[stumpz]

My 2 cents for now. (I'm still in the process of doing a full write up). ahmadnaik's review is spot on. I don't think there is anything much more to add about the car itself from a generalist point.

Engine & Gearbox:
Very similar to the Polo. I honestly couldn't tell any difference. Drove my FILs new Vento Diesel back to back, that's when I noticed some additional front understeer in the Diesel.

I haven't pushed it beyond 4K Revs but the 1.2 doesn't feel like a 1.2. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't feel like a fast car, but for mostly urban use, it's more than adequate.

Milage: 86Kms
Fuel Econ: 9.2-9.6

Comfort & Bulk:
Very similar to the one in the Polo in terms of feel and comfort. The extra bulk does show itself in the flickability area, however long sweepers, it's more planted. Compared to the Diesel seems a tad bit stiffer, which I feel is due to the bulk of the engine, or my bias.

Drivers seat with is't boat-load of adjustments helps get the right seating position and the tilt/telescopic steering helps in getting that right position. The fact that I'm not using my back-buddy, is a testiment to how well the overall comfort and lumbar support is.

Rear seating makes the wife happy. Compared to the Polo there is significantly more space.

One thing I noticed was the reduced line-of-sight through the front windshield. After driving an Innova, Fiesta (classic), Swfit and a C-class, the limited size (height-wise) of the windshield immediately hits you. For a reference point, I felt the same in the Polo.

Horn just sounds weird. It's not your typical "skoda" horn, but the interior intrusion of the sound seems less than the Polo.

During braking, it shows it's additional weight and is a little squirmish, but nothing that can't be managed with minor corrections. Feels more stable than the Polo during braking. Trail-braking helps rotate the car fairly nicely.

Radio:
While it ticks all the right boxes from a usability perspective, the sound quality lies somewhere between "blah to meh". Speakers need to be upgraded.


Exterior:

Very plane-jane if you ask me. There is no indication that it's a Tsi other than the all crome badge on the back. I wish it had a little more peices of kit to make it look different. There isn't even a GT emblem on the front. Thank goodness they didn't put any stickers on the pillars.

I wish the exhaust showed in the back rather than having it point downwards and completely invisible. I hear more engine noise than exhaust noise, which personally, does not make me involved. Probably a rear muffler or a CAT-delete will help.

With the OEM setup, I did notice that that the mudflaps don't scrape on speed bumps even with a full load. The SA was telling me that they have reduced the length of the mudflaps. I haven't had a chance to compare, but if it is true, it works.

I ended up with a Shadow Blue as the dealer only had 2 options for me. White or Blue and with a few of the hotels here is Bangalore running White Ventos, I didn't want to be another "taxi" on the road.

Slightly off-topic:
VW Whitefield (Bangalore) has a White Vento Tsi available. It's a dealer car, but not yet registered and not even taken off the dealer lot. If you want it, I'm sure you can pick it up. There have been rumors that even the Vento, after the first batch that has arrived will be delayed even further. There are no test drives available.

RTO has no record of this car model in their database in BLR and I've heard the same in Chennai, but can't confirm. The car will have to run on Temp registration until the RTO gets a refresh on the database. This apparently happens once a month.

45 psi on tires, so check, check and check again.

[nik_kapur]

Fired an email to VW Corporate about the really sad state of affairs at dealerships (with respect to the VENTO TSI) and now suddenly im being offered test drives left right and centre. Also, immediate delivery is available on White and Pepper Grey TSIs.

[amitg79]

Folks, I got my TSI just some time back. Its a dream to drive. Detailed review will come soon.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by amitg79

Folks, I got my TSI just some time back. Its a dream to drive. Detailed review will come soon.

Great. Congratulations. Looking forward to a detailed review.

[nik_kapur]

Finally drove the TSI today in Gurgaon. The car is very very silent when you compare it to the TDI (which we own). The steering and the body seem a lot lighter when you start moving and the braking seemed a lot less responsive.
The engine is super silent and like everyone else has said, the gearbox is simply brilliant. The engine doesnt have that racy throaty sound and it does sound a little whiney when you really push the car. This is no 1.4TSI or 1.8TSI i assure you. The car seems like one of the best city cars one can buy and i would seriously consider it now. Will wait for the new City to take a final call.
The interior and build quality as always was very good and while it lacks the sense of space a Honda City/ Verna offers, it makes up with some really good quality plastic bits.

[paw1]

My dad & I took delivery of a white Vento TSI yesterday.

Dealership experience : Pretty bad. But could have been worse.

Gone are the days when a C2 segment car buyer is made to feel like a king. After arriving at the showroom (Shaman motors, Prabhadevi) half an hour earlier than the specified time, we were made to wait for more than 3 hours, as the guys there had not yet received the registration number & number plate. I should point out that yesterday was Dhanterus, and many deliveries were scheduled that day. But we had not insisted too much for that day. We were content taking delivery a day earlier too (which is what they had initially promised, but could not keep up with).

Once the number plates were fitted, our SA took us through the paperwork extremely hurriedly. I noticed that the Insurance invoice was printed with a lower value than what we were informed and paid for. (Rs 25,xxx instead of Rs 32,000) Upon pointing it out, he made some weird excuse at first, saying that they negotiate with their insurance partners for a lower premium, so as to make up the costs of the mud flaps & floor mats which were promised as free. (At this time, he also started offering door sills for free). I was shocked. The flaps & mats barely cost some 2-3k, whereas we had overpaid 7k. Besides, this practice was more disheartening than the amount itself. Then our SA calls a senior rep, who explains that this is what is done with everyone, but agrees that we should have been kept in the loop. She has promised to get back to me soon with a refund. By the time we got the car, we all had headaches, and the traffic wasn't making things any better. The car, however, was just so good, we got over it and enjoyed our ride back home.

Oh and we found out later that one of the reverse lights were not functioning. Somehow it escaped us when going through the checklist.

Some context : We went with Shaman motors as they did not over-quote on registration charges by a huge margin (just 3k) and were well spoken. My SA, otherwise, had been pretty accommodating with us responded to calls, providing information, and getting us an early delivery. We had booked the car on the second day of the launch.

Dealership : Shaman Motors, Prabhadevi. My SA : Mr. Javed. Senior rep we spoke to : Ms Pooja.

The car itself :

I'll leave the expert opinion to more seasoned drivers. I can only offer a novice's point of view. Coming from a manual drive, this automatic is extremely easy to drive. Very easy to move in bumper-to-bumper traffic too. Hill hold is an added bonus, though I am not sure exactly how it works (does it kick in after sensing a particular level of incline? or is the D-mode's default acceleration responsible for preventing the car from moving back?).

Few things I noticed coming from a Honda City :

Everything inside is made of noticeably better stuff : be it plastics or the leatherette steering wheel which feels so good sliding between your hands when it returns at the end of a turn. Backseat felt less roomier than the city. The shifter / armrest area feels a bit congested. Some minor conveniences such as windows open/close on long press of the remote buttons are much appreciated. The horn is a bit irritating. I would especially want to get the lock/unlock horn sound disabled or changed.

I've only had the car for half a day. I did not want to wait to share the dealership experience, so everyone knows what to keep an eye out for.

Cheers!

[CARDEEP]

Originally Posted by paw1

My dad & I took delivery of a white Vento TSI yesterday.

Dealership experience : Pretty bad. But could have been worse.

Congrats for the car. I'm sure it wipe out the bad experience your family had at the dealership.

However, VAG surely needs to get its act together, because it is at the bottom of recent JD Power Survey, with only Ford (because of EcoSport deliveries mess) & Fiat (setting up new dealerships) below them.

[pats]

Congratulations and wish you many happy miles with the Vento TSI.I am also actively considering the Vento TSI and had contacted VW Prabhadevi. But i am still being told that there is no test drive vehicle. Did you not test drive the car before booking?

The SA at VW Prabhadevi is offering the Polo GT TSI for a test drive saying that the drive experience will be the same but i would like to have an actual test drive in the Vento before deciding to buy.

BTW, All Vento's come with only one reverse light. I remember reading this in other ownership threads and hence this is quite normal.

Do post your detailed first impressions on the car. Enjoy and Drive safe.

[ukderebail]

Vento seems to be good car with a strong body coupled with high powered engine, hope it starts grooving in the Indian Market. High time Volks rocks

[paw1]

Originally Posted by CARDEEP

Congrats for the car. I'm sure it wipe out the bad experience your family had at the dealership.

However, VAG surely needs to get its act together, because it is at the bottom of recent JD Power Survey, with only Ford (because of EcoSport deliveries mess) & Fiat (setting up new dealerships) below them.

Thank you. I'm sure the car will more than make up for it! Indeed VAG needs to realize the importance of a customer's experience.

Originally Posted by pats

Congratulations and wish you many happy miles with the Vento TSI.I am also actively considering the Vento TSI and had contacted VW Prabhadevi. But i am still being told that there is no test drive vehicle. Did you not test drive the car before booking?

Thank you. Indeed no TD vehicle for the vento TSI. It is going to be difficult getting your hands on one. I had to make do with a Polo TSI TD. My advice would be to do the same.

Originally Posted by pats

BTW, All Vento's come with only one reverse light. I remember reading this in other ownership threads and hence this is quite normal.

My dad is not going to like hearing about this cost cutting strategy Are we talking about the same thing here - the white light? There sure is a slot for it. This is just weird.

[dnahelix]

Folks:

I brought home a Shadow Blue Vento TSi yesterday. Dealership experience was reasonably good (VW Thane) despite a longish wait time due to many deliveries on Dhanteras.
I decided on Vento TSi after waiting considerably for Ford Ecosport 1.5 AT with no avail.
My first impression is that it is a reasonably powered car with seamlessly shifting transmission. Engine is very quite and smooth. Adequate features and equipment list. The reverse parking sensors seem to be downgraded to an audio alarm only in place of usual radar signature display + audio. I had looked at VW Vento 1.6 AT earlier but checked it off my list due to lack of engine responsiveness, this seems to be addressed well. I just refueled the car and drove home and around the block. I will write a detailed report soon.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by paw1

Oh and we found out later that one of the reverse lights were not functioning. Somehow it escaped us when going through the checklist.

Don't worry, it did not escape you. The Vento does only have one reverse light. The light on other side is the reverse fog light.

[aadilnaik]

Hello everyone, this is my first post on team bhp.
It seems alot of Vento TSI have been delivered yesterday and today! Cheers! Hope to get alot of different opinions now!

My brother @ahmadnaik and me have been driving it for over a week now, for which he already wrote a review. I do have a query though, there are times when the car downshifts very jerkily/aggressively. This is usually when you lift your foot off the brake and just let it roll.. Not always, but sometimes, and those few times it does, it's very noticeable compared to the usual super smooth downshifts. Could someone throw some light on it? I'm thinking maybe it is at times when you brake hard, and then let go of the brake, the ECU still thinks your slowing down fast and thus those downshifts.
Has anyone else noticed this?

PS:- still only driven in the city so far, and indicated FE has risen to 10.4-10.6kmpl

[Rajeevraj]

Went all the way to Volkswagen Palace Cross-Bangalore to do a test drive. It was a short drive and the test drive route was pretty congested, so could not do much other than get a feel of the car and confirm that that there is no noticeable difference from the Polo (Which was my main aim in any case). One thing that struck me is how silent the engine is. It was totally inaudible at standstill. I was trying to start it and the key was not turning. I could not believe it when the SA said the engine is running. From what I recall, in the Polo, it seemed more audible. Maybe just my feeling (Unless the Vento has better noise insulation).

Originally Posted by aadilnaik

I do have a query though, there are times when the car downshifts very jerkily/aggressively. This is usually when you lift your foot off the brake and just let it roll.. Not always, but sometimes, and those few times it does, it's very noticeable compared to the usual super smooth downshifts. Could someone throw some light on it? I'm thinking maybe it is at times when you brake hard, and then let go of the brake, the ECU still thinks your slowing down fast and thus those downshifts.
Has anyone else noticed this?

PS:- still only driven in the city so far, and indicated FE has risen to 10.4-10.6kmpl

Interesting. I did a test drive today and one time I noticed this behavior. I was testing the sport mode and was accelerating heavily. Then, seeing a speed breaker coming, I braked pretty hard and then let go of the brake and the downshift was very obvious.

[prithwi-81]

DSG in S mode rev-matches on downshifts.. its brilliant!