You are not quite the man or woman off the street--you know cars, you like cars--but you drive this one with no expectation, only the evident feedback from the seats, the steering, the engine...and if you did that, you would recognize that this Passat W8 is a nice car, comfortable plus a few things more.
The Passat W8 is mostly driver-friendly and passively supportive. It is well appointed and nicely finished, and it does what you want it to do. It does not order you to rip around city streets with reckless abandon. And yet, there is something involving about it, encouraging spirited cornering and taking long on-ramps at full throttle and other less mature endeavors. The chassis has a lot to do with it. The Passat's four-link front and independent rear suspension makes the driver feel positively connected to the road. The size and texture of surface irregularities comes through loud and clear, but the suspension never crashes through big dips even though it's biased toward comfort.
"This car is intended to be driven by someone who knows where he or she is going on the road and in life."
Steering feels solid and secure at low speeds, entirely free of the heavy low-speed experience that was part and parcel of awd cars of the past. Turn into a corner and the car responds with low drama; gas it on the way out and the car squats nicely, kicks down, and smoothly transitions through the next few gears. Nice. The sound is the unique muted thrum of a multi-cylinder engine, but more like a motorcycle than a truck. In parking lots, it's the W8's noise that attracts attention. I actually had a neighbor follow me into my driveway to comment on the sound. I thought he was talking about the quality of the sound coming from the Monsoon Audio system when he was actually talking about the engine.
The grip is all-wheel drive at its best. Cornering at higher g's will yield tire squeal long before the control threshold is approached, a sound that nicely approximates the cornering load in a predictable, one-for-one manner. At the cornering limit, you can actually feel the 4Motion system sorting grip from tire to tire, feeling for traction.
Passing power is what you get when you order the W8, along with freedom from the NVH inherent in four-cylinder designs. The 4.0-liter W8 may have eight cylinders, but this is a sophisticated small eight-cylinder in the European tradition, not the torque-monster V8 of American muscle cars. Between 2000 and 3000 rpm there is a smooth elasticity, but the throttle does not become rock hard until the engine spins up over 3000 rpm. To dart through a diminishing hole in traffic requires staying on the cam and operating the transmission in Tiptronic mode to take advantage of the W8's willingness to rev.
Peak horsepower arrives late, at 6000 rpm, and torque is not evident until close to 3000 rpm, well above the rpm the long-legged five-speed automatic transmission is likely to select for around-town driving. To accelerate hard off the line, I used the Tiptronic mode, and that brought out a different feeling. Volkswagen gives the 0-to-60 time for this 3,950-lb sedan at 6.5 sec., and I believe it. The car is most impressive on a mid-speed pass, whipping out from behind a line of traffic backed up on an uphill stretch of highway.
I flogged the W8 at an average fuel efficiency of 14.79 mpg, less than the EPA city number of 18 mpg. This likely represents a worst-case example, given the constant need for A/C in Los Angeles during the summer, relentlessly heavy traffic and, especially, considering the way I like to get where I'm going quickly.
The brakes are powerful and contribute to the overall sense of security, yet there is something vague about the actuation point that translates into a lack of well-defined brake feel. A little squish at the top of the pedal reminds me there is a very fine line between under-assist and over-assist when it comes to brake systems.
Seats reveal much about a car, and in the Passat are indicative of a car that does a number of things well. These are firm, signaling an intention to keep the driver awake and alert. Side bolsters are significant and functional against corner forces yet are not so obtrusive you have to climb over them to enter the cockpit. Eight-way adjustability means the they never have to be uncomfortable on long hauls.
On a sedate, 7-hour haul up the backbone of California, I felt that my 5-ft, 9-in. frame could live with just another inch of front legroom, but I was always able to shift around to find comfort somewhere in the seat adjustment range.
The interior matches quality materials with a clean, functionally elegant design that suits the tastes of the driver not driven by stylistic affectation. Understated use of wood and chrome accents, matched with black leather seating and carefully patterned black dash material create a nicely focused, well-integrated mix of form and function. Particularly pleasing is the absence of an obtrusive nav screen, which seems to tempt interior designers to run multiple functions through a complex array of touch points. The simple decision to sidestep the navigation screen as a central focal point leads to a dash that remains tasteful, clean and intuitive with a refreshing lack of complexity. Consider it a signal that this car is intended to be driven by someone who knows where he or she is going on the road and in life.
It does not take long to sense that this is a car with substance, a car that offers an uncommonly broad mix of comfort and performance and features that would satisfy the most sophisticated. It is a car for people who know cars, know what they need, and who have moved beyond selecting them entirely by the badge on the front grille.