Selection of tires for VAZ-2121 (NIVA) - all seasons, all roads, tips, best models to buy

• January 30, 2019
• Cars
• Victoria Slaviy

In Russia, the roads leave much to be desired, and therefore an SUV is a common vehicle. Nowadays it is very popular in society. This is due to the fact that car owners want to stand out on the road, choosing a bulky SUV as their main vehicle or using it for its intended purpose, but off-road.

It's comfortable and fashionable!

Despite the huge range of SUVs (both foreign and Russian), ours are widely popular, especially for the Niva and UAZ brands. There are simple explanations for this:

• Affordable price. A new domestic SUV often costs the same as a used foreign car.
• No maintenance problems.
• You can always find spare parts. Unlike foreign cars, there are always spare parts for our SUVs (both new and used).
• They are in many ways not inferior to foreign SUVs, and sometimes even superior to them, because Russian SUVs are produced specifically for driving on impassable roads.

The most popular domestic SUV today is the VAZ-2121 Niva. It differs from its predecessors in its good price/quality ratio, as well as excellent off-road performance. In order for a car to perform well in difficult conditions, simple all-season tires will not do. That is why the owner is faced with the question of which off-road wheels for the Niva-2121 are best to choose.

Where to start when choosing tires?

All-season tires installed at the factory, 185/72 R16, are quite budget-friendly, uncompromising tires, since they can be driven both in the city and in the countryside at any time of the year.

But many fans and car enthusiasts of the VAZ-2121, when choosing off-road wheels for a Niva, have to replace the factory tires with new ones, choosing them personally for themselves. They pay attention to the following points:

• where and how the owner of the Niva will drive, that is, on the road or off-road;
• is the driver ready to make some modifications to the car in order to install this or that tire (sometimes it is necessary to enlarge the wheel arches, bend the sides outward or raise the body above the frame);
• it all depends on the budget and the amount that the car owner is willing to spend (from 3 to 12 thousand rubles);
• carefully approach the choice of tire manufacturer.

And, of course, you should know about tire markings. Everyone knows that when marking three parameters are used, for example: 185/70 R16. 185 is the width of the tire, 70 is the height, and R16 is the diameter of the rim in inches. And of course the following indicators: MS - all-season, AT - universal, MT - mud. Let's consider the question in more detail.

How to choose tires for the Niva and what sizes of tires come from the Niva assembly line?

Despite the fact that the Niva car is presented in a wide range of modifications, all models are equipped with one tire size: 185/75 R16. It is these tires that provide the necessary cross-country ability of the tire on different types of road surfaces.

But many car owners prefer to replace factory wheels with tires from other brands to improve the appearance of the vehicle and increase its technical characteristics.

It should be remembered that the maximum wheel width should be no more than 215 mm. This is quite reasonable, since installing larger tires will increase fuel consumption, increase the load on the stepped units and have a negative impact on cross-country ability.

In addition to the standard size, when choosing tires for the Niva, pay attention to several more important parameters:

• Seasonality . To make summer and winter tires, different types of rubber compounds are used, which differ in their level of hardness. Due to this, the tire maintains its performance characteristics even in hot weather and at extremely low temperatures.
• Presence of thorns . Studded tires are installed not only for winter travel. If the car owner often drives off-road or in mud, it is also worth giving preference to studded tires. For urban conditions, the use of such tires is unprofitable.
• Quality of moisture removal . The drainage system of the tire is responsible for this criterion. It is important that there are deep and wide grooves between the tread blocks, which remove moisture from the contact patch and provide excellent traction even with wet grass, mud and puddles.

Should you modify your car?

When choosing tires, as mentioned earlier, owners are faced with the question of improving their car. It depends on the choice of tires.

Among the tires that the market offers, a large number have a standard wheel, and therefore they can be installed without additional modifications. The most important thing here is to understand whether you will need to resort to lifting or not.

Most car enthusiasts will say that you shouldn’t add unnecessary problems to yourself and it’s easier to put standard off-road wheels on the Niva (205/70 R15 or 205/75 R15). Due to the fact that the car has a significant arch width and height, they can easily be installed on your car.

Other options for increasing the tire profile will result in you having to resort to lifting. You can make these changes either yourself or contact a specialist. Thanks to the high ground clearance, the service is possible, and VAZ-2121 owners can install really more serious tires on their car (235/70 R16, 235/75 R16 or 240/80 R16).

Selecting tires by parameters

Recommendations from the manufacturer. Depending on the modification of the Chevrolet Niva, R15 or R16 wheels are installed on the factory assembly line. Therefore, before going to a car store, you should find out the equipment of your iron horse. The most common tire sizes are:

1. 205/70R15;
2. 205/75R15;
3. 215/75R15;
4. 215/65R16.

Seasonality. For different times of the year, you should select seasonal “shoes” for the Chevrolet Niva.

1. Summer tires behave well in the warm season, allowing the driver to enjoy a fast ride. It is quiet and has good rolling power.
2. Winter tires are indispensable when operating a car on snowy or icy roads. Friction models are recommended for the southern regions of the country, and for northern routes it is better to prefer tires with studs.
3. For those who like to ride through meadows and forests, special mud tires are recommended. It features an aggressive deep tread that is easy to clean off the ground. The only disadvantage of special tires will be noise on asphalt.

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Speed ​​and load index. Many Chevrolet Niv owners use their cars as workhorses. Some reckless drivers are trying to set a speed record on paved highways. Therefore, when choosing tires, you should pay attention to the speed and load index.

1. Speed ​​characteristics are encrypted in letter designation (Latin letters). For example, “T” indicates a top speed of 190 km/h, and “V” allows you to accelerate to 240 km/h.
2. The Chevrolet Niva can be seriously loaded, but only if you have the appropriate tires. The load index has a digital designation. If with the marking “60” the maximum weight per wheel is 250 kg, then with “113” this value will increase to 1150 kg.

We have selected the 14 best tires for the Chevrolet Niva for review. All models are sold in auto stores in our country. When distributing places, the editors of the journal expertology took expert opinions as a basis, taking into account the reviews of Russian crop farmers.

When choosing tires for a car, you should remember their intended purpose. Ground clearance, comfort, noise level and cross-country ability depend on a number of parameters.

What to choose: MT or AT

Let's look at this tire marking for the VAZ 2121. So:

• AT - universal tires. Perfect for driving on asphalt and less so for off-road driving.
• MT - mud tires. Ideal for Russian impassable roads.

The choice comes down to where you prefer to drive. Normal tires on the off-road wheels on the Niva are excellent for off-road use, but you can’t accelerate on it on asphalt: it has a poor braking distance, it behaves unsteadily when cornering, and wears out very quickly on rough surfaces. Off-road, it behaves much more confidently, allowing the driver to overcome even the most impassable obstacles. This cannot be achieved on conventional wheels with AT tires.

The best off-road tires for Niva: test results

In search of the best tires for an SUV, let's turn to the test conducted in 2021 in South Africa by 4x4 magazine, and maybe its results will help you choose off-road tires for the Niva.

There were 17 participants from 16 manufacturers in the tests, each of which presented the best models in their lines.

Tests were conducted in 5 categories:

1. Braking on asphalt;
2. Braking on gravel;
3. Traction force on sand;
4. Traction on gravel;
5. Overcoming the climb.

Basically, A/T took part in the competition, and these, by the way, are the best summer tires for the Chevrolet Niva.

So, let’s get acquainted with the models that hit the top ten:

10 – Velocity Raptor A/T

The Korean company TiAuto entered three of its models into the competition. In addition to Velocity, this is also the GT Radial, which rose a notch higher, as well as Hankook, which became only 14th. Velocity is unlikely to be found in Russian stores, so it’s not worth talking about them.

9 – GT Radial Adventuro A/T3

But domestic car enthusiasts are quite familiar with the GT Radial. And although there was no particular enthusiasm for this brand among them - at least in passenger sizes, here it showed itself quite well, taking the golden mean in the final table.

True, the indicators were unstable - if in other disciplines it was in the middle or closer to the tail, then in the traction test in sand it became third, behind only two brands, which in the end became winners.

8 – Firestone Destination AT

The brand of this tire belongs to the Japanese corporation Bridgestone, but for European countries it is produced in Spain and Hungary. In braking on asphalt and gravel, it showed perhaps the worst results, but in traction on gravel it was third.

7 – Dunlop Grandtrek AT3G

Dunlop is the only company to present two Grandtrek models for testing, which have different designs. AT3 G is a three-ply tire.

In the final table, it took seventh place, right after its “relative” – the two-layer AT3 M (with an increased load index). It showed the best results in braking efficiency - both on the highway and on gravel roads.

6 – Dunlop AT3 M

The two-ply Grandtrek, made using new technology, showed, although not the highest, but quite decent results, bypassing the three-ply tires of its own brand in all tests.

When braking on asphalt, this tire generally became the first, leaving far behind even the models that won in terms of all indicators.

5 – Michelin LTX A/T2

The Michelin tire ultimately showed good results, but was only 14th in braking on asphalt. She was best able to overcome the climb, which is why she ended up in 5th place.

4 – Bridgestone Dueler A/T D694

In all competitions, the Japanese Bridgestone was in 7th and 8th place, helped only by its amazing ability to go uphill.

3 – Continental CrossContact AT

The respected Continental, a regular at all kinds of test drives and often its winner, took the honorable third place. Here the tire managed to take third place, although it showed extremely unstable results.

When braking on asphalt it was generally 10th, on gravel it was 4th, and on sand it was 8th. But in the draft effort, the Continental became the first, which saved its position.

2 – Goodyear AT Adventure

The second prize-winner also did not shine in all categories. I was 12th in braking on asphalt and 9th on gravel, including in traction.

But the Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure had no equal in traction on sand, and the tire showed the best results. On the uphill climb, he became second, behind only General, who became the winner.

1 – General Grabber AT3

They say the winners are not judged. And yet, the gold medalist showed rather mediocre results in many disciplines. He was first only in climbing and second in both types of traction.

The situation with braking was much worse, since the results were only 9 on gravel and 12 on asphalt.

Using this test as an example, we were once again convinced that it is impossible to judge anything unambiguously. When choosing which mud tires to put on your Niva, take into account the conditions in which they will most often have to work.

Only in this case, even a high price will not reduce your joy from the purchase, because a properly shod car will become a reliable assistant not only on the road surface, but also where there is no trace of it.

Choosing off-road tires

These tires have a large pattern on the tread. The rubber is quite soft and, having lugs on the sides, behaves quite boldly and confidently off-road.

It is worth considering that it is most suitable for driving on dirt. It is better to use it as little as possible on asphalt roads, otherwise it will quickly become unusable. Which mud tires for Niva are better? Let's look at the most popular models today and try to understand this issue.

Choosing mud tires for Niva

Niva SUVs are equipped by default only with all-season tires K 156-1 from the Kirov Tire Plant.
When installing tires on a car, you should pay attention to the tires of the Kama I 511 model. They are available in studded and studless versions. Today there are a lot of different models on the market, so you need to pay attention to additional criteria. The main thing is the tire size, which will be discussed later. The right choice will help the Niva to be used in mud without additional modifications.

You also need to pay attention to the load factor and speed index. If frequent driving while loaded is expected, then the first criterion is dominant, if fast driving on a well-rolled dirt road is the second one.

The heat resistance index (preservation of tire characteristics when air temperature changes) is important. There are three parameters: A, B and C, the best is marking A. Careful owners need to pay attention to the wear resistance index (the conditional maximum mileage value under standard conditions) – the best is also index A.

BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM2

The best mud tires for Niva. You may have to pay a lot more for it compared to competitors, but believe me, it’s worth it. You can choose any size you want (from 215/75 R15). Tires will cost more than five thousand rubles for lifting vehicles (240/80 R15). The cost of the entire set will cost you seven thousand rubles.

Rubber is universal and quite durable. It will satisfy both the true pro and the novice off-road enthusiast. Therefore, if you are not used to saving on your pet, then this is an excellent option.

Which size is better to choose

First of all, you should remember that universal tires, which are installed from the factory, perform very mediocre on and off the track. An experienced car owner approaches the choice based on several conditions:

1. Conditions (road surface);
2. The presence or absence of tuning (lifting, widening of wheel arches);
3. Price;
4. Manufacturer's authority.

Together with the above list, it is necessary to decide on the parameters that were written above. But not every buyer can take into account so many indicators at the same time, so let’s conditionally divide tires into two categories: some are more suitable for urban conditions and the highway, while others are adapted for off-road use.

There are several types of tires that are designed for off-road driving:

1. Tires marked as H/T are intended for use in areas with minor off-road conditions. Such tires can withstand loads much greater than standard ones.
2. Tires marked A/T have excellent cross-country ability, both off-road and on roads where there is asphalt. It gives the car excellent stability while driving.
3. Tires marked M/T are classified as extreme types. It is used where there is really severe off-road conditions.

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It is used only in off-road conditions, and if you drive it on an asphalt area, this can lead to such factors as:

• Increased noise
• The tread will wear out quickly
• Poor vehicle control

Based on what is said above, we can conclude that the best option would be to use a second type of tire for standard wheels, namely A/T. Another mistake would be if different tires are used on the front and rear axles.

Extreme tires

What Niva fanatic doesn't like extreme driving? The types of tires considered are more suitable for impressive SUVs, since the starting size is 29 inches. They have a fairly large pattern and very powerful lugs, so you can easily get out of ruts. Due to the fact that the wheels are soft, they are completely unsuitable for driving on asphalt roads. The most popular models:

• Simex Extreme;
• Forward Safari 500;
• Silversone MT - 117 XTREME.

Thus, after reading the review of the most popular models of tires for off-road wheels on the Niva, you can decide which ones are suitable for your favorite and the driving style to which you are accustomed. At the same time, experienced drivers do not recommend buying wheels from unverified suppliers, who, as a rule, attract their victims with the favorable price of the product. It is best to buy this type of product in specialized stores, where they will not only provide the necessary documentation, but also give a guarantee for the purchase.

The most effective tires for off-road driving on the Niva

The most effective options for off-road wheels for the Niva are the following models:

• Ya-569 Medved is a budget-class model made in Russia; the price of these tires starts from 3,700 rubles*. Installation does not require adjusting the arches to the tire size. This tire is quite suitable for winter conditions: it is quite soft in the cold and performs well in the snow. The tires of this model pass ice and summer asphalt quite poorly, showing poor handling. Available in a single standard size 235/75 R15;
• Cordiant off Road are also domestically produced M/T tires. It can be used both on asphalt and off-road. Cost per unit from 4000 rubles*. These tires tolerate asphalt well. Available in standard size 225/75 with dimensions R16-R15;
• Hankook Dynapro MT RT03 M/T tires, produced in size 235/75 R15, prices start from 4,500 rubles*. For installation on the Niva, a 5 cm mini-lift is used. On asphalt, the tires of this model show high wear resistance and are perfectly cleaned off-road. The tires are equipped with holes for self-studding and are very soft;
• Kumho Road Venture mt kl71 – M/T tires made in Korea, characterized by a rather aggressive tread pattern. Available in size 235/75 R15 (28.9 inches). The cost starts from 5800 rubles*. They are distinguished by good self-cleaning even in clay, the tread is quite large with large distances between the blocks. The rubber is quite soft, the sidewalls cling well to the ground, and there are lateral lugs. It wears off quite quickly on asphalt;
• BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM2 is considered one of the most successful choices of mud tires. For Niva, size 215/75 R15 is suitable (cost from 5,200 rubles*). The tires do not wear out on asphalt and are quite durable and self-clean well;
• Federal Couragia m/t is one of the standards of mud M/T tires; its tread is as close as possible to extreme. This rubber has lateral lugs and fairly large self-cleaning tread blocks. It is very soft and squishes very well in liquid mud. For the Niva, the standard size is 205/80/R16 (28.9 inches), its cost starts from 4,200 rubles*. The option is less common than other tires with the traditional Niva size 15, but is welcomed among supporters of installing mud tires on the Niva 4x4 size R16;
• Simex Extreme/Jungle Trekker is an extreme type of off-road tires that is installed on a Niva after lifting and cutting arches, replacing pairs and other modifications to the car. Installed in standard size 320 x 95 R15, cost per unit starts from 12,000 rubles*. The model is professional, passes well through clay, and the tread has a high degree of self-cleaning. The tread has a directional off-road type pattern. It is one of the most optimal options for mud tires for Niva 4x4;
• Forward Safari 500 is a domestic model of extreme tires for installation on the Niva, which requires a significant lift. On the VAZ-2121 it is installed in standard size 235/75 R15, the cost of which starts from 4900 rubles* per unit. Installation of this size requires spacers. Rubber is hard, quite heavy, and self-cleaning well.

Forward Safari 500