2022 Volkswagen Virtus 1.0 MT Topline review - the most VFM variant to buy? | OVERDRIVE

You know the Volkswagen Virtus is the fourth car on the MQB A0ion platform, the platform that Skoda and Volkswagen developed together for the Indian market to ensure their revival in the Indian market and like the Slavia sedan or the crossover siblings for these cars which is the Volkswagen Taigun or the Skoda Kushaq, even the Virtus gets two engine options, there is the 150 PS 1.5 litre TSI engine with the lovely cylinder deactivation technology, it also comes with the option of a manual or that lovely DSG gearbox and at the baseline you have the 1 litre 3-cylinder petrol engine again a turbocharged motor puts out about 115 PS of power and that can be had with a 6-speed torque converter automatic or a 6-speed manual which is the absolute baseline but that powertrain configuration is available in all the three trims so essentially that means that all the bells and whistles that Volkswagen has to offer can be had with the 1 litre manual, in fact that's the car we are driving right now. This then is the Virtus 1 litre manual top-line variant which gets you safety features like six airbags, tyre pressure monitoring system, reversing camera and parking sensors and hill start assist. The cabin looks and feels premium, the gloss black inlays could appeal more to those who did not like the bronze inlays and the textured panels in the Skoda Slavia and the instrumentation even on this 1 litre manual is fully digital. The infotainment is the 10-inch unit which supports a rather riffy wireless interface for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, has a decently specced sound system and has support for certain third-party applications too. That 10-inch screen could be replaced with a new 8-inch screen, okay not new, something similar to what we've seen on the older Volkswagen cars and I hope that happens because that infotainment system is actually more reliable though not as feature-rich on paper. Other notable features and creature comforts include ventilated seats, wireless charging, automatic headlights with LED lamps and keyless entry and go. The go comes from the 1 litre three-cylinder engine and despite that configuration it is actually pretty refined especially at city speeds. The tractability at city speeds is also quite good, there is a bit of that gravely note to it, I don't know why on a petrol engine but it has that gravely note and it's only audible when you go past the 4000 rpm mark and that's not a zone that you will want to go in often that or you will need to go in often. The tractability of the engine and the tuning of the gearbox is actually that good. The clutch pedal travel is quite a bit and it's also slightly springy, slightly on the heavier side, something that we've seen with a lot of Volkswagen cars so if you're upgrading from say something like a manual Polo or Vento, you'll feel right at home but if you're coming from say something like a Maruti Suzuki or a Hyundai, that clutch pedal might feel bit heavy, a bit cumbersome to use in the city environment. That said it's got a nice progressive feel to it which means that getting used to the bite point is not going to be very difficult but yes it will need getting used to and remember that lurching effect that we complained about with the automatic counterpart both in the crossovers and the sedan, here it can be sort of avoided because of the progressive feel that you get from the clutch pedal. Now because of the way the clutch travel is, the bite point might need getting used to especially if you're on an incline, you might notice that the car easily starts rolling back and you might need to sort of burn the clutch a little bit and all those kind of things. So to avoid that simply summon the hill start assist, all you need to do is keep the brake pedal pressed and the vehicle will not roll back as simple as that but you only get a short window before you can start up again. The gear shifter feels premium to the touch, has medium throws and the shift quality is quite smooth too. Good drivers will be able to extract better fuel economy from this package than the automatic counterpart. Our tests have shown about 9 kilometres to a litre in the city and a little over 14 kilometres to a litre on the highway which are decent figures for a car of this order but not as good as what we've seen with the Honda City 1.5 petrol. It isn't as quick as the Honda City in outright acceleration either and the slow roll on acceleration figures highlight that there is a fair bit of turbo lag too which usually translates to slow overtakes especially on the highway. So if the fuel economy is of utmost importance to you, you might have to look at the Honda City, that car also offers the choice of a hybrid powertrain if you want to stick to petrol or there's always the practical diesel engine on offer as well. Two big virtues for the Vertus, the fine in 20 litre boot and the tall ground clearance, both of which make road tripping with this car even on the Indian roads an absolute delight despite this being a sedan and despite that tall ride height, the handling is actually quite taut. Yes, I have seen a lot of photos and videos going around the internet of the Slavia, the Vertus and people trying to highlight the body roll and everything. Honestly, I don't think it's that unnerving. In fact, if you know how to plan your line well around corners, if you don't necessarily enter corners too hot in an erratic manner, I think you will love the driving dynamics of this car. It's very stable at speed, it's very stable around the bends as well. In fact, in terms of the ride quality or the handling dynamics, it's very closely matched with the Slavia, so there's not much to choose between these two cars on this particular aspect, but I think the Vertus is the better looking car of the two, whether it's standing still or on the go. In fact, I'm going to go ahead and say the Vertus is the best looking sedan in the segment period. In fact, if I could buy the car, I would have it in red colour, spec it with golden wheels and that would be the icing on the cake, but I would choose the 1.5 manual of course. The new Verna could change that, but that is a story for another day. For now, your alternatives to the Vertus are the Skoda Slavia and the Honda City, and we have a story for you that compares the three cars in their range-topping avatars. But if you're on a budget and are ready to let go of the convenience of an automatic, the Vertus 1.0 litre manual, which is a good 1.5 lakh rupees cheaper than its automatic counterpart, is an excellent bargain without compromising on safety or comfort. In fact, I think it is the most value for money proposition in the Vertus lineup right now.