New Cars Reviews | The volkswagen passat estate has continuously been the form of car that you obtain and merely throw your daily life at, leaving it to actually sort out the mess. You need space, worth, build quality, comfort, possibly only a reasonable dash of performance ? Chances are you’ll be knocking on your own own vw dealer’s door. We’re testing it here in 2. 0-litre tdi trim.
What’s the spec ?
Our take a look at car came in mid-ranking highline trim ( yes, sounds just like a contradiction in terms ), that trumps the fairly austere s and bluemotion trims below it with 17-inch alloys, dab radio, parking sensors, touchscreen sat-nav and two-zone climate management. Highline happens to be the minimum requirement if wish to'>you should spec the dual-clutch auto gearbox.
Therefore, for the reason that spec and when using the entry-level 138bhp 2. 0-litre diesel engine, you’ll pay £26, 385 – the very same cheapest 2. Zero tdi audi a4 auto when using the most miserly spec could well be virtually £30k. The entire list of optional extras on our car ? £500 for metallic paint.
I’m guessing the passat is short on sex appeal, big on practicality ?
Well, the passat isn't an unattractive car and it will exude a restrained, respectable form of class onto the outside world, other then yes, it’s fairly straight and somber within with scores of black and an overwhelmingly useful feel – the flashes of silver that you’ll notice upon the golf’s switchgear are, for example, missing here, and a number of the plastics upon the door cards and steering wheel look and feel slightly cheap. Other then i don’t mind that : it’s a no-nonsense form of car and also the surroundings you conclude yourself in reinforce that.
And, yes, it is incredibly practical. The seats are firmish other then terribly comfortable for buttocks being transported over long distances, and there’s sensible head- and legroom within the whole back, even and get a car full of six footers. The boot is deep and broad too, and there could be 60/40 folding rear seats, in conjunction with easy-to-reach handles within the whole boot to actually pop them forwards. There’s conjointly a full-size spare wheel ( hurrah ! ), while a parcel shelf that slides forwards in 2 increments may be a neat touch too – it results in access onto the boot, and to a tiny degree shelf to actually rest things on since you sort out its contents. Simple, other then it will create you realize how deeply they’ve thought about how you’ll use this car.
What’s it prefer to drive ?
It’s astonishing, a real rival onto the bmw m3. No, no it’s not extremely, other then it’s o.k. Judged, the a sort of car you'll drive daily on your year while not it ever getting on your own own nerves. There’s perfectly adequate performance, the ride is typically refined, the gearbox is virtually continuously sleek – i caught it napping some of times and this thumped from second to actually first, though – and also the steering is nicely weighted if to a tiny degree numb. Importantly and get a car that’ll in all probability pay much of its life thrapping up and down motorways, the passat suffers solely low levels of road- and wind-noise.
Is it economical within the whole real world ?
It's : the never-achievable official figures state 54. 3mpg, other then our take a look at car managed 42mpg on any 400-mile trip. Good ? I’d say wonderful considering finally it was loaded with four people and the luggage whereas travelling at 80-90mph upon the motorway. Take those passengers and the luggage out and stick onto the speed limit and you’ll maintain by having shout of matching that figure. You simply crack 500 miles on any 70-litre tank, possibly 600. Beginning from full, we added barely 53 litres onto the passat’s tank throughout our 800-mile round trip, and still suffered a third of the tank left after we got home.
There’s a twist too : not solely does the dsg gearbox add virtually £2k onto the value, it conjointly knocks the mpg back due to manual’s 61mpg to actually 54mpg, and pushes the passat’s tax rating up by multiple brackets. There could be a few big savings as being had by going for your own manual.
Verdict
The passat won’t set your pants on fire, other then it's a slow-burn, the a sort of car that gradually worms its method into your affections as a result of it’s barely therefore sensible at fitting into your daily life. Its breadth of ability is impressive : worth, comfort, frugality, ( adequate ) performance, refinement, practicality… it’s even okay to actually drive. If you have to actually place your cash into one all-round family car, this wouldn’t be a foul choice in any respect.