Volkswagen Passat
The motoring world is becoming an interesting world. Mediocrity seldom cuts the mustard. The baby executive world is an even more focussed and highly specialized market niche. The Teutonic three take the major status positions with BMW's 3, Audi's A4 and the Merc C. There are some left field competitors such as Volvo and Lexus, but they are very much side players. The big three come with baggage however, and there is both status and stigma associated with owning one of them.
In the current economic market there are also financial pressures... What if your budget doesn't reach to the obvious choices? However you still demand the luxury, comfort and technology a compact executive saloon provides. There is another option. VW. The Golf may be too youthful for the executive brotherhood, and VW has a couple of other tricks up its sleeve. First the CC, and now the Passat. The car has a grace and elegance to its lines, which also translates into the tasteful, if minimalistic and equally elegant, interior design. The car interior is dominated by a simple analogue clock placed on the "mantelpiece" of an expansive dash.
Now this is a VW, and while the build quality and ergonomics are excellent, the car is dominated by the drivetrain. Don't expect GTi style freneticism. This is something subtler, dare I say more executive? The 1.8TSi I had on test with its clever seven speed, twin dry plate clutch gearbox is a perfect match. The gearbox is a big engineering leap from the 6 speed wet clutch model used on the diesel. For example it uses 75% less oil. From 7 litres down to 1.7! The first is much lower giving improved take off and the seventh much longer, giving quieter cruising at lower fuel consumption. Attention has been paid to sound with plastic sandwiched windscreen glass and thicker side glass and other sound deadening measures. The 1.8 engine puts out a satisfactory 118kw and a wonderful 250Nm of torque for drivability. All of this translates into an effortless sprint to 100 in 8.5 seconds and an average claimed consumption of 7 litres per 100km. Curiously and uncharacteristically, 0.1 of a litre worse than the manual model. At R309 000 it isn't exactly cheap, but for that you do get a driver fatigue safety system that measures your habits in the first 15 minutes of a trip and then warns you when you tire with buzzers and idiot lights. It works better than expensive eye monitoring systems used elsewhere under circumstances when the driver does something odd, let’s say like wears sunglasses.
There are optional systems galore, like a Self Park system that succeeded in both parallel and reverse parking me into a few bays, effortlessly, yet disconcertingly as I guess I remain a control freak who didn't know what I was supposed to do while this car effortlessly parked itself.
While discussing options, the R28,000 Radio Satnav system fitted didn't include Bluetooth! For that price I want live traffic and nothing left out.
Overall however, an excellent package, and well worth a test drive if considering the more obvious choices. The Passat should remain a feature of our motoring landscape.
