Nov 10, 2010 06:06 PM
16932 Views
(Updated Nov 11, 2010 08:15 AM)
This is my experience with the Volkswagen Vento.
I am a prospective customer, wishing to buy the Vento Highline(P). I visited the show room at Cochin to take a look at the vehicle. I liked the looks and decided to do a test drive the following day which I did. The car is on the whole was impressive, with regard to fit, finish and handling.
The shocks felt soft and there was thud from the suspension when we hit a speed breaker. The demo car had done 3000K, and the panels were already squeaking. Plus you have to keep the engine at about 2000 RPM + to feel the power kick in. A few features like an Aux./ USB port for the music system, steering mounted switches etc would be missed. Besides the fact it does feel a bit cramped, the position of the arm rest lowered gets in the way of the hand brake lever. The stalk switches feel flimsy and the instrument panel very dull. I thought here they could have done a little more to embellish the look.
Going through the features closely, I was baffled to note that the spare wheel was a 14inch steel one. The car runs on 15 inch alloys. Is this cost cutting taken to the other extent? Passing off the 14inch wheel from the Trendline variant?
For a mathematically inclined person this sounds very asymmetrical and absurd. One must realize the rotation of the wheel is a function of its diameter. The bigger wheels will pull on the smaller wheel causing uneven tyre wear and upset wheel alignment. The differentials are designed to run on wheels with equal sizes..likely to cause damage. Hot shot engineers from VW might say differently- that the spare wheel is to be used only for an emergency. Think- driving on a highway through an occasional villages and on the rough roads in India how quickly would you find someone who can fix your flat tubeless radial? A lot of manufacturers give you steel rims for a stepney. but the diameter and tyre sizes are the same.
They say the car is crafted to perfection. What is VW doing here? Setting up the vehicle for early tyre and differential damage.
PS: The fuel cons rating is as per what is advertised.
