimeters. This is quite a lot when you consider that the stability of the car is primarily affected by the trunk. An empty luggage compartment makes the car scour, and a loaded luggage lifts her nose. But in any case, because of the trunk, the sedan does not have hatchback stability.
The rest of the VAZ 21099, the population began to immediately take into account, it was a pretty decent car. A 1.5-liter transverse gasoline engine, front-wheel drive, good wheelbase and an efficient dual-circuit brake system put the car on a par with the best models of the early nineties. And to the credit of the engineering corps of AvtoVAZ, the new nine in a short time received several modifications, significant enough, which strengthened its reputation. There was a period when the VAZ 21099, the reviews gathered completely negative, this served as an incentive for a number of modifications that were successfully carried out.
Modification of the VAZ 21099-00: a non-
contact ignition engine
, a carburetor controlled from the passenger compartment, a dashboard in set 083 and door trim of an improved quality. On this machine, an on-board monitoring system was worked out. The next modification of the VAZ 21099-02 added head restraints on the back of the rear seat. VAZ 21099, the technical characteristics of which were generally good, needed additional comfort in the cabin. And the VAZ 21099-04 modification brought the car many improvements: power windows, door locks, standard
fog lights, rear head restraints, natural padding for all seats and backs, velor seat upholstery, an updated instrument panel 2115 and, finally, a complete on-board control system.
The VAZ 21099-22 car received an injection engine with a microprocessor, and all of the above options that VAZ 21099-04 already had. And the last modification of the VAZ 21099-91 - with the installation of a rotary piston engine of the VAZ 415 brand , a small displacement, but with it the car developed a speed of 190 km / h. At present, the characteristic of VAZ 21099 is stably positive, the car is in demand.