After the announcement by the Taganrog plant of a new car, which has no analogues among other Russian cars, many doubted this. Indeed, very often the Russian auto industry promises to come up with something that would be completely new in the history of the Russian auto industry, but in reality everything turns out quite differently.

But TagAZ approached the implementation of its idea as responsibly as possible. The first photos of TagAZ Aquila, which were leaked to the worldwide network, caused a lot of emotions among motorists. Few could believe in such an exclusive design. The appearance of the domestic TagAZ Akwella car seemed so unrealistic that many even decided that this was just a kind of trick of the plant, designed to attract attention.

The massive use of plastic as body kit parts was used to speed up the assembly process and reduce the cost of body parts. In this car, a cheap analogue of carbon fiber was used - fiberglass and ordinary plastic with a decorative coating. Elements are fastened with bolts, special clamps and latches

In order for Aquila to comply with safety standards, a powerful steel frame weighing more than 700 kilograms was constructed at the base of the car. At the end of December 2012, the car passed a certification crash test at the Dmitrov test site. In the video from the tests, you can see that upon impact at 56 km / h, the driver's airbag opened, the crumpled front end absorbed the impact, and the front pillar did not deform. In US, they refused to talk in more detail about the results of the crash test, since such data constitutes a commercial secret.

Due to the heavy "base" of the car, the curb weight is 1410 kilograms, which, together with a 107-horsepower engine, greatly affects the dynamics. Under ideal conditions, the car accelerates from 0 to 100 km / h in 12 seconds.

The car was equipped with a 1.6 liter engine, 107 hp, manufactured in China under license from Mitsubishi. It was equipped with air conditioning, power windows, central locking, electrically adjustable heated mirrors, radio, power steering, 18 ″ alloy wheels, driver airbag and ABS.

Characteristics table

Honest video review:

Quite recently, a new model of the car appeared on the domestic car market, which, long before its official presentation, caused a heated discussion both among professional motorists and ordinary fans of iron horses. We are talking, of course, about the Aquila sedan from the Taganrog Automobile Plant. This car does not have any outstanding technical characteristics - its main advantage lies in its unusual, as for the domestic car industry, unique design. The TagAZ Aquila review will answer the question, thanks to which this machine has gained such high popularity.

History of creation

When the Taganrog Automobile Plant announced the creation of a fundamentally new car, which would have no analogues among domestic models, many had well-grounded doubts on this score. Very often they promise to design something that would become a completely new page in the history of our automotive industry, but in reality everything turns out completely differently - the number of cars that frankly disappointed exceeds all permissible norms.

However, the Taganrog developers approached the implementation of their idea as responsibly as possible. The first pictures of the future TagAZ Aquila car, which were leaked to the worldwide network, caused a culture shock among most users. One could expect everything, but so futuristic and hardly. The appearance of the domestic TagAZ Akwella car seemed so unreal that many even decided that this was just a kind of trick of the plant, designed to attract attention to itself.

According to official data, the development of the car was carried out by a subsidiary of TagAZ - TAGAZ Korea, based in Seoul. Rumor has it that Chinese specialists also had a hand in the miracle of the Russian car industry.

Appearance is the main highlight of the model

Body

It is quite logical that the manufacturer decided to rely primarily on the design of the car, and not on its technical characteristics, which we will discuss later. The appearance of the TagAZ Aquila car is really impressive - it was hard to even imagine a more impetuous and aggressive body made by domestic manufacturers. It is worth noting that the predatory lines and sharpness of forms characteristic of Western sports cars are clearly traced in the design solutions of Tagaz Aquila. In general, despite the risky combination of different styles, the car looks quite harmonious and not too provocative.

As for the assembly of the sedan, the designers of the plant did their best. It was not possible to find flaws, traditional for Russian cars, in the form of loosely fitted parts or of poor quality, provoking the appearance of gaps not provided for by the technical plan, in TagAZ Aquila. On closer inspection, you can see small flaws in the processing of individual elements, but they do not in any way affect the overall aesthetic and functional component of the car.

Detailed video review of the car TagAZ Aquila:

Another western technology has found its application in the car body structure - the massive use of plastic as body kit parts. Thanks to this solution, the process of assembly and disassembly of various elements during the repair or scheduled inspection of the car is significantly accelerated. Unlike their foreign colleagues, Taganrog TagAZ Aquila uses a cheap analogue of carbon fiber - fiberglass and ordinary plastic with a decorative coating. Bolts, special clips and latches, as well as powerful glue act as fasteners.

Salon

The interior of the car is also at a fairly high level. First of all, striking leather seats, created in a sporty style, are striking. Not a bad tactical move by designers - the color of the car seats matches the body paint, which adds integrity to the sedan. The quality of the materials used for finishing the interior of TagAZ Aquila is not satisfactory. There is plenty of free space in the car, especially in the rear seats. Overall the car looks cozy.

The dashboard is a little disappointing - from a sedan with such a chic and fantastic appearance, one should expect a more intelligible design solution, but in reality everything turned out quite the opposite. However, the information content and, importantly, the intelligibility of the dashboard are at a good level, which greatly simplifies the process of driving. Ergonomics, minimalism, spaciousness, purposefulness - these are the words that can characterize the interior of a new car from the Taganrog plant.

Nevertheless, there are also disadvantages, and as for a modern car, there are too many of them. The main drawback of the TagAZ Aquila salon is the low comfort of the seats - they are adjustable in only two directions, which is why some people will need to show a fair amount of acrobatism in order to sit in the driver's or passenger's seat. The same applies to the rear seats of the car, because it is quite difficult to get there, due to the obscenely small doors.

The lack of visibility of TagAZ Aquila also raises criticism. The stylish solutions of the developers in the form of small, in fact decorative rear windows provoked problems with obtaining visual information about the road. This disadvantage is partially covered by well-installed side mirrors. It is worth noting that the car was originally planned to be a three-door, but later it evolved to a five-door - it is likely that this factor directly influenced the ill-conceived design of the TagAZ Aquila rear doors.

And what about the technical stuffing

Engine

The overwhelming majority of the most important components and assemblies of the TagAZ Aquila car are created by world-famous manufacturers. But their assembly is carried out in the Celestial Empire - domestic experts rightly believe that thanks to such a solution, the quality of the technical filling of the machine does not decrease, unlike the price. The power plant of the sedan is a 1.6-liter 16-valve. The motor power is 107 horsepower. The unit interacts with a five-speed manual transmission. Such technical characteristics of TagAZ Aquila make it clear that the car is a sports car solely due to its corresponding design.

Suspension

The car has a fairly modern suspension, which ensures stable behavior on the road. The front independent spring suspension is additionally reinforced with an anti-roll bar. Suspension type - MacPherson strut is perhaps one of the most common types of such mechanisms today. As for the TagAZ Aquila rear axle, there is a spring dependent suspension of the same type, but with hydraulic telescopic shock absorbers.

In the video, a test drive of the TagAZ Aquila sports car:

The TagAZ Aquila test drive has clearly demonstrated that the suspension installed on the car fully copes with its duties. The sedan behaves quite adequately both at low and high (as far as possible with a by no means outstanding power unit) speed. All the charms of domestic roads, in the form of potholes and irregularities, are smoothed out quite efficiently, so the vibration in the car is almost imperceptible.

Safety

Long before the start of the conveyor production of Aquila, the prototype model passed all the necessary tests to determine the degree of its safety. The crash test was carried out at the Dmitrov proving ground, well-known in the automotive environment. After the completion of the tests, the sedan was assigned the status of a vehicle, which automatically confirmed the level of safety sufficient to start production and sale of such cars.

The main element that ensures the safety of the driver and passengers of TagAZ Aquila is the hydraulic braking system, equipped with automatic adjustment of the resulting gaps. Sturdy machines are installed on the front and rear axles. The interior is also adequately protected - there is an anti-lock braking system, an airbag (albeit only for the driver), as well as belts of a new modification and special children's mounts with reinforced clips.

In general, it can be noted that the security system of the new car from the Taganrog plant reliably protects its passengers, which is especially noticeable against the background of many of its Russian counterparts. The advantages of TagAZ Aquila are modern and low maximum speed that a sedan can develop.

Equipment

At the moment, the only option of the basic configuration is on sale, but the manufacturer promises that such a modest choice will be significantly expanded in the foreseeable future. Therefore, today, motorists who dream of getting behind the wheel of the first Russian sports car TagAZ Aquila (although not quite high-speed) will have to be satisfied with the following configuration:

• 1.6 liter engine;
• manual transmission, 5-speed;
• power windows;
• electrically adjustable rear mirrors;
• heated mirrors;
• fog lights;
• audio system;
• opening the trunk and tank using the remote control.

Price

Perhaps the most important advantage of such a car is its cost.... The price of TagAZ Akwella in the base and, as mentioned above, the only complete set so far is only 415 thousand rubles. As for a car with such a bright and memorable design, although not with the most outstanding technical characteristics, it is quite adequate and somewhere even affordable cost.

The car, as the manufacturer himself positions it, is designed for young buyers. In fact, this sedan with the makings of a sports car is an excellent alternative to the already bored VAZ "nines" and "priors".

disadvantages

There are not so many disadvantages in TagAZ Aquila, although they are. Among the disadvantages are the following:

• weak engine;
• nondescript dashboard;
• miniature rear windows;
• uncomfortable rear doors.

It is quite easy to form a resume on the new brainchild of the Taganrog Automobile Plant. First of all, it is a very stylish car with a futuristic and innovative design. Its main advantages are high-quality assembly, good driving characteristics, a modern security system, a spacious interior, and also a low cost.

In March 2013, the Taganrog Automobile Plant launched a small-scale production of its own "budget sports car" TagAZ Aquila (the name in Latin means "eagle"), which took the Russian company almost a year and a half to develop.

The first mention of the car under the working index "PS511" appeared in January 2012, and in May the certification process was officially launched. During the first year of sales, the four-door found only 50 buyers, which is why its production was completely curtailed (the dire situation of the enterprise also played a role).

Outwardly, TagAZ Aquila really resembles the so-called "four-door coupe" (although, in fact, it is a budget C-class sedan) and in general it looks catchy, unusual and quite harmonious. Yes, and separately parts of the body "read" well - a moderately aggressive front end with neat headlights and a raised bumper, a wedge-shaped silhouette with a sloping hood, falling roof contours and a slightly upturned stern, but okay stern with wide lamps and a massive bumper. But the design is not devoid of controversial elements, such as narrow loopholes for rear passengers.

In terms of its dimensions, TagAZ Akwella fits into the canons of the "golf" community: 4683 mm in length, of which 2750 mm is the distance between pairs of wheels, 1824 mm in width and 1388 mm in height.

In running order, the car weighs 1410 kg, and its gross weight does not exceed 1800 kg.

The interior of TagAZ Aquila looks quite stylish, but some details are too simple, and the level of assembly, as well as the quality of finishing materials, are frankly budgetary. Behind the three-spoke steering wheel with a "flat" rim is a simple instrument cluster from Chevrolet Lacetti, and the center console, made with a hint of sportiness, contains only a non-standard radio and three archaic "twists" of the climate system, which is why it is perceived somewhat faded.

In the front part of the Akwella's cabin, there are sports seats, trimmed with leather, with pronounced elements of lateral support and a minimum set of adjustments, which do not have a high level of comfort. Passengers of the rear sofa are even more "fun" - not only is it not easy for them to get into their seats, but also the low ceiling presses on their heads (although there is plenty of space in the legs and in width).

The TagAZ Aquila trunk in the "stowed" state is designed to carry 392 liters of luggage, but its shape is not optimal, and its narrow opening prevents the loading of bulky items. A full-fledged spare wheel is located in the underground niche of the "hold".

Specifications. The power range of "Aquella", which includes only one engine, is clearly discordant with the bright appearance. Under the hood of the Russian "sports car" is a licensed Mitsubishi 4G18S unit - an atmospheric gasoline "four" with a volume of 1.6 liters (1584 cubic centimeters) with in-line cylinders, 16-valve timing and distributed injection technology that meets the environmental requirements of Euro-4. Its output is 107 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 138 Nm of torque at 3000 rpm.
The motor is matched exclusively with the Aisin F5M41 5-speed manual gearbox and front-wheel drive transmission.

In terms of nimbleness, the car definitely cannot be attributed to the class of sports cars - it takes 12 seconds to accelerate from zero to the first "hundred", and the peak of speed capabilities falls on 180 km / h (fuel consumption was not officially announced).

The main feature of TagAZ Aquila is its body structure. The car frame is a modular spatial frame on which all units are mounted. The outer cladding is made of fiberglass, and the inner one is made of plastic (the panels are connected to the body using latches, bolts and locks, and are glued together).
The front suspension on the "sports car" is represented by an independent structure with MacPherson struts, an anti-roll bar and telescopic hydraulic shock absorbers. At the back, a dependent spring architecture with telescopic hydraulic shock absorbers is mounted.
The steering gear-rack type on the four-door is supplemented with a hydraulic booster, and the brake package is expressed by disc brakes on all wheels and an anti-lock braking system (ABS).

Options and prices. In Russia, TagAZ Akvella was sold at a price of 415,000 rubles, but for this money the buyer had to pick up the car from the factory himself. In the spring of 2016 in the secondary market, the cost of a "four-door coupe" varies from 320,000 to 500,000 rubles, depending on the technical condition.

The list of standard equipment of the "budget sports car" includes: driver airbag, ABS, air conditioning, power steering, leather interior, sports front seats, power windows for four doors, an audio system, 18-inch alloy wheels, fog lights, and mirrors with electrically adjustable and heated.

The Tagaz Aquila car began to be produced in small series in the spring of 2013, and the cars were made not on the main conveyor of the Taganrog Automobile Plant, but in a separate assembly shop in the city of Azov, Rostov Region. At that time, TagAZ was in a difficult situation: the company was unable to pay off huge debts, creditors threatened it with bankruptcy, and the founders transferred the plant's assets from one legal entity to another and tried to maintain control over the enterprise.

Under these conditions, the project of the "budget sports car" Tagaz Aquila appeared - a compact four-door sedan styled as a coupe. The machine was developed in-house by TagAZ and the Korean engineering division of the company.

The car received a design convenient for launching small-scale production: a spatial steel frame with plastic body panels. Most of the units and components of the car were purchased in China from local manufacturers and branches of famous world suppliers, some of the components came from Korea.

Under the hood of "Aquila" there was a licensed Mitsubishi 4G18S gasoline engine with a volume of 1.6 liters and a capacity of 107 liters. with., working in conjunction with a five-speed manual transmission Aisin.

In March 2013, the start of sales of the Tagaz Aquila was announced, and the car had to be purchased not from a dealer, but directly at the factory. The car in the basic configuration with an airbag, ABS, power windows, air conditioning and a radio tape recorder was estimated at 415,000 rubles.

The demand for the car was scanty: numerous design flaws, poor build quality and the continuing "agony" of the plant simply did not allow the model to be made more or less massive. In 2014, the assembly of cars finally stopped, in total, according to various sources, from two to four hundred copies of the model were made.