REVIEW: VW VIRTUS GT PLUS 1.5 MANUAL

The Perfect Sedan Does Not Exist... Wait! There's the VW Virtus 1.5 Manual!

- SYED SHIRAZ SHAH

Aristotle, Confucius, and Socrates had a VW Virtus 1.5 MT each, and all of them spoke quite fondly of it. Aristotle is believed to have said that "happiness is prosperity combined with Virtus." Confucius was an even more humble and inspiring chap who apparently maintained that "humility is the solid foundation of all Virtuses" (he's obviously referring to both 1.5 and 1.0 VWs). However, the bloke I can relate to the most would be Socrates. He was really direct and precise in his praise when he said that "Virtus is its own reward." How beautifully accurate is that!

Fast forward to 2025 and the Virtus is still selling great, despite the fact that overall the sedans are losing ground (all puns intended) to everything from raised hatchbacks to crossovers masquerading as SUVs.

But, before I tell you more about the Virtus, it's imperative that I first share the three main reasons for the sedans losing it to other forms of the automobile.

The first is ground clearance, which we Indians think we can't do without. We don't believe in improving our driving skills and civic sense; we just expect our cars to drive over everything in sight, and sedans have been considered notoriously incapable of such antics.

The second is space. We might not have any sense of personal space (that's why, despite COVID, we still haven't learnt to keep distance in queues of all kinds), but we expect our cars to accommodate everyone including our neighbours, and their dogs, even if we hate them (the neighbours, not the dogs; you can't hate dogs). Here too, the sedans have been scoffed at for providing just as much cabin space as a hatchback...

The third is performance. The minority that actually loves driving sedans is forced to move towards other shapes because most manufacturers have just not been providing them with powerful and dynamically sorted sedans that would put a smile on their face.