[steadfast]

Are VW original door beadings for Virtus available?

[buzzy_boy]

Took a TD of the Virtus 1.5 DSG today. Wanted to see if it can replace my 2018 Creta 1.4 D - which has run 1.3 Lakh KMs. Documenting my observations.

My requirements

1. City friendly dimensions and turning radius
2. ~100 BHP Per ton power to weight ratio
3. Crash worthy body structure
4. Decent automatic
5. Budget < 20 Lakhs

Positives

1. Stunning looks
2. The DSG is in the right gear for the situation 100% of the time.
3. Decent ground clearance= didn't scrape the undercarriage with 3 on board and no luggage.
4. Butter smooth shifts. Relaxing to drive in the city.
5. I found the sheet metal to be of decent quality.
6. Kick down delay? What kick down delay? The DSG gives you a downshift with zero to no delay.
7. Space inside was decent and sufficient. I found the Virtus to be conveniently shaped.
8. There's a decent amount of adjustment in the driver armrest to find a comfortable position.
9. Full suite of active safety features to compliment what's expected to be a crash worthy vehicle.

Neutral

1. It is difficult to use the paddle shifters while turning the wheel. They must have been stationary in relation to the wheel.
2. Audio quality was decent, but could have been better.
3. At low, the AC was chilling the cabin quite well, but when a specific temparature was set, the cooling wasn't in the same league as the Toyotas and Mahindras of the world. Livable though.
4. Lack of 360 degree camera is a bummer. Though we can live without it, people have come to expect it these days.
5. The sunroof is small. I don't fancy a sunroof, but this implementation neither satisfies folks like me, nor does it satisfy folks who want a big sunroof. What's more, it eats into the headspace for the driver, and this is a problem for people like me who like to jack up the seat high.
6. Decent visibility of the bonnet if you jack up the seat high.
7. While the ride was complaint, the vehicle tended to be tossed about on pothole-ridden roads. Leaving this in the neutral section as I believe that the problem was with over inflated tyres - I didn't check the tyre pressure before the TD.
8. The DSG tended to drop down to first quite conservatively, while Hyundai's DSGs tend to hold the second gear until the vehicle comes to a complete halt. I believe that Hyundai has tuned it for comfort while VW has tuned it for reducing slip, and increasing drivability.


Negatives

1. Interior quality: I understand that the money that VW saved in interiors went towards safety. But, I believe that customers of the GT line would pay a lakh or two more for better quality interiors. VW must learn from the masters = Hyundai does better interiors on the nLine than the regular variants. Huge disappointment.
2. While the steering can be adjusted for reach and rake, it should've gone a little further in for a comfortable driving position for me.
3. The DCT's crawling function has been implemented conservatively = there's a noticeable lag before the vehicle moves off. While this doesn't make any difference for regular driving, it makes manoeuvring difficult in tight spaces - eg: tight parking spots, and moving off in busy uphill junctions. I had a scary moment at the end of the TD where I had to park up in a tight space which was on a ~ 10 degree uphill slope.
4. 205/55 section tyres= recipe for bent alloys on Indian roads. Plus, the less said about the black alloys, the better.
5. The vehicle should have gotten proper drive modes. The avg fuel economy in the city was ~ 8 KMPL per the MID. An eco mode would've gone a long way towards improving the fuel economy in the city as we know how sensitive the tubo petrols are to throttle aggression.

Summary: The TD was a bitter sweet experience. It was clear that the car has got so much potential, and that VW has got a lot of the things right. But I'm a little on the fence about the negatives. My ideal Virtus would be the 1.5 TSI with the six speed TC and better interiors.

PS: Special thanks to Mr. Vikram from Ramani VW Coimbatore for arranging the TD.

[msri3here]

Team, need your advice here.

I had made a booking for Topline 1.0 AT and was waiting for 2023 VIN to arrive.
Meanwhile, saw an ad in Facebook about net price offer and contacted VW about it.

While the VW customer care called me telling that they have an offer of 40k off on Ex showroom price, that is, they are offering topline AT for 15,59,000 Ex-showroom.

But dealership is not responding on it. They called me upon enquiry, but as soon as I told them that I already made the booking, they said they'll call back and disconnected the call. No response since then.

Would I still be eligible for this discount?
What should be done in this case?
Should I cancel the booking and go with another dealership?

Problem is, in Pune, all 3 dealerships belong to B.U.Bhandari group and I feel that I may face the same in other 2 dealerships as well.

[Cresterk]

Originally Posted by buzzy_boy

1. It is difficult to use the paddle shifters while turning the wheel. They must have been stationary in relation to the wheel.

2. 205/55 section tyres= recipe for bent alloys on Indian roads. Plus, the less said about the black alloys, the better.

1. That's the way it should be. It is designed to stay under your corresponding hands even while turning the steering wheel for light to medium turns. It's not meant to be used during u-turns when you spin it all the way around. Bmw, mercedes, audi etc comes with the same type of paddle shifters. Only car I have driven that had stationary paddle shifters was the quirky citroen C5 and you have to take your hand off the steering wheel to shift during turns which negates the entire point.

2. It will be fine. I have been using 195/55/16 tyres which have even smaller sidewall on my diesel i20 for the past 7 years. We use the car as a beater and it has seen its fair share of pothole ridden roads that we don't even bother slowing down much for. No damage to the rims yet.

[stringbh]

Originally Posted by msri3here

While the VW customer care called me telling that they have an offer of 40k off on Ex showroom price, that is, they are offering topline AT for 15,59,000 Ex-showroom.

But dealership is not responding on it.

When you call the customer care next time, ask them to add the dealership in the group call and get it confirmed verbally at least. The dealerships are adamant sometimes and refuse to provide the discounts given in VW homepage. Probably, because they have a different calculation for giving discounts.

[buzzy_boy]

Originally Posted by Cresterk

That's the way it should be.

While the current design is okay, and one can get around with using the triptronic function at junctions, I believe that stationary ones like this Lamborghini Huracane's would be better:



Thanks for the feedback on the tyre sizes.

[DumplingDon]

Any one having issues with Iphones and the wireless charger? I have tried a couple of them (Iphone 13 and Iphone 14 Pro) and both seem to be having issues. A call with VW support and they have placed the blame on the phones. Which I do not understand as they are all Qi Certified and work just fine on any other wireless chargers. The error I get is below:

[adigup]

Originally Posted by DumplingDon

Any one having issues with Iphones and the wireless charger?

It's probably your phone's cover or some obstacle hindering the magnetic field. And In my view, wireless chargers are not 100% efficient

[DumplingDon]

Originally Posted by adigup

It's probably your phone's cover or some obstacle hindering the magnetic field. And In my view, wireless chargers are not 100% efficient

Agree on them not being efficient, but in a pinch they can still keep it alive. Tried my phone and a couple others without covers and the Iphones did not work but the Samsung one did work.

Its more a case of I would like it to work on day three of a new car. The support team at VW tried to sell me on the fact that Apple devices are the issue but that does not seem very likely to me. If they work on other wireless chargers which are Qi certified (as are the phones) then they should work in the car as well.

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by stringbh

Took delivery of the Virtus GT on 28 December 2022 and covered 5335 kms.

Congrats on your purchase and wish you an even better experience than your Vento. Any particular reason other than looks you did not consider the Slavia 1.5 MT given your preference for a manual?

Drive on,
Shibu

[raycers_honda]

Originally Posted by TheFonz

Hi, I’ve noticed every time I’m travelling on uneven patches without anyone sitting beside on the rider seat on my 3 week old Virtus, there is a rattle noise from the left side B pillar. First I thought about visiting the service centre but then realised that it’s due to the seat belt buckle hitting against the B pillar. Anyone else noticed this and is there a solution for this ?

I read somewhere on a group on fb or whatsapp that they put some extra foam packing at the service center. I get a rattle when window is all the way down on a rough roads. I hardly drive with the windows down so I ignored it.

[msri3here]

Originally Posted by stringbh

When you call the customer care next time, ask them to add the dealership in the group call and get it confirmed verbally at least. The dealerships are adamant sometimes and refuse to provide the discounts given in VW homepage. Probably, because they have a different calculation for giving discounts.

Thanks.
Dealership now agrees that they can give cash discount on 20k + complimentary SVP if I go for the 2022 VIN.
No offer on 2023 VIN though.

So, should I go for the 2022 VIN.
would it make any difference at the time of resale?

Also, in terms of resale value, would it be better to go for Carbon Steel Grey or Wild Cherry Red?

[Newtown]

Originally Posted by msri3here

Also, in terms of resale value, would it be better to go for Carbon Steel Grey or Wild Cherry Red?

Get the color that makes you smile each day when you look at your car. The resale value will not differ by much if at all.

[raycers_honda]

Originally Posted by msri3here

Also, in terms of resale value, would it be better to go for Carbon Steel Grey or Wild Cherry Red?

Carbon steel grey is a beautiful shade. The plus point is it gives you two colors. At night or when its dark it looks black which makes the car look fantabulous. And in the the day it looks dark gray which makes it look stunning.
Go for carbon steel grey. The majority of colors I've seen on the road are white, carbon steel grey and reflex silver.


This is her in day time in the stunning carbon steel grey !


And this is an unedited pic of her at night. You won't be disappointed with this shade.

[msri3here]

Originally Posted by Newtown

Get the color that makes you smile each day when you look at your car. The resale value will not differ by much if at all.

Originally Posted by raycers_honda

Carbon steel grey is a beautiful shade. You won't be disappointed with this shade.

Thanks guys.
Should I go for 2022 VIN given the discounts?
Or should I go for 2023 VIN?