Introduction: The Volkswagen Passat has been in Volkswagen's lineup since 1973 as the large family sedan. For some time it has been VW's largest car until the arrival of the very expensive VW Phaeton. The Passat particularly the second generation is still in production even though the Passat will be entering its 7th generation. The older Passats are still available in large numbers specifically in China where it will remain in production until 2012 under the name Santana. The current Passat followed the Phaeton's design language and spawned a recent Passat CC model which has a shorter roofline in an attempt to have coupe styling but sedan practicality. This version of the Passat had a performance oriented R36 model which had VW's 4Motion four wheel drive system and a powerful 3.6L VR6 engine.
So yes this car has only come recently, I knew this would be my first real time in a true Volkswagen. The Jetta of instance is made primarily due to North America's preference for the Jetta over the Golf. Otherwise it wouldn't have existed and I know that driving old VW models under the "City" tag is also something much of the world including the US doesn't see. Only in Canada are we given old VWs sold to poor countries and branded as new.
Performance: The standard VW Passat has a 2.0L TSI engine. Essentially this means its a 2.0L turbo engine that has VW's version of gasoline direct injection. It produces 200 hp and 210 lb.ft of torque. Its acceleration numbers are quite good where it goes from 0-100 km/h in about 7.5 seconds. This is significantly better than standard 4-cylinder midsized sedans but a tad bit slower than the V6 midsize sedans. To drive this engine is a slight bit awkward, you notice the turbo lag particularly on first gear if you don't press the accelerator pedal with much force. In the first second it feels very slow, all the sudden it builds up lots more power. So this might take some adjustment to drive smoothly with a consistent speed. When nearing a stop for some reason the engine shudders it might have been my specific car. The engine doesn't make a particularly exciting sound, its actually rather muted even when pushed hard. Don't think it suffers on fuel economy either for its performance, its nearly as good as the Ford Fusion and only marginally worse than the Toyota Camry. This is a very good engine, the odd quirks really aren't enough to make me think otherwise.
My Score: 9/10 - A very good turbo engine but noticeable turbo lag.
Handling: The Passat sits in a segment where most of the cars aren't very confidence inspiring on corners. The Passat feels rather safe to drive, but this means it has understeer. Strangely enough despite the understeer it didn't roll very much. The steering is rather light but its a slight bit distant so it does lack some feel. The ride comfort however is rather good, you don't feel a lot of the bumps may not as soft as a Buick Lucerne or Toyota Avalon but pretty good for a car that has some ability to take a corner.
My Score: 7/10 - Its ok on the handling front, competent but not exciting.
Interior: When you get inside the Passat you'll notice its quite a bit different from the standard midsize car. A surprising amount of the car is build with a lot of soft plastic over hard plastic. There are some leather touches on the door trim and the seats are leather. The amount of hard plastic inside is a bit more difficult to find, mostly in areas you won't think of touching. The stereo buttons are surprisingly nice which makes me a bit disappointed seeing knobs for the climate controls instead of more buttons. Yes I know they're significantly better than pretty much every other car that has climate control knobs but its silly when the stereo buttons are nicer. Another disappointing item is the small rear window along with the small wing mirrors. Some may find the Passat a bit small when other midsize cars feel bigger inside, that said I didn't notice this. The build quality in this car is frankly excellent, you get the sense that a single even minute mistake would mean punishment. Even when I tried to find a fault I couldn't and normally I can easily find them. I must admit this interior is one that screams quality, when you find even the plastics are nice...there just isn't much to criticize.
My Score: 10/10 - Extremely well built, full of quality materials, best interior in the segment.
Styling: The Passat's styling is rather bland I find. The Phaeton wasn't all that great on styling and with the Passat it has even less details. The Passat just doesn't look all that exciting especially when put beside the Passat CC which in all honesty is better looking. In some ways its a bit strange to find the interior full of quality touches and details but having an exterior that tries its best to remain anonymous.
My Score: 4/10 - Rather bland and not all that great even when put beside other VWs.
Value for money: A base Passat, like the one I drove is surprisingly good value. Normally VWs are extremely uncompetitive but in this case its rather in line with all the other successful midsize sedans. At the moment its a little bit more expensive than the Camry, but given that its engine is much more powerful and its interior is far nicer I'm not sure why the Camry is as expensive as it is. Now if you add options into the Passat it then becomes a lot more expensive and due to the fact VW doesn't offer a VR6 in Canada means even at that price you'll still have the 2.0T but now up against mainly 3.5L V6s. The only flaw VW has always had was its dealer network, I've never heard any truly positive stories about servicing a VW. If you can find a mechanic who will work with them, then this is of less importance. Overall though if you can survive with a base midsize sedan, I'm hard pressed to think of a midsize sedan that has as much quality inside it as the Passat.
My Score: 8/10 - Scores well because of the quality and a shocking competitive price for the base model, on the downside the dealer network isn't good and additional options become very expensive for little gain.
Overall: 38/50 - A good midsize sedan, one that's focused on quality while being affordable a rare combination these days.
