The demand for inexpensive and budget cars is growing rapidly. Almost every automaker strives to occupy this niche, since the sales volume of such cars is very respectable. This is additional profit for the company and an opportunity for the consumer himself to expand the potential list of applicants for purchase.
Lada Vesta and Renault Logan
One of the undisputed leaders of the Russian market among state employees is the French Renault Logan. It is Renault Logan that has confidently held the leading position in terms of sales in recent years. But Logan has a worthy domestic competitor in the Lada Vesta. The Lada Vesta model first appeared on sale in 2020.
A car enthusiast interested in buying an inexpensive car wants to get the maximum with minimal investment. At the same time, quite often the final choice has to be made between Vesta and Logan. It is difficult to determine the favorite in this confrontation. To do this, you will need to compare the main technical characteristics, consumer and operational parameters.
Basic information and technical basis of models
The debate about which is better: Logan or Vesta cannot be resolved by simply comparing external data or reviews from car owners. Owners of a French car will insist on the unconditional superiority of their car, and Vesta fans will say that the Russian model is significantly better than the French one.
Vesta and Logan were destined to become competitors. But at the same time, together they are actively promoting the budget car segment. Renault Logan has been doing this for more than 10 years, and quite successfully. Vesta began its journey relatively recently, but has already managed to demonstrate excellent sales results.
Even before the premiere of the Vesta model, AvtoVAZ promised that they would create a stylish, modern, more powerful and interesting model that would fully replace the Priora, which was already outdated at that time. And so it happened. Priora remained on the assembly line for several more years, but eventually production ceased in 2020, and the main efforts were transferred to the production of Lada Vesta. It can be noted that materials of improved quality were used during assembly when compared with the same Priora. The result is a decent car for average money. The price is the golden mean in the budget segment, that is, Vesta cannot be considered the cheapest option in the budget class.
As for the Renault Logan, here we see a car that perfectly meets the needs and capabilities of the average Russian. The car is reliable, simple in many ways, and completely uncomplicated to operate and maintain. The price is reasonable and even exceeds expectations.
The second generation Logan has become much prettier and has proven to be better adapted to the Russian climate. Spare parts for Logan are no more expensive than for the same Vesta. So in terms of the operating cost of the car, it is approximately at the same level.
It is this many-sided similarity that has led to the fact that these two models are constantly compared.
But if you dive into the details and take into account some characteristics and parameters, it turns out that they have no less differences than they have in common.
The basis of any car is its platform. And here the cars belong to the same class, but Vesta is still somewhat ahead of its competitor based on its platform. Lada Vesta uses a B+ class platform, which is slightly larger than that of Renault Logan. The differences in the platform manifested themselves in the fact that Vesta surpassed the French car in size, and in some areas by several centimeters at once. Renault Logan has a class B platform, and therefore the overall dimensions are slightly smaller.
In numbers, everything looks like this. The following parameters are provided for Lada Vesta:
- length 4410 millimeters;
- distance between axles 2635 mm;
- width 1764 mm;
- height 1497 millimeters;
- track width (front and rear) 1520 mm;
- minimum ground clearance (subject to full load) 171 mm.
Now I wonder how the French subcompact Renault Logan in a similar sedan body will respond:
- the length here is 4346 millimeters;
- width 1733 mm;
- height 1517 millimeters;
- wheelbase 2634 mm;
- ground clearance is a modest 155 mm.
As you can clearly see, Logan has superiority only in height. But these are not the main characteristics from which we can draw any objective conclusions and determine the winner in this truly difficult comparison.
Comparison of Lada Vesta and Logan video
Finally got around to writing this opinion. I will compare my old Loganchik from 2008.
I'll start the comparison with the start of owning each of the cars. A known problem in Logans is a leaking oil seal in the engine. Moreover, after replacement under warranty, this problem disappears forever. This happened in my Logan, and in my father-in-law’s, and in all company cars at work, with a mileage of up to 15 thousand km. In Vesta, the problem at the start is a knock (creaking) in the front suspension, which can be eliminated by warranty repair of the stabilizer bushings (or by replacing these bushings from the Chevrolet Niva). At work we bought 2 Vestas a couple of months ago, I asked the drivers of these company cars, they said that after warranty repairs (they stretch a type of plastic tube over the place where the stabilizer bushing is located and heat shrink it), the problem with knocking disappeared.
Another known problem in Logan is the spring leak from the roof inside the elephant. I suspect that during the winter, ice from breathing accumulates under the roof sheathing, and in the spring, while it melts, water flows along the windshield and through the lampshade. We’ll see what happens in West, but I haven’t seen any similar messages from the owners of the first batch of West.
What was also unpleasant about Logan was the creaking of the interior even with a slight diagonal hanging. My car is parked under the balcony on the street, on a dirt road. And when you start driving backwards onto the asphalt, due to the difference in level (the asphalt is higher), a very slight suspension occurs. And due to the fact that the interior in Logan apparently does not have any rigidity at all, in winter the interior creaks so much that for the first time I was seriously afraid for the safety of the windows (windshield and rear). Because the grinding sound was so strong that I thought about the deformation of the window openings and was already imagining the glass breaking!
