Test drive VAZ 2109 1987-2005 hatchback

An-2

Not a corn, but it looks like a plane ... This is a new invention of designer Alexander Antonov, a Miller pilot combat vehicle this season. An-2, in short. I don’t want to call this car VAZ-21099 ...

How original was last year's champion shell VAZ-2108. Happy! Of course, there were problems with him, but the fact remains - this machine had no equal in the good half of all races. So why did the team prefer a short hatchback sedan this season?

The first answer is aerodynamics. Of course, on short ring tracks, it is not as important as, for example, in Formula-1 races, but any improvement in the corresponding indicators of the model 2108 completely hopeless from this point of view can only be welcomed.

Full -scale tests in an aerodynamic pipe require too much costs - so even at the stage of developing the concept of a new machine body of the 99th model of blowing in ... a computer. And they found out that a long body allows you to better organize the flow process and create sufficient clamping power behind the rear axle of the car. Anti -wing on the trunk is not a shelf for a mobile phone. Of course, the VAZ -21099 body is also not a gift, and the coefficient of the Miller machine does not fall below three tenths, but, unlike bicom -hobby eights, there is where to place developed rear spoilers, which helps to organize the air flow correctly. So believes Alexander Zakharov, who convinced the team to bet on the sedan. He also developed an exterior.

The second answer is the weight balance. The car of the season, 98 has the perfect weight and 50/50 axes, while in the last year’s model 70% of the mass entered the front.

In addition, the appearance of a new racing machine received a considerable public outcry, which is certainly useful for the team. The first two Races of the Aspas Cup in Paddok and the press center were only talking about the Black Shark. The car is not just new, but fundamentally new. Naturally, it does not do without childhood diseases. But the refinement process does not stop. And the fact that Vasiliev in the second race of the season was clearly faster than the rest (until the 13th circle on which the box ended) confirms the high and not yet completely disclosed potential of the car.

The height of the car is only 1250 mm - 130 mm below the factory sedan and 40 mm below the car last season. Under the hood - a 16 -valve engine with distributed injection: almost 200 forces removed from 1590 cubes.

In the layout, the salon is seriously different from last year’s eight. The steering column and the pedal unit are placed 200 mm deep into the cabin. Accordingly, the chair is shifted back. In this regard, the weighting of the car and the ergonomics of the pilot's place improved.

Three light short pedals are floor. Clutch and gas with a cable drive, the brake with hydraulic.

The steering wheel is fast -open, on a slotted clutch with a latch. On the back of the steering wheel, the button for turning on the microphone of radio communications with boxes. The walkie -talkie is constantly included in the reception: during the race, the pilot reports all the necessary information - the time of the circle, the number of remaining circles, the state of the track ...

The instrument panel is close to the steering wheel for the ease of reading information. Large orange lamp - an oil pressure indicator in the engine. If it does not burn, everything is in order. If it starts to blink, the engine resource is at the limit: reduce the momentum, spare the motor. It burns constantly - everything, the motor is planted.

Below is a line of five small bulbs. The extreme left (green) lights up and goes out at the time of starting the engine. The next four (red) is a tachometer. They turn on sequentially and correspond to 6500, 7000, 7500 and 9500 rpm. (maximum turns on which the limiter works). In the operating mode, the transmission is switched to the third light bulb.

The coolant temperature indicator is unusually arranged. The device is swearing, but this is not a voltmeter, but a manometer marked under a thermometer. From the cylinder block, a tube filled with gas goes to it. When the engine is heated, the pressure in the tube increases, and the readings of the device change accordingly. Compared to a conventional circuit (with a thermal attewer), the tube is more reliable and has a smaller measurement error. (What is to boil the motor, trusting the device - no need to tell.)

To the left and to the right of the steering column - the mass switch (large red key) and the control indicator of the oil pressure, which duplicates the above orange indicator lamp.

Where the stove is usually placed - a black box. This is a ignition control microprocessor with a characteristic of an urgent angle sewn into it, selected for a particular engine.

Closer to the racer - the second black box, this is the electronic control unit of Knoblock fuel injection. Information about the work of the motor comes there from three sensors - the temperature of the absorbed air, the temperature of the coolant and the angle of opening of the throttle. There is a button and four streams on the box. The button turns on the leak - to enrich the fuel mixture when starting the engine. Handles along the edges - for adjusting the composition of the mixture at idle and performance of the fuel supply accelerator with a sharp pressing for gas. These settings are made to the start. Handles in the middle - to adjust medium (up to 5 thousand) and maximum revolutions. The pilot often changes these settings during the race, which is called - according to the situation. How it is possible to simultaneously drive a car, work with a box and manage to twist the handles - one pilot and is known.

On the injection control unit there is also an indicator of the quality composition of the mixture - lambda tester. These are again multi -colored bulbs. There are two of them. Lambda -zond measures the oxygen content in the exhaust manifold - according to this parameter, the device determines the composition of the fuel mixture. An experienced pilot, however, is able to determine it independently - both by ear and elasticity of the gas pedal, but sometimes it is more convenient to do it visually - just look at the light bulbs: if the left is on - the mixture is poor, if the right is rich.

In one race in the engine, an average of 25 liters of gasoline burns. The fuel tank accommodates 30 liters, the flood neck is located ... on the roof.

Move on. Under the box of Knoblock is another remote control. On it from left to right: the ignition tolerance tooth (under the safety lid), the red button of the starter, the short toggle switch of the overall lights and the long - the wiper; Below (in the same order) - three fuses: the fuel pump, ignition and the spare, as well as the toothprokes of the turning indicators (the turn signals are still needed - when the service is off of the route or to the side of the road).

To the right of the pilot chair - two regulators: the distribution of brake efforts in the front and rear circuit and the pressure of the brake fluid in the rear.

Pressure is selected depending on the condition of the track. On the dry coating, when the warmed slugs allow you to resort to the controlled drift of the rear axle, the pressure in the rear circuit is increased. And to slow down on wet asphalt without drift, they lower. All this is done on the go, sometimes several times per circle.

Where the front passenger’s legs are usually located, fire extinguishing system is placed - a cylinder of 5 liters of foam under the pressure of inert gas. When the system is triggered, the foam fills about half the volume of the cabin. A similar system (2.5 l) is hidden under the hood. Both are driven at the same time - a cable on which there are two checks. One of them is inside, on the instrument panel, the second - on the outside, sticks out behind the hood near the windshield - in case the racer is not able to pull the internal one. In addition, there is a reserve removable fire extinguisher.

Momo carbon fiber armchair with six -point seat belts is installed rigidly. Landing is below the threshold level. Thus, the center of gravity is maximally lowered. The chair is cramped, with superdeveloped side support of the hips, torso and head in a helmet. In the area of \u200b\u200bthe pedal unit there is additional leg support. It is convenient to sit - the workplace is adjusted individually, under a specific pilot.

Straight hands on the steering wheel are from films. In the life of the hand, they lie on a rim above the knitting needles, the elbows are bent at right angles. Box lever - at the right knee of the pilot. When switching, the right hand rests and slides along the leg. The lever moves are very short. The movements of the hand are extremely concise.

Review. On the windshield from above is a wide advertising sticker, while its transparent part resembles a narrow embrasure, which helps the pilot to concentrate on the highway. The viewing sector is approximately 120 degrees. All this is enough to control the situation. Small aerodynamic mirrors allow only to notice the presence of the tail in the immediate vicinity of the rear spoiler. More from them is not required here.

This is how the car turned out. We hope that she will become a champion.

1. Mass switch.



2. Control lains of turning on the turning indicators.


3. Emergency lamp-indicator of oil pressure.


4. Tachometer.


5. The indicator of the temperature of the coolant.


6. Control pointer of oil pressure.


7. The microphone button.


8. Fire fighting system.


9. Hire of activation of the fire extinguishing system.


10. The accelerator of the fuel supply.


11. Lambda tester.


12. The tolerance to the ignition is turned on.


13. Starter button.


14. Tumbbler of inclusion of overall lights.


15. Coambler of turning on the wiper.


16. Fuel fuel fuel.


17. Fruster of the ignition system.


18. Spare fuse.


19. Tumbling inclusion of rotation indicators.


20. The button of enrichment of the mixture at the time of starting the engine.


21. The fuel supply adjustment handle at idle.


22. The fuel supply adjustment handle is up to 5000 rpm.


23. The fuel supply adjustment handle in peak mode.
 
 

 

Source: Motor magazine [No. 7/1998]