Saar: It is a 1.0-litre, 3-cylinder petrol engine that puts out 76PS/95Nm.

After a month of replacing the 1.2-litre petrol engine with the 1.0-litre, 3-cylinder petrol engine in the Polo, Volkswagen has now done the same with the Ameo. The said engine produces 76PS of power and 95Nm of torque. That’s 1PS more but 15Nm less than before. The sub-4 metre sedan, which is essentially an elongated Polo, will have to make do with lesser torque on tap. In the Polo, Volkswagen claims a mileage of 18.78kmpl. In the Ameo though, with more kerb weight to lug around, the engine will struggle to deliver similar mileage figures.

The new petrol engine comes mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. In the sub-4 metre category, the petrol-powered Ameo was never the most powerful. But will less torque on offer from the new engine, it becomes even lesser than its before self. The other engine that is offered in the Ameo is a 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder diesel engine. It produces a much more respectable 110PS/250Nm. Apart from the 5-speed manual transmission, Volkswagen also offers the brilliant 7-speed automatic DSG unit with this engine.

As far as prices are concerned, they remain unaltered for the Volkswagen Ameo. Petrol-powered variants start at Rs 5.5 lakh and go all the way up to Rs 7.45 lakh. On the other hand, prices for the diesel-fed variants range from Rs 6.51 lakh to Rs 10 lakh (all prices, ex-showroom). The list of direct rivals to the Volkswagen Ameo include two Tata models – Tigor and Zest, Maruti Suzuki Dzire, Ford Figo Aspire, Hyundai Xcent and the Honda Amaze. Although not sub-4 metres in length but the Toyota Platinum Etios and the Nissan Sunny fall in the same price bracket too. The latter two have always been outshadowed by the perfect balance of equipment, power and choice that the sub-4 metre sedans offer. On the contrary, the Toyota and Nissan are much more commodious than all the others mentioned above.