Shootout – Volkswagen Vento vs Ford Fiesta
You are spoilt for choice if you are looking for a C-segment sedan. There are so many offerings today, which appeal to different sections of buyers. There is the feature rich Fluidic Hyundai Verna, space rich Nissan Sunny, value rich Honda City and the likes, but what if you love driving? Well there are just two alternatives then – the Volkswagen Vento and the Ford Fiesta. Both the Fiesta and Vento boast of extremely good driving dynamics, but which one should you put your money on? We help you decide in this Volkswagen Vento vs Ford Fiesta, head-to-head shootout comparison road test.
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Exteriors – It is not difficult to decide which is the looker of the two. While the Vento’s styling is neatly executed, it is the Fiesta which grabs more attention. Both cars undoubtedly look good but if you want to turn more eyeballs, the Fiesta is the one you should pick. The Vento’s problem is that it looks like the Polo at the front, with the foglamps being the the only difference between them. Not that the Polo looks bad, but Fiesta’s kinetic design is more catchy. Even the Fiesta is based on the Fiesta hatchback and once you reach the rear, you might find the Vento’s styling more appealing.
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Both Volkswagen and Ford offer 15-inch alloy wheels on the Vento and Fiesta respectively. Surprisingly though, both the cars have almost similar alloy wheels too, with the Fiesta’s having an additional spoke more than the Vento. The Fiesta’s review view mirrors (separate from the body), A-pillar, chrome inserts around the door and boot-lid stress on Ford’s attention to detail on the new Fiesta.
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Head over to the next page to read about the Fiesta vs Vento interior comparison.
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Interiors – The interiors of the Volkswagen Vento are typical German. Simple yet elegant with excellent quality to boot. The dual tone treatment give the Vento’s interior an airy feeling. The silver surrounds on the AC vents and steering wheel are a nice touch. The Ford Fiesta‘s interiors on the other hand are finished in black colour only with heavy use of silver to break the monotony. The center console houses a plethora of buttons Both cars feature a 3-spoke steering wheel and a well equipped audio system. If one has to chose between the interiors, the Fiesta’s seem more exciting but the Vento offers better plastics and quality.
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The legroom in the Fiesta is nothing to talk about. Space at the rear is just about adequate. The Vento on the other hand offers good leg room for rear passengers. Head room is good too and so is the back support. Clearly the Vento outshines the Fiesta in the interiors department. It has more space at the rear along with better quality all around. The instrument cluster of both cars are attractive and easy to read and both feature a similar knob to turn on the headlights and fog lights. The Volkswagen Vento offers a full 50-litres more boot space than the Ford Fiesta (430-litres).
Head over to the next page to read about the Fiesta vs Vento driving dynamics comparison.
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Ride, Handling and Braking – This is the most important part of this review because those who buy these cars would certainly love driving. The Vento’s ride quality is slightly on the stiffer side but it absorbs most of the bumps. However drive fast over bad roads the stiff suspension can unsettle the occupants. The Fiesta’s ride quality is excellent and typical of Ford cars. The Fiesta absorbs almost every pothole on the road with a big smile and rarely transmits anything to the passengers. Both the cars have good high speed stability and remain planted to the road at triple digit speeds on the expressway.
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Both cars are extremely sharp in the handling department, but the Fiesta maintains the edge here with a more responsive steering wheel. The Vento’s steering lacks feel at high speeds while the Fiesta gives excellent feedback to the driver. The Fiesta also has 10mm wider rubber which results in the tyres not giving up so easily. Push the Vento hard and the tyres do tend to lose grip, restricting the handling prowess of the VW to a certain extent. Brakes of both the cars are very good but the Fiesta’s pedal has slightly more play, which takes time getting used to.
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We have driven the Ford Fiesta PowerShift Automatic on the Buddh International Circuit and were extremely pleased with its driving dynamics. The Fiesta has a very good balance of ride and handling and carries the Ford DNA. The Fiesta also boasts of Pull Drift Compensation feature which gives the steering better feedback at high speeds. The Vento is not bad at all but pales in comparison to the superior dynamics of the Fiesta.
Head over to the next page to read about the Fiesta vs Vento performance comparison.
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Performance – Both the Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Vento are offered with petrol and diesel engines. Lets talk about the diesel first. The diesel Fiesta uses a 1.5-litre Duratorq diesel engine which produces a modest 91 BHP and 204 Nm. The diesel Vento on the other hand uses a 1.6-litre TDI engine which produces 105 BHP and 250 Nm. As can be seen here, on paper the Vento should be faster and indeed it is. The Vento’s diesel engine is quick and refined. Once the turbo spools up, you can have ample fun in the Vento diesel. It reaches triple digit speeds very quickly and stays very relaxed even when cruising. The Fiesta diesel doesn’t feel as powerful, nor is it as much fun as the power delivery is quite linear.
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Coming to the petrol powered variants, the Vento’s 1.6-litre petrol engine produces 105 PS and 158 Nm. The petrol Fiesta uses a 1.5-litre engine which produces 110 BHP and 140 Nm. The petrol Vento’s gearbox needs to be worked around to extract the best performance. Smack the throttle and the Vento doesn’t have much to offer. The engine is not as refined either and gets terribly vocal post 4000 RPM. The petrol Fiesta’s power delivery is linear and one won’t find as quick a response from the petrol motor as from say the Honda City. Overall there is little to chose between the petrol powerplants of these two cars, with both offering average performance.
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Coming to the Automatic gearbox variants of the petrol Fiesta and Vento, it is the Fiesta which simply blows away the Vento with its fantastic 6-speed dual-clutch PowerShift automatic gearbox. While the Vento uses a 6-speed automatic as well, the gearbox zaps crucial amount of power from the vehicle. There is significant lag between gearshifts, hampering power to a great extent. The Fiesta’s dual clutch box is super quick with shifts and is able to accurately judge which gear should be next. This gives the Fiesta a massive edge in terms of performance and fuel economy. Real time fuel efficiency of the Fiesta Powershift is almost the same as that of the manual, while the Vento Automatic see a drop in the efficiency compared to its manual sibling. Ford is using a dry clutch in the Fiesta Powershift and claims that this gearbox needs absolutely no maintenance for a good 10 years.
Head over to the next page to read about the Fiesta vs Vento conclusion.
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Fuel Efficiency and Pricing – The petrol Vento (manual) delivers 15.8 km/l, petrol Vento (automatic) delivers 14.4 km/l, while the diesel Vento stretches that to 20.5 km/l. The petrol Fiesta (manual and automatic) return 17 km/l, while the diesel returns a class leading 23.5 km/l (all figures are as per ARAI, real world mileage may differ). Clearly the Fiesta is the more frugal of the two, offering atleast 10% more mileage.
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While the Vento range starts at Rs. 8.43 lakhs, the Fiesta range starts at Rs. 8.74 lakhs (for the base petrol variants). The difference widens further with the petrol Vento Highline costing a full Rs. 92,000/- less than the petrol Fiesta Titanium+ variant. The situation is quite similar with the automatic variants as well. However the higher price of the Fiesta can be attributed to the more features offered by Ford. The Fiesta offers ABS, airbags, cruise control, ESP, voice controls, climate control, parking sensors, engine immobilizer, leather seats, etc. Some of the features are standard across the range, with all variants getting ABS and airbags. The Vento lacks many features in comparison.
The Vento highline diesel and Fiesta Titanium+ diesel are priced at Rs. 12.24 lakhs and 12.40 lakhs respectively. With just Rs. 16,000/- separating the two, the diesel Fiesta looks like a bargain, owing to the additional equipment being offered by Ford.
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Conclusion – After driving both these cars back to back across city and highway conditions, it was relatively easy to choose one amongst them. If you are an enthusiast who puts performance overall everything else, you should close your eyes and get the Fiesta PowerShift automatic. Not only does it offer excellent performance but Ford has also offered features like Hild Hold Assist, Hill Launch Assist and ESP. Besides, the Fiesta PowerShift is also India’s most fuel efficient petrol automatic sedan and comes with a 10-year or 2.4 lakh kms transmission warranty.
If you are the practical kind who puts fuel efficiency and drive-ability over other factors, the Fiesta diesel is the one for you. Not only does it come feature laden, the Fiesta diesel is light on the pocket and has excellent dynamics, which very few cars can match. The Vento is an excellent car but has its shortcomings. At the price Volkswagen sells the Vento, we expect more features, the lack of which has made the Fiesta triumphant in this shootout.