PRAISE THE PEDAL

There was a time when every car enthusiast learned to drive on a manual.

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When every drive was a dance of coordination between clutch, gear lever and throttle. You didn't just drive. You worked with the machine. Each shift was a conversation, every perfect downshift a small victory. Most people these days don't want to work while driving. They want smoothness, convenience and effortlessness. A gearbox that does the thinking for them so they can focus on playlists and phone calls. But driving was never meant to be effortless. It was meant to be involving.

Which is why the Volkswagen Virtus GT Plus Chrome MT feels so wonderfully refreshing.

The stance is low and sharp, the proportions just right. You don’t climb into it, you drop in. You sit low, the steering wheel set perfectly to your chest, left foot resting on a clutch pedal that feels reassuringly substantial. The gear lever sits just where your hand falls, short, precise and mechanical. Before you even start the car, there is that little thrill. The sense that you are about to do something, not just go somewhere.

The engine fires up with a muted hum. It is Volkswagen’s 1.5-litre TSI EVO with 148 horsepower and 250Nm of torque, and a willingness that is becoming rare in modern turbocharged engines. The throttle has an immediacy to it, the revs rising cleanly as you blip them. An old-school joy that tells you this isn't a car for halfhearted inputs.