Re: Volkswagen Vento TDi Comfortline The ownership experience
I have not driven much of the Vento's competition except for the old Verna, an MJD Linea and the petrol Sunny. So this will be more of an ownership experience than a comparative review. Moreover, we already have tons of excellent comparative ownership reviews with awesome snaps on the forum for the Vento. I have to admit that the Comfortline variant is definitely a compromise on the important safety features of ABS and airbags. As of now, the car has run 1460 kms. Likes:
- Handling. Since I had not tasted much cars with such handling ability, this takes first position in my view. Winding roads are a bliss on the Vento. Maybe, I'm not too sure; the spoil sport is the JK Vectras. In the same breath, let me add that I do not do high speed cornering maneuvers too often; so this wonderful handling won’t come much useful in my daily usage pattern.
- The horn. Yes, I am absolutely in love with the 'paanmp'. And it can be used to communicate; there is a lot of difference in conveying the idea when you press shorter vs. longer. Moreover, without the airbag, the horn pad extends to where your thumb is.
- The low end grunt is good and the turbo spools almost linearly. Turbo starts from around 1300 and picks up faster near 1500 RPM. The Vento is beastlier with the turbo. For the mild driver, the turbo can be termed almost lag-less. During the running-in period, I was about to ask fellow BHPians if at all my turbo was working or not, but then searched from T-BHP for an exact answer. Overtaking is fun once the turbo kicks in.
- The car does not jerk when we take the foot off the A-pedal unlike in many other cars. That means the engine braking comes in slowly. Maybe it is a feature accomplished by the ECU. I’m not sure if I like less engine braking, but I sure like less jerking.
- The interiors are simple and well laid-out and moreover spacious. Seems that the build quality is excellent but why are the door rubbers squeaking and leaking! - more on this in the 'dislikes' section. The panel gaps are consistent and the panels with thicker gauge than the competition.
- Sound insulation on the inside is above average. Even the engine noise is much muted. On the flip side, as I've mentioned, I personally love cars where the driver is one with the engine. Not that I want the clatter, but the diesel thrum of a Jeep are music to my ears.
- Gear shifter is a joy to use. Just that you got to get acclimatized with the reverse gear slotting.
- Driver's arm rest allows us to feel like sitting at home. And some storage space is also provided. But this does interfere with use of the hand brake.
- I’m surprised to get Climatronic A/C on the Comfrotline. The executive was saying that even he was unaware of that as it was a recent addition. Also, the HU plays USB. An RCD 220.
- Humongous boot space. Though the height of the opening is not that great when compared to the Baleno. I used to transport ladders and computer tables and even a bicycle in the Baleno's boot.
- Loved the braking. Had one emergency braking and no issues at all; a clean stop.
- Love the headrests. I hate flat high headrests.
- Liked the gear change recommendation on the MID. I’m sure dad is going to love it more. He is a confused diesel driver.
- All the windows have single touch up and down individually and at the driver door. Moreover, the windows can be opened / closed using the key fob.
- It is only now that I realized the use of rear fog lamps. Good to have those in bad climate conditions.
- I’m okay with the light steering. It gets weighed up at speeds more than the Nissan's.
- Huge glove box is always welcome. Cubby spaces too.
- If you want some small items to remain chilled, just put it at the space ahead of the ash collector and put on the A/C. I guess the A/C ducts run alongside which does the trick. But if it is night, the light below the cigarette lighter warms up; that is why I suggested the space ahead and not the cup holder. Dislikes:
- Headlamps. Pathetic from Volkswagen. Didn't expect this from a company who speak a lot about build quality and safety. The headlamp aiming is too bad that it is focused to a point making it difficult while negotiating turns. What are my options in upgrading the headlamp bulbs without any additional relay? And how about re-aiming for a wider throw?
- Squeaking door rubber. This is real bad on a brand new car. The door rubber squeaks rubbing with the metal panel (I guess; could not investigate further) when going over bad road or even when we take a bump at an angle. Is this the norm, Ventonians? Any solutions?
- Leak!!! I won't make a huge hue and cry over this, as just a single drop of water fell on my hand seeping in through the door rubber (I guess) under heavy rainfall. Another drop and Volkswagen, you are going to have a piece of my mind. Either way, a leak is a leak and this is highly unexpected from a million rupee German engineered car.
- Volkswagen dealer attitude is average. Haughty and less-knowledgeable compared to the competition. At the time of delivery, I asked a service adviser, who assisted us, about the RPM at which the turbo spools. 4000 was his answer and I smiled. Auto-lock and unlock was promised by our sales executive, but not so by the service team. Bad PDI with a loose fuse leading to no illumination of the head unit at night.
- The engine when combined with the gearbox felt like an untamed beast. I more like tamable beasts like the K9K. Why mostly because the car jerks while up shifting especially from 1st to 2nd and from 2nd to 3rd, unless you release the clutch really really slow. So I need not mention about downshifting; unless you are downshifting at a very low RPM. Hence, anticipated engine braking by downshifting is not a pleasure, unlike with the K9K.
- The ECU takes over the engine control many times. For example, the RPM does take some time to settle to a perfect idle even when the clutch is fully depressed. I was idling while applying the brakes. While lifting the foot from the pedal and rolling the car in neutral, the RPM increased on its’ own. I like less intrusion from the ECU on the engine. Since the ECU adjusts for lower RPM usage, we get a tendency to drive at lower RPMs.
- There is subtle to moderate hammering effect transferred to the foot from the clutch pedal. Yes, bad vibrations on the clutch pedal while we depress it.
- Feels like a heavy vehicle is being lugged. The nimbleness is missing.
- The straight lift of the Polo's front grill slats. Should have given some difference for the Vento. On the road, one has to strain his eyes to recognize a Polo from a Vento; the subtlest of difference is for the fog lamps, and of course the boot once the car has passed by. Love the Rapid for the overall looks. Aren't the overall straight design lines on the Volkswagen cars fast aging?
- The brake pedal is higher than the A-pedal. I have read people complaining of the clutch pedal higher than the other pedals but the brake pedal and the A-pedal are being used by the same right foot and I felt it awkward to lift it more for braking.
- Visibility is not great. At the back, it is pathetic. The sides are average. The front is average to above average depending on the seat height adjustment. But I’m surprised I got parking sensors at the rear for a Comfortline.
- Controls are on the wrong side. Isn’t it high time we had a unified pattern for cars sold in our country?
- No auto-lock and auto-unlock on the Comfortline. Even the fuel lid can be opened from outside if not manually central locked!
- Clutch is a tad bit stiffer. In heavy traffic, I got some knee pain.
- The chrome lining around the air dam and the fog lamps are sorely missed in the lower models. Can the chrome lining alone be installed?
- I didn't like the sound output from the speakers/HU much. I’ve decided to live with it at present. I’m not a hardcore modifier.
- Though the boot is large, we have to lift the luggage much for loading and unloading. The boot lip is high.
- Sad that the seats are not fold-able. The bicycle and ladder will now has to be transported using an Ape.
- There is not much space on the left of the clutch pedal to rest your left foot. Though I’m a small footer, my sandals had a tough time going between the pedal and the center console plastic.
- Was it so difficult for Volkswagen to put reverse lamps on both sides for the Vento?
- I’m afraid whether the front over hang will hit the innumerous inclines at my place. Will it?
- I absolutely adore the Shadow Blue color and even got an infraction on the forum for drooling over it in fewer words. Sorely miss the Blue as I had to give in to dad's preference of White. Bottom line - I still love the other car in our garage - the Micra for its' excellent overall drive-ability and niggle free experience. That does not make the Vento any bad. It is just that the Micra more matches my personal preference. The Vento is a beast on the highway, but unfortunately, Kerala has very few real highways. Almost all over Kerala, the speed is restricted to 70 kmph!
Last edited by thoma : 4th April 2013 at 08:47.
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