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Old 11th April 2011, 12:44   #16
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re: Driven: The 2011 Volkswagen Passat

Great review. Covers most aspects. Are you sure start-stop works the way you say it does? Coz that way it will not save much fuel. Ideally you need not put it into park or handbrake for the engine to shut of. As long as you come to a stop and keep your foot on the brakes, the engine should shut off. Once the brakes are released the engine should start automatically. That is how start-stop worked on a merc A class I drove. Maybe scorpio micro hybrid also works the same.. Scorpio owners plz comment.
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Old 11th April 2011, 12:50   #17
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re: Driven: The 2011 Volkswagen Passat

Superb review Ajmat. Could not stop reading midway. Full 5 stars. Much much better than the crap written by some paid journos in our auto magazines or in auto shows.

My cousin in Delhi is looking to upgrade from Corolla to a car around 25 lacs. But he is chauffer driven so rear leg room and weak AC are weak points of Passat. While VW cant do any thing about legroom, they can certainly change the AC. For Indian climate, AC should be able to handle 48*C, so VW should provide the Dubai spec AC.

Another point.. Start Stop system may not be appreciated in India because it will stop the AC and people will start roasting inside, even though the blower may be working. Any feedback on this???

Last edited by akj53 : 11th April 2011 at 12:54. Reason: Correction
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Old 11th April 2011, 13:09   #18
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re: Driven: The 2011 Volkswagen Passat

I see a lot of concern about the A/c and rear legroom

Rear legroom is fine as long as the folks in front are 5ft 6", 5ft 8". No one can touch the Superb for rear leg space.

As for A/c - the car was parked in the hot sun for 45min. Add dark upholstrey and the heat builds up. A/c up front is effective. I suggest someone tries once Delhi heat builds up. I felt the cooling at the rear only started getting effective a good 30min later.

I would not be too surprised if the Superb gets the 170Ps engine as also some of the goodies. All depends if big brother VW wants to keep the best to itself
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Old 11th April 2011, 13:11   #19
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re: Driven: The 2011 Volkswagen Passat

Avery comprehensive review, really great work Ajmat. My uncle plans to buy a Passat but as mentioned he is also skeptical on the rear leg room . VW entered India a lot after its competitors but still the sales are pretty much very good. Even though the distribution and sales department need improvement the brand value is doing wonders in the Indian market, should admit that.
I also personally love the looks of the Passat
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Old 11th April 2011, 13:57   #20
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re: Driven: The 2011 Volkswagen Passat

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Originally Posted by ajmat View Post

I would not be too surprised if the Superb gets the 170Ps engine as also some of the goodies. All depends if big brother VW wants to keep the best to itself

Any goodies that the Superb does not have apart from the cooled seats and self-park system? As until now ,being 'fully loaded' was one of the strong points of the Superb

Last edited by PlatzdaTurbo : 11th April 2011 at 13:58.
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Old 11th April 2011, 14:17   #21
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re: Driven: The 2011 Volkswagen Passat

Detailed and smart review with an equally lovely backdrop. Was that Baga beach in one of the photos?

The outgoing Passat had a quiet elegance around it while the new one seems to have a younger business like stance.

We were impressed at the level of meticulous details that VW is taking to produce their volume cars when we had a chance to visit their Chakan plant recently. One can read about it in @noopster's thread. We understood that even higher level of care is being taken to manufacture their premium cars at their Aurangabad plant, like this new Passat.

Handbrake as a button is a neat feature, must say.

However, the grey interiors are slightly dull. Maybe my personal issue. A jet black interior would be killing.

Quote:
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Engine Start / Stop -

If you put your foot on the brake pedal, it starts again.

It was a bit unnerving to have the engine cutting out on you, but the second nature of touching the accelerator to restart brings the car back to normal. The stop-start can be switched off if required.
Didnt understand this. One needs to press the brake pedal or accelerator pedal to restart the engine.
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Old 11th April 2011, 15:01   #22
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re: Driven: The 2011 Volkswagen Passat

awesome review Ajmat but still a boring car to look at. It has DSG so does the cheaper cousin Superb, its not a looker definitely, it doesnt carry any image premium like the other territory peers Audi 4, BMW 3 and Merc C... and at that price its got cheap plastics inside. I am really confused about its positioning.

Has VW tried to make an Etios out of Phaeton?
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Old 11th April 2011, 15:16   #23
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re: Driven: The 2011 Volkswagen Passat

Ajmat,

Congrats on a awesome and engaging review. It gives out the details of the car as well as the history of the vehicle line. For a D-class virgin like me it gives insight on what was the market like all this while.

Commenting about the car, it does look great indeed. But of course, I do like the looks of the Skoda Superb more than this one. Since VW Passat and Superb share the same platform does this mean that the Superb will also have a change now?

One thing I am still not sure is the effectiveness of the AC seats, because the seats heat up a lot in Indian conditions.
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Old 11th April 2011, 15:18   #24
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re: Driven: The 2011 Volkswagen Passat

Superb review! No wait this is better than Superb!
I especially liked how you took us on that nostalgic journey through the various previous generations. That was really something different and very interesting.
Coming to the Passat, i feel people are not going to give this one a "Pass" now that it seems to be better packaged and is loaded to the brim with tech and goodies. I especially fell for those gorgeous LED daytime lights. The car seems to have taken a lot of design cues and elements from Audi, and this has helped the Passat move up about half a segment or so in it's looks. I found the tail lights to have a slight Audi resemblance too.
The only feature lacking here is rear legroom, for someone who is going to drive this beauty themselves this isn't going to be too much of an issue. But for the Sahib's as you mentioned they would still be more comfortable in the Superb. Also would like to wait and see the problem areas of the current gen Passat, as the previous generation had quite a few niggles. Hopefully these are ironed out in the current gen and one can look forward to visiting the service centre only to carry out routine maintainence.

Once again thanks for the detailed review, was looking forward to it too.
Drive Safe!
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Old 11th April 2011, 16:30   #25
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re: Driven: The 2011 Volkswagen Passat

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Originally Posted by ajmat View Post
Heating and Air-conditioning - It was effective and considering the massive torque of the engine, I did not feel any drag. However, after being parked in 32 degrees centigrade, the HVAC just about coped. I was sitting on the rear seat and it needed to try hard. On discussing with the VW Technical head, I understand that the air-conditioning unit is lifted straight from Europe. If sales volumes increase and there is a case for localisation, then a more robust locally-developed version might come in. Don't forget that quite a few Skodas wore their compressors out!
Great review & pictures Ajmat.

I have seen the A/C problem in other European cars (Skoda Superb / Laura & Mercedes C-class W203 / W204) also where it does take some time to cool down the interiors.
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Old 11th April 2011, 17:27   #26
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re: Driven: The 2011 Volkswagen Passat

Excellent review Ajmat. Extremely detailed and to the point. As I mentioned earlier, this Passat will make the A4 redundant. More space, better transmission, 170Ps compared to 140PS and way more features. Why would anyone pay 6-7 lakhs just for the audi brand name?

Similarly the 3 and C class will also face competition. Although their brand value is way higher so they may not be impacted.

One can say that the 3 and C are RWD so offer better driving dynamics. But now the 3 has a softer suspension and EPS. The news C's steering is also not that great in feedback and is tuned for ride. Both cars are extremely cramped even more than the Audi A4.

Now that the battery is in the boot does that mean the fuse box also sits there? This will solve the moisture issue and the fuses getting blown if thats the case.

What's the standard warranty on the car?

I dont remember but the earlier bi-xenon lamps had some funky adjustment for beam pattern depending on driving condition and incoming glare. Does this have it as well?
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Old 11th April 2011, 17:59   #27
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re: Driven: The 2011 Volkswagen Passat

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I dont remember but the earlier bi-xenon lamps had some funky adjustment for beam pattern depending on driving condition and incoming glare. Does this have it as well?

Yes this does have the self adaptive and cornering head-lamps from the Audis and the Skoda Superb. Runs in the family
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Old 11th April 2011, 18:05   #28
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re: Driven: The 2011 Volkswagen Passat

Excellent review Ajmat. I feel that most European cars are aiming at a similar look for all their models doen the range. So the Polo's Front looks like the Ventos, which is quite a lot like the Passats

One more thing i read in the Passat's review in an auto magazine. Its the foot unlocking for the rear boot. One usually approaches the boot with hand full so in the Passat's case, one has to just move the foot under the car's rear bumper to automatically unlock the boot and render it open. Im not sure if this is provided in the India bound Passat but the review i read, said, it would be. Also the Park assist and ability to maintain distance in the highway (i dont know what its called), which the VW dealer told me about. Are these available and if they are, are they paid optionals?
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Old 11th April 2011, 18:57   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by anoopash View Post
Avery comprehensive review, really great work Ajmat. My uncle plans to buy a Passat but as mentioned he is also skeptical on the rear leg room .
I would not rule it out as bad. You can only come to a conclusion once you actually try it out, By the way, I am 6ft tall.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dot View Post
. We understood that even higher level of care is being taken to manufacture their premium cars at their Aurangabad plant, like this new Passat.

However, the grey interiors are slightly dull. Maybe my personal issue. A jet black interior would be killing.

Didnt understand this. One needs to press the brake pedal or accelerator pedal to restart the engine.
Aurangabad is used for CKD operations Chakan is for full fledged manufacturing. The pics make the interior look grey since the sunlight was harsh, It was not so grey in reality.

Actually, it is the accelerator, but you need to depress brake to select drive when moving from Park or Neutral, in the process, the engine starts up.

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Originally Posted by AltoHoncho View Post
and at that price its got cheap plastics inside. I am really confused about its positioning.
The plastics on the roof console and rear console are questionable. Remaining plastics were well made and durable.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mdsaab View Post
Superb review! No wait this is better than Superb!
I especially liked how you took us on that nostalgic journey through the various previous generations. That was really something different and very interesting.

Also would like to wait and see the problem areas of the current gen Passat, as the previous generation had quite a few niggles. Hopefully these are ironed out in the current gen and one can look forward to visiting the service centre only to carry out routine maintainence.
!
Amazing how the car has grown over the years! I think the car will be reliable - electronics apart based on the anecdotal information that VW have not had too many issues with the later versions of the previous generation

Quote:
Originally Posted by vid6639 View Post

Now that the battery is in the boot does that mean the fuse box also sits there? This will solve the moisture issue and the fuses getting blown if thats the case.

What's the standard warranty on the car?
It should help. I took a look at the pic after your comment, it is the major fuse box for the fans etc. For those of you wondering what I am talking about, I had huge problems with the fans failing leading to overheating since moistures cause this fuse box to short out in my Skoda. The battery move gives more space for engine access and heat dissipation. My Skoda engine area is hot after a normal run

Warranty is 2 years, unlimited, extendable to 4 years 100000km + 3 year warranty on paint + 12 year warranty on corrosion if car is maintained and repaired by VW.

Quote:
Originally Posted by V-16 View Post

One more thing i read in the Passat's review in an auto magazine. Its the foot unlocking for the rear boot. One usually approaches the boot with hand full so in the Passat's case, one has to just move the foot under the car's rear bumper to automatically unlock the boot and render it open. Im not sure if this is provided in the India bound Passat but the review i read, said, it would be. Also the Park assist and ability to maintain distance in the highway (i dont know what its called), which the VW dealer told me about. Are these available and if they are, are they paid optionals?
  • The Boot lock is not available. Why? R&D have not cleared it. Why? No answer
  • Park Assist is available on the Highline
  • The distance sensing feature is not available. My guess is that once needs clearance from DRDO for radar items and also the unpredictability of our traffic means, anything could out smart this feature

Last edited by ajmat : 11th April 2011 at 19:07.
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Old 11th April 2011, 19:07   #30
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re: Driven: The 2011 Volkswagen Passat

Hi Ajmat,
A very well written and informative review.Were you able to get any information on the the petrol variant?Does VW plan to launch it anytime soon?
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