Volkswagen Santana

Much like the exterior, the Volkswagen Santana has a clean and fuss-free layout for the cabin design too. While the cabin lacks many modern features which are now taken for granted in a car of its price, the tight fit and finish levels do let one know that the Santana is built to last. 

The Volkswagen Santana has a very basic-looking driver’s cockpit comprising of a previous-generation flat-bottom multi-functional steering wheel with a piano black finish over its spokes and an all-analogue instrument console with a dated-looking MID. The Santana has conventional-looking rectangular AC vents on the centre console and dashboard corners, with the ones in the centre console having a 7-inch touchscreen instrument console and automatic climate control buttons below it (the lower-spec variants have a 2-DIN audio system and manual AC controls in their place). 

The Volkswagen Santana might be lacking in several new-age comfort and convenience features, but it does get a few goodies like leather upholstery, driver seat height adjustment, and a single-pane sunroof. Space levels in the cabin are appreciable, with the Santana offering well-bolstered and cushioned seats and ample knee room, headroom, and shoulder room. 

The Santana follows Volkswagen’s principles of offering taut lines and timelessness in its car designs. With angular elements at the front and rear and crisp lines on the sides, the Santana looks sharp. However, the design has remained unchanged for quite some time now, and the lack of a few new-age elements has started to make the Santana look dated.

The neat-looking front profile of the Volkswagen Santana includes a sleek rectangular grille, which has thin chrome slats. Besides the grille, the Santana has boxy headlamps, which look a bit dated due to their old-school halogen illumination, with them even lacking LED DRLs. The front bumper has wide trapezoidal halogen fog lamps, with a thin chrome garnish line stretching from one end of the bumper to another.

The side profile of the Volkswagen Santana looks no-nonsense with a thin and sharp crease flowing from the edge of the headlamp to that of the tail lamp, with the sedan getting 15-inch silver alloy wheels in the SE variant (others get 15-inch steel wheels with wheel caps). Even at the back, the Volkswagen Santana follows a safe and conventional approach with halogen combination tail lamps, which include trapezoidal housing on the corners and L-shaped housings on the inner edges of the boot lid. 

The Volkswagen Santana has a basic-level setup of Macpherson independent suspension at the front and composite torsion beam semi-independent suspension at the rear. While this suspension setup is old-school, it makes the Santana feel sure-footed and gives it agile handling ability. 

The engine option offered in all the variants of the Volkswagen Santana is a 1.5-litre four-cylinder naturally-aspirated petrol engine, which is offered with a 5-speed manual transmission in the base variant and a 6-speed automatic transmission in the other two higher variants. While the maximum power output of the engine is 110 PS, the peak torque output of the engine is rated at 150 Nm.

The Volkswagen Santana comes equipped with only the essential safety features like front and side airbags, ABS, electronic stability program, rear park distance control, ISOFIX mounts for child seats, and anti-slip regulation.

From the current day's standards, the Volkswagen Santana has an outdated design inside-out, which makes it feel very basic. However, at the price of a premium hatchback, the Santana offers the big-car appeal of a traditional sedan, which translates to likable space levels, comfort, and agility in its driving dynamics.