Volkswagen Passat US Test drive since 2011 sedan

Compartment, upper shelf

Making at the premium with rampant (so far) sales growth in Russia is becoming more and more interesting. Even strong middle peasants (read Honda Accord) seek this cherished segment, not to mention those brands that live in the upper part of a successful middle class. Even the special term is ready: Mid-Class Luxury. Moreover, in this category it becomes cramped. Having organized the European Prime Minister Passat CC, the Volkswagen concern tried to explain what would lure passengers in his compartment.
Folk cars lined up at the airport parking lot looked at the people angrily. A runaway inspection confirmed: they clearly did something with the Passat. Faster, higher, stronger, says the Olympic slogan. In this case, it turned out: wider, lower, longer. The length of the car was increased by 3.1 cm, the growth was reduced by 5 cm and the body spread in an extra 3.6 cm wide. However, this is a stable trend in the automotive industry with a slope in sports. Further more: polished 17-inch wheels with knitting needles twisted in the Saabov style (standard, by the way, equipment) and non -ramous door glass. In general, it does not smell with mass.
Inside, expensive plastic, skin and aluminum, which, if desired, can be changed to a laminated tree. The third in the back seat is always superfluous, unless he is used to sitting on a plastic hatch above the cup holders. So, in fact, a comfortable compartment was conceived (this is how CC is deciphered, do not think bad) for four passengers. By the way, a colleague tall 185 centimeters calmly accommodated from behind and did not complain about life (although in everyday life he was rather picky and incontinent to the tongue).
The chip key is buried in the nest, it comes to life of gasoline 1.8. Marketers never trust drivers with their purely subjective impressions, so the word sport is found in the official description of the machine in every line. The dashboard was lit by a black and white range, and this, as the manufacturer emphasizes, is much more sports than CSKA colors in ordinary Passat. For a manual 6-speed gearbox, a separate thanks: sports or not sport, and the transfers switch clearly and pleasant. It turns out that even an initial engine can give a person almost everything that needs. Having dealt with this, we begin to torment electronics: we were promised the first for VW system in the Line Assist strip. To do this, it is necessary to activate this function through the onboard computer. The camera, located next to the rain sensor in the zone of the rear -view mirror, tries to find marking. In case of success, the sensor of the system made of yellow becomes green, and the system is activated. The function does not work at a speed below 65 km/h, so as not to interfere with the driver to maneuver in the city crowd.
At first, the effect scares a little: when trying to get off the strip, the servo is softly but persistently trying to rebuild. However, it is easy to convince him and continue to hooligate. When trying to throw the steering wheel, the car is in good faith holding the strip, barely noticeably steering, and even fits into the arc. But they won’t let the driver be played in the autopilot: having discovered the lack of resistance on the steering wheel, the machine gives the rider a visual and sound signal of panic for 8 seconds, after which it turns off. In the instructions, it is repeated twenty times that electronics are not responsible for the habit of the owner to sleep at the wheel and is only taken to wake him. In essence, this function is useful only on an autobahn, and on the bends of the lake Bavaria we can’t sleep in the vicinity of the most beautiful Lake Tegernsee. Trying to climb higher into the mountains, we accidentally sit in neighboring Austria. At the very border of the accident: the blue Mercedes-Benz A-Klasse, obviously not equipped with Line Assist, is tightly lost to the chipper. The driver, explaining something to the police, escorts us with a look and with longing thinks about a new car.
  Instead, a new machine appears in us with a top version with a 300-horsepower V6 and a 6-speed DSG. The engine, perhaps, is even redundant, but the roar and the ability to play with steeringry gear switches, as usual, justify the added value. By the way, on the back of the machine there are no designations indicating the power or volume of the engine, so amateurs of the window dressing will have to growl intensively by the engine, driving the arrow into the red zone.
But in the standard equipping the most charged version there is almost everything that the adaptive suspension with three operating modes offers, a panoramic hatch (it cannot be shifted only), alkantara, climate control of the front seats, the distance control, the distance sensor, and the system of assistance in parking lots offers And the rear view camera.
For the location of the camera, a solid five. It hides under the logo on the trunk and protrudes only when reversing moves. That is, she does not threaten to sink in atmospheric sediments and blind than most sighted cars suffer.
In addition to this, the machine can be equipped with a whole set of German electronics, already tested on Phaeton. Adaptive cruise control is designed to maintain a distance in the flow of preparation for emergency braking, which, by the way, will perform, up to a complete stop. All this initiative will be accompanied by light and sound signals. Again, you should not fully rely on automation: the robot is not able to keep track of the rapidly developing events in nine circles of the Moscow Ring Road.
The automatic parking system is able to evaluate the parking spacing at the curb and even drive the car there the car takes the steering, and the driver can only switch the gears, bastard and slow down, observing what is happening through the onboard screen.
For all the splendor, only one place of the car in the market and in the VW lineup remains incomprehensible. And some of the colleagues have already managed to unkindly christen a new CLS model for the poor. In the segment of luxurious sports coupes there are also (and, long) models from BMW and Audi. From the position of the Western European market, we quite easily and logically answered this question. It is expected that the price of the SS will exceed the indicators of the usual Passat by only 1000 - 1600, and the basic equipment of the new model with the same engine will be richer. Not to mention the appearance of the car on the streets of Bavaria, not at all poor in appearance, people and asked questions about price and equipment. There is hope (however, weak) that the pricing policy in Russia will be based on the same principles as in Western Europe. Sales presumably begin in November this year.

Abstracts after
1. Once the word compartment was used to refer to two-door bodies. Now there can be four doors: the main thing is not to forget to lower the roof and remove the frames from the side glasses.
2. Electronics today can park the car and control the borders of the strip when moving. While these are just options, and even if they are, they can be turned off.
3. Below, wider and longer the formula for creating a more prestigious expensive silhouette.
 
Volkswagen Passat CC
Gasoline TSI gasoline V6
Voltage volume (cubic cub) 1.8 3.6
Power (L.S. at rpm) 160 (at 5000 rpm) 300 (at 6600 rpm)
Transmission author. 7-speed dsg / 6-speed manual 6-speed dsg
Front Full 4Motion
Maximum speed (km/h) 222 250
Acceleration to 100 km/h (c) 8.6 5.6
Fuel consumption per 100 km (l) 7.6 10.1
Price in Germany () 30 300 40 800

Text: Vasily Reznichenko
Photo: VW AG
 

A source: "Autopilot"