Volkswagen Passat (Saloon and Estate)

Volkswagen is keen to promote the following:

• The new 8th generation Passat is up to 85kg lighter than its predecessor
• All the engines are new to the range, and are up to 20% more efficient
• A plug-in hybrid Passat will be offered
• As mentioned, this is the 8th generation Passat, in its 41st year since 1973
• Since then, Volkswagen has sold over 22 million Passats in all variants, 1.1 million of those were sold in 2013 alone!
• The Passat is the number one seller for Volkswagen
• Every aspect of the new generation is new

Volkswagen believe that it’s “created saloon and estate cars that bridge over to a higher class – a transition car between the mid- and premium classes”. Is that true? I believe they’re on to something, but we’ll visit that later in this article.

Engines

Eventually, it’ll be available with 10 engine variants, but not all will be available from launch. They will all come with stop-start systems and regenerative braking modes. I actually quite like this, as fuel economy is really big these days and little things that don’t interfere too much with our driving like these are useful to combat the pollution problems.

Volkswagen’s dual clutch (DSG) gearbox will be an option for all engines in its 6- or 7-speed forms depending on your engine choice, as will a 6-speed manual gearbox. For the R-Line 2.0 BiTDI SCR 240 PS engine, you’re stuck with the 7-speed DSG ‘box – no manual here.

The diesel engines (which will be seen on launch) will have power outputs of:

• 148 bhp 2.0 litre TDI
• 187 bhp 2.0 litre TDI
• 237 bhp 2.0 litre BiTDI with 4MOTION all-wheel drive

As regards the petrol engines, these won’t be out on launch, but they include:

• 123 bhp
• 148 bhp
• 178 bhp
• 217 bhp
• 276 bhp

The plug-in hybrid will be equipped with a 1.4 litre TSI (petrol) engine producing 154 bhp and an electric motor producing 107 bhp. For stupid reasons though, you can’t just add the two to get 261 bhp. The actual combined power output is 208 bhp – still very respectable! This hybrid will travel for up to 31 miles on electric power alone according to Volkswagen, though I imagine you’d have to be very easy on the throttle! No official statistics have been released although VW says it’s be similarly efficient to the plug-in hybrid Golf GTE which gets 188 mpg and emits just 35 g/km of CO2.

In June we can expect to see a BlueMotion 1.6 litre engine with 118 bhp, yet emits just 95g/km of CO2 and manages 78mpg if you haven’t got a lead foot.

Tech Specs

The saloon Passat is going to be 4767mm long, just 2mm shorter than the previous model. Despite this, the wheelbase extends by 79mm, making it 2791mm. To manage this, they’ve reduced the overhangs by 67mm at the front and 13mm at the rear. It’s 12mm wider (at 1456mm) and 14mm lower (1832mm) – that’s the height, not the suspension.

Pricing

Here’s some sort of an idea of pricing, keeping in mind that there’s a saloon and estate version of the Passat in 5 trim levels – S, SE, SE Business, GT and R-Line.

(The following prices are for the cheapest of the stated trim level.)

Saloon:

• £22,215 – S
• £23,310 – SE
• £24,010 – SE Business
• £25,305 – GT
• £27,425 – R-Line

Estate:

• £23,745 – S
• £24,840 – SE
• £25,540 – SE Business
• £26,835 – GT
• £28,955 – R-Line

Take whatever spec you like, and the difference between the cost of the saloon and the cost of the estate will always be £1,530. Nice to see continuity, after all, you couldn’t really justify different differences (are you keeping up?) if the standard kit is the same!

Again, continuity shows in the differences between trim levels. From S to SE, pay an additional £1,095. From SE to SE Business, that’ll be £700. SE Business to GT is £1,295 and finally GT to R-Line is £2,120. That’s in saloon or estate guise.

The cheapest option is the 1.6 TDI 120 PS 6-speed manual which costs £22,215 and £23,745 in the saloon and estate respectively. The most expensive is the 2.0 BiTDI SCR 240 PS 7-speed DSG which will come in at £35,505 and £37,035 respectively.

Late Arrival

Due in July is an Alltrack version – a rugged, more off-road take on the Passat estate.

Standard Kit

Standard kit on the S trim is:

• Composition Media + DAB (Gen 2) – If it makes you feel any better, I don’t know what that means either! But basically it’s a radio system with a fancy name
• Lumbar support
• Knee airbags
• Rear side airbags
• Post collision braking system
• Mis-fuelling prevention – sounds better than having a sticker next to your filler cap saying “DIESEL”
• Driver Alert System – this monitors the driver “closely” and notes any differences in driving, letting you know it’s time for a break
• 16″ alloy wheels
• MDI iPod connectivity
• Bluetooth
• Leather multi-function steering wheel

SE models include:

• Front assist – it monitors the traffic ahead and tells you that you need to slow down, and can even apply the brakes for you
• Adaptive cruise control
• Pre-Crash – quite clever actually, it closes the windows and panoramic sunroof (if fitted) and tensions the seat belts to prepare the car and its occupants for a collision
• Driver Profile Selection – change things like the car’s performance and quickly come back to that at the touch of a button if someone messes with your car
• Ergo Comfort seats
• 17″ alloy wheels
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Dusk and rain sensors

SE Business models add:

• Discover Navigation with Car Net “Guide and Inform” – a fancy name for a sat nav
• Front fog lights
• Tinted rear glass
• Electronically folding wing mirrors

Go for GT and get:

• 3Zone Climate Control
• Heated Alcantara® seats with leather bolsters
• 18″ alloy wheels
• Ambient lighting
• Colour multi-functional display

And the R-Line trim undoubtedly gets the:

• R-Line body kit
• R-Line seats with logos and contrast stitching
• Stainless steel pedals
• Trapezoid exhausts

Options List

Obviously there’s no point listing every option with its description and price, so I’ve just listed a couple of my favourites, or at least ones worth noting.

MirrorLink™ will allow you to mirror your smartphone, annoyingly it’s by a USB cable and not wirelessly, onto the touchscreen display fitted in the car. It allows you to use certain certified apps whilst driving, so I’d imagine these things would be telephone and contacts access and sat nav, probably not Facebook, Twitter, or texts. I highly doubt they’ll certify games too… Anyway, this is yours for £160. Oh, and I almost forgot to say, it’s only available on Android. So I’m guessing that’s ruling out most of us iPhone users then! Thanks for that VW!

Voice Activation for £20 more at £180 lets you use spoken commands for telephone access and navigation.

An electric boot lid is yours for £235. It may be a bit pricey, but I would certainly go for it. Why? Easier access, trouble-free boot loading? No, it just gives you bragging rights to be completely honest with you. You can get this on all of the trim levels bar S. And no, it’s not standard on even the higher-end models.

It’s already on GT and R-Line, and not available on S, so this is only useful if you’re considering purchasing an SE or SE Business trim, but the 3Zone Climate Control is pricey at £590, but if you plan on using your Passat for ferrying the kids around, it’ll certainly decrease the amount of moaning coming from the back seats.

Another thing that gives you a right to brag is the keyless entry system with start/stop button on the centre console for £395 (again, not available on S). But I wouldn’t settle for that! Oh no! Add the hands free boot opening feature on top of the keyless entry and start/stop button and pay £510, only £115 over the standard keyless entry option. But the £510 option isn’t available on the R-Line, or the S for that matter).

What’s that? You want a panoramic sunroof with an electric glass sliding and tilting feature with the integrated roller blind? It’s available on all models – yes, even the S! Go on, treat yourself at £80 short of a grand. Yep, that definitely means £920 to most people.

Ninety pounds will get you a 230V plug socket in the centre console up front. Numerous times have I been in the car wanting to use my laptop (I was in the back seats, don’t worry), but with a 4-hour battery life at the best of times, it hasn’t lasted those long journeys in the holiday season. I would’ve loved one of these to keep my laptop on charge! Well, I still would.

Area View uses front, rear and side cameras to give you a 360° view to help you park. It depends how long you’ve been driving to warrant spending £755 on these. If you’re experienced, don’t bother. Go for the panoramic sunroof. Guess what, it’s not available on the S trim.

Or, for a lot less, and to me, something worth a lot more, the Park Assist. Somehow it’s only £200, and this does the steering for you in parallel and bay parking situations, and if the car parks itself, then you don’t need the Area View to help you park, do you? Oh, sorry, not available on S.

My final favourite is Trailer Assist. Use a little joystick when a trailer is attached to the tow bar to say in which direction you’d like the trailer to go, and it’ll do the awkward, horrible steering for you. A great piece of kit for beginners and experienced trailer-towers, if there is such a thing. Surely there is? Again, not an option on the S, it’ll cost you £465.

So we’ve basically learned that there’s quite a lot of cool boxes to tick on the new Passat’s option list, and to stay clear of the S trim level!

Comparisons

As mentioned earlier, and it’s something that I did promise that I’d return to, VW’s modest claim to stepping up from the 3 Series territory to the 5 Series territory. Or as they put it, a “bridge over to a higher class”. Yeah, whatever Volkswagen!

So if they’re leaving the compact executive market and trying to be part of the real executive car market, let’s make some comparisons.

• Volvo S60, Volvo S80
• Lexus IS, Lexus GS
• Audi A4 Saloon, Audi A6 Saloon
• Audi A4 Avant, Audi A6 Avant
• Mercedes-Benz C-Class Saloon, Mercedes-Benz E-Class Saloon
• Mercedes-Benz C-Class Estate, Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate
• BMW 3 Series Saloon, BMW 5 Series Saloon
• BMW 3 Series Touring, BMW 5 Series Touring

Price wise, well, take a look for yourself. The prices quoted are the cheapest that I found in my personal research on the 03/03/2015:

• Volvo S60 Saloon – £20,675 (T3 Business Edition)
• Volkswagen Passat Saloon – £22,215 (1.6 TDI 120 PS)
• BMW 3 Series Saloon – £23,180 (316i ES)
• Volkswagen Passat Estate – £23,745 (1.6 TDI 120 PS)
• Audi A4 Saloon – £25,685 (1.8 TFSI SE Technik)
• Lexus IS Saloon – £26,495 (IS250 SE)
• BMW 3 Series Touring – £26,510 (316d ES)
• Audi A4 Avant – £26,985 (1.8 TFSI SE Technik)
• Mercedes-Benz C-Class Saloon – £27,270 (C200 SE)
• Mercedes-Benz C-Class Estate – £28,470 (C200 SE)
• BMW 5 Series Saloon – £30,430 (520d SE)
• Volvo S80 Saloon – £30,720 (D2 Powershift SE Nav)
• Lexus GS Saloon – £31,495 (GS300h SE with fabric upholstery)
• Audi A6 Saloon – £31,955 (2.0 TDI Ultra)
• BMW 5 Series Estate – £32,955 (520d SE)
• Audi A6 Avant – £33,310 (2.0 TDI Ultra)
• Mercedes-Benz E-Class Saloon – £34,270 (E220 BlueTEC SE)
• Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate – £36,060 (E220 BlueTEC SE)

So if you go by price alone, both Passats suggest that they belong to the compact executive car market. What about engine choices – can you get hybrid power in other brands in the same market, or is that a USP for VW?

• As regards BMW, the 3 Series saloon has the ActiveHybrid3 option, but none for the estate, same for the 5 Series but in the form of the ActiveHybrid5
• C-Class has hybrid engines available for its saloon and estate models – the C300 BlueTEC Hybrid, the E-Class also has E300 BlueTEC Hybrid options for the saloon and estate
• Lexus gives us the IS300h, and two options for the GS – the GS300h and GS450h, there are no solely petrol- or diesel-powered engines in the GS range!
• Volvo doesn’t use hybrid technology in the S60 or S80
• Neither does Audi at the moment, but it is releasing the A3 e-tron shortly so will hopefully have it onboard soon

So VW, although it’s late, has taken the right step to remain competitive in the market.

How does the Passat fare in terms of practicality, like the boot’s size? Let’s take a look. Volume is measured in litres. Cars are placed in descending order of boot space with rear seats in situ.

Saloons:

• VW Passat: 586
• Lexus GS: 451-465
• Mercedes-Benz E-Class: 540
• Audi A6: 530
• BMW 5 Series: 520
• Volvo S80: 422

Estates:

• Mercedes-Benz E-Class: 695
• VW Passat: 650
• Audi A6: 565
• BMW 5 Series: 560

What we can take from that is that the Passat has one of the biggest boots in class, whichever class it’s in!

So I suppose, there’s not much more to compare really, apart from standard kit, which is pretty much the same across the class. Some cars have stuff that others don’t, and vice versa.

Maybe it’s just down to one’s opinion. So after demolishing facts provided by the car manufacturers, the only thing left to do is talk a bit about what I think about the new 8th generation Volkswagen Passat.

My Opinion

I do agree with VW in saying that it has created a bridge between the classes. At first, I thought it was a load of rubbish. An attempt to make it seem better than it actually it. A way to entice buyers with its unique selling point.

But it’s all true. It’s the size of an executive car, with the practicality to go with it and space in abundance. But it keeps a low, encouraging price and the comforts of a compact exec without making you feel like you’re floating around in a sea of technology within your own car.

Some of the options are a bit pricey, but then for the price of the car and the fact that you’re getting what you’d get on a full-sized executive car, I can accept VW.

Here’s a couple of things that I like about the new Passat:

• The trim levels, even S, give you loads of standard kit. The mid-spec Passat 2.0 TDI ‘Comfortline’ was tested in the Euro NCAP safety tests (this is a trim level that has been renamed for other European countries, but is about an SE-GT level) and got a full 5-star rating. And if that’s not enough, it comes with so many driver assists to prevent accidents, take control in the event of an accident, and generally make manoeuvring easier. It’s a winner for me.
• As regards design, I adore the new LED headlights available on higher-end models but I really love the lines and creases along the body. From the front it looks wider than it is in reality which gives it more road presence and helps fulfil VW’s claim of stepping up a class, partly helped by the grille flowing into the headlights.
• The Audi TT-esque instrument cluster is another great feature. The way that the centre part changes depending on what you’d like (trip information, sat nav) is ingenious. I think it’s going to become a popular feature in cars in the near feature and VW has joined the game early.

What I don’t like. There’s not much to be perfectly honest.

• Passengers sit lower to the ground than in the 7th generation, this would probably lead to unhappy back seat passengers complaining about lack of forward visibility, but the space in the back more than makes up for that.
• My major concern is despite having a great price, other German rivals are also very popular, which makes you wonder why the Passat isn’t as popular as the likes of the 3 Series, A4 and C-Class.

My Car

If I were to specify the new 8th gen Passat on a sensible budget without going madly overboard, this is how it’d be, complete with prices:

• Passat SE Business – £24,010
• BlueMotion Technology 1.6 TDI 120PS 7 Speed DSG Diesel – £25,610
• 18″ Marseille alloy wheels – £26,275
• Indium Grey Metallic paint – £26,815
• Leather ‘Vienna’ St Tropez upholstery – £28,430
• 230V Socket – £28,520
• Air Conditioning – 3-Zone Automatic Climate Control – £29,110
• Dynamic Light Assist (which causes a needed upgrade to the LED headlights) – £30,650
• Electric Boot Lid – £30,885
• Exterior Badge Deletion – £30,885
• Heated Front & Rear Seats – £31,320
• Keyless Entry – £31,715
• Multifunction Multi-Colour Display – £31,850
• Panoramic Sunroof – £32,770
• Park Assist Including Sensors – £32,970
• Rear View Camera – £33,280

From a base price of £22,215 to a fully-kitted car costing £33,280 isn’t too bad considering I did get a little too excited upon seeing the options list!