 | « Back to article | Print this article |
The Volkswagen Vento offers unadulterated German car feel providing strong driving dynamics along with a powerful diesel engine that comes with an efficient yet lightning quick DSG gearbox, writes Indian motoring website MotorBeam.com.
We drove the Volkswagen Vento from Delhi to Mumbai, which is exactly 1,422 km journey. The route consists varying roads and highways along with changing landscapes. This was the best way to test the capabilities and performance of the German sedan.
In terms of styling, the Vento looks pretty much the same since its launch in India and Volkswagen has kept it updated with mild styling tweaks and mechanical changes.
The latest one out here looks much sharper and fresh compared to the outgoing models. The updated bumpers and chrome highlights make the Vento quite appealing now.
The interiors of the Vento are more or less the same. You get dual tone beige and grey dashboard, the flat bottom steering wheel looks quite sporty and the seats are very comfortable to be in, especially on a long journey.
The quality, fit and finish feels fantastic as you would expect from a German car. However, space for the rear passengers is quite limited and there is a huge transmission hump in the middle, which means the rear seats are best suited for two adults.
We had the 1.5-litre diesel engine powered Vento that produces 110 PS of power and 250 Nm of torque.
This engine has been retuned for better power and it is quite apparent on the move. The engine feels lively right from 2000 RPM and it has a very strong mid-range, which makes the car very progressive and effortless for overtaking on the highways.
This diesel engine is mated to a 7-speed dual clutch DSG automatic transmission that provides seamless and super quick shifts. It is a convenient car to drive in bumper to bumper city traffic.
It can also cruise at triple digit speeds without putting strain on the engine. The 7-speed unit is ideal for highway driving as the car can maintain high speeds at much lower RPMs. The Vento returned around 15 km/l on our Delhi to Mumbai trip.
The best part about the Vento is the way it moves. The suspension is tuned for high speed stability and good handling.
The Vento sticks to the road and is extremely stable at high speeds, making you feel confident to drive on the highways.
The steering is accurate and the car feels quite eager to turn in providing decent feedback to the driver. The steering feel is light and convenient at slow speeds that weighs up accurately as the speed increases.
The Volkswagen Vento comes with dual front airbags and ABS as standard across all variants and with the DSG variants it gets Electronic Stabilisation Program and Hill Hold Control that further makes it more safe.
The build quality and the body panels feel top notch, which is quite a rare case for the C-Segment sedan space.
The Vento managed to take the rough and smooth in its stride very well. There were some sections of ghats on which the Vento took the corners quite confidently.
There were some arrow straight roads for the Vento to prove its rock solid stability and then there were small towns and cities to see how convenient the DSG gearbox is. All in all, we were quite satisfied with the Vento’s highway capabilities and we believe it is the best sedan in its segment for highway driving.
Powered by 