VW Virtus 1.5 GT+ MT review after 10,000 km & a drive to the mountains

With its long gearing, I’m beginning to understand its much more suitable to use this car more as a highway cruising tourer “GT” rather than a boy racer to launch off the lights.

BHPian elMattador recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I bought the VW Virtus 1.5TSI GT+ MT back in August 2023 as an upgrade from my 12-year-old Brio S(O) 1.2 MT. I bought it for frequent highway runs on my work trips and for holiday road trips, what an upgrade the Virtus has been so far!

I’ve clocked 10,000 km since August but it’s the last 1,000 km driving earlier this month, Gurgaon – Chandigarh – Manali – Koksar – Sissu – Keylong and back that have really put that ear-to-ear grin on my face. The views up in the mountains once you emerge from the north portal of the Atal Tunnel are magnificent! “Valentina” is a calm highway champion and also a great dance partner through the excellent mountain twisties, some observations of my drive:

Views prior to the Atal Tunnel give you teasing glimpses of what is to come

Performance and Driveability

With its long gearing, I’m beginning to understand it's much more suitable to use this car more as a highway cruising tourer “GT” rather than a boy racer to launch off the lights. The power and torque on hand allow you to cruise effortlessly in 6th gear on the highways/expressways at 100-120 kph. With a slight prod on the throttle, the revs get into the sweet spot and you're moving past the vehicle ahead. I’m yet to get close to the redline (saved that for post the 15k service!) but a blip, downshift to 4th, and by 4,500rpm she’s already doing silly speeds overtaking everything on the highway.

Up in the hills, compared to the naturally aspirated engines I’ve driven in the mountains before, the forced induction TSI definitely stemmed power loss at higher altitudes but I could still feel a slight lethargy so it doesn’t eliminate it completely (Koksar, Sissu and Keylong are all situated > 10,000feet)

Parked up on the side in Sissu for some photo ops. That mountain is so majestic!

Looking fine in the sunshine! The blacked-out tail lights and wheels contrast nicely against the silver paint.

Handling and “Feels”

A REAL MENTAL DILEMA: HEART vs MIND! The high ground clearance has meant I’ve never scrapped the bottom to date on our …roads, “no-roads”, dam-like speed breakers, or oddly constructed parking lot ramps in the city. I can definitely feel the body roll while turning into corners during spirited driving. The roads from Sissu to Keylong were void of traffic and in surprisingly good condition (kudos to the BRO) with a good mix of sweeping curves and some hairpin sections. The grip is excellent - never felt like I was even near the limit of grip - but the body roll and understeery nature of the stock vehicle lead to a slight loss of confidence on entry and mid-corner. (Big contrast to my old Brio which had a nice “darty” front end). The pedals are spaced nicely for some heel and toe dancing as you approach corners rowing down the gearbox but the longish clutch travel is a bit of a dampener reminding you again to cruise maturely and not rip!

I’m considering lowering springs + better shock absorbers once there are better plug-and-play options for our MQB-A0-IN vehicles (looking at you with wide-eyed hope BILSTEIN if you’re reading this!) but I’m also mindful of losing the benefits of the stock suspension. Perhaps I’ll leave it for a post-warranty upgrade after I complete a bucket list item i.e. to drive to Leh-Ladakh via the Srinagar-Leh Highway.

Question to more technically knowledgeable folks:

I’ve read some posts from those who have had their vehicles coded to adjust the XDS system to reduce understeer while cornering. Is the XDS e-Diff built into the AT DSG DQ200 transmission? Or is there a separate module adjustable on the MT cars as well like mine? Does anyone know the gearbox model on the MT Virtus 1.5TSI EVO: MQ200? MQ281-6F? something else?

Comfort and Practicality

Enough has been said on this topic on the forums. The rear seats while having decent legroom are not the most comfortable place to be: the rear seatbacks are a bit upright (subjective) but the headrest angle is odd jutting into the passenger’s neck no matter what height it is adjusted to. The air-conditioning is not the greatest either especially in the rear seats. Happily, I drive 90% of the time ...in the ventilated seats The trunk has a lot of space, I went hiking and camping in the Kaisdhar Forrest South of Manali initially and the trunk swallowed everything along with 10 days' worth of luggage and additionally, my cousin’s bags who decided last minute to travel to Chandigarh.

Conclusion

She’s been great on this trip, ending with some of my favourite photos of the vistas she brought me to. Looking forward to more road trips, the drive forms an essential and enjoyable part of my vacations. Leh Ladakh in the summer and Sunny Goa in the winter beckon!

It's so pretty up there, no matter how clumsy I was with my phone camera, I always ended up with a beautiful photo.

Fresh snow at the tip of the peaks.

The beautiful blue water of the river Chenab winding through the mountains.

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