Engine VAZ 21179: specifications, features and reviews

Engine VAZ-21179, the characteristics of which are already known and will be given in this article, has become an unusual innovation of AvtoVAZ. To replace the old "sixteen-valve" volume of 1.6 liters came the 1.8-liter engine with variable phases of gas distribution and many other innovations. In addition, the engine will be produced on the conveyor by selective assembly, which has never been used before. The power of the unit is an impressive 122 horsepower, and the exterior is very similar to modern VAZ engines. However, it is worth noting that the engine is absolutely new: the engineers of the domestic car factory engaged in the development.

«Garage tuning»

If any modern owner of the domestic car is told about the power that the new VAZ-21179 engine develops, he will probably grin, - they say, and the modern "sixteen-valve" can be "dispersed" to 122 forces by boring the block, pouring a new firmware and installing forged pistons . But it is worthwhile to know that this very "garage tuning" lags behind the factory developments. And all because to put on the conveyor the motor which will be serially installed in modern cars, besides having increased return and a resource, - process labor-consuming and expensive.

You can say as much as you want that the previous 1.6-liter "rower" will give higher performance with competent tuning. But do not forget that after long and hard work of engineers, motorists will get a VAZ-21179 engine, the features of which allow us to talk about much more potential.

History of development

The history of the unit, which will become the top in the AvtoVAZ lineup in the near future, has gone through many events, ups and downs. But the most important stage of development began in 2006, when the engine was taken thoroughly. Then in the plans of the main design bureau was the release of a completely new class of VAZ-2116 cars (the same project is Silhouette, or the AvtoVAZ C class).

And, in fact, VAZ-21179 was to become the top in the line and installed (in addition to the models "Silhouette") also on off-road vehicles. However, the development was covered up, since the management did not approve the S-class, but later with new forces returned to it in 2008. Even then it was decided to assemble a new unit based on the old 1.6-liter, as the creation of a completely new engine would cost a pretty penny. The result of research and reflection was the signing of a contract with the concern Ricardo, based in the UK and involved in the system of adjustment of the phases of gas distribution.

The first tests

The whole of 2009 was the design and finalization of the drawings, and in August the first prototypes of the VAZ-21179 were assembled. The engines were handed over to the British for testing, and a few months later they confirmed all the parameters of the project, after which AvtoVAZ began developing the unit. Despite the success of the tests and the desire to quickly launch the engine in the series, the project was frozen several times and restarted. The reason for this was the change in the management of the car factory and some material difficulties. However, unexpectedly for everyone, in February 2016 the VAZ-21179 engine went to the conveyor and started to be produced serially.

Technical component and basis

The design of the engine proceeded in such a way that the unit could be unhindered to be put into production at the existing facilities of the plant. Of course, it was necessary to make a choice in favor of this or that motor, so that it would become the basis for a new one. The choice fell on VAZ-21127 in volume of 1,6 liters (also the index 21129 is used).

As mentioned above, the new VAZ-21179 develops a capacity of 122 liters. from. (In contrast to 106 hp at the base motor). The torque stopped at 170 Nm, while the 21127 developed 148 Nm. I want to note that the impressive 127 Nm on the new unit are achieved already at 1000 rpm, which will allow us to enjoy good dynamics during acceleration. Such indicators of the old motors could not reach even at maximum speed, respectively, already here you can see the efficiency of the improvements.

What to choose: economy, power or cost?

The question is not simple, and to answer it, the engineers of AvtoVAZ had to pull their brains pretty well. The first and simplest solution was to increase the stroke of the piston and, as a consequence, the volume of the engine VAZ-21179. 200 "cubes" - a small increase, but it was enough to add extra "horses". But in this case the question rested on the greater resistance of the gas channels of air consumption, so here it was necessary to intervene Ricardo. They helped the engineers in the dynamics to calculate and develop a unique system that changes the phases of the gas distribution. To be more precise, at a certain point in time the engine "swallows" exactly the amount of air that it needs, fuel is also injected in the required amount.

In addition, by combining vertical and horizontal vortices in the cylinders, Ricardo engineers were able to achieve an optimally fast and efficient combustion of the mixture. Detonation? Also not a problem! The VAZ-21179 engine received the optimal shape of the combustion chamber, another arrangement of the candles and a completely reworked cylinder head cooling jacket. Titanic and incredible work!

Cylinder block

If you look at it externally, you can see the almost complete similarity of the new unit with the old, and it really is. But there is a difference, and it's just colossal. The first difference is the new oil channel between the first two cylinders, duplicating the one that is between the cylinders number two and three.

It should be noted, and the presence of special V-shaped channels for cooling the cylinder jumper places, which allowed to eliminate the wear of the rings in the early stages. Was added and three-level classification of the bed of the main bearings, crankshaft and liners. At this stage, there is an interesting moment of selective assembly, when a special tracking device reads information about dimension classes from the cylinder block and crankshaft, and then signals to the assembler about the need to install one or another liner. We also envisaged the possibility of placing the VAZ-21179 on all-wheel drive vehicles.

Crankshaft and cylinder head gasket

Improvements also did not pass the crankshaft, which received an enlarged knee with a size of 84 mm, and the connecting rod necks diminished in diameter, which reduced friction losses. The oil channels that were previously blocked by the plugs were excluded, since they represented a potential danger as places of accumulation of shavings.

The cylinder head gasket is metal, it allowed to achieve the least deformation of the cylinder walls during assembly of the unit. The problem with any "soft" gasket was the presence of high fringing of the cylinders, which created a "knee" through which the cylinder wall can be bent while tightening the fastening bolts. As a result, the rings run along the curved walls of the cylinder, increasing oil consumption , the cratering rate and toxicity. The use of a solid gasket has made it possible to avoid significant curvature of the cylinder walls and, accordingly, many negative effects in one way or another.

Cylinder head

No less important part of the engine VAZ-21179, the characteristics of which simply do not allow to believe in the domestic origin of the unit (and this is so!), The cylinder head has also undergone modifications, although inherently adopted many characteristics from the base. The main "chip" is the addition of an additional supply of oil in the cylinder head between the first two cylinders (there used to be only one, it was between the 3rd and 4th cylinders).

Did not pass by cooling the head, creating a completely new "water jacket" for more efficient operation of the system. And, of course, the changes touched the gas channels, which were simply designed from scratch, taking into account all the requirements of economy.

An additional and most welcome option was the system of variable valve timing, which allowed to achieve incredible results in the dynamics of the engine. In addition, due to this system, it was possible to reduce fuel consumption and improve ride comfort. After all, at virtually any tempo of motion, the VVT system will allow you to get out of the way in time, giving the necessary quickness to the unit.

Environmental requirements

It is difficult to believe that domestic production can meet modern environmental standards, because in Russia, laws on the environment are softer than in the EU and America. But already from the very beginning of production the VAZ-21179 engine, whose price will not affect the total cost of the car, has an ecological class "Euro-5". A small batch of Lada 4x4, recently delivered to Western Europe, complied with the environmental standards of "Euro-6"! It is not ruled out that in the near future this standard will be used on cars intended for sale on the territory of the Russian Federation and neighboring countries.

Despite the long development and a long waiting period, one can still praise domestic engineers. Having invested a lot of time, knowledge and money in their new offspring, they provided a good future for cars that everyone can rightly be proud of. Of course, it is worth waiting for the first opinions of car owners with a new engine, but now it becomes clear that AvtoVAZ has done a tremendous job to improve the quality of manufactured vehicles of almost any class.