A Little Too Relaxed

In testing the Volkswagen Passat’s unchanged chassis on the curving mountain roads of rural Vermont, I was pleased to discover that its comfort-first character hadn’t been overlooked for 2016. The sedan’s handling never felt overwhelmed by the sharper corners on the two-lane roads that dominated my drive route, but it would be a stretch to assign anything approaching sportiness to the Passat’s largely feedback-free experience. Serene and unflappable, the VW makes an agreeable daily driving partner in the majority of on-road situations.

When it comes time to pass, however, the Volkswagen’s relatively modest underhood means present a sticking point. Standard with the Passat is a turbocharged 1.8L motor that produces 170 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque, numbers that VW fans will note are identical to those offered by the same engine when it’s outfitted to the much-lighter Volkswagen Golf. Also note that the same 1.8T is rated at 199 lb-ft of torque with the 170 hp in the Audi A3 and 200 lb-ft in the US-market Golf specs, and Volkswagen reps have previously suggested this is a more realistic output. Although no Goliath, the Passat’s 1,503 kg are resistant to being hustled by way of the car’s six-speed automatic transmission, which meant a lot of hanging out behind box trucks and farm equipment while waiting for a safe passing zone to open up (the base version of the car is also available with a five-speed manual gearbox).

Volkswagen does produce a peppier turbocharged four-banger that would undoubtedly fit in the Passat’s engine bay: the 2.0L unit offered by the GTI, which generates 220 horses and a considerably stouter amount of torque. Unfortunately, sticking it in the mid-sizer presents something of a problem for VW when you consider that the Passat’s flagship trim level, the Execline, is matched with a 3.6L V6 that somewhat embarassingly barely matches the 2.0L’s torque figure (in addition to its 280 horsepower). Only a small sliver of buyers even sniff near the Passat Execline, but protecting the crown has effectively robbed the car of a much better base motor.

I mentioned earlier that the TDI edition of the Passat is nowhere to be found for 2016, due to the scandal surrounding the revelation that Volkswagen deliberately duped emissions tests with its turbodiesel engines. A full 40 percent of Passat sales last year were diesel models due to the drivetrain’s hard-to-beat combination of fuel efficiency and torque, which leaves an enormous hole on the Volkswagen spreadsheet that’s only exacerbated by the negative PR of being dubbed an “eco-cheat” and worse by the media and disgruntled TDI owners.

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