Virtus / Slavia: Outclassed by the Verna
I test-drove the VW Virtus and Skoda Slavia, both petrol 1.5-liter turbo DCT1, in the city and on the highway, and evaluated them against my requirements. The following applies to both cars. Whenever I say “Virtus” or “Slavia”, you should interpret it as “Virtus and Slavia”, except when I say otherwise.
Buy Verna Instead
My conclusion is that the Virtus is a good car, but the Hyundai Verna is stellar, for the same cost of 23 lakh, so I recommend it instead. Here a - means a drawback of the Slavia:
- The Slavia has a firm suspension, so it’s not as relaxing or comfortable. The Slavia gave me a back pain, despite a shorter test drive than the Verna, and that too first thing in the morning when I’m rested, as opposed to in the evening with the Verna.
- The Slavia has turbo lag, as all turbos do, with the stellar exception of the Verna, which makes it next-level to drive.
- The gearbox in the Slavia is not as smooth: sometimes you don’t get power when you press the accelerator, so you press it more and then the power comes rushing in and you’re jerked forward. On the other hand, the Verna is buttery smooth, almost electric.
- With the Verna, I was driving at speed on a dark, curved, unfamiliar road in traffic, reclined, chilling, holding the wheel with two fingers. It was a beautiful moment of man and machine working together. On the other hand, I didn’t develop feelings for the Virtus.
± Both the Virtus (but not the Slavia) and the Verna look good in their own way. I’d pick the Virtus’s handsome masculine esthetic, as opposed to the soft, feminine, rounded rects of Apple design. A good and unique look (Virtus) beats a good look (Verna).
So why buy the Slavia when the Verna exists?
If you disagree with my recommendation and buy a Virtus, you’ll still be getting a good car, just not the best for this budget.
If you’d like to learn more about each aspect, read on for my full review:
- There’s a tiny pocket next to the handbrake, but it’s too small even for my house key.
± Manual parking brake
+ Auto headlamps
+ Auto wipers
+ Auto-dimming inner rear view mirror.
+ The interior looks more upscale than the Ciaz or City.
± When the car is locked and you want to exit, pull the lever twice: the first unlocks, and the second opens the door. As opposed to a separate unlock button.
- Fastback design, which is less aerodynamic than a traditional sedan design with a flat boot.
+ Deep boot, as is common for a full-sized sedan.
- Only a tyre deflation indicator, not a full TPMS (tyre-pressure monitoring system) that tells you how severe the deflation is.
+ 7-speed transmission
+ The car shows the current gear, like S2 or D3. As a geek, I like to understand how the automatic transmission is working.
+ Since it’s a sedan, I was cautious about ground clearance, but it handled a high speedbreaker (the one at Nagavarapalya school) at 14 kph.
+ When accelerating gently, the car maintains an RPM of at least 1300-1400 in D and 2100 in S. In other words, these are the RPMs immediately after an upshift.
± Pulling the gear lever back from D toggles S(port).
Comfort
+ 3-way electrically adjustable seat: front / back, recline, and height.
+ Unlike in some cramped cars, my stomach doesn’t feel pressed.
+ Good headroom for a sedan.
+ When the seat is low, both the headroom and legroom are excellent for any car, not just a sedan.
+ The windshield doesn’t feel cramped as it does in some other sedans.
+ Tilt and telescoping
+ Sliding armrest
- No auto hold.
- The steering wheel is slightly harder than the Verna.
- The engine noise is slightly worse than the Verna.
- And Sport makes it slightly worse.
- At low speeds, there’s slight engine braking. Sometimes, pressing the accelerator doesn’t result in acceleration, so I press harder, and the power suddenly rushes in, jerking the car forward.
- When I take my food off the accelerator, especially in Sport, the power doesn’t taper off smoothly; passengers’ heads move forward.
Digital features
+ 2 USB-C ports
+ Wired CarPlay pairs and works instantly
+ CarPlay works on both ports. I love how VW , which eliminates a minor inconvenience.
+ 12V
+ The infotainment screen is small but bright and colorful.
- Google Maps showed my location as being in the middle of the sea — 5 times during the test drive. The car’s geolocation is defective.
- The radio suddenly blasted by itself at high volume.
- The car uses VW’s in-house speakers, which are nowhere as good as the wonderful Bose speaker system the Verna uses.
+ The volume knob is made of shiny solid metal. It looks distinctive and has heft, in a good way.
+ The phone’s volume buttons sometimes work in CarPlay but sometimes not.
Cooling
+ I can store either my Thermos or 1-liter Bisleri bottle in the door
+ 2 center bottle holders that fit my Thermos but not 1-liter Bisleri.
- The sunroof isn’t panoramic. Panoramic would be better since it instantly cools a black car that has been baking for hours in the summer afternoon sun.
- The opaque covering of the sunroof is manually opened, making possible a situation where it’s closed but the glass is open, resulting in heat and noise but not ventilation or a view.
- No physical AC controls
+ Ventilated seats, with a strong airflow, and two levels. I used it at low since it wasn’t hot. This is different from other cars, where the ventilation is subtle so you don’t feel it, but 45 min later, the sweat on your back has evaporated and you’re cool and comfortable.
- I set the AC to blow only at my feet, but it was coming on my face. It turned out that the icon for upper body cooling looks like the one for lower body.
Front Passenger seat
+ 3-way electrically adjustable like the driver’s seat: front / back, recline, and height.
+ I can stretch my legs.
+ Great headroom for any car, not just a sedan.
+ The window height is good for a sedan.
+ The window is not panoramic width-wise.
Rear seat
+ Good legroom
+ Headroom okay for a sedan
- I can feel some road vibrations since the suspension isn’t as good as the Verna.
- The view out the window is bad since my eye is near the roof (vertically) and near the quarter glass (horizontally)
- The window is not tall (but this is normal for a sedan).
+ The seat-back pocket has a phone holder, which is a thoughtful design, as is the hook above the window for a blazer.
- The non-panoramic sunroof is barely visible and therefore useless. The driver and front passenger can’t see it either because it’s above their head. If no one can enjoy the view, what’s the point?
- No rear windshield sunscreen.
+ 2 USB-C
+ Rear defogger via heating strips. It turns itself off automatically in 15-20 min2.
+ My Thermos flask fits in the door.
+ Each passenger can independently adjust the vent direction up / down / left / right and how open it is.
Virtus is better than Slavia
If I had to choose between the Virtus and the Slavia, the first thing to recognise is that Skoda is owned by VW, and the cars are 95% the same. If you buy a Virtus, you’ve bought 95% of a Slavia, and vice-versa. The differences are:
Design: The Virtus looks modern, both its interior and the front. I never liked the bonnet and the front of Skodas. For this reason, I’d pick the Virtus, with its handsome masculine esthetic.
Suspension: The Virtus is supposed to have a firmer suspension than the Slavia, but I couldn’t tell the difference. The salesman told me the suspensions are 90% the same. In fact, it was the Slavia that gave me back pain.
Conveniences: The Slavia has a pocket holder below and to the right of the steering wheel, and a ticket holder on the windshield.
DSG in Volkswagen-speak.
So, when you use it, it’s one less thing to keep track of.