Overview
The name Volkswagen is synonymous with quality, comfort with a dash of luxury. The German automaker is among the top 5 car producers in the world. Lavida is Volkswagen's C-segment sedan. It is a bestselling model in its category with worldwide sales of 450,000 units last year. Let's take a closer look at this sedan here and see what it offers. Will it be able to make a mark in the Philippines auto market and is it worth all the hype and hoopla?
Features
The Volkswagen Lavida is powered by a 1.4L, 4 cylinders, 16 valves, TSI gasoline engine with Blue Motion technology. There is a 7-speed Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) transmission. The engine is capable of producing 128hp and 225 Nm of torque. It is a front-wheel-drive car having a fuel capacity of 55 liters.
Exterior
The Volkswagen Lavida takes its design inspiration from the sister car Jetta. The new bumper and a front grille sets it apart from Jetta and gives the Volkswagen Lavida a fresh look. Volkswagen has taken a classic approach towards design on Lavida. You will not see sleek corners and edgy curves here. It is mostly horizontal lines seamlessly merging into each other. The headlamps and the front grill are well integrated into each other. They comprise of straight lines and in rectangle shape. The VW logo perches proudly in the middle of the grill.
The front gives an elegant look and exudes charisma and class. The rear is equally classy and appealing. The straight lines flow smoothly to give us a well-rounded and smart rear look. There is a definite symmetry in the front and rear designs of the Volkswagen Lavida. The rectangle-shaped headlamps are balanced perfectly with the rear lamps that are rectangular with one extended corner. Both head and tail lamps are powered by LEDs. The rear lamps emit light in straight lines that look very beautiful. The car runs on 16 inches' alloy wheels. Overall, the exterior of the Volkswagen Lavida gives it a luxurious look. It is not flashy and aggressive, rather muted and understated but it will impress you with its refined and polished looks.
Interior
The interior of the Volkswagen Lavida follows the minimalist approach. The cockpit does not blow you off with buttons, knobs, gauges, and dials. You will find only the most functional and important buttons before you. It is a practical approach with an emphasis on performance and delivery. The dominant color is grey and dark grey. The leather seats are comfortable and supportive. There is ample legroom as well as headroom. The Volkswagen Lavida is meant for 5 persons but 6 persons can also accommodate themselves. The back seats can be laid flat to make room for further trunk space, which is sufficient, to begin with.
There are plenty of storage spaces inside the car. The car boasts of an infotainment system by Blaupunkt coupled with Klicker speakers. Interestingly the infotainment screen is rather small and it isn't a touchscreen either. However, it does all the functions pretty neatly and that is what matters. The steering wheel is rather sporty. It is thin with a flat bottom. Maybe the company decided to use it to give the car a sporty edge. All the important functions are mounted on the steering wheel to give ease of use to the driver. There are other amenity and safety features too. Like for example, push-button start, cruise control, auto climate control, airbags, front and rear parking sensors, speed-sensing door locks, electronic door locks, security alarm, hill start assist, tire pressure monitor, glove box with cooling, anti-lock braking system and vehicle stability assist. In short, the interior of the Volkswagen Lavida is designed and made with practicality in mind with a sense of style thrown in for some extra grace.
Performance
The Volkswagen Lavida runs on a 1.4L gasoline engine with BlueMotion Technology. It can produce 128hp and 225Nm of torque. It is admittedly a smaller and less powerful engine than Jetta's, which was its predecessor. It is, however, lighter and fuel-efficient. Being turbocharged it doesn't lose any points on performance. The BlueMotion technology helps in curtailing emissions and also improving fuel economy. Talking about fuel economy you can expect a mileage of around 9.89km/liter on traffic-choked roads. It will improve significantly when the roads are clear, averaging around 22 km/liter and further to 25 km/liter when traveling on highways at high speed. So yes, it does deliver on fuel economy.
Another important feature for improving fuel economy in this car is the automatic start/stop of the engine. The engine will turn off when you have pressed the brake pedals fully. It will automatically turn on once you take your foot off the brake pedals. It runs on a DSG transmission system that merges the fuel-efficiency of a manual and the convenience of an automatic gear transmission system. DSG stands for direct shift gearbox. It implies a transmission system without a clutch pedal and an electronically controlled dual-clutch and a multiple-shaft manual gearbox. It gives you more power with every succeeding gear. The braking of the Volkswagen Lavida is very accurate and to the point. It has disc brakes which aid in halting the car effectively. The anti-lock braking system also helps prevent a car crash. The handling and drive of the Volkswagen Lavida are pretty smooth and fine. It responds well to acceleration and speeds away nicely. It gives a powerful performance despite its comparatively small engine size. You will not regret owning this machine.
Volkswagen Lavida Pros and cons
Pros
- A complete package with comfort, performance, quality, and luxury
- With a reasonable price tag, it is value for money
- Fuel-efficiency, especially with that engine, start/stop function
- Rear seats can be laid flat for ample trunk space
- Responsive to acceleration
Cons
- Now we look at some not so good points of this car
- No touchscreen makes the infotainment system feel old
- No DRLs which is a pretty standard feature now
- No electronic seat adjustment. You have to use a dial-type knob to adjust the seat
