The car is a spiritual successor to the first-gen Hyundai i20 diesel that I sold, a terrific highway cruiser.
BHPian Bigzero recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
I bought a Lava Blue GT MT around 10 days back, and have already completed a trip from Pune to Kerala and back, via Bangalore. ODO is now almost 3000 km. The run-in was completed on the trip and did the first scheduled check (1500km) in Kerala.
I won’t get into details about the research that went in, had covered pretty much all cars in the 20-30 L bracket. I realized that it will be tough to get a car that meets all needs, and kept coming back to the Virtus GT multiple times during the research. I was focused on an MT and things started moving fast once VW announced the launch of the GT Manual.
A lot of head vs heart debates in the head, and also the fact that the rear seat wasn’t very comfortable for 3 adults. But then I realised at some point that I may be having that use case only for about 5% of the time.
Some random observations at this point (3K km done)
- Exceptional capability to do long-haul highway trips. You come out of the car quite fresh after a 12+ hour drive.
- Mature suspension leaning towards the stiffer side. Overall rides quite well and still keeps you connected with the road.
- Masks speed very well, especially when in the backseat.
- Quite nimble around corners, with only the slightest body roll.
- High GC is a big plus, and doesn’t affect handing as much as one may think. The problem is only visual mostly, with the back a bit higher than usual.
- Yes, the cooled seats are a bit loud at high settings, and only the driver window is one-touch… but these are small issues which one soon gets adjusted to. Ah and yes the poor reverse camera too.
- I miss the sunglasses holder in the car.
- The shape of the seats is great with good paddings on the side. The same for the back seats too, which makes it great for two backseat passengers, but not so great for three.
- Got to drive it in extremely challenging and bumper-to-bumper traffic conditions for long periods in Pune and Bangalore, and not for a moment did I find the Manual Transmission a challenge. You just need to get adjusted to the clutch travel that’s all.
- It’s tough to keep it under 100 on highways, but I am nowadays quite a sane driver and kept it between 100-110 for most of the trip. The extra power helps greatly in quick overtakes.
- The engine is very refined, and this car can also be driven very gently at low speeds, completely masking the true nature of the engine. The car is very quiet in this mode, and the drive is very easy too. The moment you switch to higher rpms, the real nature of the engine comes through.
- About FE: I kept getting between 16 and 19 on highways, and even 20 at some points while cruising at 90 kph. Long-term so far is around 15+ (forgot the exact number, but slightly short of 16). In Pune city traffic, I get around 10.5-11 at this point.
- Finally – the car is a spiritual successor to the first-gen i20 diesel that I sold – a terrific highway cruiser. The i20 was not a good handler at all but had a great engine that kept you happy on highways. Still miss the diesel, but this is the closest one gets I guess!
Keyword: Drove my Virtus GT manual 3,000 km in 10 days: Various observations