Volkswagen Lamando

On the inside, Volkswagen has carried out a tremendous job by blending traditional clean lines with modern design ethos and features, making the vibe of the overall cabin very likeable. The all-black dashboard of the Volkswagen Lamando gets carbon fibre type textures and piano black touches here and there.

The flat bottom multi-functional steering wheel looks nice, and so does the full TFT colored instrument console behind it. The asymmetric design for the AC vents in the centre does accompany the large 9.2-inch touchscreen infotainment system below it, separated here by a sleek silver line running through the width of the dashboard. There is a large trapezoidal panel for the automatic climate control just below the infotainment screen, at the bottom of which there is a broad housing panel for the transmission lever.

The car is equipped with some really nice features like electric sunroof, powered front seats, dual-zone automatic climate control, push-button start with keyless entry, leather upholstery, cruise control, active info display. However, apart from the full TFT instrument console, there is no other feature which sets it a cut above from the competition.

Compared to other sedans from Volkswagen in Philippines, the Volkswagen Lamando has a design which feels much more contemporary and appealing to young hearts as well. The crisp lines and sophisticated personality of the Volkswagen Lamando has got a good sense of youthfulness to it.

Take for instance, the front profile of the Volkswagen Lamando. The trademark wide trapezoidal front grille of the front fascia here gets segmented chrome garnish laid out in horizontal manner. The trapezoidal and angular headlamps here look beautiful with their full LED arrangement, complete with dual LED projectors as well as daytime running LED. The front bonnet here gets a slightly curved design with sharp contours accentuating the flowing design pretty well.

The side profile of the Volkswagen Lamando retains the crispness of the rest of the Volkswagen lineup of cars, with a sharp character line flowing from the front fender to the edge of the tail lamp and the entire window frame finished in chrome. However, what adds a zing of youthfulness to the design is the door-mounted rearview mirrors and sporty machined alloy wheels.

The rear profile of the Volkswagen Lamando seeks a lot of inspiration from the Volkswagen Passat, with a clean design for the boot lid and LED tail lamps with angular lines. The chrome garnish running across the width of the rear bumper looks neat too.

The Volkswagen Lamando might not be too enthusiastic to drive, but the slightly stiffened setup for the Macpherson independent suspension at the front and four-link independent suspension setup at the rear do provide respectable driving mannerisms to the car. The ride quality, however, is slightly on a stiffer side, though.

The Volkswagen Lamando shares its 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine with the smaller Lavida sedan. However, here it gets a substantial bump in performance outputs, with the maximum power and torque outputs rated at 150 PS and 250 Nm respectively. The engine here gets coupled to a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox as standard.

The Volkswagen Lamando is sufficiently kitted with subtle safety features like front, side and curtain airbags, ABS with EBD and brake assist, traction control, electronic stabilization program, tire pressure monitoring system, hill hold control, front and reverse parking sensors and camera.

The Volkswagen Lamando feels brilliantly engineered with a very finely balanced design approach, tough build quality, refined and powerful engine and good driving dynamics. However, the Volkswagen Lamando could have actually been equipped with many segment-best features to make it a more compelling package.