Volkswagen has finally made a comeback to the mid-size sedan segment with the Virtus and surely looks promising! Prices for the Virtus start at an introductory price of ₹11.21 lakh for the base 1.0 TSI manual and go all the way up to ₹17.91 lakh for the top-end 1.5 TSI DSG GT Plus variant. The Virtus is based on the VW A0 IN platform which underpins the Volkswagen Taigun as well. It goes up against the likes of Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, and Skoda Slavia.
Price
Design
The Virtus claims to be the biggest mid-size sedan that you can buy today. It measures 4,651 mm in length, 1,507 mm in height, and 1,752mm in width. The wheelbase is 2651 mm which is the best-in-class and similar to the Skoda Slavia. The Virtus features a clean and understated design that we have come to see in other Volkswagen cars. The front features a thin grille with chrome outlines on the top and bottom. The chrome lines merge into the LED DRLs of the LED headlights which form a C-shape.
The lower half of the bumper features a large black air dam with vertically placed LED foglamps on each side. The side features 16-inch alloy wheels. The rear gets blacked-out LED taillamps and a chrome element on the lower half of the bumper. To add excitement, the GT variant gets a GT badge on the grille and front fenders, blacked-out alloy wheels, a dual-tone roof, black ORVMs, and red brake calipers.
Interior
The Virtus gets dual-tone black and beige interiors. The overall layout is typically Volkswagen with clean lines. You will notice a lot of parts shared with the Taigun SUV such as the multifunction steering wheel, the door handles, the touch-sensitive climate control unit, and the gear knob. The GT variant adds a red panel on the dash and door panels just like the Taigun. Other additions in the GT variant include aluminum pedals, red ambient lighting, and red stitching on the seats.
Also read Volkswagen Virtus Review: A Fun All-Rounder Sedan!
The center stage is taken up by a 10-inch touchscreen infotainment system which comes with wireless Android Auto and Apple Carplay. It also comes with 8 speakers as standard. In terms of features, it gets automatic climate control, a reverse parking camera, an 8-inch virtual cockpit display, auto headlamps, auto wipers, auto-dimming inside rearview mirror, auto-folding mirrors, wireless charging, ventilated seats, electric sunroof, cruise control, and keyless entry with push-button start. The boot space is rated at 521 liters.
Safety
The Virtus comes with a host of safety features such as brake disc wiping, ASR, MSR, Electronic differential lock with XDS and XDS+, three-point seatbelts for all the rear passengers, multi-collision braking, 6 airbags, TPMS, HHC, ABS, and EBD, and TCS.
Powertrain
The Virtus comes with two petrol engines which come with idle start/stop technology. The turbocharged 1.0-liter 3 cylinder TSI engine produces 115hp and 178 Nm of torque mated to a 6-speed manual and 6-speed torque converter automatic transmission. The more powerful engine found in the GT variant is the turbocharged 1.5-liter 4-cylinder TSI engine which produces 150hp and 250 Nm of torque mated to a 6-speed manual or 7-speed DSG dual-clutch automatic transmission. This engine also comes with cylinder deactivation technology.
Variants and Colours
The Virtus is available in 6 colors including Rising Blue Metallic, Curcuma Yellow, Carbon Steel Grey, Reflex Silver, Candy White, and Wild Cherry Red. It is available in 4 variants, namely, Comfortline, Highline, Topline and GT.
