In mid-May, Denis Pak, who leads the automotive industry and railway engineering in the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, announced that the Renault Duster, under the Lada brand, would be assembled at AVTOVAZ’s plant in Togliatti. Until recently, the crossover carried the Renault badge and was built at the Renault Russia facility, which has since been repurposed as Moskvich.
Shortly after, signs emerged that the Duster could move from Renault to Lada, potentially receiving a VAZ-21179 1.8-liter engine with 122 horsepower paired to a manual transmission similar to what is used on the Lada Vesta. The reasoning behind this shift lies in the localization challenge: the standard French H4M engine, and many other Duster components, cannot be fully localized in Russia given current production constraints. An expert on the venerable auto publication Behind the Wheel, Nikita Gudkov, suggested that this transfer could indeed be driven by a practical heart transplant of sorts.
Expert opinion
Nikita Gudkov, Deputy editor of the magazine Behind the Wheel:
He noted that installing the VAZ-21179 engine under the Duster’s hood would not pose a technical hurdle. In terms of dimensions, it aligns closely with the VAZ 1.6 engine that has powered the Largus for seven years. If one compares the Duster equipped with the Alliance H4Mk engine (1.6, 113 hp, 152 Nm) to the same model using the VAZ-21179 (1.8, 122 hp, 170 Nm), the latter would offer noticeably higher torque and stronger acceleration. Yet the history of shifting Largus engines into other models raises concerns about potential increases in noise and vibration, and the 1.8 engine is not known for exceptional fuel economy.
On the upside, maintainability could improve. The H4Mk’s iron block versus the aluminum block of the VAZ engine means cheaper overhauls, and perhaps more than one. A Duster with the VAZ-21179 could endure longer, but it might also face typical VAZ-engine quirks such as thermostat and pump failures or timing belt issues. Gudkov admitted that he is unsure which path would be preferable.
Another central question in the broader scenario of moving the Duster onto AVTOVAZ’s production line concerns the gearbox. What transmission would pair with the VAZ-21179 engine? AVTOVAZ has not produced its own transmission capable of handling 170 Nm of torque, and this engine currently mates with the Renault JR5 mechanical gearbox on the Vesta. While localization is possible, the continuation of Renault’s influence in the drivetrain remains an open question.
Creating a new gearbox or adapting an existing VAZ unit to handle a 150 Nm-to-170 Nm torque range would be a substantial and protracted undertaking. Additionally, there are no clear options to integrate a four-wheel drive with a VAZ gearbox, which is a key feature for the Duster. In short, automatic transmissions paired with the 1.8 engine are not anticipated in the near term.
- By the end of May, indications grew that the transition from Duster to AVTOVAZ assembly might be slower than once expected.
- Updates and commentary were shared via messaging platforms such as Viber.