Test drive VAZ 2112 2000-2008 hatchback

Automatic pleasure

For 30 years, fans of Togliatti cars have been waiting for a machine gun. They did not wait. It remains to guess why at AvtoVAZ they never dared to let their experimental developments into the series. It's convenient! Practical! How many motorists have changed their native technique, moving to foreign cars with automatic transmission - do not count. But it turns out that a machine gun can be placed almost at home.
 
Automatic gearbox is a child of a metropolis. Apparently, congestion was a serious stimulus for a long time, since the first automatic transmission appeared almost simultaneously seventy years ago in France and America. The domestic auto industry also made attempts to master the machine guns, but such products did not become mass. The preserved passivity of Russian factories creates a niche for dealerships, which, as an additional option, offer the installation of an automatic box.
 
Almost all domestic cars are adapted for the installation of automatic transmission. There are experimental samples, but there are no serial options. Therefore, not automakers, but technical centers are taken up to business. Today we will talk about the Lada 112 hatchback, which is equipped with an automatic box from Toyota Corolla. In fairness, we note that in our case, the transmission was taken used, with a mileage of 50 thousand km. By the way, a new transmission on our cars is very rare due to high cost.
 
It is difficult to distinguish a car from the automatic transmission from serial products. The restyled version is given only by the radiator of the box, looking through the air intakes of the front bumper. It is mounted in front of the standard engine radiator. In the salon of differences you can find more. Firstly, another lever with planetary switching modes (parking, back, neutral, drive) was applied. The pedal node has also been changed: the brake pedal has become wider, and the clutch pedal is either removed under the rug or dismantled. The rest of the dozen remained a dozen. But this statement applies only to external differences.
 
A car is touched without gas, as soon as the driver releases the brake. It accelerates without jerks, gaining speed gradually. Some motorists who installed the automatic transmission claim that the maximum speed of their cars increased, and fuel consumption decreased. But these words should be treated with healthy skepticism, since the desired is often issued for real. As a rule, automatic transmission reduces the maximum speed and acceleration dynamics, increasing gasoline consumption. In short, the machine began to control much more pleasant: no twig in traffic jams, the car stuck smoothly, and if necessary, it briskly accelerates.
 
When choosing a company that will take up the automation of your car, one important point should be taken into account. Only the official dealers should be addressed, since in this case the factory warranty will not be interrupted. In other cases, all the guarantees of the plant will be invalid, despite the most convincing promises of the servicemen.
 
The installed equipment is given a guarantee, which usually is two years or 50 thousand km. Most salons after the expiration of the guarantee offer further maintenance of both the box and the entire car. The experience of operating cars with automatic transmission is still small, so the services are trying to monitor their fate.
 
On average, the comfort for comfort in the domestic front -wheel drive car is $ 1,500. For this money, an automatic gearbox, starter and cooling radiator will be installed directly in the car.
 
Text: Maxim Egorov
 

Source: Magazine 5 wheel [07/2005]