[ajmat]

A bit bland looking but so are all its competitor, Linea excepted

Some points -

Why is the Volkswagen written in full ? - to make it more distinguished

No auto lock ? - It can be programmed at the dealer

What a diesel buyer needs to factor in will be the need for a flywheel replacement along with clutch around the 45000km mark if used only in town with brutal driving skills. Rs 40000

[echo77]

Awesome review, GTO. Absolutely understand the delay. Unfortunately, after waiting 2 days, I had to read it first on the tiny cell browser because I was away from home.

[RGK]

Originally Posted by ajmat

What a diesel buyer needs to factor in will be the need for a flywheel replacement along with clutch around the 45000km mark if used only in town with brutal driving skills. Rs 40000

Is it necessary to change the clutch & flywheel at 45k km. Seen many diesel cars crossed more than that without any loss in pickup or power.

Sukiwa - it works all the time and may not be visible in daylight as said by theragingbull

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by RGK

Is it necessary to change the clutch & flywheel at 45k km. Seen many diesel cars crossed more than that without any loss in pickup or power.

Sukiwa - it works all the time and may not be visible in daylight as said by theragingbull

It can happen at 30k or 120k. Depends on the style and brutality of driving as well as traffic conditions

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by GTO

Unfortunately, the Vento has the same (lousy) locking mechanism as the Polo. Firstly, the doors don't auto-lock when you start driving. To add to it, there isn't a visible lock / unlock knob sticking out of the door panels, reminding you to lock the doors. The only way to lock all doors is from the driver's control panel (passengers cannot lock their doors independently). So you'll have to be mindful of these facts and remember to lock the doors each time that you drive off. Then, if you open any of the doors, the rest of the doors still remain locked. I lost count of the number of times I opened the driver’s door, went to the back door only to discover that it’s still locked, and then had to walk back to the driver’s door to manually press the unlock button (to unlock all doors). We frequently drove around in an unlocked Vento with a laptop and two expensive cameras on the back seat, thanks to the lack of auto-locking & any visible "doors unlocked" warning sign. Again, a Maruti 800 with a 1,500 rupee central locking kit offers a more practical locking / unlocking solution.

What happens when this locking mechanism fails, will the passengers be locked out or locked in depending on where they are or is there a switch to override the locks ? Isin't this most the impractical locking mechanism to be in car which is positioned as a premium car? I mean passengers can't unlock or lock their respective doors seem absurd.I can understand child locking where the rear doors cannot be opened but no independant lock/unlock seems unacceptable.

I hope VW takes care of this serious flaw.

[sidindica]

Small equipment skimping apart, this could have been my next diesel car, but you know that money factor...jokes apart, I cannot wait to TD the torque monster in treacherous Delhi roads. I think that serious audiophiles can remove the stock HU and replace it with more sophisticated aftermarket units.

[SDP]

First of all, thanks a lot for the brilliant review GTO! The comparison at the end was a nice touch.

A few questions:
1. Is Vento internationally available OR is it meant only for India?
2. What is the lifecyle of VW models? I mean, internationally, how frequently do the completely redesign a particular model? ANHC is already in its 3rd year I believe.
3. How do you think Honda would react to Vento? In my opinion, the missing features in ANHC VMT like ACC would materialize by Sept-Oct-10 with a nominal 25K-30K bump-up in price. What''s your take?

[EssYouWe]

A bump-up in price, would make it too expensive.

Adding the missing features or reducing the prices is gonna make sure that VW pulls up its socks.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by EssYouWe

A bump-up in price, would make it too expensive.

Adding the missing features or reducing the prices is gonna make sure that VW pulls up its socks.

Without the nominal bump-up, the existing customers might feel cheated. Even in the very obvious case of Jazz, Honda did not correct the price. I doubt it would happen in case of ANHC either.

[architect]

An excellent review, GTO, and IMO the best so far. Despite your (self imposed, it seems) word limit, you manage to be precise and comprehensive. Thanks you!

Just a few thoughts / questions from my side:

1. The EPS: Is it really bad? How would you rate the steering feel on this one, especially at high speeds, since you have already mentioned that the ride and handling is second only to the Fiat Linea.

2. Fiat needs to get its act together and get a better diesel engine as well as the T-jet as it seems to be losing its U.S.P. (features + safety + diesel economy + ride / handling combo + V.F.M.).

3. I think this is a potential winner, but I think a lot of customer confidence will be gained by the ownership experience. The Octavia and the Palio were huge hits upon launch but the ownership experience dulled their shine. I hope an expensive ownership experience is not a standard feature on this one like the Skodas.

Thankfully, the boring sedan segment is slowly becoming interesting. A hatchback owner can look forward to the C-segment for upgrade options, finally.

[Ary10]

It would be interesting to know 0-100 performance figures of Vento Diesel. More so. when the engine specifications of Jetta Diesel( Old and New ) and Vento Diesel are almost similiar in terms of BHP output and are identical in terms of Torque.Both vehicles share the Torque of 250 NM at 1500-2500 rpm, notwithstanding the fact that Jetta has 2.0 L TDI engine and Vento has 1.6 L TDI engine.Given that Vento weighs 1220 kgs (High Line) whereas Jetta weighs 1420 kgs, the Vento clearly has favourable power to weight ratio,ceteris paribus.As a natural corollary, Vento's performance, at least in theory, ought to be equal or better than Jetta in 0 to 100/120 category. If this turns out to be true, then Vento should return mind-boggling performance figures.Just to get a perspective, according to ACI, Jetta accelerates from 0-100 in 11.94 sec. Given that Vento is 200 kgs lighter, it ought to better Jetta performance by a wide margin. No wonder people reviewing Vento Diesel are going gaga over it. I am just eagerly waiting to test drive Vento to see for myself how it performs.

[sdp1975]

All reviews by GTO have been excellent , but this one truly is par excellence.

Originally Posted by ajmat

What a diesel buyer needs to factor in will be the need for a flywheel replacement along with clutch around the 45000km mark if used only in town with brutal driving skills. Rs 40000

Are you sure the clutch+ flywheel costs 40K, I don't think it costs that much for cars in that segment . If it really costs 40K, ownership/maintenance costs will be a deterrent.

[sidindica]

The vento is only available as exclusive to India and Russia.
VW passenger cars have a typical life cycle of 5-6 years, sometimes even 7. The current golf is not exactly new per se, but a heavily remodelled version of golf 5.
The ANHC will get a midlife facelift by end 2011.
The linea is still the cheapest, but now badly needs a thorough overhaul, read 1.6 MJD and 1.4 t-jet as STANDARD across all variants.

[extreme_torque]

Excellent review as always GTO. I though have an opposite view when it comes to equipment levels. Even the Trendline variant comes with all four power windows, reach and rake adjustable steering wheel and the necessary rear de-fogger as standard. This exceeds the equipment levels of most base sedans if not all. Excellent pricing too! Honda City should be worried! The diesel will lick it for performance (real world, not outright) economy and price too!

[Mpower]

Great review and a fab looking car. Boy that diesel sounds juicy.

Rear is a touch conservative and missing the flamboyance of the front but overall looks lot more elegant than the hatchbackish looking Jetta. I expected more interior touches like leather and premium sound but I guess they need it for ver 2.0

Job of the Trendline is to pull you into the showroom and the job of the HL is to seduce you once you are there.

Torque curve of the diesel looks super narrow. All the action happens in that 700 rpm band from 1800 to 2.5.

Originally Posted by GTO

• Electric power steering. The Vento deserves a pure hydraulic unit

Have things changed from the Polo. IIRC steering was not a complaint there.

Originally Posted by sidindica

I think that serious audiophiles can remove the stock HU and replace it with more sophisticated aftermarket units.

Did you say factory fitted audio upgrade is available?