Team-BHP - Volkswagen Virtus Review

Lovely colour.

The 1.0 GT line is excellent value for money. Love the black on it as well the rising blue.

Personally, Slavia Sportline 1.0 TSI in red (looks identical to montecarlo) is the most favourite.

If I had to buy a new car now, it will be either a rising blue GT line or a red sportline. :)

Regarding the AC, the bs6.2 update has seen a software upgrade that has made the AC better, I read.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 07CR (Post 5962733)

Virtus indeed looks gorgeous! My biggest gripe with the car is the AC in 1.0 engines. How are you finding the AC performance in April Bangalore heat?

I agree with the AC issue. However it depends. According to some VCDS coders, VW/Skoda cars that are manufactured on/after Sep 2024 have their AC algorithm changed from factory to fix customer complaints regarding the AC cooling. The car does cool but takes significant time.
Once, to cool my car from 42 deg C (thanks to Andhra climate) to 22 it took nearly 12-15 mins with all 5 passengers. But once it cools to the set temp it's good. I set it to Auto most of the times so there is significant noise. This is not an issue on the Polo. Even if the blowers are set to highest speed the noise is not as loud on the Virtus.
So yes, noise on higher speed and longer cooling times does makes the AC seem downgraded. Hopefully parking in shaded areas and sun films should help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 07CR (Post 5962733)

How are you finding the AC performance in April Bangalore heat?

I owned Rapid 1.6 MPI for 10 years. The AC in Rapid was super cool. Then I got an Ecosport in 2017. I felt the AC in Ecosport was not as good as in Rapid. But after getting Slavia, I think Ecosport's AC is more than enough. Slavia's AC is definitely underperforming, especially in Auto mode. Sometimes, I have to switch the fan manually to 4-7 speed settings, which defeats the purpose of auto AC. For reference, I live in Kullu, which has a relatively low ambient temperature.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 07CR (Post 5962733)

How are you finding the AC performance in April Bangalore heat?

Quote:

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana (Post 5962734)

Regarding the AC, the bs6.2 update has seen a software upgrade that has made the AC better, I read.

Quote:

Originally Posted by itsbaman (Post 5962837)

Slavia's AC is definitely underperforming, especially in Auto mode.

I have been with my Virtus GT Plus for a year now.
My usual sequence of steps to get to drive out...
1. Get inside the car and Start it.
2. Roll down the windows a bit to let fresh air inside the closed car.
3. Switch ON the AC in Auto setting with the temp set to 24/25. It's always in "Fresh Air" mode. I will go to "Recirculation" mode only if I am in middle of traffic.
4. Drive and think or talk about AC being weak.

Recently, my cousin visited with his Polo and his sequence of steps before start driving are...
1. Get inside the car and Start it.
2. RPM starts in about 1.5/1.7K and wait for about a minute for the idle RPM to settle at about 750.
3. Roll down the windows a bit to let fresh air inside the closed car.
4. Switch ON the AC in Auto setting with the temp set to 24/25 and drive out.

I did the step 2 [waiting for idle RPM to settle in 750 mark] in my Virtus and result:
1. Compared to my previous sequence of steps, the cabin got cooled much faster, both front and rear seats.
2. AC started with much higher fan speed. Is this some kind of protection AC unit/compressor has to avoid any damage while the idle RPM is higher?

Prem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaviprem (Post 5962998)

I did the step 2 [waiting for idle RPM to settle in 750 mark] in my Virtus

Hi Prem,

This is a very important step of idling the car for some time after ignition and let the rpm settle down to below 1000.
Not just for the AC performance but for overall health of the engine and turbocharger.

Please go through important pointers in this thread for better maintenance and life of Turbocharged engines. Link

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bane214 (Post 5963066)

Not really. With modern TSI engines, recommendation is to drive away immediately. My Superb's manual says so, and I would expect Virtus/Slavia to do so as well. The Superb manual did say that idle for 1min before switching off the engine, but in the Virtus, there is start-stop, so I guess they'll run the oil and coolant pumps etc on battery as needed after engine turns off.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bane214 (Post 5963066)

This is a very important step of idling the car for some time after ignition and let the rpm settle down to below 1000.
Not just for the AC performance but for overall health of the engine and turbocharger.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lancer_rit (Post 5963085)

Correct. This is also exactly what the Kia owner’s manual recommends (atleast for my Sonet DCT). I don’t get this logic; irrespective of the type of engine, the 1 min idling practice will only aid in the longetivity of the engine.

Ironically, it should have been a MUST requirement for the sensitive turbo-petrols.

Just a quick update for VAG car owners planning to code cars manufactured starting 2025(even some late 2024 cars):

VAG India has locked the control modules with something called the SFD lock. This prevents any 3rd party from accessing and modifying the car like removing speed alarms, throttle and steering feel, enabling off-road and sports dispaly and so many others. So, you cannot effectively buy and use ross-tech VCDS to its full extent until this SFD lock is sorted out. I'm not sure about coders like codemyvag. Just a cautionary message here to wait and watch before spending money on coding your car.

Link - https://forums.ross-tech.com/index.php?threads/48055/

Quote:

Originally Posted by true_sedan (Post 5963361)

It's from April 2024 manufacturing onwards. SFD2

VCDS cannot work on all modules on these cars, only the dealer tool can. And the costs are prohibitively high

Posting on behalf of a friend.

She drives a Virtus that has this strange issue of brake dust getting accumulated on the front wheels. Stubborn stains left behind on the wheels refuse to go away even with a pressure wash. Car is a few months old, 1.0 AT variant, not much driven.

Volkswagen ASS opines that the amount of brake dust is normal and there is no issue with the pads or discs. She took the car to a detailer who was able to bring the wheels back to pristine condition after hours of hard work. But this is the current condition of the wheels, one month and 250 km later.

In comparison, the rear ones are very close to their original colour. Ignore the dog pee marks, this car has been sitting for a while.

Besides painting the wheels black, what options do we have to make the brake dust marks appear less obvious? The local detailer has suggested a ceramic coat on the wheels and some Meguiar's cleaning solution to clean them. We are thinking of giving it a try.

Has anyone else faced a similar issue with their Virtus?

Quote:

Originally Posted by self_driven (Post 5963427)

Has anyone else faced a similar issue with their Virtus?

Yes this is a normal phenomenon. The front wheels will always have more brake dust due to heavier breaking force required at front wheels.

You can look at wheel cleaners (those with iron particles cleaning capabilities). Spray it on wheels, leave it for 15-20 min and it breaks down the brake dust (colour change as well denoting iron particles removal). You can wash it afterwards with some foam/shampoo and water. This is probably the least rigorous method for cleaning these alloys.

I own a Kushaq and do this once every 3 weeks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by self_driven (Post 5963427)

Has anyone else faced a similar issue with their Virtus?

Looks okay to me. The dirt is not from just braking alone. Its accumulation of brake pad dust, general environment dust and grime mixed with oils.

What usually happens when you take the car to the dealer (For service) or any detailer is that they rub the wheel rim and tire side walls with some oily substance. Gives them a nice appearance. They act like dust magnets though. You end up with a wheel rim looking dirty quite fast. More so when driven in rains.

Use normal car wash shampoo to clean the rims and side walls. No other special treatment is required. You need to hand rub the surface with a cloth. Let the soap sit on the surface for a minute and then wash them down. Just use a mug with water and rinse the wheel.

Ceramic coating a wheel rim is unnecessary.

I was pursuing with VW Whitefield for the hood insulation accessory, but they say no such accessory is available for Virtus :disappointed Did anyone get the hood cover from another dealer in the last few months? Given that the paint on the inner surfaces isn't uniformly applied, and some portions even have only primer (inner surface of bonnet cover), I thought some heat insulation helps ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by lancer_rit (Post 5963669)

I was in the same boat for a couple of months , wherein I contacted various dealerships for hood insulation. None of them had it. Finally ordered one from boodmo and installed myself. It’s a genuine OEM part and the installation is fairly basic, part number is 5JN863831, and costs around Rs 890. Here is the link for the same if you are interested:

https://boodmo.com/catalog/4863-nois...AEa03bAmyCB1Qm