All about VERITO

The Verito retains the Logan’s trapezoidal headlights. The front end though, gets restyled fog lights which give the bumper a more pronounced look. The front grille has been slightly redesigned to hoist the Mahindra logo and thankfully, doesn’t bring in the ‘bunny-tooth’ treatment from the Mahindra SUVs. The addition of chrome garnished roof rails adds a hint of sportiness to the Verito but doesn’t hamper the car’s wide-body image.😎

Get inside the car, familiarise yourself with the buttons and the layout and you immediately see the shortcomings of the cost cutting involved. No, I’m not talking about low-rent plastics or materials – in fact the materials used are quite satisfactory for a car of this category.

Yes, these are quite a few shortcomings but are easy to forget once you start appreciating the Verito’s comfort level – at the front and at the back. The seats are wide, cushy, come with adjustable seatbelts and are ergonomically designed as compared to the switches and levers in the car. The Verito’s back seat gets three headrests, therefore underscoring the fact that this rear bench is meant to seat three adults in comfort. The high roofline provides ample headroom for all passengers and imparts roominess to the cabin. The farthest I drove without a break was about 220 kms and none one of us in the Verito had any complaints about head/back/butt ache or motion sickness.
Mahindra-Verito😎
The air conditioning in the Verito is top notch. Even in the hottest temperatures the air-con still managed to cool the cabin in jiffy even on a hot Hyderabad afternoon. The Verito also has a pair of redesigned outside rear view mirrors (ORVMs) which are now bigger in size than the Logan’s. No electronic operation for these though, even on the top end model. The windows however get the electronic treatment but the switches are awkwardly placed and the auto-down/up function for the driver window is sorely missed. The Verito places a digital multi-information display in the instrumentation console which has read outs for the odometer, trip meter, range calculator, real time fuel economy, temperature gauge and the fuel gauge.

The Verito continues to use the Renault petrol and diesel engines. The 1.5-litre dCi diesel engine produces 65PS of power at 4,000 RPM and 160Nm of torque at 2,000 RPM. Start the engine and it settles into a muted burble which is on par with other diesel vehicles in its class like the Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire and Tata Indigo. At idling RPM, there is no handshaking vibration in the gearstick whatsoever. The clutch feels a tad heavy as compared to its competition and needs getting used to. I particularly do not like the way the Verito gets moving in first gear as the test mule felt very sluggish off the line. But once in second gear and past the 2,000 RPM mark, the 160 Nm of torque makes driving this car a breeze.
Mahindra-Verito

The Verito’s suspension is a big surprise. Around the bends the Verito holds its composure like none other in its segment – bettered only by the Ford Fiesta Classic. The Vertio comes with McPherson-type suspension upfront with a wishbone link. This setup gobbles broken roads and pot holes without a thud like an automatic vacuum cleaner that runs around the house gobbling every ounce of dirt lying on the floor without breaking a sweat. The steering feels well weighted around corners and on the straights but feels a tad too heavy for city use. It should make your forearms stronger, nevertheless.

Verdict:
Right from the beginning of this review, my tone must have got you to believe that I absolutely hate the Verito / Logan. But trust me, I’m far from it. As an automotive journalist, it is my duty to point out all the shortcomings of the vehicle, but as a true auto buff, it is next to impossible for me to hate the Verito after driving it for over 400 kms in three days. Yes, it does have those little niggles that Mahindra should have addressed during the transition. But these niggles are too small to ruin your experience in the Verito. It looks and feels very basic, but the engineering it top notch. Everything is so well put together that it just works like a charm. The car is comfortable in the city and on the highway. The engine is peppy and frugal. The suspension lets you push the car to its limits without any unnerving body roll and still manages to take care of the pot holes and broken roads without breaking your back. And this is why it is a hot favourite amongst fleet operators too – for the engineering just doesn’t fall apart.
Mahindra-Verito
That brings us back to two things – the price and the understated look. At Rs. 6.62-lakh (ex-showroom) for the top end diesel variant, the Verito is one of the cheapest diesel sedans as compared to its competitors. It completely warrants the price with its no-nonsense approach gives the entry level sedan buyers everything that they are looking for. Yes, the looks are understated and old school. But look at it this way, after a very extensive market research in India and after taking inputs from zillions of people, Toyota came up the highly successful Etios sedan which looks so much like the Verito / Logan. Do we still need more reasons to believe that understated and elegant designs coupled with the bare essentials are still in demand in India as compared to radical or overtly curvy, feature rich cars? I think not...

VERITO TRIVIA:
Also a few things about this car which normally are not mentioned anywhere as they are not known to people.
To start with Renault-Logan (A.K.A VERITO) is expensive because most of the body parts are still imported from Romania..., This car is basically designed for European countries like Romania, Slovakia, Serbia etc and its a budget sedan with good safety features. You will be surprised to know that the suspension of this car is that of Renault-Clios which is going to be soon made in India. Infact most of the parts are being shared from Renault-Clio and that's how they were able to keep down the costs. The Verito (Renault Logan) is the only other car apart from Volkswagen Vento which offers 5 years of Anti-corrosion body. Verito's (Renault Logan) body is made with 18mm steel which makes the car very heavy and strong. Also the car has amazing Off-Road capabilities due to excellent ground clearence of 172mm and due to very less body moving parts there is absolutely no rattles even after 3 lakh kms.
This car is very cheap to maintain and the maintenance cost for every 10000 kms is not more than rs.3200/- . This car features a Variometric A/C which chills the car in no time. The tyres are also nice and thicker compared to other cars in this segment. Last but not the least this car poses a very big Boot of 510liters and it has one of the best N-Cap ratings in Europe.

Trust me...If One is not too particular about the Interiors you can close your eyes and go for the VERITO.

Great A/C, High Ground Clearence, Great Mileage, Cheap Running Costs, Strong Body, Great SuspensionOk Interiors, RHS Wiper, Initial Turbo Lag