Sedans are back or at least that is what the market Buzz will have you believe. But is it really the case? Because come to think of it, the volumes and the growth still rest with the Crossovers. Having said that, the sedan segment has definitely been revitalized because it was always the Honda City as a de facto name in the category. But with the introduction of the Skoda Slavia, Volkswagen Virtus, and more recently the Hyundai Verna, things have become a lot more exciting.

And what we have here is a tale of two turbos – the 1.5 TSI in the Volkswagen Virtus and the 1.5 GDI in the Hyundai Verna – classic examples of what small-capacity turbo engines can do.  

Design

It of course is a subjective matter, and you can make up your mind on which card you like more. But, in my opinion, the Volkswagen Virtus has a more balanced approach.

It looks better on the road, it has more pleasing proportions, and the overall design execution is a lot more pleasant. There are no unnecessary design highlights that kind of stick out to the eye, but that is what the Hyundai Verna is all about.  

The new Verna is all very bold and radical, it’s got unnecessary sort of details going on, and in that process, it’s of course bold, but it’s also controversial and polarizing. 

The front end of the Virtus is very plain Jane, but at the same time, it’s also very attractive in its own unique way. Nothing is jotting about it, nothing that offensively sticks to your eye at all, but it is the rear end that is a lot more characterful. There are these layers that give it complexity, but also a slight hint of beauty.  

Contrasting to the design theme of The Fortress is the Hyundai Verna. This thing is a bit radical in approach, and the front end is dominated by a running LED strip across the width.

It is no doubt striking and it is going to capture the eye instantly, but it is also a little gimmicky in feel. And then, of course, is the rest of the treatment of the front end which is kind of exaggerated by the headlamp housing. Also, many themes and many layers are going on so yeah not as harmonious a design execution as the Virtus, but I guess it has its appeal.  

As you move to the rear the car starts to make a lot more sense, and it is again in this case, the rear end of the car which is a lot more characterful.

There are a couple of things that I’m not a great fan of. For example, the knurled finish at the bottom, that kind of looks a little not as pleasing, but overall, the design execution of the rear is a lot better than what it is essentially at the front end. 

Interior

Inside, it’s neck and neck between the two cars. The Verna might just have a slight advantage, but that is not to say that the Virtus is not worthy.  

But there’s a caveat: VW brought some great products to India and established a name for itself for quality and robustness. Be it the Jetta, Passat, or later the Polo, Vento, or Tiguan — they all were excellently built cars with hardly any surface or cabin issues to complain about. You could literally feel manufacturing greatness in those cars.   

I miss that in the present-day mass-market VWs — the Virtus and the Taigun, that is. The feel of design and manufacturing sophistication is not the same. Is the Virtus badly made? Not really — there are some iffy bits, like the central console isn’t the last word in quality but overall the plastic panels on the dashboard, the door cards and the way everything else is integrated into the cabin are pretty good and it’s even got a sense of robustness to it, but what I’m trying to say is that the suave in the personality is not there as much.  

It’s a very straightforward design here with nothing flashy — other than this red plastic outline on the dashboard. A lot of people I’ve spoken to seem to like it, but I still think that a more conservative charcoal or dark silver treatment would look even better. In fact, it may even give the cabin the air of class that is associated with VWs.    

The rest of the things are part of the course. There’s a digital instrument screen that gives you different display formats for the main readout. The screen is touch-sensitive with a decent response time. The air conditioning works just well enough, and you get the expected features like a good connectivity suite with CarPlay and Android Auto and there’s wireless charging on offer too.   

Seats — the fronts are ventilated, so that’s big marks, and space is quite sufficient too with 4 fully grown adults fitting in just fine.

But one thing I’ve had a bit of an issue with is the maximum upright level of the front seats. I like to sit fairly upright — just a hint of an angle to the seat back, but yeah pretty upright. And the seat in the Virtus doesn’t give me that angle, so whoever is the supplier, may thought that all people sit reclining their backs a bit. But otherwise, the seats are quite good and comfortable enough. 

Powertrains

But it’s what’s under the bonnet that this feature is all about so let’s focus on that.

The 1.5 TSI engine in the Virtus is not all new. This EA211 EVO engine builds on the legacy of being a very tractable and exciting engine — in the right application.   

VW didn’t share any details about the turbo, but a little digging led us to the tech bits. Most likely it’s the TD04 model in MHI’s portfolio of turbochargers. It’s designed to be fitted to engines of 1.5-litre capacity. Its maximum rotation is 190,000 rpm and has a compression pressure ratio of 2.9-3. This means the exhaust pressure is to the tune of 3 times its inlet pressure.    

The turbocharging results in this 1.5L engine making 150 PS at 5,000rpm and 250Nm at 1,600rpm. Both figures, especially for a car that weighs a little less than 1300kg, are quite good.   

The gearing is great and the performance flexibility with the Virtus is commendable. The gearbox also feels eager and is an entertaining thing to move up and down the ratios with forced inputs on the paddles. You’ll of course have to be in its shift range while going up and down the gears, but when you are, it’s an absolute joy of a transmission to operate.  

I prefer to keep the engine ticking between 2,500 and 4,000 rpm to get the best, in the form of excitement out of it, and I downshift when the rev needle falls to 2,000-2,200 rpm. Using the engine this way has given me the most satisfaction and joy — there’s a great solid performance spectrum to explore and the sounds from the engine are also pleasing to the ear drums.  

Hyundai has had a history of doing strong engines. It used to be the diesel, until a few years back, especially the 1.6L turbo-diesel, which was a gem! But even the modern petrol engines are pretty impressive, and this 1.5 GDI is a fine example of that. 

A Garrett turbocharger finds its way onto the exhaust manifold of the Verna’s engine and in terms of numbers, it’s slightly better than the Virtus. 160 PS at 5,500rpm and 253Nm at 1,500rpm — so that’s 10 PS and 3Nm more than the Virtus. The peak power is at 500 rpm higher, but the peak torque is a hundred rpm lower — so it’s a game of almost equal firepower. 

I guess the top-end performance of the Verna may be slightly better and you may get a higher top speed figure but it’s hardly going to be a difference worth celebrating with great excitement.  

The Verna is also not as progressively entertaining as the Virtus. It feels a bit less connected through the steering wheel, the suspension compression is not always linear, and it can step out abruptly when being pushed. It can get nervously exciting, no doubt, but the confidence on its springs that the Virtus has just made it a lot friendlier to drive aggressively.   

The gearbox too — the Verna’s 7-speed DCT is nowhere near as crisp and as in-sync work the engine speeds.  

Driving

On the Handling front, VW has clearly chosen to give preference to ride quality over directional dynamics but it’s not a deal breaker.

The Virtus is still among the most well-rounded packages, and that is also a reasonably fun-to-drive car. Does it exhibit load transfer? Of course, it does, but that’s also a cool thing because your senses are alive, and you can feel the cars’ reactions.  

The Verna is a fair bit different from the Virtus.

You’d think that two 1.5L turbo cars which belong to the same category Would be quite similar, but they aren’t. I’ve driven all generations of the Verna, and it has come a long, long way. From being a soft, almost uninspiring experience, it became a stylish option with its fluidic design philosophy for those who got bored of the Honda City.  

But dynamically it was never as good as the rivals. In its latest form, the Verna pushes the design and style envelope to even greater boundaries, but mechanically it is still somewhat soft. It’s almost similar to the Virtus in some ways. It’s not that Hyundai has done exceptionally well in driving dynamics; it’s that VW has toned itself down a fair bit. That’s why the two are so close.   

But the thing is, the Verna is a lot more loaded, it gets powered seats while the Virtus is all monks. The new Verna has ADAS features, its infotainment system is maybe slicker, and more intuitive to use. And it’s a little — only very slightly — more spacious. 

But the Virtus gets all that you really need and it’s a perfectly good car. More to the point of this comparison, as a tool to drive enthusiastically, the Virtus is better