Team-BHP - My Fabulous Candy White VW Vento TSI

I shall always cherish the day, 1st Aug 2014 for as long as my memory may serve, as the day I drove home my Candy White Vento TSI. It is special not because this happens to be my first car, but because it was the day I took delivery of my TSI with my son beside me with my wife for the first time and me behind the wheels after a long break.

History
For those who may be wondering how I mean, it’s a bit of a brief history that preludes to the story which you may choose to skip. For those who dare to continue, here it goes.
The first car that I did own happens to be a pre-owned Toyota Camry in the year 2006 when I was in the US for a few years. Just loved driving this machine on the wide freeways. I believe US is one of the few countries where one can truly enjoy driving.

My Fabulous Candy White VW Vento TSI - 1st year service update-img_camry.jpg

Fast-forward and I was back in India and got married and my son was soon to arrive. That was when I had an accident resulting in an elbow fracture and hence was out of action for over two years. Now, the need for a car became strong especially considering that my son was old enough to warrant the search for a new car.

Decision
While being in the US, have driven quite a number of Japanese and American cars and naturally all have been with an Auto-box. I have driven cars with a manual stick too but the convenience of an automatic is not lost on you especially in a city like Bengaluru. In addition, the condition of my right hand compelled a case for comfort more than the argument of a purist. Therefore the consideration set looked like:

Transmission: Had to be an automatic with excellent performance.
NVH: This was a very important factor for me. I have driven diesel vehicles and realized that Noise and Vibration would be a major issue if this percolated to the steering and pedals as the cars age.
Efficiency: My driving was not going to be more than 35Kms/day so if it’s around 12-14 Kmpl, I would be fine with it.
Safety and Build quality: ABS and 2 Airbags are a minimal must. Any car that gives me the feeling of a tin box with wheels was a strict No-No.
Space and Interiors: Something that gives you the feeling of space not just for folks in the front and quality of the interiors, be it plastic or fabric inside that does not scream “It has what you need to take you from A to B. What more do you need?”

With the criteria settled, the shortlist that qualified looked like this

Ford Ecosport: One of the first that I had looked out for and which ticked most of the boxes with the build being the most impressive. The interiors albeit a notch low to my liking and the space not so great either but could probably live with had it not been for the ridiculous waiting periods of 12 months for the AT.
Fluidic Verna: This failed the first criteria with its dull 4 Speed Automatic Transmission although it ticked all other points and hence did not bother to try this out.
Honda City CVT: Honda as a brand was very high on my list having driven the Civic quite frequently while in the US and me owning a Camry, put the Japanese brand onto the favourite spot. The City was something I thought I would simply go and get one home but was in for a big disappointment once I sat in one of them. The sheet metal was a shocking revelation and so was the interior plastics. I could not digest that I was indeed inside a Honda product. Not sure if such quality would pass muster for a market like the US. And the top end City CVT was way over-priced too. That’s when I realized that Honda was just riding high, purely on brand equity and really no compelling story to offer.
Rapid: A very competent product. Some of the features such as better steering mounted control features, projector headlights etc. with a proven 6 speed AT almost had me choose this had it not been for the DSG experience that I had with the Polo/Vento TSI.
Vento TSI: Now this is the only car that ticked all the boxes and did not look like I was compromising on any of my 5 criteria. It requires a little more than a single statement to substantiate so the next paragraphs are all for the Vento TSI. Please read-on.

TSI – DSG Combo
While it was Vento that I was interested, it was the Polo GT TSI that I first took a test drive from Volkswagen Whitefield whom I had approached first, who did not have a Vento TSI TD vehicle. Man this simply had me hooked. The 1.2 TSI engine and the smooth shifts by the 7-speed DSG was enough to put any other considerations out of the equation. The lingering doubts of the DQ200 were in the back of the mind but with an extended warranty now available and having read enough reviews and the ownership threads in Team-BHP helped put this to rest and take the plunge.
However, I did not wish to base my decision solely on my test with a Polo. The concern that the same engine shall perform on a larger sedan such as the Vento due to the additional weight was something I wanted to ensure with a test drive and not just assurances from the SA. So, I called up Volkswagen Bangalore - Elite Motors for a TD vehicle which was a negative. Later my call to Volkswagen Palace Cross resulted in a positive response. They did have one available and I quickly scheduled for a test on a Saturday and boy I was thrilled. Although it did not seem as agile as the Polo especially the way the vehicle lunges forward the moment one takes the foot off the pedal, it did not seem to lack the power either. The TD was not exhaustive but the intent was to only ensure that the responsiveness of the engine did not suffer much. I had taken my wife along too and she equally liked the car and was quite happy with the back-seat comfort levels too. That sealed the deal.

Booking
I made the booking with Volkswagen Palace Cross the Monday, 24th Feb post my test of the Vento TSI. One of the main reasons to choose Volkswagen Palace Cross was primarily due to the fact that they were the only dealership to have a Vento TSI TD vehicle and also who seemed prompt and interested in making a sale too. I was quoted a 3-4 month waiting period. I mentioned to the SA that I might take a day to decide and they called me on Monday morning to check about my decision. I transferred the booking amount via NEFT for a Shadow Blue. After two months I was offered a Silver instead, which I rejected. Later was offered a Black which was not acceptable either. It was close to the end of the month in July and 4 months of waiting, was informed that there may be further delays of up to 6-7 months. That’s when I got impatient and ready to cancel the booking and get it from another dealer through a contact when I was offered a Candy White which was my second choice of colour since the Shadow Blue was discontinued. I agreed. The more I see it now, the more I have begun to prefer it to all other colours.

My Fabulous Candy White VW Vento TSI - 1st year service update-img_tsi.jpg

My Ownership Experience
There have been a quite few ownership threads on the Polo/Vento TSI and I don’t intend to create another review of the car. Instead, I will just bring forth my experiences and things I like and dislike in the car after having driven a little over 2000 Kms. I wanted to do this run-in before I put my views since there have been others who have given the initial impressions.

Positives

Exterior Design: I must say this is one of the best looking cars in the segment. I love the straight-line looks vis-à-vis the fluidic or kinetic styles. I keep reading from many that the looks have become dated or been there for so long and VW needs to come up with a refresh. Have you seen what the Honda designers did for the Amaze and the new City? The creases and cuts seem all over the place on Amaze and the City seems good only from behind. I preferred the previous generation’s clean lines. But then, I am guessing that my opinion reflects a minority. The other important thing is the robust build quality which weighed-in on my decision factors.
Interiors: Everything about it seems well designed. The quality of materials in the cabin is pretty good. Lot of the folks complain about an overdose of beige but somehow, I seem to like it. Gives an airy feeling. I am one of those who stay away from the all black interiors which gives me a dark and sad feeling; case-in-point being the Fords. The stock HU is quite adequate for my needs. Few things that I have begun to really appreciate is the Leather clad Steering wheel with mounted controls, Bluetooth connectivity that integrates into your phone, Automatic Climate Control and the Steering rake & reach function. Pretty nifty features indeed. And the other thing that has perfectly worked for me is the indicator lever being on the left-hand side. I find this more intuitive and realize that most people who would probably disagree.
Driving Impressions:
- Engine & Transmission - The TSI is a brilliant engine, quiet and refined. At the time of starting especially when the engine is cold, it’s a little loud but then settles down nicely in a few seconds. Slot the DSG into D and take the foot off the breaks and the car moves forward slowly. The Polo shines here though as mentioned earlier and the TDI is even better. The DSG up-shifts on throttle input pretty seamlessly. However, what I have noticed is that D1 to D2 is super quick but D2-D3 and D3 to D4 does not happen until it is over 2000 RPM and the up-shifts are easily felt here; D2-D3 being more pronounced. D4 to D7 though is pretty smooth and quick and happens below 2000 RPM. The D2 to D4 up-shifts seems to have eased-up a little post 1500 KM run-in. I have not experimented the S mode yet except during the test ride since I am still in run-in period so I shall reserve comments for this one. I have limited the manual mode for now to only during toll-booth crawls where it is sufficient to remain in the 1st gear. Otherwise in D it keeps shifting between D1 and D2 every 3 feet.
- Suspension is pretty good in the city to the most part except is some cases it kind of gets a little wallowy percolating the unevenness of the tarmac.
- Breaking with its front disc and rear drum is pretty good. However, I am still getting used to it especially during sudden breaking, to accurately measure the right amount of force on the pedal. For now I am on it slightly early and gradually as much as I can and that seems to be working well.
- The hill-hold is another great feature. It worked like a boon in one incident where I had to manoeuvre the car on a steep incline with vehicles stacked on both sides and an inch gap on either side at stop and go speed.

Negatives

Exterior Design: Is there something that they could have added to provide some unique identity apart from the TSI Badge without messing up the clean design features? And there is this goofy sounding horn in such a well-put product. I definitely need to change this one during my first service. The headlights are totally inadequate especially during highway journeys. Don’t understand why VW can’t provide the projector headlamps if the Skoda can on the Rapid.
Another aspect that seems to be annoying at least to my wife is the fact that the rear windows don’t open all the way down and not able to fully close the rear AC vent.
Interiors: The drive seats offer height adjustments but has a funny operation. As you raise the height, it tends to simultaneously tilt the seat forward and this seems to un-balance some of the adjustments to find the correct seating position. I am yet to find a position that’s spot on and works for all sorts of driving needs, be it in-city or highway long runs. I am not sure what I am doing wrong but one of either the under-thigh support or the steering reach just doesn’t seem adequate in the position I end up setting. Also, this vehicle is in serious need of a dead pedal and a better arm-rest, both in terms of quality and design. The arm-rest has a lack of quality in an otherwise great package, wherein it keeps squeaking at every movement of my arm as it rests on it. Clearly not German quality this one.
Driving Impression:
- Engine & Transmission – The 1.2 L engine is brilliant no doubt and probably is among the better performing cars in the segment. However, its major failing becomes noticeable with a full load of 5 occupants. Slotted to D and slowly taking the foot off the breaks without any throttle input and you feel a slight shudder. The throttle responses on the pedal seem sluggish too. That’s when you realize that the Vento probably needs the 1.4 L engine to improve it responsiveness overall.
  Another issue is with the intelligence unit built into the DSG. This learning unit tries to remember your driving style and predict your next move. While this may seem like a cool feature, it ends up being annoying sometimes. It so happened once that on a long stretch in the Bangalore-Mysore highway, due to heavy traffic for a long period the car was in a crawl. Post this incident, for a few days the car wouldn’t respond but to a hard throttle. I thought something was wrong with the car but after a few days it came back to normal levels of input.
- Suspension - The Vento rides pretty well and is quite comfortable but it does thud through potholes and low bumps. Again on full loads it is gut-wrenching to hear the thud that you end up at stopping speeds at every instance.

Fuel Efficiency
On the perennial question of mileage, I have seen the MID show numbers between 6 kmpl to 14 kmpl on my regular commute to the office. The low mileage numbers were typically observed in short-range bumper to bumper traffic and the high numbers on good stretches. I have only done a single highway run and noticed the best reading of 16.6 kmpl so far.

Summary
It’s still one of the better cars available in its class. Overall I am elated about my fabulous Candy White and looking forward to years of hassle-free ownership while I enjoy the German Engineering. Das Auto.