[breezydrive]

Well, I waited for GTO's review and it was worth!
And above all, an enthusiast's replying to almost every post!

Hats - off to Team-bhp!


VW should have learnt from MUL - Vxi, Vxi - ABS & Zxi co-exist.
Trendline - ABS @ 7.25 lacs (petrol) & 8.25 (diesel) would have been an irresistble Sedan !

[.anshuman]

This is clearly the best car review by GTO.

VW has come up with a very good pricing for the Vento, this car is sure to set sales charts on fire. I would have loved to see a DSG gearbox and Hydraulic steering for the Diesel variant(Expect this to be covered by Skoda in their Octy replacement sedan).

[Aarman_008]

Excellent review!!! Got a feeling as if I have driven it by myself.

Hope VW gives us a mid variant to offer which will have more takings amongst customers.

[fuel_addict]

Originally Posted by kadanaJ

Hmmm.....makes me wonder which diesel will be a larger commercial success.
The Volkswagen Vento or the Toyota Corolla Altis.

The Vento diesel should blow the Altis diesel away in terms of sales. Known A-S-S and few additional features apart, I don't see any reason why anyone should consider the Altis D4D with that puny engine. Hopefully, Toyota will start thinking now.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by sureshaddagalla

Haven't the Jettas and Passats been around for enough time to give us an informed estimate on service & ownership costs? Vento costs should be much better assuming 60% localization?

thanks

The Jetta & Passat hardly give an indication, considering their minuscule sales, premium pricing and high import content. Earlier Passats also had a poor reliability rating.

The Polo & Vento are cars on which VW has to provide a super ownership experience. Believe me, its not going to be easy and requires an extremely high level of commitment. VW's got the product right in the Vento...the real work starts now.

Originally Posted by aseem

Sid in his C&B show mentioned that the car doesnt look as big as some of the other cars in the segment and that it maybe a let down for some ppl.

The Vento is about as big as the ANHC. It's the Linea that looks more substantial & premium. Gotta love the design flair of 'em Italians.

How bad is the music quality in Vento compared to ANHC?

Umm, the OEM stereo from either car is hardly anything to write home about.

Originally Posted by Sahil

As always brilliant review GTO !!
Was waiting for this one eagerly as I had pre-booked the Auto version already. Wish you had test driven that too!
Although I am a but disappointed that the petrol isn't as good as expected, I won't refund my booking. Since performance isn't the biggest factor for this car decision of mine (only because I won't be using it ), the vento still feels like the better package compared to the city. The interior quality and build being key plus points for me. Also you mentioned the auto box is lazy, then again this car will be used strictly in traffic by us hence no highway runs won't make the laziness evident. It replaces a NHC CVT, so any gearbox is better

Thanks Sahil. Look forward to your ownership report as I believe the 1st silver Vento AT in Bombay is yours?

Originally Posted by Ary10

ACI figures are for MT. Volkwagen does not offer new JETTA 2.0 L TDI in DSG. This Jetta is offered post coming in vogue, Bharat Stage IV Emission norms.In view of favourable power to weight ratio, Vento's 0-100 timings, ought to be far less than Jetta's 11.94 sec. If i may hazard a guess, Vento should traverse 0-100, in just about 11 sec (or may be even less, had it not been detuned/tweaked for fuel efficiency).

In that case, 11 seconds sounds about right.

[manish.thomas]

Good car but VW better improve on their Showroom staff attitude. Not at all helpful when I last visited to testdrive Polo. Otherwise this would be another Linea in making.

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by Aarman_008

Hope VW gives us a mid variant to offer which will have more takings amongst customers.

I feel that the HL variant (both diesel and petrol) is priced quite competitively and offers very good VFM compared to the competitors in that price range. There will be many takers for the HL variant. Others can opt for TL.

Secondly, from VW point of view, they may not be able to distinguish a CL variant enough from TL/HL, so that it will have enough takers.

Also, any idea how the Polo CL is selling compared to the Polo TL/HL? Maybe VW has learned from their Polo experience that CL doesn't sell much (just guessing).

[Snazzy]

A wonderful review of an awesome looking car. Looks like VW have a winner on their hands. Only complaint being the lack of a Comfortline variant.

[Sn1p3r]

Thanks GTO the review is indeed very professional.

I saw a group of Ventos along with Phaeton along NH8 while on my way towards Jaipur on 14th Aug. I was in my ANHC. After a nasty traffic snarl one of the Vento tried racing but it was far too easy for me to keep ahead (I am still within first 5k of the car and break-in still keeps me below 3k on RPM) till the next crossing. It was another thing with me and the Phaeton though Again Phaeton got rubbed the wrong way by our leading Audi A4 2.0D.

With your stats and review on Diesel engine Toyota Altis-D is in for a big shocker. Honda will rule the roost with Petrol though and now they will even brag that the Germans cant match them for power in the range.

Cheers!

Excellent review GTO. a BIG from my side.

I think VW have got the pricing right yet again. How the sales numbers reflect on their hard efforts only time will tell.

But at this point i want to comment on an observation which i have made, not once but more than a couple of times now. I work in Pune and we can spot Test mules of the vento all the time here. But after the showcase the vehicles have been doing the rounds of Pune and adjoining areas very frequently now, and these are production models with all the bells and whistles (all colours and all emblems, logos, mascots etc). These vehicles sport RED registration plates typical of all testing vehicles.

Now what i have noticed is, the vento is invisible to the crowd. I have spotted ventos in smaller towns, villages, city centres, IT parks and around but this vehicle doesnt draw a second look from any average individual. (Barring the auto-enthusiasts)

I think this doesnt go well with the desirability factor of this car. Also the Honda City although over-priced is perceived as a status symbol, and the Vento should also match up to the City on this parameter.

Just my two cents, comments are welcome. Just remember this is my opinion.

[Sahil]

Originally Posted by GTO

Thanks Sahil. Look forward to your ownership report as I believe the 1st silver Vento AT in Bombay is yours?

.

So claims the dealership, their word isn't the most reliable as we know
I don't care if it's first or not just want it ASAP

[monkey_wrench]

Now what i have noticed is, the vento is invisible to the crowd. I have spotted ventos in smaller towns, villages, city centres, IT parks and around but this vehicle doesnt draw a second look from any average individual. (Barring the auto-enthusiasts)

Agreed. My ANHC is being delivered next week. A few weeks back, when I was finalising the purchase decision, I did hesitate for a bit...knowing the Vento would be out soon. However, when I saw the first-look pictures, I wasn't very impressed and safely progressed with the ANHC purchase.

Now when I read this, and see everthing else that is now published--I'm very satisfied I decided to buy the ANHC. I would have expected something a little more...'beetle-like' in terms of design from VW.

[karanraheja]

Originally Posted by GTO

Umm, the OEM stereo from either car is hardly anything to write home about.

Awesome Review Rush !! I guess the Vento OEM stereo is similar to the one in the Polo? I actually think ANHC's OEM stereo is quite good.

[adimicra]

Originally Posted by superveloce

Excellent review GTO. a BIG from my side.

I think VW have got the pricing right yet again. How the sales numbers reflect on their hard efforts only time will tell.

But at this point i want to comment on an observation which i have made, not once but more than a couple of times now. I work in Pune and we can spot Test mules of the vento all the time here. But after the showcase the vehicles have been doing the rounds of Pune and adjoining areas very frequently now, and these are production models with all the bells and whistles (all colours and all emblems, logos, mascots etc). These vehicles sport RED registration plates typical of all testing vehicles.

Now what i have noticed is, the vento is invisible to the crowd. I have spotted ventos in smaller towns, villages, city centres, IT parks and around but this vehicle doesnt draw a second look from any average individual. (Barring the auto-enthusiasts)

I think this doesnt go well with the desirability factor of this car. Also the Honda City although over-priced is perceived as a status symbol, and the Vento should also match up to the City on this parameter.

Just my two cents, comments are welcome. Just remember this is my opinion.

This is correct! The Polo and Vento have very understated but elegant looks and they do not make heads turn!
The first weekend after I took delivery of my Jazz I took it to a mall and was waiting in the queue to enter the parking lot! There was a brand new Polo HighLine in Red Color just beside me and of course, I was looking at it but I too felt that it kind of gets lost in the crowd!
Then I started looking outside to see the public reaction as there were 2 brand new cars - Believe me, everybody was looking/staring at the Jazz ( do not know if it looked beautiful or ugly to the passers-by but definitely it turns lot of heads) whereas people were hardly looking at the Polo! Honest feedback and no wars please! (I personally think the Polo is a very high quality product and has recommended the car (Polo trendline) to people with a budget of around 5L both inside and outside this forum!

[adimicra]

Originally Posted by karanraheja

Awesome Review Rush !! I guess the Vento OEM stereo is similar to the one in the Polo? I actually think ANHC's OEM stereo is quite good.

The Vento's system is same as the Polo which everybody agrees is mediocre!
I haven't traveled much in the Honda City but someone mentioned that it has got the same music system as the jazz - if that is true, then it is indeed very good ( inafct the best among all OEM stereos in cars within 10L range). Do not know how it can be said similar to the Polo/Vento.