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-   -   Driven: Volkswagen Passat (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/194694-driven-volkswagen-passat-11.html)

Does Indian Passat has autonomous braking / emergency braking ? I was parking the car today in the a tight spot and felt the car applied brakes automatically when there was an obstruction/ person behind the car.

That's maneuver braking. The car senses obstacles with parking sensors since it comes with auto park feature and applies the brakes if you don't. Doesn't work for speeds above 15 kmph that is max parking and drive off speed.

adi_petrolhead, you seem to be very clued into the Passat. When do we hear the happy news? :D

Seriously, did not know that the Passat had this feature. Thought only the updated Octavia and Superb had it.

I do like the Passat, but not so much to push me and sign the cheque, yet!
Here is a link to understand the feature for Passat owners. https://youtu.be/oXjUy5BHn9E

Booked a VW Passat Highline a few days back.

After 7 years and more than 185000 satisfying kms with my Fiat Linea, it was time to change my car. I was on the look out for a new sedan.

I had shortlisted Corolla, Elantra, Octavia. I was waiting to check out the new Honda Civic before buying an Octavia. I skipped the oonchi cars after a round of testing them - Fortuner, Endeavour, Kodiaq and the Rexton/Alturas. My next car would be a sedan.

Last Saturday, I was heading to office to catch up on some pending work. I put my office bag in the car and went back home to get some stuff that I had left behind. Just as I returned to my, I saw a test drive Passat ease in to parking slot next to mine. A friend from the neighbouring flat was back after a test drive and was trying out the automatic parking.

He invited me into the car for get my views. It was better than a superb experience! :D. Great features, adequate power, well mannered road behavior. I fell in love with this car.

I could hardly wait to get back from work to look up reviews on Team-BHP. Thank you Gannu_1 for the splendid review. I decided to buy the car after reading this review and the positive recommendations from many BHPians and in particular moderators GTO, Ajmat. Thank you.

Looking forward to another satisfying ownership experience.

Anyone experienced a higher vertical movement in sports mode ? I was on ORR Hyderabad and slotted the car in sports mode for the first time and felt the car behaved a little differently with higher vertical movement even at ~80-90kmph. Though felt more connected with road. In comfort mode , things were perfect with negligible vertical movement. I’m not sure if this is how DCC works.

Few weeks back I have taken delivery of a new VW Passat Highline that comes with 215/55/R17 Apollo Aspire 4G Tyres. The tyres are good but not great and I have been thinking of an upgraded tyre on the stock wheels. The tyre is an odd size one with the only possible upgrade on stock wheels being 235/50/R17(as per various tyre comparison sites). So far I have not been successful in finding a tyre of this size in any brand with any dealer in Chennai.

Almost all the dealers are recommending 225/50/R17 Michelin Pilot Sport 4 as the only possible upgrade with the stock wheel. This tyre has a reduced diameter of about 1.7% compared to the stock tyres.
Since the current Skoda Superb has been around for quite some time and it runs tyres of the same specification atleast on the L&K model, I would really appreciate any feedback from fellow team-bhpians. Has anyone been successful in finding 235/50/R17 or if anyone already tried 225/50/R17 tyres on the cars? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Michelin seems to have 215/55 under their Primacy 3ST range (link). They may have that size for the newer 4ST too.

That particular size seems to be just not available in IN, and I suggest you stick to the OEM 215/55 size but upgrade to Michelin P3ST or P4ST (if it becomes available). Issue is that you cannot delay changing your tyres as the more you drive, the less you will recover from them during exchange!

IF you like sporty driving and your local VW service workshop doesn't create stumbling blocks w.r.t. warranty etc with the PS4 225/50, I suggest you go for them as they will probably be far far superior to the P3ST. It's also priced amazingly well for a brand new 17" launch at only MRP 11,885!

Yes, 215/55/17 is available in Michelin Primacy 3ST and should also be available for 4ST. Its much better than the Apollo. Apollo would be harder in comparison and meant for long tyre life. Are the wheels 7.0" or 7.5" wide? Max you can put on a 7.0" wheel is 225 section, and 235 section on the 7.5". Your final decision will depend on the wheel width, then hunt for availability. As you said 235/50/17 should be your best upsize based on dia and circ. but no availability in India.

Thanks all for your prompt feedback.

Primacy 4ST is indeed available with Chennai dealers in the stock size for around Rs13500/-. The current available stocks are V rated and I am checking with dealers if they can find a W rated tyre. I do not want to go for a V rated tyre as I am used to a W rated Michelin Pilot Sport 3 (225/50/R16) on my Jetta.

Oops!!! I understand that wheels on the Passat are 7.0" wide, so 235/50/17 should be out of question then.

Commitments at office have been keeping me occupied overtime. I nevertheless still managed to drive around 900kms in the last four weeks. I indeed need to changed the tyres immediately else I will see further fall in the exchange offer price for the stock tyres. The best I have been offered so far is Rs3500/- which I consider very low. Three years back when I got the MY2016 Jetta, I received Rs4800/- for buyback of the stock Good Year 205/55/R16 in exchange for the Michelin Pilot Sport 3 225/50/R16. But that was straight from the showroom.

The warranty is one aspect that I need to consider if I am going for a non standard OEM size tyre. I heard great reviews of the Michelin PS4 225/50 and looks like a right balance between sportiness and comfort. Looks like now I have to decide between the P4ST and the PS4.

Its really a pity that such a nice car comes fitted with such a odd size tyre making it very difficult to upgrade!!! What a difficult decision to make?

:D I had not seen your signature earlier else would not have commented on VW dealer rapport. You must have already built it with your 225/50/16 PS3s so go for the 225/50/17 PS4s.

I can only wish life was so easy and uncomplicated. lol: I did have a good rapport with the dealer from whom I purchased the Jetta and also with the service center guys there. The Passat is however purchased from another dealer. Why I had to go for a different dealer for the Passat after building a strong rapport of 3 years with the dealer/service center from where Jetta was purchased/serviced is a different story altogether. Perhaps sometime later!

I do have a good rapport with the dealer where I purchased the Passat as well(including the service center folks).

I will soon take a calculated decision in a few days considering the 4 year warranty coverage of the vehicle.

That depends on how you got to the Sports mode. Did you switch to the sports mode through the Drive mode selector or through just slotting the tiptronic gear into 'S' mode while the drive was in Comfort or Normal mode? I have noticed similar vertical movements while slotting the tiptronic gear into 'S' mode while being in the comfort drive mode. Alternately it is possible that you are experiencing these vertical movements due to very high tyre pressures (>40~42psi), no matter what drive mode you are in.

I did use the drive mode selector to move into sports mode and also spotted the car in S using tiptronic. I will check the tyre pressure tomorrow as I haven’t after taking the delivery of the car. Thanks for your reply.

Heard from the dealers that the production of the Passat has stopped in India. Only stock available at dealers and some at the plant, pause to limit unsold inventory or is it being discontinued?