Refined, comfortable, relaxing and pleasant to drive, stylish, with an effortless and satisfying performance, this latest Volkswagen Passat saloon is an outstanding car all round. Its overall performance is perfectly acceptable for a family car, with a top speed of 195 kph (121 mph) and a 0-100 kph acceleration time of 12.2 seconds. Even more impressive is its urban cycle fuel consumption of 54 mpg (5.2 lt/100 km), extra urban of 74 mpg (3.8 lt/100 km) and combined cycle average of 65 mpg (4.3 lt/100 km). As Dublin is said to be the third worst city in Europe for traffic congestion, you may not actually get those outstanding figures, but that situation would apply to whatever make and model of car you are driving. Commuting in and around the greater Dublin area, I did notice that according to the current fuel consumption information panel, I could average around the 6.0 lt/100 km (47 mpg) mark once the engine had warmed up. If I could get up to around 80 kph (50 mph), rather than the 60 kph (40 mph) most people drove at, the consumption improved to to around 5.8 lt/100 km (48 mpg). This impressive fuel consumption is helped by the fact that the BlueMotion technology includes an automatic stop/start function. This cuts in smoothly and silently once the car has stopped and you release the clutch with the car in neutral. The engine starts up again, just as smoothly and silently, when you depress the clutch pedal and shift into first gear. Once you get used to it, it seems to be perfectly sensible and natural.

Power is provided by a 1.6 litre, turbocharged, direct injection, diesel engine, driving the front wheels through a six speed manual gearbox. The gearchange is also smooth, precise and silent in operation. Maximum torque of 250 Nm is delivered between 1,500 and 2,500 rpm, so you can cruise along at respectable speeds, with the engine turning over at just 1,500 plus rpm, depending on the gear selected. Thus cruising along at 60 kph (37 mph) in fourth gear, the engine is turning over at the same speed as cruising along at 80 kph (49 mph) in fifth gear. At the higher speed you use the same amount of fuel as the lower speed, as the engine is turning at the same speed, yet you get to your destination quicker and thus you use less fuel overall. The various fuel saving methods, incorporated into the BlueMotion package, besides saving on the use of fuel, have the additional advantage of reducing exhaust emissions. In the case of the Passat BlueMotion, emissions are just 114 gm/km, allowing this big, comfortable car, to easily fit into Irish road tax band A, with an annual charge, at present rates, of 104 euro !
Complimenting the effortless flow of power and the smooth precise gearchange, the speed sensitive, power assisted, steering gives a comfort orientated three turns from lock to lock of the steering wheel. The leather covered steering wheel has a luxurious high quality feel, which all goes to make driving this car such a satisfying pleasure.
The suspension too is tuned to give a relaxing and comfortable ride, with sure footed roadholding. It can give a severe jolt, when it encounters one of the craters that pass for potholes in our poorly maintained roads, but then this is a problem for all vehicles using the third world tracks that pass for roads in this country. One wonders how the authorities can unashamedly demand road tax from motorists, when they completely fail to maintain those roads in a safe and usable condition.
Servo assisted dual circuit brakes come with essential features like anti-lock and emergency brake assist, plus an electronic stability programme that includes traction control. It employs ventilated discs at the front and plain discs at the rear.

One of the things I particularly liked about the car was the excellent layout of the instruments and controls. I also liked the strip of polished wood veneer along the doors and facia. It was set off with some polished aluminium trim on the centre console, so both traditionalists like myself and those with a more modern outlook should be happy.
All the various controls were easy to see whilst driving and within comfortable reach of the driver.

The main instrument binnacle contains two large and two small round analogue dials, with a rectangular digital information panel between them. The dials have black backgrounds, with white lettering, red needles and in the case of the tachometer, red highlighting for engine speeds between 5,000 and 6,000 rpm. The two smaller dials are for the fuel level and the engine temperature. There is also an analogue clock in the centre of the facia, below the two air vents.
I particularly liked the digital information panel, as it provided a variety of selectable information like a digital clock, total distance recorder, trip recorder, miles to empty, current fuel consumption, average fuel consumption and digital speed indicator, amongst a whole lot more. In fact I could comfortably abandon the analogue dials in favour of an all digital information panel.
The audio equipment is located at the top of the centre console below the analogue clock and contains a digital panel that can be used for audio related information. The heating/ventilating controls are below that, with the hazard warning switch between the two panels. The car comes with dual zone climate control and all the various functions are easily accessed by a row of clearly marked switches. Around the base of the gearlever there are switches for the parking sensors, automatic stop/start, electronic stability control. hill holder and the electric handbrake. It is all beautiful to look at, easy to see and reach and easy to operate. It is attention to details like this, especially in an age when more and more electronic gadgets are being added to each new model, that helps to make driving a relaxing pleasure.
A rotary switch on the right of the facia, between the steering and the driver’s door controls the lights, fog lamps, headlamp levelling and the intensity of the instrument panel illumination. Controls for the electric windows and exterior rear view mirrors are in the driver’s door armrest.

The driver’s seat adjusts for reach, height, backrest angle and lumbar support. The lumbar support and backrest angle are done electrically and the others manually. The front passenger seat does not have the lumbar support and all the other adjustments are done manually. Both seats are well shaped and very comfortable. The rear seat is divided 60/40 and has a folding centre armrest, that incorporates a shallow storage space.

This latest version of the Passat has a large luggage capacity, even when all five seats are in use. It should thus be perfectly adequate for family holidays. For those occasional awkward loads the rear seat backrests can be folded to give a large space for long and awkwardly shaped items. One handy feature is the facility that allows you to fold the backrests of the rear seats from the boot.

If you need more space, the Passat will carry up to 100 kg in a suitable container on the roof. That 100 kg includes the weight of the container itself and all the necessary mountings. If towing is your requirement for a trailer or caravan, the Passat will take braked trailers of up to 1400 kg and unbraked trailers of up to 750 kg. That should provide sufficient versatility for the average family. Towing is also facilitated by the fact that the car comes equipped with a full size spare wheel. The spare is stored in a well below the luggage floor, with the jack and tools in a polystyrene container alongside.

Technical data

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