Volkswagen Vento TDI DSG long term review first report

The new flat-bottomed steering is another welcome change. It’s added flair to what was formerly a rather drab cabin. A drab cabin in a fairly exciting car, that is. You see, the older Vento’s 103bhp, 1.6-litre diesel may have had a non-linear power delivery, but the way power came in a rush at 2,000rpm made it quite a fun car to drive hard. It’s the reason our old 1.6 diesel’s front tyres wore out so quickly.

For better or worse, I don’t think that’s something we’ll need to worry about on this new 1.5-litre version that makes the same 103bhp of power. Power delivery, in general, is a lot smoother, making this Vento friendlier and easier to live with. But that’s not to say the new Vento diesel is down on fun. Far from it.

I experienced the best side of the car on a 1,500km trip to the Wild Ass Sanctuary at the Little Rann of Kutch over the Republic Day weekend. Expectantly, good as it was on the fast-flowing sections of NH8, the combination of punchy engine and quick-shifting gearbox added a good deal of excitement on the lesser trafficked state highways of Gujarat. Of course, the gearbox’s Sport mode was summoned on these stretches, which holds on to gears longer and generally keeps the engine in its juicy mid-range. The fun drive actually made me ditch plans for relaxed bird watching and go about exploring the region. Needless to say, the Vento continued to wow on the journey to the fabulous Rani ki Vav stepwell at Patan and the intricately detailed Sun Temple at Modhena.