Volkswagen Vento 1.6 TDI Review

 From the rear, the Vento with its huge boot looks big. Also, the rear track is 35mm wider and the wider haunches have allowed a wee bit more width for the rear seat. The Vento adopts the Polo’s Mac Pherson strut front suspension and non-independent trailing arm rear setup, modified to adjust for the wider track. This reflects the light build of the Vento which, at 1,220kg (for the diesel), is just 95kg more than an equivalently specced Polo – impressive considering how much more car the Vento is.

The rear seatback is a bit too upright and you sink a touch too low into the seat squab. The Vento is currently available only in the base Trendline and top-end Highline variants. The Trendline gets basics like power steering, power windows, air-con and central locking but little else.

The Highline in addition gets power mirrors, climate control, 15-inch alloys ABS, front airbags, CD/MP3 player, remote locking and driver’s seat height adjust. VW has given the Vento a stonking 1.6-litre common-rail diesel which is in essence the Polo motor with an extra cylinder. This twin-cam diesel churns out 105bhp and churns out a class-leading 25.4kgm of torque which peaks at a nice and low 1500rpm. The Vento’s mega mid-range makes it a brilliant highway car as well.

The Vento diesel gave us decent figures – 13.1kpl and 17.3kpl are what we got on the city and highway respectively. The Vento’s primary objective is to be a comfortable saloon and the suspension is set up that way. Just like in the Polo, the Vento’s ride isn’t as flat or consistent as we would have liked.

The long wheelbase and wider rear track give the Vento stability through corners but it doesn’t like quick direction changes and on the limit the Vento under steers strongly.

To sum up, the Vento is a nicely judged mix of good ride and decent handling.
The Vento is the result of  pains taking homework  by Volkswagen.