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The legendary Lada Niva Urban 4x4: the tough Soviet equivalent of the Toyota Land Cruiser
- Details
- Category: Car Reviews
| Manufacturer: | Lada/AvtoVAZ | Model: | Urban | Origin | Tolyatti, RU | Engine: | 1.7l | Transmission: | Manual x 5 | Weight: | 1.2t | Fuel Cons.: | 12.1km/l | Fuel: | Petrol | 0-60: | 19 seconds | Power: | 85hp | Torque: | 130nm | Price: | £19,000+ |
REVIEW NUMBERS
| Handling | Space | Build | 4.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 4.5/5 | Equipment | Speed | Overall | 2/5 | 2.5/5 | 64%* |
The Good
Easy to park as small, long lasting, tough, great off-road and fairly economical.
The Bad
Few gadgets, back seats only good for thin 10 yr olds, noisy, non-smooth gears (mainly 1, 2 & R) and smallish boot (trunk).
Introduction
Ask anyone in the West about a Lada and you will get two responses, 1. Isn’t that car extinct? 2. It is the butt of all jokes. Travelling around the (ex) USSR you see lots of classic Lada’s, mainly sedans, estates and of course the Niva. This makes you think if the cars on the street are 20-30yrs old, they must be well made – just look at how many Soviet structures are still standing today. Even if they were cheap, people would not buy them if they only lasted a few years.
Having driven other 4x4s, which are far more expensive like: Mitsubishi Pajero, Mitsubishi Montero Sport, Mitsubishi Outlander, Toyota Rav4 and a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, I thought for a laugh I would hire one abroad. The locals say they are good so in January 2022 I hired one for a few days to drive in tough terrain; poor tarmac roads, off road, high altitude roads (2300m passes) and roads with crazy amount of snow in & at the side of the road.
About me on India: “the first person in world history to take a job in India” - thank you Sunil!
- Details
- Category: My Career Story
After mastering my first real job in under six months, drastically improving services, and creating documentation it was time for a university gap year… without going to university before or after. Most people do the stereotypical volunteering in Africa or Asia which seems a little fake, so I thought of another crazy idea.
Whilst the whole of India and pretty much every nation on earth is desperate to work or study in the United Kingdom, I thought I would do something odd and go there to work at nearly twenty years old. Why? Big corporates have loads of outsourcing firms servicing them and most are from India.
About me on my first real job: baffle the interviewer and you may win - thank you SC!
- Details
- Category: My Career Story
College which was lasted two years finished in May or June 2004 with me getting a double pass. What was the next problem? I was not 18 yet! Luckily, I had a Saturday job or a spare time job to keep me occupied. After a few months of semi-relaxation, the job hunt began after writing a CV.
In those days physical agencies were plentiful and it was time to print off CVs, and drop them around. I went to a local large high street and tried a few agencies on shop level or above the shops. A lot of the agencies were generic with non-IT jobs and just one had two jobs going.
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