Engine & Performance of Volkswagen AMEO Petrol
Volkswagen has launched the AMEO compact sedan in one engine and only one transmission option at present.
The AMEO comes with 3 Cylinder 1.2 Lt Petrol engine which is mated to a 5 Speed manual transmission and produces 75 PS of power at 5400 rpm and 110 Nm torque at 3750 rpm level. The 1.2 Lt unit of AMEO is a MPI one. Though the segment of compact sedan in India does have cars which as a standard offer a 1.2 L petrol unit but if we compare their engine performance to that of AMEO then surely a lot needs to be re-worked by VW. First up, when you'll crank the car immediately you will come to know that there is a 3 cylinder unit in the hood. The engine sound and apparent vibrations during the idle further add to the sub-standard engine refinement of AMEO. Press the accelerator and there is a average feedback, drive it to 2500-3000 rpm, the engine gives a average feedback. The moment I took it above 3000 rpm, the engine began howling and as I took it past 4000 rpm, it was screaming like anything. The engine is a below par unit in my view and to make it a viable option in the segment atleast a 1.3 petrol unit should be provided with 4 cylinders. The refinement of this unit was not to my taste. Volkswagen has in the past given successful products like Polo twins and Vento but AMEO for me does not live up to the brand's reputation. As Volkswagen says, AMEO is Made-in-India & Made-for-India which is good but if they would have done benchmark testing of AMEO with the segment offerings then the AMEO would have been a much better performer. The clutch is not very hard and the gear throws are decent. The torque is surely there since I took the car to 60 km/h in 2nd gear. The engine pulled neatly but I felt more power is needed to call this 1.2 L unit a well-groomed, all round performer. Since I drove the car in city traffic with bumper to bumper and stop-go type driving so for a non-enthusiast / common man, the AMEO can be called sufficient but when an enthusiast shall drive, he /she shall be left asking for better performance like me. In city driving, overtaking and maneuvering is of immense importance and on this front, with AC off (being rains & monsoon), the car did pass through but not with the desired agility and peppiness. The cornering and turning on tight spots is good enough though. The transmission is a 5 speed one as stated, the gear shifting is smooth and no jerks felt as such. With torque readily available, frequent gear changes aren't really needed. Though at present only a manual transmission is being offered but soon (festive season of 2016) a DSG will be made available too with 4 cylinder diesel unit. But what I feel is, like the other offerings of the segment,
AMEO should come with a Petrol AT option too. Also, as the festive season is about 3 months far, the initial craze of the people may subside for AMEO. Talking of the NVH, being a petrol unit, I did expect it to be refined but sadly, the NVH levels are really poor. The outside engine noise does penetrate in the cabin right the from beginning but the traffic noise when you drive on the road is quite modulated surprisingly. Since it was raining too in Mumbai so I kept all windows rolled up, not even a slight slit open. And then the outside traffic noise was minimal and only noise I could hear was that of engine. Some other important things which I noted with regards to engine bay is that neither there is any cladding under the hood nor there is any under engine cover provided to AMEO. However, one good thing that I noted was, the wiring and piping used in the hood are of good quality and well sealed and the shocker mounts on both sides are well protected by plastic covers to avoid direct spray of water on them.