Test drive Volkswagen Passat B5 2000 - 2005 sedan

New Age Passat

For the Volkswagen concern, which gave rise to more than one super popular machine, the Passat model has recently become, as it were, as it were to express it more precisely, an object of maximum application of forces and means. Despite the fact that cars under this name have been produced for almost thirty years, only in recent years VW decided to do something larger and, accordingly, prestigious. It has already become known that very soon we will be able to see the largest Volkswagen in the history of the company, and even with an eight -cylinder engine, and most interestingly, it will also be called Passat, however, with the prefix that issues its genealogy.
 
Literally on the eve of the New Year, the general importer of the Volkswagen AG concern in Belarus, the Atlant-M Farsoykhganggandel foreign enterprise held a presentation of the latest version of the Passat model. She replaced the famous B5, which our compatriots love so much, and I must say that she not only delighted her appearance, but also surprised a little. Despite the fact that B5 has been in production for more than five years, all this time its level of sales has only been growing, and not only in our republic, so a logical question arises: why did this replacement need? For three more years, if not more, this version could easily hold out in production. But the leadership of the concern about this has its own opinion, so get acquainted - the new VW Passat.
 
If the third -generation Passat has once turned into a B4 model, then the current case is not the same - despite the fact that the number of changes in this car reached the point when the company could afford to call it a new car without a twinge, the latest version did not receive it The loud title, for example B6, although it could unsuitable to claim it. Behind the outwardly similar forms of the body, a almost new car is hidden - more reliable, safer and more, I am not afraid of this word, perfect.
 
So what is new? External changes affected almost all body parts, except that the roof and doors remained from the previous model. Due to the more protruding bumpers, the length of the car increased by several millimeters, which also contributes to the safety of the driver and passengers. Now the car has become even larger than its classmates and, as it were, is half a hundred higher, gradually catching up with the representatives of the senior class. I won’t be surprised if the next generation Passat, the so-called B-six, will make his debut as a business class model, and its place in the Volkswagen concern will also take the growing Bora.
 
The first thing that catches your eye is a new, so to speak, audible false radiator grille. Its chrome transverse bar, especially on the tested black Passat, in combination with a pronounced V-shaped stamping on the hood give it the appearance of a solid and at the same time a very swift car. The new lighting technology, made in the form of two lenses covered with a common glass, clearly added a little sharpness to the appearance of Passat, as was the rear lights with huge lenses. In general, in the appearance of the new model there are much more sports orientation accessories than in 5, even if they are very skillfully disguised. Look: huge air intakes located at the bottom of the bumper a little reminiscent of the rally car, like small evil fog, located there. There would have been there still cast discs for seventeen and wide tires - that’s the device. However, for those who prefer such cars, with a threatening appearance, there are many tuning details, which, incidentally, are also offered by local VW dealers.
 
The development of technologies in the field of automotiveness gradually leads to the fact that all modern cars already in standard configuration have those options that were literally not offered five to six years ago for models of this class due to high cost. The new Passat was also no exception, about a four -channel ABS with an electronic system of brake force distribution (EBV), the anti -circus system or the presence of several air pillows in the cabin, we will not talk about, such things are now perceived for granted and their absence in some cars of this class It is perceived as an annoying misunderstanding. But VW also tried to shut up all the competitors for the belt. Options such as a hatch with solar batteries or headlights Bi-Cenon are now not just on classmates, in general, it is rarely seen on which model you can see, so more about them.
 
Probably, each of us fell into such a situation: in hot weather after parking, even a short, in the sun, the car’s interior, especially some plastic parts, heats up to such an extent that in a hurry, you can even get a burn in a hurry. This does not threaten the driver of the new Passat: the hatch installed by order with sunny batteries implanted in it during the parking lot helps to cool the salon. The energy generated by batteries is enough to ensure the operation of the fan, which reduces the temperature inside the cabin by almost twenty degrees. As an option, xenon headlights are also offered, working not only in the regime of near but also high beam. Previously, no one used such a system, except that Mercedes announced that something similar would be installed on the latest CL compartment, but I think it is not worth reminding the difference in price. VW was the first to use head lighting of the Bi-Cenon type, and even in a middle-class car, and for this he had to solve many technical problems. But if there is no Volkswagen - so that the strong light of gas -filled lamps does not blind oncoming drivers, the designers come up with a unique system of dynamic adjustment of the headlight range. In fact, adjusting the level of the light flow occurs using a kind of reflector -mirror - depending on the position of the body, the system instantly changes the angle of inclination of the reflector, allowing to lower the beam of light in a thousandth of a second. This will surely appreciate your leading colleagues. Even if the car swayed on the road wave, and its front part lifted a little, the spot of light will always illuminate only the area of \u200b\u200bthe space that is supposed to.
 
The new VW Passat is simply stuffed with all kinds of devices and simply comfortable things that make the driver easier. For example, on the boot edge of the trunk in a car with a sedan body, so as not to scratch the paint when loading heavy things, a special chrome protective bar of stainless steel is provided. Even such an ordinary thing as an eye, Volkswagen experts moved from traditional places, on a ceiling or a central console, to a non -existent driver's ceiling handle. Very convenient, and most importantly - glasses will always be at hand.
 
A 150-horsepower gasoline engine was installed on the tested car, and as statistics show, this version of the 1.8-liter engine, which is equipped with low-pressure turbocharged, is most popular among buyers of Passat. And this is understandable: at one time, this engine won the title of the best power unit of the year and, in my opinion, is ideal for this car. In the range there are engines and more powerful, for example, the famous VR6, the power of which is now increased to 204 hp, but at a price it is the 150-horsepower unit that seems to be the most profitable. By the way, if earlier a 2.3-liter V5 developed the same power, now, after modernization, it gives out 170 horses. Since we are talking about the engines, I would like to talk about new turbodiesels that will go on sale in the very near future, especially since our customers are increasingly turning their eyes in their direction. So, in addition to the previously previously 2.5-liter 150-horsepower six, there are now two completely new turbodiesels with direct fuel injection. More precisely, this is one engine, but in two versions - a 1.9 -liter turbodiesel, depending on the modification, develops a power of 100 or 130 hp. The last option, it seems to me, will be a great success for the simple reason that has rather outstanding characteristics. Judge for yourself: already at 1900 rpm, this turbodiesel develops the maximum torque - 310 nm, which provides excellent traction in the entire speed range, and with calm driving, amazing fuel economy. The average fuel consumption with such an engine is somewhere in the range of 5.6-5.8 l/100 km.
 
A lot of good has already been written about the fifth generation drivers of the fifth generation of the passatoes, but we can only add that all this can be fully attributed to the new model. Fans of these cars will find there the same powerful and elastic suspension, accurate steering and excellent brakes (disk on all wheels). Unfortunately, weather conditions on the day of the test clearly did not correspond to the general mood of the participants, but it was still possible to ride more or less actively. I must say, there are few cars that can demonstrate such an excellent, one might even say, reference control, especially when you consider that there was almost clean ice under the wheels. True, a combination of ice + automatic gearbox, even with the possibility of manual switching, is unlikely to like the driver, tuned for fast riding: the processor thinks too actively and protects the driver from errors, as a result of which the box does not want to switch back to the first gear even by 20 -25 km/h. But if the revolutions are already running in, switching to a higher gear occurs automatically. Although all these nuances of behavior in the quasi -emanoal mode of operation of the checkpoint for most motorists do not matter. As practice shows, all car owners from various types of thrones, having plentyed up in the first couple of days, completely forget about the existence of such a bell. In fact, in this case, it would be possible to do with a regular automatic, especially since Passat drives very well in the usual, fully automatic mode. Actually, turbocharged engines are not the best batch for an automatic checkpoint, but in this case you can’t say this. Yes, there is a slight delay at the start, especially if you constantly touch the place, but this drawback is rather the engine fault that arose due to a lack of torque at low speeds. But on the move no delay is felt, and the car accelerates so easily and naturally, as if under the hood, a much larger herd.
 
P.S. In the last issue, in the material about the new VW Sharan, inaccuracy was allowed - the power of a 2,8 -liter of a 2,8 -liter of a working volume of 2.8 -liter installed on this model is now 204 hp.
 
Pavel Kozlovsky
 

Source: Autogazet / N 3 (306) dated 07.02.01