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Got a call from the BLR dealer. Test drives have started for both engines & transmissions.

Was informed that test drives are on in Bangalore, Palace cross. Hope to go this week, really eager to try out the TSI+DSG.

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Happened to do the test drive yesterday, was a very short and quick one. Since i was passing near by the showroom just couldn't resist my excitement:Cheering:

Few observations -
- The engine is really silent, you can barely know if its running or not after the start up, Slight movement is noticed when started.
- The gearbox is an absolute delight, whilst using paddles and even in S mode, it picks up speed in a whisker.
- Felt the handling to be good, though was a short one, i really wanted to test out the engine i was pretty hard on the throttle and a couple of maneuvers made me feel it was nimble enough to make lane changes with quite a bit of confidence.
- it was a hot day and the AC was doing a good job, touch controls are something you need some getting used to
- Ventilated seats aren't that effective. (comparing with Hyundai Kona, which was my first experience with ventilated seats) Also its slightly noisy and there is a constant hissing noise right behind your headrest..:eek:
- lights seemed good when it was finally parked after the drive.
- Rear view camera is precise and seems ok'ish. though wish it had dynamic lines.
- It was an absolutely shushed cabin, with occasional engine growl creeping in(probably hood insulation would've helped here)

Overall a wonderful package and i really wish it launches soon without any feature deletion or absurd pricing..

Managed to do a quick in-city test drive of the 1.5L.

1. Steering feedback throughout the test drive seemed dead (compared to 1L TSI Polo)
2. Only got a chance to accelerate for about 100 mt stretch — delightful; perhaps the only highlight
3. Ventilated seats didn’t leave any impression at all
4. Roofliner etc weren’t very bad. But SA tells me it’s definite downgrade from prev VAG cars (pre A0-IN)
5. The 8 speaker set up sounded quite decent; wireless apple CarPlay was flawless.
6. Carbon steel grey looked very muted - esp in comparison to RED

Plan to do a long highway test drive soon. Till then, doesn’t feel like the right upgrade from 1L TSI polo.

Took a 3 km test drive of the 1.5 DSG today.
Following are my observations:
The Virtus' mannerism are more like that of an SUV than a sedan over rough roads.
At its maximun elevation, the driver's seat provides a view till the end of the bonnet allowing you to properly judge the distance between you and the car in front.
The car accelerates effortlessly from standstill and can reach speeds of 60-80 kmph in a matter of seconds.
The start-stop system proved troublesome while taking a right turn amidst heavy traffic. Every time I inched forward and came to a standstill, the car switched itself off. Pressing the accelerator got it back to life but in the couple of seconds it took to get started, other traffic came in front of me leading to a lot of honking all around.
The number of seconds of standstill after which the car switches itself off is too short. There should be an option for the user to set this-say 10 or 20 seconds.
The MID was showing an FE of 6.7 kmpl.
The engine is smooth and near-silent while the gearbox is slick-shifting. There is no lag in shifting at city speeds. But I could feel a slight lag while driving in S mode and accelerating hard.
The steering fell is like that of a Hyundai in its lightness. I did not feel it tighten up with increasing speed.
The space inside is generous and the boot space is the best in-class.
Overall a good package. I have made a pre-booking by paying Rs. 11000.

Drove the 1.5L today. Many people have covered the driving dynamics/features and the look and feel of the car. Hence, would like to limit my observations to a few points that came to my mind:
1. There appears to be clear strategy from VW as a part of the 2.0 to provide what the masses want. It comes packed with features which provide a feel good factor to the car. However there is a trade off to made for this.
2. Trade off being very clear and visible cost reduction in the overall fit and finish of the product both Virtus and Taigun. As many have shared some of them include the engine insulation cover, quality of switches and even the breadth of the seatbelt.
3. It’s a well put together package for price you pay in the current circumstances. But there is no shying away from the fact that it is not close to the products prior to the 2.0 strategy and miles away from the CBU and CKD products we have been provided by VW. This is from experience of owning Vw products in the past and an order in place for another CKD.
4. It still offers a better value proposition for a person who wants this to be the One Car in the family for city and highway use. It will keep you happy and safe.
To sum it up, keep your expectations in check and and your needs clearly thought out and this product will fit the bill for you.

I went to check out Virtus GT and managed to do a short test drive. Few observations:

• The overall fit and finish are a notch better than Slavia. I checked for a rough cut below the dashboard, coin holders, and edges of plastic by running my finger and it's smooth everywhere. The fit of plastic everywhere felt solid. In comparison, the golden-brown lining in the dashboard in Slavia was loosely fitted towards the edges. The small round sensor on the driver side door was also solidly fit; the finish could have been better (In old polo the fit and finish of the same was perfect).

• The pair of AC sliders in the center dashboard control were not uniform in operation. One was harder to slide than the other. However, AC sliders near the doors and the rear center console were smooth.

• The placement of the engine start/stop button is better than Slavia. It's visible and easier to reach and operate.

• The roof liner fabric was okay but it flexes a lot, especially behind the sunroof area. I compared this with Taigun where the fabric was poor but it was more sturdy. This is a step or two down from Polos and Ventos.

• All cabin light switches were hard to press and made of cheap quality. They operate in 2-stages but I never manage to switch them stage by stage. With slight pressure, it won't budge and when you apply more pressure it toggles two times. Even the Anchor switches used in our home costing 100 bucks feel a lot more premium.

• Somehow the fit and finish of leather seats in GT variant are better and much better than Slavia.

• The car was kept outside under the hot sun. I set the Auto AC to 21 degrees & sat in the rear seat. The car was hot and the AC blower was running at half the speed and taking its own time to cool the cabin. In my Linea TJet, in similar condition, the AC will work full speed for about 5 mins to cool down the cabin and then reduce the blower speed. I switched it to full speed in manual mode and the cabin cooled down soon. I think the compressor is not weak but the Auto AC configuration is set conservatively.

• The front and rear seat comfort are same as Slavia. Honda City has better rear-seat comfort but it's a lot better than Verna.
  The steering is very good to hold and it reminded me of the one in my 2015 Polo. The steering is very light and I missed the feedback at high speed (Went to 85 for a short period).

• Virtus & Slavia are the same cars under the hood but I felt that Slavia has a bit more fun-to-drive feeling.

• The carpet quality is a tad better than Slavia. Those cuts for hinges are an eyesore.

• GT variant comes with a grey rooftop and ORVMs. It's hardly visible in carbon steel color. It will look good in Red, White & Yellow colors.

• Carbon Steel GT comes with grey inserts in the dashboard. The red comes with Red inserts. According to SA, other colors will have silver inserts but he was not 100% sure. I hope he is right; red inserts in blue or yellow would look out of place. In person, the red inserts don't look as bad as in photos.

• The brake callipers, which are painted red in the GT variant, have a rough surface and hence don't look that great. In non-GT variant they blend with wheels and disk.

• Inconsistencies In one demo car: I found the right rear window switch hard to operate but it was smooth in the left rear door. In another car, the same switch was smooth.

• GT variant comes with an 8 speaker setup. The sound quality is good, not great. Slavia has a better speaker setup; better clarity and an additional subwoofer that give better bass/low-frequency. It is better than Honda city though.

• The 10-inch touch screen was slick to operate with easy to use interface. It's the same as Slavia.

Engine Bay. Looks neat. No engine bay protection.


In Curcuma yellow. I didn't like it much in-person.

My Taigun 1.0 MT comfortline (a car which is not talked about much here) has manual AC, the physical buttons of the polo and excellent, extreme cooling with the recycler turned on in this extreme delhi heat. No complaints so far.

Definitely a variant which has not been talked much about. How is the Infotainment system? Also, please check if the AC in bumper to bumper traffic and first two gears works fine.

The infotainment system is good and does everything needed. I prefer wired anyway because of the lossless music option. Just one glitch: if your iphone has been in your pocket locked for hours, then connecting to usb may not show the apple carplay option unless you have turned off the ‘usb accessories’ setting in face code and password settings on your phone. It is ‘on’ by default and prevents a usb connection if your phone has been locked for over an hour.

As for the ac, double touchwood (and two more) for the AC. Yes it is quite fine in bumper to bumper traffic and short highway runs. But i haven’t really tested it on a long highway run.

Volkswagen Virtus - Base Variant in pics.

About the pricing, VW has the chance to undercut the Slavia, which now starts from 10.99-18.39 big ones ex-showroom. Although I wish the Virtus and Slavia were priced from 8.99-14.99 lakhs, even a 9.99/10.49 price tag for the base Virtus and 17.49/17.99 for the top is acceptable. Come on VW, give us a better VFM car than the Slavia.:)

There's absolutely no way Virtus will be priced lower than Slavia. VW cars are always costlier than their Skoda counterparts. It's how it is all over the world. Increased prices for Slavia means Virtus will be priced more than what people were expecting. And one thing that I've seen is that India 2.0 doesn't mean value for money! Barring Superb, all other cars of VW group are overpriced. And that too will go once the updated Superb is launched.

Dealers already are quoting prices to be costly by 30-40k from Slavia so I am expecting it should be priced from 11.29L to 18.49L ex for the GT.

Few pics of White Gt 1.5