4000mm is a magic number in Indian automotive terms what with all the excise duty benefits for small cars and all that. When you say small cars though, you think hatchbacks but India isn’t that simple – the law forgot to mention the word ‘hatchback’ anywhere in there. And why would it really? It’s crazy to fit anything but a hatchback in as little a space as 4000mm, right? Wrong. The one thing about India is that we’re a land of Jugaad (exploiting loopholes, if you may) and if the law didn’t mention hatchback, then it doesn’t necessarily have to be a hatchback does it now?
It would have taken quite some courage as an engineer to raise your hand up in a product meeting and say, “why don’t we fit a sedan in under 4 metres?” That was probably how it went down at Tata Motors way back when and the Indigo CS was born in 2008. Eight years later, the compact sedan is commonplace on Indian roads and it’s quite a success – ask Maruti if you have any doubt. Theirs is the one that is most ‘DZire’able along with Hyundai’s quirky Xcent while Honda’s attempt simply fails to Amaze. Then there’s the ‘Zest’y effort from Tata Motors and the one from Ford seems equipped enough to Aspire towards. Despite the rumours from many years ago, we wouldn’t have thought the Germans would take a chance with this formula but in the end, they couldn’t resist either and that’s why we now have the Volkswagen Ameo.
So what is it?
If you’ve been thinking that the VW Vento has been the Polo’s sedan version for all these years, then you’ve been living a lie because while the Vento may share the styling on the front end, it’s powertrain has been exclusive of the popular hatch. The Ameo though is the real Polo-sedan down to the engine options! In that sense then, the Ameo is more a Polo with a boot than a Vento with a chopped boot and that really makes things interesting. With only 4 metres to play around with, the engineers must have had to look at every centimetre on the Polo to figure out where they could free up enough space to fit in a boot. The answer came from the front bumper which loses about 35mm for better packaging on the Ameo.
Mechanicals: Engine, Suspension, that sort of stuff…
There isn’t really much difference between the Polo and the Ameo in terms of the way the car behaves – still got that slightly stiff suspension setup which makes it fun to drive but not so much fun for your backside if you’re a passenger – a small price to pay for handling bliss. At launch there’s just the 1.2-litre, 75PS, 110Nm petrol three-pot in the engine bay which may seem a tad underpowered at first, but it really isn’t. There’s enough in there to keep the Ameo exciting though it may come at the cost of fuel efficiency (17.83 kmpl according to ARAI). In real life terms though, it’s the driveability that really counts in city traffic conditions (which is where the Ameo will be used the most) and the gear ratios do an excellent job in keeping things effortless. The Ameo picks up strongly with a full load of passengers all the way down from 20 km/h in 3rd gear and that’s really one of the strongest points on the Ameo.
Design and Visual appeal
Visually, you’ve got to be Hawk-Eye to spot any real difference between the Polo and the Ameo – there are differences, mind you but they’re insignificant enough to not bother about them anyway, except for the boot of course. It’s still a handsome looking car from the front but there are no LED DRLs on the Ameo which quite frankly isn’t exactly a deal-breaker to me. The Polo has always looked like a car that owners can be proud of and from the front the Ameo does the same. The rear will incite mixed emotions though. Here’s the thing – the Polo was never designed to have a boot. Then Volkswagen made the Vento and did a really good job of it because they weren’t really restricted in length so they stretched the wheelbase and integrated the third box in a smooth flow of surfaces. When it came to the Ameo, there were restrictions – the 4000mm length being the biggest of them and coupled with the fact that the Polo had to be retrofitted with a boot to fit in there, it must have been a nightmare for the designers.
What you’ve got then is a little protrusion on the back that ends rather abruptly in a cliff of a boot lid. That said, considering all the constraints the designers were working with, they’ve done a decent job of making the Ameo look acceptable – unlike the boot integration on cars like the DZire and Xcent. There are even very Skoda-esque diamond cuts on the boot lid to break the monotony of the metallic expanse. It may not be the best boot-job on the planet, but it’s way off from being the worst one either. The tail lamps are a detail that could have really changed the rear for the better and that is a missed opportunity in my book. Some sort of curves on the lights there would have been welcome but then again, VW had to keep the Polo family look intact, so this is just a personal opinion I guess.
Interiors and Gadgets
Move in and the cabin is again, familiar. Switch to the Ameo from a Polo and you will be hard pressed to find any sort of difference. The Polo-family dashboard has evolved over the years though and the Ameo gets the full benefit of all the progress – including the slightly rounded off fonts in white on the digital Multi-Function Display instrument console. There is also a touchscreen entertainment system with all the bells and whistles and in general gadget-levels are high in the car. There are even rain-sensing wipers which is a segment first, and so are the auto roll-up/down power windows all-round with anti-pinch functionality and remote operation through the key fob. Rounding up the segment-first gadgets list is cruise control.
This may be a sedan but overall space in the cabin isn’t too different from the Polo hatchback and despite the roof tapering earlier towards the C-pillar, there isn’t too much headroom lost either – so if you could fit in a Polo, you’ll definitely fit in an Ameo. The rear bench is comfortable for the sort of conditions that the Ameo will be used in most of the times and the backrest here folds down to liberate even more luggage area on the 330-litre boot. Before you go scoffing at that figure, especially compared to the Ameo’s sub-4 metre sedan competition, it’s a good point to note that the space in there is quite useable and with the foldable backrest on the rear bench, there should never be a problem with loading all your luggage.
Verdict: Right in the thick of the action
That pretty much sums up all the quantifiable stuff about the Volkswagen Ameo – the true Polo sedan in our books. Could VW have done more with the Ameo? Considering the very India-specific small car limitations in play, we don’t think so. And then you’ve got to consider the price that the Ameo is coming in at – Rs 5.24 – 7.06 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) pretty much puts it in the mix of things with the competition. While the Ford Aspire and the Honda Amaze (for whatever reason) are more expensive, the DZire and Xcent are right alongside the Ameo and the Zest is about half a lakh cheaper. What the Ameo does bring in is the same build quality and built-like-a-tank feel that you expect from every Volkswagen out there. This segment is heating up and the Ameo seems ready to take the fight head on. Personally, I don’t find too much appeal in sedans that fit in the same footprint as a hatchback, but if that third box is something you prefer, go check it out – you won’t be disappointed!
P.S.: There is a diesel version on the way sometime in the future and it will have the DSG auto’box option as well. And it won’t get banned (unless things go whackier than they are already), coz you know – it’s a 1.5!
P.P.S.: And this is how we know everything we know about the Volkswagen Ameo. Really!