Some foreign cars have additional interior lighting installed from the factory, for example, illumination of door handles. At night, it makes the interior more attractive and makes the car more comfortable to operate. Let's figure out how to modify the interior of LADA cars in the same way with your own hands.
Before starting work, you will need to remove the door trim: (instructions for Lada Granta/Kalina, Vesta, XRAY, Largus, Priora, Lada 4×4).
Work progress
Installing LED lighting for the interior door handles of the Lada Vesta is not too difficult. You just need to follow the recommendations.
First of all, you should connect the resistance to minus or plus. As Andrey noted, he put it in the positive wire. Resistance is necessary to reduce the brightness of the inscription. Otherwise, it will distract you from the road, especially at night.
The door cards should be removed by unscrewing the bolts and removing the trim from the clips.
You also need to remove the power window control unit on the driver's door. You should work carefully so as not to break the plastic latches of the block.
The next step is to drill a hole in the handle panel. It is better to drill with a 2 mm drill, but it is only suitable if resistance soldering will take place on site, directly during the installation process. Otherwise, a larger diameter drill (4 mm) will be required so that the pre-soldered resistance can be pulled into the hole.
History of the development of logo projectors in car doors
Let's start from the very basics (bottoms). LED tuning is the most favorite path of all car enthusiasts who want to show their individuality. I couldn’t find who was the first to come up with this type of tuning, but the fact that the Chinese began to urgently “sculpt them in vain”, I can assume that this is not their brainchild, but, as always, a spied idea. Well, what difference does it make to us? We want to have something new and beautiful in our car at a minimal price, that’s why we buy only from them. Those who believe that something else is sold in Russian stores pay twice as much, but receive a similar Chinese product, only with a Russian receipt. Well... To each his own. We don’t particularly like to overpay, so we decided to do some review of logo projectors in car doors. Projectors are usually divided into mortise and overhead. Universal and for a specific car brand. The latter are the most relevant, because There is no need to invent anything, but replace the standard lampshades with projectors.
The process of installing LEDs on Vesta door handles
Any warrior can perform tuning of door handles on the Lada Vesta independently. Work must be done in the following order:
- Remove the inner door trim and the power window unit on the driver's side, find the wiring harness for connecting the LEDs. In some trim levels, wiring for this function is provided from the factory, even if the car is not originally equipped with backlighting.
- Make a hole inside the plastic niche on the side. You need to drill it with a drill, with a drill of the same diameter as the diode. The wires will pass through this hole.
- Insert the diode into the hole and seal the gaps with glue. It is important to use high-quality glue or body sealant that will hold the LED well in the socket despite vibration. Before installation, the diode can be lightly sanded so that it produces diffused light.
For those who want to make their Lada recognizable and bright, there are special door trims with a glowing Vesta logo in different colors. They are sold as a set for rear and front doors and include, in addition to the trims themselves and the LED module, fasteners for installing elements inside the door. They are installed as follows:
- A hole is drilled inside the niche for the handle through which the wires will pass. The door trim from the inside will first need to be dismantled
- The accessory with the Vesta inscription is fixed inside the recess for the handle. It is inserted easily, as it is specially designed for this purpose. Before installing the inserts, it is better to bend the edges of the protective film so that it can be easily removed after installation.
- The backlight is connected via a resistor included in the kit. It is necessary so that the inscriptions on the door handles do not shine too brightly and do not distract the driver with their light.
The most expensive Lada Vesta has been released: Exclusive, leatherette and Alcantara
AvtoVAZ announced the start of sales of Lada Vesta sedans in the Exlusive version; today this is the richest Vesta and the first to have a 1.8 engine (122 hp) combined with a manual transmission. Versions with an AMT robot will also be available.
Unlike Vesta in the previous top Luxe version, the Exclusive version adds faux leather and Alcantara interior trim, a leather steering wheel, pile mats, pedal covers, rear windows with enhanced tinting, a spoiler on the trunk lid, a decorative exhaust pipe tip and original 16 -inch wheels. Climate control, navigation, side airbags and a rear view camera were in the arsenal of the rich Vesta before. The price increased by 52,500 rubles - to 788,400 rubles for a Vesta with a “robot” and 763,400 for a car with a “mechanics”.
At the same time, the exclusive Vesta was left without suspension modifications and without the package of innovations that the Vesta station wagon promises - we are talking about a new boxed armrest, a lockable gas tank flap, an external trunk opening button, rear disc brakes and heated rear seats. All this should appear on Vesta only in the fall.
It is also interesting that the Exclusive package for Vesta does not include 17-inch wheels, which are available on the XRAY Exclusive model. True, it costs at least 806 thousand rubles and so far remains the most expensive Lada in the AvtoVAZ lineup.
The power unit deserves a separate discussion, because until now only VAZ’s AMT “robot” was installed on Vesta with an 1800 cc engine, although the XRAY 1.8 has been offered with a manual gearbox for almost a year now. Contrary to the hopes of VAZ transmission engineers, for Vesta 1.8 it was not the Tolyatti “mechanics” 21807 that was tested in recent years that was chosen, but the same French transmission JR5-523, which is installed on the XRAY. Even the gear ratios and the main gear are identical with a ratio of 4.214 (Vesta 1.8 AMT has 3.9).
If you believe the passport data, such an “exclusive” Vesta should also become the fastest among non-sports Lada cars: 10.2 s to 100 km/h and a maximum of 188 km/h. Let us remind you that XRAY 1.8 with “mechanics”, according to factory data, spends 10.4 s, and Vesta 1.8 AMT - 12.1 s, they accelerate to a maximum of 185-186 km/h.
However, the most expensive Vesta with “mechanics” has already been tested in our tests and took part in a comparative test. Let’s say right away that the measurement results surprised us, and in the next issue of Autoreview we will tell you whether this Vesta is very different from the Vesta 1.6 and whether it can compete with the expensive versions of the new Kia Rio and Hyundai Solaris sedans.
Connecting LEDs
There are several ways to connect LED backlighting to Vesta. The simplest one is to power it from the power window module. This is done like this:
- On the driver's door the connection is made to the power window unit. The blue wire with a black stripe connects to power, and the black wire to ground.
- On the remaining doors, the red wire is connected to power, and the black wire to ground.
But rear electric lifts are present only in the “Lux” configuration, so everyone else will have to look for other ways to install the backlighting of the handles on Vesta. One method involves using the ISO contacts of the radio connector. A6 is connected to the “plus”, A8, respectively, to the “ground” of the car.
Car interior
The interior decoration of Vesta Cross is more similar to its classmates from Korea. The plant motifs are the same here - the lines are smooth, there are almost no sharp corners or straight shapes. The car is not like other models of the Tolyatti plant: the Vesta series stands apart from them. The instrument panels are in three deep, large wells, the seat cushions are long and moderately hard, and in the center console there is a multimedia screen with a border of air ducts. Everything is convenient and at hand.
The Lada Xray has tasteful seat upholstery, the climate system has a display, and the steering wheel has a comfortable grip. But there is nowhere to put the smartphone - there is no tray for it. The seats cannot be called comfortable - there is no proper lateral support, the cushions are short and the legs begin to go numb on a long journey. The rear view camera picture is of average quality and a good multimedia screen does not save it. The French-style seat heating button is hidden at the base of these same seats and is not backlit - you have to find it by touch each time. The trunk is 361 liters, frankly small, but of the correct shape and with a low loading height.
Is it worth spending time and money on door lighting?
Illumination of the interior handles of the Lada Vesta is not mandatory, but a very functional and interesting addition. Making it yourself is inexpensive and easy. A set of overlays with a luminous inscription will cost the owner approximately 1,300 rubles.
It is easiest to install the backlight on cars that are initially equipped with a special connector or have power windows on all doors, into which it is easy to connect the accessory. But even if there are no such connectors, installing the backlight will not cause difficulties for the driver who has an understanding of what the car’s electrical system is. Including dismantling the door cards, the process takes no more than two hours.
Illumination of car handles performs two functions simultaneously
In addition to the fact that it gives the car's interior a stylish and unusual look, illuminated handles help you easily navigate in the dark and make the trip more comfortable. Starting from 2022, Vesta cars in the top configuration are equipped with backlighting as standard. If such a function is not provided in your car, you can purchase and install the backlight yourself.
