“Significant changes”: AvtoVAZ will seriously update the “Niva”
The classic three-door LADA Niva Legend will receive a new 90-horsepower engine in 2026. This was reported to Izvestia by the head of product marketing at AvtoVAZ, Sergei Kornienko.
Photo by Andrei Kholmov / Shutterstock.com
“Approximately in the middle of next year, a new eight-valve engine with a volume of 1.8 liters and a power of 90 hp will appear on the LADA Niva Legend. It will replace the current 1.7-liter engine, this engine will go down in history,” noted Sergei Kornienko.
According to information from Togliatti blogger KhaDm and his sources, a pilot batch of modernized LADA Niva Legend SUVs of the 2026 model year was assembled at AvtoVAZ in the last week of September. It was noted that they were assembled using a conveyor method, and, in addition to the new engine, they also had a “set of improvements to the chassis.”
Meanwhile, already in the fourth quarter of this year, the restyled LADA Niva Travel with the same power unit, which debuted in June at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), should go into production.
The new engine is a 90-horsepower 8-valve naturally aspirated engine, which in both Nivas will replace the current outdated naturally aspirated engine with a volume of 1.7 liters and a capacity of 80-83 hp. s. Structurally, it largely repeats the similar “eight-valve” from Granta – it produces the same 90 forces, and the working volume in this case is increased by changing the piston stroke.
AvtoVAZ noted that due to this engine, the vibroacoustic comfort of the LADA Niva Travel has improved, the power of the SUV has increased by 7 hp, and the maximum torque has increased by 24 Nm. In addition, the new engine is more economical than the current 83-horsepower one: specific fuel consumption has decreased by 3-30% depending on the driving mode.
