Mahindra Verito Vibe D6 - A Diesel Car With Hatchback Body Type (Part 2)

Driving the new Verito Vibe was a bit of a revelation. Let’s get one thing out of the way: the diesel engine under the bonnet is Renault’s 1.5-liter K9K, a unit which has fast become a widespread standard among quite a few brands in different states of tune. In the Verito Vibe, it is in its relaxed, compact- car-specific avatar, making 65 PS of power and 160 Nm of torque. An important aspect of performance is that the turbocharged four-in-line produces a good amount of that peak torque early and in a very linear manner, unlike many diesels which jump upon reaching peak boost and give you a sudden burst of acceleration only to drop into a dead zone when you shift up. No such problems with the Verito Vibe. With the car weighing about 1,150 kg and the two of us and our equipment adding a good couple of hundred kilos, the engine still pulled cleanly and consistently from 1,500 RPM all the way to 3,000 RPM without a shudder and did not feel overwhelmed at any point. The five-speed manual transmission driving the front wheels does its job well and rarely defies your command. The gear lever is rather nice to use and stays in place. The throws are reasonably short and the shifter finds the cogs quite smoothly. In city traffic, hitting too km/h is irrelevant if not impossible and rolling acceleration is another strong point of the Verito Vibe. In the fourth gear, the dash from 40 to 70 km/h takes just about seven seconds, while 2,000 RPM in the top gear give you a cruising speed of 80 km/h. To add to the experience, the power steering is quite light and there is a good amount of feedback from the road too. The suspension set-up isn’t too soft and the car behaves itself round corners. It can be thrown into a bend or can perform a sudden evasive maneuver without a hiccup.

 In city traffic, hitting too km/h is irrelevant if not impossible and rolling acceleration is another strong point of the Verito Vibe

The safety aspect of the Verito Vibe is something which is hard to miss. The build is actually quite solid and the car feels well- built, though some would argue about the quality of fit-and-finish of many components. Nevertheless, you get all the safety systems you need to keep you on the road and safe in any unfortunate incident. All variants are equipped with side-impact beams in the doors and collapsible steering columns. The anti-locking braking system with electronic brake-force distribution as well as a driver air-bag are standard equipment on the D6 variant.

Entertainment Centre: Audio system offers extended connectivity options

Coming to the efficiency aspect, the 1.5-liter motor is known to be frugal even in its more powerful guises and in 6 PS tune it does sing a green song. Mahindra quote the ARAI-certified figure of 20.8 km per liter, which, we feel, can indeed be achievable given good conditions. In city traffic, we achieved 14 km/I while our highway run allowed a good 19 kmh. These figures will, of course, vary in accordance with driving style and traffic conditions, but it’s clear that the car is capable of considerable distances between fuel stops, with its 50-liter fuel-tank offering a theoretical range of almost 1,000 km.

In city traffic, we achieved 14 km/I while our highway run allowed a good 19 kmh.

Overall, the Verito Vibe is a competent car to own whether your drives are mostly within the city or even if you have some jaunts out of town. However, there are quite a few issues you may have to think about on the price front. With the Dz variant starting at $9,355 (ex-showroom, New Delhi), Mahindra have priced the Verito Vibe almost identically to the sedan version. For those who want a ‘proper’ sedan, the few extra bucks wouldn’t make much of a difference at all. Of course, the looks of the Verito Vibe are sure to appeal to many on the lookout for a tough and frugal city runabout. We hope Mahindra have got their cards right with this play.

Renault’s popular K9K 1.5-litre diesel motor revs cleanly and delivers smooth and consistent acceleration throughout the rev range