[Jangra]

Originally Posted by kaviprem

Good to see, a lot of action and updates coming from Virtus owners.

I will be getting my GT Plus DSG shortly.

I have a question - What kind of Sub-Woofer they offer? I removed it from the spare wheel area and it's like so fake! Anyone got any technical data of that sub?
To me, it looks like a mid-bass unit, rather than a real sub!

Thanks!

Though I have not seen the sub of Virtus, it is exactly the same impression I had looking at the sub of my Kodiaq which is light, plasticky and don’t feel sturdy- but makes a night a day difference to the music. I bought my Virtus without the sub and am still satisfied with its 6 speaker set up especially at high volume. I like my songs to be base heavy, and while it can’t compete with the 12 speaker sound system of the Kodiaq, it does above average job. I’m sure sub would make a great difference.

My favourite song to test music linked below

https://youtu.be/VIDu5J9ZLg0?si=dvUIc21MCCEBJKZ-

[neoakshay]

Hi Bhpians,

I have 3 questions about the Virtus:

1. Once you've parked the car, I'm not sure if any of you have noticed, a slight whirring sound coming from the front of the car. I'm quite sure it's the turbo still spinning. This is inspite of taking it easy with the last few kms before reaching any destination and also idling the engine for about 30 secs before switching off. I remember reading somewhere that turbo engines need to be idled before switching off so that the engine oil can continue to circulate and slow down the spinning turbo. Strangely the owner's manual doesn't mention anything about this, although other brands have it. Any advice for me regarding this?

2. The audio quality seems much better before Android Auto is connected. Not sure if I'm explaining this right - the phone (Android - Samsung S23) connects to the car when you get in and plays music. You also have the option of using Android Auto with an on-screen button. I've noticed that the audio sounds a bit muddy once Android Auto is connected vs before. I saw someone else posting about this earlier somewhere. Has anyone noticed the same, what's your take on this?

3. Seems VW wanted to provide a sunglass holder / a storage space on the ceiling, what else is this in the pic? And I don't think this was present in the older models of the Virtus. Any aftermarket stuff available to make this a sunglass holder?


Leaving you with a pic I just took after a good night drive to unwind from a long day

[agm]

Originally Posted by kaviprem

I will be getting my GT Plus DSG shortly.

I have a question - What kind of Sub-Woofer they offer?

Thanks!

In all probability I’ll be taking delivery of my White Virtus GT plus tomorrow.

I don’t have much knowledge of these company fitted or aftermarket audio system especially subwoofer. I drive Creta SXo with “Bose” system and I can as a layman without an iota of doubt say that Virtus music system overall especially subwoofer does a better job compared to my Creta. Saying this after playing same song back to back in both the cars.

Hope to see pictures of your new ride soon.

[VtechSupreme]

Originally Posted by neoakshay

Hi Bhpians,


1. Once you've parked the car, I'm not sure if any of you have noticed, a slight whirring sound coming from the front of the car. I'm quite sure it's the turbo still spinning. This is inspite of taking it easy with the last few kms before reaching any destination and also idling the engine for about 30 secs before switching off. I remember reading somewhere that turbo engines need to be idled before switching off so that the engine oil can continue to circulate and slow down the spinning turbo. Strangely the owner's manual doesn't mention anything about this, although other brands have it. Any advice for me regarding this?


3. Seems VW wanted to provide a sunglass holder / a storage space on the ceiling, what else is this in the pic? And I don't think this was present in the older models of the Virtus. Any aftermarket stuff available to make this a sunglass holder?

Turbine in the turbo only spools through the gasses coming from the exhaust manifold, it cannot have an independent speed. So the oil temperature will not change the turbine speed. While it won't fix the noise, you can idle the car for a few minutes when you ride the engine hard, so that the temperatures of the bearings come down for better long term reliability. This also applies vice versa, the bearings in your turbo can take a beating if you don't bring the engine temp up before reving the motor. You don't have to idle after every drive though.

From what I have heard on this thread, you can get the OEM sunglass holder at the Skoda service centers. Pretty easy installation.

[kaviprem]

Originally Posted by Jangra

Though I have not seen the sub of Virtus, it is exactly the same impression I had looking at the sub of my Kodiaq which is light, plasticky and don’t feel sturdy- but makes a night a day difference to the music. I bought my Virtus without the sub and am still satisfied with its 6 speaker set up especially at high volume. I like my songs to be base heavy, and while it can’t compete with the 12 speaker sound system of the Kodiaq, it does above average job. I’m sure sub would make a great difference.

Thanks and definitely, any sub would make a huge difference. It all comes down to its fidelity/clarity, etc. I thought Kodiaq comes with a sub fit in the body or door, but not within the spare wheel area. I havent seen it. So, I may be wrong.

Originally Posted by agm

In all probability I’ll be taking delivery of my White Virtus GT plus tomorrow.

I don’t have much knowledge of these company fitted or aftermarket audio system especially subwoofer. I drive Creta SXo with “Bose” system and I can as a layman without an iota of doubt say that Virtus music system overall especially subwoofer does a better job compared to my Creta. Saying this after playing same song back to back in both the cars.

Hope to see pictures of your new ride soon.

Thanks. Yes, I have heard many saying the Bose speakers in Creta and its Kia counterpart really sound bad. May be, they just went with the basis ones without proper calibration/tuning.
And Yes, Virtus Sub is effective, in the sense, it gives a "on your face" kind of bass punch that I am not a fan of. To me, Sub-bass should just fill/provide the necessary depth to the song, rather than being bright throughout the song. Of course, the individual preference varies.

Of course, will share the pics. Eagerly waiting for tomorrow and so, you are, I suppose

Prem.

[geminivirtus]

Hello everyone, I am seeing quite a few hairline sized scratches on different places, such as above door handles, above the wheel arch, bonnet etc. I am not sure from where those are coming from. I part in very secure places but these look different, no dent, no deep scratch wherein loss of paint is visible, just thin and long scratches in different places. I thought VW uses a hard paint these things shouldn't happen.

Could someone please let me know if they have encountered this before and what could be the reason.

[neoakshay]

Originally Posted by VtechSupreme

Turbine in the turbo only spools through the gasses coming from the exhaust manifold, it cannot have an independent speed. While it won't fix the noise, you can idle the car for a few minutes when you ride the engine hard, so that the temperatures of the bearings come down for better long term reliability. You don't have to idle after every drive though.

From what I have heard on this thread, you can get the OEM sunglass holder at the Skoda service centers. Pretty easy installation.

Okay, I was assuming the turbine keeps freely spinning at a high rpm and that the oil flow slows it down subsequently, hence the need to idle before engine off. I anyway don't drive hard before I come to a final halt, so if there's no damage being caused then it's all good. The sound I heard is very faint, don't think most people would notice. But definitely sounds like the turbine still spinning - could be something else, maybe radiator fan too? Can't think of anything else in the front of the car that could be spinning after switching the engine off.

Great to hear that Skoda has an OEM sunglass holder, will check on this and update incase I'm able to get it fitted to my Virtus. Thanks!

[adith97]

Hi all,
This is my first thread in Team BHP. I look forward to writing more threads & discussing with my fellow BHPians.

Choice of car

I was looking to buy my first new car as my old car, which was my father's Duster, had become too old. I wanted to buy a sedan because growing up, we had City & Verna in our family which I absolutely loved driving. Comfort & performance wise, I feel sedans are the best. Plus I just got married & it is a small family, just me & my wife. This is the best time to have a sedan. I can always upgrade to an SUV once my family grows.
Unfortunately today there aren't many options in the C segment. We only have Virtus, Slavia, Verna and City. I shortlisted Verna & Virtus after the first round of test driving. I am 6ft 3in height & I was worried sedans won't fit me. But except City, both Virtus & Verna were quite comfortable. I had to keep the seat at its lowest position.
Verna feels a lot more spacious inside & has a ton of features like ADAS, lane keep assist, collision warning etc etc, which honestly I don't care for. Virtus, on the other hand, is a lot less spacious. Two people can sit comfortably in the second row, not more than that. Three for short distances only. I selected the 1.5L turbo petrol engine in both the cars.
I did two more test drives on both the cars. I requested for a long test drive the third time on a highway & that sealed my decision.
Virtus on highways is an absolute beast! Once you hit that sport mode, the car just pulls you like anything. Pair that with the DSG gearbox with almost instantaneous shifts, it makes you want to reach illegal speeds. The car asks you to press more. The handling, cornering, brakes are top class. Verna is almost equally good but Virtus was a level above. My only concern was the DSG DQ200 gearbox which has had a lot of issues in the past but it seems they have refined it to make it more reliable.
My driving use was 60% highways, mostly trips to Chennai from Bangalore & 40% city, office commute 2-3 days a week. So it made sense to go for 1.5L TSI engine & DSG automatic because I was fed up of driving a manual in Bangalore traffic.

Variant

Virtus has two lines- one for the 1L TSI engine called Comfort line & one for the 1.5L TSI engine called Dynamic Line. Within these two lines, they have variants.
In Dynamic Line, there are primarily two variants - GT & GT Plus.
The only important difference is that GT comes with 2 airbags while GT Plus has 6 airbags. Apart from that, GT Plus also has sunroof (I don't like them), ventilated seats, electric adjustable seats, rain sensing vipers, automatic headlamps, cruise control etc.
Virtus has 5 star safety rating with 2 airbags itself. So I went ahead with GT variant itself as I don't care for any of the other features.

Dealership Experience

I bought the car at KUN Volkswagen dealer, JP Nagar. The experience was decent. They were not very proactive in following up. I always had to call them up & follow up for everything.
I bargained a lot with them to get discounts. I told them that I would take insurance outside, after which they reduced it significantly all the way from around 80k to 40k. This included bumper to bumper zero depreciation, Engine protect, Cost of consumables, Return to invoice, NCB etc.
I also sold my Duster to KUN motors, for which I bargained too & got a 20K exchange bonus. I thought the price was a little low compared to if I had sold outside in Cars24 or Spinny. But the process was smooth & hassle free, the amount directly went as downpayment. So I just did it.
I also got extended warranty & standard accessories free as well.
Another thing I checked was the road tax between KA & TN. I thought if it was significantly less, I would get it registered in TN. But turns out, it is pretty close to KA & the difference was a mere 10K. It wasn't worth it, so I did it in KA itself.
The car was in stock already & was handed over to me in two weeks. I had told them that I would buy only if the car was in stock & that I would go to another dealer if I had to wait. I didn't like waiting for the car.
I requested for a PDI before the car was sent to registration, which they allowed. The sales person rushed me during the PDI as he had other work but I took my sweet little time to do it.
The delivery was done smoothly with no issues, with a cake & the car reveal.

Driving/Ownership Experience - 2000kms

It has been one month since the delivery & I have driven almost 2000Kms.

Pros

• Vehicle performance is amazing. It is a joy to push this 1.5L beast of an engine. As mentioned above, it clocks high speeds without breaking a sweat. Handling, cornering is amazing. I keep wanting to take it out for a drive.
• Gear shifts are instantaneous with DSG gearbox.
• Amazing brakes. Gives you confidence to go at high speeds.
• Silent cabin.
• Good steering control.
• Amazing ground clearance for a sedan. Never had to worry about the bottom hitting the road.
• 5 star safety rating. You can feel the build quality with the door thud.
• Decent mileage. Better than expected really. As an experiment, I drove light footed & maintained 100Km/hr through one long drive. I got 17kms/l. Generally I get around 10 in highways, which is mainly due to the speeds I go at.
• Huge boot space is very practical.
• Looks gorgeous. I think this is the best looking car in this segment
• AC is very effective. Looks like they have fixed the AC issues now. It is effective even in Chennai.
• Fabric seats are really comfortable.
• Red themed interior looks classy. Ambient red lighting looks cool as well. Lot of space is nice.
• Warning sound after 120 is not that intrusive. With music, you won't even hear it.
• Infotainment system with Android auto is good & useful.
• Volkswagen app is nice. Tells the location of the car as well as if the engine is switched on or off. Has a theft informing system too.
• Music system is good.
• Vehicle has built a reputation as an enthusiast car. Whenever I tell anyone that I have bought Virtus, they are always surprised & say what a good car it is.

Cons

• DSG gearbox in bumper to bumper traffic is a pain. There is the known DSG lag at low speeds plus it gets real confused between 1st & 2nd gear. It is also known to heat up a lot in such traffic. I think people who primarily drive inside cities should think a lot before getting DSG.
• Transitioning to automatic has been frustrating at times. This is a personal issue. After being a manual driver for the past 10 years, with the DSG issues mentioned above, I feel like I have no control over the car. It is just driving itself. I guess, with time, I will get used to it.
• Automatic start stop system is absolute rubbish. I always switch if off as soon as I start. It is tuned so aggressively that the engine switches off even for speed breakers.
• I feel the suspension is a little stiff. Not sure if it is just me.
• There is a small noise that comes from the brake pedal when I disengage it. I asked the service person at VW & they said that it is expected. But I am pretty sure it wasn't there initially.
• My wife calls this car "the kidnap car". It is because the lock/unlock functionality for all the doors is with the driver. The passengers can't unlock their doors themselves.
• Boot door doesn't stay put. You have to open it all the way up for it stay put. Have gotten hit a couple of times already.
• Occasionally android auto gets disconnected. But this has been very very rare.

Overall, I am very satisfied with the car so far & I can't wait to keep driving it.

[vw_greyghost]

Originally Posted by neoakshay

2. The audio quality seems much better before Android Auto is connected.

Even I feel the same. Before connecting to Android auto, the music is so much better! The tone goes down once its connected. Usually If i am not using google maps, i prefer just connecting to bluetooth for the music.

[neoakshay]

Originally Posted by vw_greyghost

Even I feel the same. Before connecting to Android auto, the music is so much better! The tone goes down once its connected. Usually If i am not using google maps, i prefer just connecting to bluetooth for the music.

Thanks, I'm glad someone else noticed this. How does the system work exactly -sometimes it connects automatically to Android Auto. Is the difference that the connection is Bluetooth OR wifi?

[yesyeswe]

Originally Posted by neoakshay

Hi Bhpians,

I have 3 questions about the Virtus:

1. Once you've parked the car, I'm not sure if any of you have noticed, a slight whirring sound coming from the front of the car. I'm quite sure it's the turbo still spinning. This is inspite of taking it easy with the last few kms before reaching any destination and also idling the engine for about 30 secs before switching off. I remember reading somewhere that turbo engines need to be idled before switching off so that the engine oil can continue to circulate and slow down the spinning turbo. Strangely the owner's manual doesn't mention anything about this, although other brands have it. Any advice for me regarding this?

After the radiator and in the front of the engine there's an auxiliary/secondary coolant pump which remains on even after the engine is turned off, it remains on only for some time, so I'm sure you hear that.

[mayank4823]

Originally Posted by adith97

Boot door doesn't stay put. You have to open it all the way up for it stay put. Have gotten hit a couple of times already.

This can be solved with a 10 min trip to the Service Centre. Just tell them and they will fix it.

Congrats on your purchase. Lovely color as well.

[shiv4747]

Originally Posted by adith97

Hi all,

Overall, I am very satisfied with the car so far & I can't wait to keep driving it.

Many congratulations on your purchase and welcome to Virtus club!!

Wishing you happy miles ahead.

Cheers

[vidyanand]

Quick question folks.
Does Virtus GT Plus (older 1.5 DSG model) has dual or single horn?
While sometime, it sounds good enough, other times it feels feeble than the dual horn I have on my stock 2013 i20.

I keep wondering if I need to change to the VW Trumpets, or let it be. I don't use it much but it's more or less necessary in City traffic.

[vw_greyghost]

Originally Posted by neoakshay

Thanks, I'm glad someone else noticed this. How does the system work exactly -sometimes it connects automatically to Android Auto. Is the difference that the connection is Bluetooth OR wifi?

I think if Bluetooth and WiFi both is on, then Android Auto will connect. You can turn off android auto in Phone Connect=>your connected phone=>click on music icon, it will disconnect Android Auto and continue playing music in Bluetooth mode.