New Volkswagen Vento review: For the discerning, who knows his wheels

To a passenger, one of the most noticeable actions in a moving car is gear-shift, because it takes time and the car changes pace with a slight jerk—the car is in a lower gear, the driver accelerates, the engine RPM goes up, the driver upshifts, RPM drops, and the car picks up speed. In a manual shift car, the gear-shift takes about a second. An auto-gear-shift car does it in about half a second. A fully automatic car shifts faster, in about a quarter of a second. A rally driver, say the one driving a WRC car having sequential shifts, beats all—about one-fifth of a second. How about a car that shifts gears in 1/400th of a second! The technology is by Volkswagen and the gearbox is called the dual-clutch DSG—direct-shift gearbox (German: direkt-schalt-getriebe).

While we have seen the dual-clutch technology in some top-end luxury cars in India, it was last year that Volkswagen introduced this technology into a sub-R10 lakh car: the Polo GT TSI. Later the Vento too got the same gearbox. Both petrol cars. What next? The DSG mated to a turbocharged diesel engine—the new Volkswagen Vento 1.5 TDI with 7-Speed DSG.

While the changes to the exterior of the new Vento are subtle—dual-beam headlamps, redesigned 15-inch alloy wheels and new colours—it is the cabin that gets a refreshing treatment. Move inside and what you will immediately notice is the flat-bottom steering wheel with integrated controls for the car’s entertainment system—the flat-bottom steering wheel, in fact, gives the Vento’s cabin a new identity. Other changes include Bluetooth telephony, dual front airbags on all variants and upgraded instrument panel. A nice touch is that when you open any door, the footwell also lights up, enhancing visibility in the cabin. All the seats are pretty comfortable and the rear seating area is quite spacious. What truly stands out is interior fit-and-finish—the attention to detail is so minute that not even a single thing in the cabin seems out of place. The boot is among the biggest in its class.

The all-new diesel engine that the Vento gets is a 1.5-litre TDI unit that produces a maximum output of 103 horsepower and a maximum torque of 250 Nm. Now, in not many cars the effect of the turbocharger kicking in is ‘that’ delightful, or exciting. In fact, in some cars it is not even noticeable. I drove the Vento 1.5 TDI and, as I am writing this, I still feel the kick I got every time the engine speed crossed 1800 RPM—the turbo comes in early and simply shoots the car ahead. On an open highway, the torque of 250 Nm ensures that overtaking is never a problem. What adds to the fun is the DSG gearbox—floor the accelerator pedal, and in no time the DSG springs into action, changing gears at exactly the right time the engine demands, and takes the Vento from 0-100 kmph in a little over 10 seconds. Want more fun? Slot the gearbox into the Sport mode and it changes gears at higher RPMs, thus giving you even better acceleration. Driven at a moderate pace, the diesel Vento DSG gives you a fuel-efficiency of about 21 kmpl. The car behaves well on bad roads and doesn’t tend to crash through potholes. Even though it is a diesel, the cabin remains a quiet place—so good is the insulation. The new steering wheel not only looks smart, it has a lot of feel to it and offers you very good feedback. The car feels planted even when you are doing speeds above 120 kmph. However, one thing we missed was a cruise control—a car with such driving habits definitely needs the same.

Early this year when it was reported that some of the most popular compact cars sold in India failed crash tests done by Global NCAP, almost immediately Volkswagen announced dual front airbags as standard fitment on all variants of the Polo. That says something about Volkswagen’s commitment towards safety. The Vento, too, gets ample safety features, such as dual front airbags on all variants, anti-lock brakes, electronic stabilisation programme, hill-hold function, engine immobiliser, pinch guard safety for all four power windows, etc.

From Rs 10.49 lakh (ex-showroom, Mumbai), the Vento 1.5 TDI DSG is priced very competitively—its major challengers are the Skoda Rapid 1.5 DSG and the Hyundai Verna 1.6 CRDi Automatic. (The Rapid, which is priced almost equally, is essentially the same car in a different body. The Verna is not as technologically advanced as the Vento and is costlier too.) If, however, you want the manual Vento 1.5 TDI, it will cost you Rs 8.57 lakh. And if you are looking for the Vento 1.2 petrol DSG automatic, it will cost you Rs 9.35 lakh. For the discerning who knows his wheels, of all the variants of the Vento, the 1.5 TDI DSG makes perfect sense.

What is TDI?

The TDI badge identifies all Volkswagen’s diesel-powered models featuring direct injection and a turbocharger. Characteristic features of the TDI engines are fuel economy, low emissions, high torque and outstanding power efficiency. How does it work? A turbocharger supplies the engine with fresh air, providing optimum cylinder charging. After compression, the diesel is injected directly into the cylinders at a very high pressure by way of a nozzle. Effective engine encapsulation keeps noise to a minimum, while hydraulic mounts ensure smooth,
low-vibration running.