Volkswagen Vento, Rapid facelift to get Ameo's 1.5-litre TDI mill: Report

The competition in the sedan segment is expected to heat up in the coming months, as the current contenders like the Vento and the Rapid are going under the knife for a makeover. While the Skoda Rapid facelift is expected to be launched by the end of this year, the Vento facelift from the house of Volkswagen is rumoured to come in early 2017.

Both the Vento and the Rapid facelifts are currently in their testing phase in the country. A report of OverDrive now says that in the facelifted avatars, both the Vento and Rapid are likely to see major changes under the hood. Going by the report, the 1.5-litre TDI mill of the Ameo compact sedan is likely to make its way to the above said models. The Ameo diesel is tuned to dish out 108bhp at 4,000rpm and 25Nm of torque at 1,500-3,000rpm. The engine comes mated in two transmission options -- seven-speed DSG and five-speed manual.

Skoda Rapid facelift

While the silhouette of the Rapid will remain untouched, the facelifted avatar of the sedan is expected to get new fog lights, projector head lamps and new front grille. The Rapid facelift is also expected to feature updated infotainment system with Mirrorlink, automatic AC with dust and pollen filter, front centre armrest, rear AC vents and electrically adjustable OVRMs.

Currently, Rapid is powered by 1.6 MPI petrol and 1.5 TDI diesel mills. While the 1.6 MPI petrol mill currently develops 103bhp and 153Nm of torque, the 1.5 TDI diesel mill will churn out the same power as the petrol unit with higher torque of 250Nm. The transmission in the petrol variant is taken care of by five-speed manual and six-speed automatic transmission and five-speed manual and seven-speed automatic transmissions in diesel models.

Volkswagen Vento facelift

From the images that we have seen so far, the new Vento looks the same as the current model in the market, except for the newly updated LED headlight and the new alloy design. It is being said that the new Vento could be placed above the Highline variant. Under the hood, the current Vento comes with 1.5-litre diesel engine, 1.2-litre TSI and 1.6-litre MPI engines.