What points I observed about the VW Virtus during a short test drive

May 29, 2022 admin 207 Views

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The front & rear seat comfort is the same as the Skoda Slavia & a lot better than the Hyundai Verna.

BHPian amit1agrawal recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I went to check out Virtus GT and managed to do a short test drive. Few observations:

The overall fit and finish are a notch better than Slavia. I checked for a rough cut below the dashboard, coin holders, and edges of plastic by running my finger and it’s smooth everywhere. The fit of plastic everywhere felt solid. In comparison, the golden-brown lining in the dashboard in Slavia was loosely fitted towards the edges. The small round sensor on the driver side door was also solidly fit; the finish could have been better (In old polo the fit and finish of the same was perfect).
The pair of AC sliders in the center dashboard control were not uniform in operation. One was harder to slide than the other. However, AC sliders near the doors and the rear center console were smooth.
The placement of the engine start/stop button is better than Slavia. It’s visible and easier to reach and operate.
The roof liner fabric was okay but it flexes a lot, especially behind the sunroof area. I compared this with Taigun where the fabric was poor but it was more sturdy. This is a step or two down from Polos and Ventos.
All cabin light switches were hard to press and made of cheap quality. They operate in 2-stages but I never manage to switch them stage by stage. With slight pressure, it won’t budge and when you apply more pressure it toggles two times. Even the Anchor switches used in our home costing 100 bucks feel a lot more premium.
Somehow the fit and finish of leather seats in the GT variant are better and much better than Slavia.
The car was kept outside under the hot sun. I set the Auto AC to 21 degrees & sat in the rear seat. The car was hot and the AC blower was running at half the speed and taking its own time to cool the cabin. In my Linea TJet, in similar condition, the AC will work full speed for about 5 mins to cool down the cabin and then reduce the blower speed. I switched it to full speed in manual mode and the cabin cooled down soon. I think the compressor is not weak but the Auto AC configuration is set conservatively.
The front and rear seat comfort are the same as Slavia. Honda City has better rear-seat comfort but it’s a lot better than Verna.
The steering is very good to hold and it reminded me of the one in my 2015 Polo. The steering is very light and I missed the feedback at high speed (Went to 85 for a short period).
Virtus & Slavia are the same cars under the hood but I felt that Slavia has a bit more fun-to-drive feeling.
The carpet quality is a tad better than Slavia. Those cuts for hinges are an eyesore.
GT variant comes with a grey rooftop and ORVMs. It’s hardly visible in carbon steel color. It will look good in Red, White & Yellow colors.
Carbon Steel GT comes with grey inserts in the dashboard. The red comes with Red inserts. According to SA, other colors will have silver inserts but he was not 100% sure. I hope he is right; red inserts in blue or yellow would look out of place. In-person, the red inserts don’t look as bad as in photos.
The brake callipers, which are painted red in the GT variant, have a rough surface and hence don’t look that great. In the non-GT variant, they blend with wheels and discs.
Inconsistencies in a demo car: I found the right rear window switch hard to operate but it was smooth in the left rear door. In another car, the same switch was smooth.
GT variant comes with an 8 speaker setup. The sound quality is good, not great. Slavia has a better speaker setup; better clarity and an additional subwoofer that give better bass/low-frequency. It is better than Honda city though.
The 10-inch touch screen was slick to operate with easy to use interface. It’s the same as Slavia.