VW Passat 3.6 V6 (with Paddle Shifts)

[amit]

Finally after a long wait, VolksWagen launched the New Passat with the 3.6L V6 engine. When I drove into work on Saturday, there was a united grey Passat parked right in front of the showroom but I didn't bother because the car looked like the 2.0T until I walked in front of it and my eyes fell on the fog lights in the bumper. I stopped still, there was something different about this car. There was no scheduled delivery of any new Passat that day so this car had to be something different. I walked back and saw the 3.6 badging. That was it, I had to drive it. I had been waiting for this beast to be launched specially since the V6 versions would have paddle shifters for changing gears. This was the closest I would come to F1! Like a excited kid, I ran inside and took the keys out and told my manager I was going for a test drive in that machine.



The version we had was loaded. Automatic climate control with Sat Nav. But the thing that excited me was the Paddle shifters. I inserted the electronic key fob and the V6 rumbled to life. Slipped the car into tiptronic and the display in the instrument cluster showed the gears 1 to 6 with 1 lit up. I let go off the accelarator and the car moved forward slowly. After waiting for the traffic to clear, I drove onto the road moving slowly towards 401. And then it was time to shift into 2. I tapped on the + shifter behind the steering on the right and car shifted smoothly into 2 lunging ahead. Another tap and it's into 3 zooming ahead. The car had done just 45kms and the engine felt a big tight but still the car had a lot of go in it. Gear shifts were smooth, every change happening crisply. Even though the car was in "manual" mode, the transmission will not shift into a higher gear until the pre-determined speed is reached. So no matter how much i tapped the paddle shifter, it refused to shift into 6 with the car under 60kmph. Same thing with 4 not coming in till the car was doing at least 40kmph and so on. Downshifts happened automatically. I am still not sure if I am happy with the automatic downshifting. It's a great conviniance tool but then the car is never in true manual mode isnt it? Soon I was on the 401 and it was time to unleash all the 280 horses of this beast. Time to move into F1 style! I hit the ramp at 30kmph in 3. pressed on the gas , the car zoomed ahaed touching 50 in no time. Tapping the paddle shifts, I had the car in 5 and merged with the traffic, moving swiftly into the express lane. This was gonna be a long test drive. Even with the tightish engine, the car felt really free revving. In no time I was doing 140kmph in 6 and the car actually felt like it was doing about 90kmph. NVH in the new Passat has been taken to a totally new level. The car felt really smooth and quiet at that speed. VW have used a lot of aluminium in the supension for better handling and refinement and it shows. The car handles really well for the size it has and moved fast like a beast. With 207 lb ft of torque coming in at 2750rpm the car despatched distances with ease overtaking the Altima's , Accords and Camry's with ease. I had the car down to 110kmph and tried to keep it that speed.



I love the new Passat. I loved the 2.0T and the V6 is on a totally different level altogether. The version I drove would go for a little over CAD 50,000. Big money for a VW but the car gives you a whole lot of features for that price. It's a new design, has been given the best pick in front and side crash tests, comes with unique features like EPB, Auto hold, Adaptive Xenon's, Dual zone climate control, Sat Nav, In dash 6 Cd 10 speaker sound system, umberella holder in the drivers door, new brake disc wipers, and best of all - Paddle Shifters!. A great price for a great car. It was the first time I drove Paddle shifts and I must say it gives you a real performance feel when you drive. It's the fastest way to shift gears for sure, faster then even tiptronic and more, much more fun too.
It was the first time I was driving a car with Paddle shifts and thought of sharing my expereince with all of you. It felt great.

[Beemer]

Great Review Amit . You one lucky guy ,i test drove the old version of passat couple of years ago and since than i am in love with the car and i 've always been a VW passat fan and wanted to own a passat .

And i think the day passat arrives in india(no body knows when) ,no matter what the competition is , it 'll blow away each one of them and personally i love the looks of the new passat . It really looks hot in Red .

[Dippy]

Nice review Amit. The Passat has evolved into one of the better cars from Volkwagen. If you look closely, the shape and design of the Passat doesresemble that of the Audi A6.

[nitrous]

Nice review, amit. Its good to have an "insider" for the job .

The paddle shifts are something i crave about . I wish i can drive a ferrari 430, if not i'll settle for a passat with paddle shifts.

[RX135]

Originally Posted by amit

Did they modify the side contour of Passat, or is it just the image? It's roof along with windscreens used to be *perfect* arc. If they did it, it's sacrilege.

[merve_extreme]

Originally Posted by Dippy

If you look closely, the shape and design of the Passat doesresemble that of the Audi A6.

Exactly.all sedan cars from VW,Audi and Skoda resemble eack other in their basic design.

[amit]

With 207 lb ft of torque coming in at 2750rpm

Sorry guys I put in the torque figure for the 2.0T which has 207 lb ft @ 1800rpm. The 3.6 V6 gives out 265 Lb ft of torque at 2750 rpm.

There is another thread on this forum about Japs v/s Yanks. This just struck me. The G6 has a 3.5L V6 engine with 200 Hp. The Passat has a 3.6L V6 with 280 HP. The Yanks really have a lot of catching up to do with the Japs, Europeans and even Koreans!

[sivadas]

Well written amit.
I love Passat because I learned driving in that.

[Mpower]

Good stuff amit. Drove the 3.2 TT with DSG last year. The 3.6 is really caught up with Acura and Infinity in the horsepower wars.

Now the Porsche Cayenne really needs THIS engine.

[sridhar24]

Hey Amit that was a good report of the drive, the new Passat looks great.

[Sid Schumacher]

Nice report Amit...must have been a joy to ride the vehicle....and you are right the design does remind one of the A6...but all the companies owned by VW have that running through them...like it runs in the family

[amit]

Decided to add pictures of the car I drove. The Passat V6 now is given the pride of place right in the middle of the showroom.



The paddle shifter didn't quite come out clear. Amazing that this one car can be driven in 4 different ways. Drive it in Automatic by slotting the shifter in D. Want more juice from your engine but still feeling lazy to shift on your own? No Problem says VW. Slot the shifter in S. The engine holds the revs little longer giving you more kick but the car is still in automatic. Want to have more fun and shift on your own? Shift into Tiptronic and drive it like a manual. Want to have even more fun? Keep the shifter in tiptronic and change gears using the paddle shifters! Talk about overkill!



The super acclaimed 3.6L narrow angle VR6. VW has further reduced the angle from 15.x to 10.x.

[tsxei]

Is there a fully manual transmission available with the 3.6 or the 2.0T engines?

[amit]

Is there a fully manual transmission available with the 3.6 or the 2.0T engines?

Hey tsx, in North America, the 2.0T gets a 6 speed manual but the 3.6L V6 comes only with the 6 speed Automatic-Tiptronic with paddle shifters. I am guessing the European models will be avaliable with manual even with the V6.

[tsxei]

I think the DSG technology will soon trickle down into Skoda and maybe the offerings in India will get DSG with paddle shifters. Anyone heard anything about this from the Skoda side?