I was told flat out that the dealership did not have courtesy cars, but had arrangements to provide rentals at $30 a day while I was in for scheduled maintenance and other issues. I didn't really need the car for a couple days, so I opted for valet service instead.

After I dropped of my car (a day early) I got a surprise call from a rental company saying my name was on a list to receive a no-charge loaner from Pfaff. I could have waited until tomorrow to get a beetle (wanted to try one) but I opted for a new 30v Passat with Tiptronic.

Interesting car, very A6-ish in many ways, but certainly not all. Most interesting was playing with the Tiptronic transmission, which I'd never tried before. My verdict : better than expected. The tip let me rev as high as I wanted, it basically behaved exactly as I wanted it to in gearing up and down. Operation seemed quite natural, though I still think pulling back on the tip should gear UP not down - it's backwards!

Fit and finish was good but not even close to the A6, despite a nice treatment with wood and chrome. The blue-glow dash is spectacular :-) It has a 12v outlet in the trunk!

One of the first shortcomings I noticed was more road noise, as small road cracks that my A6 eat up are instead felt unmistakably.

It's a fine car, but having driven it now, I would not consider the A6 a glorified Passat. It's just a whole bunch of little things that make the big difference, overcoming the similarities which don't go far beyond dimensions. The only place I found components that matched my A6 exactly was under the hood - things like power steering and coolant tanks, a few others. One final odd thing I found was an electric pump circulating coolant for a few minutes after the car was turned off...

 

I think of the Passat as an A5, perhaps leaning a bit more towards the A4 level. For non-sporty drivers, who need most of the room/class of an A6, I think it's a very viable alternative. Just figure in the cost of an extended warranty, since the 2/24 is sad. And don't forget, you took a step down into a Passat. If you had taken a step up instead, you would probably think it was the most swellest car you'd ever seen.

You'd find with a Tip that you would rarely use it, unless you do a lot of canyon/mountain driving when the tranny can't see what's coming and it's easiest to DIY.

 

and "feel" like a better build quality. But it is still a sweet car. The Jetta and Golf are very good also. Beetles are for teenage girls.

 

should rent each for a day. A test drive does not reveal all. To me, the Passat is a great family car. It comes nowhere close to what the A4 stands for ( sporty, hip, fit&finish ) , nor treads in A6 waters ( stylish, option choices, luxurious, fit&finish ).

The Passat is a fantastic value. I'll take one over a Camry, Maxima, Accord, Volvo or Saab any day.<ul><li><a href="http://www.bnm.com/specsf.htm#rc">http://www.bnm.com/specsf.htm#rc</a</li></ul>

 

may be not close to an A5. but like i said before, the trims in the new Passat is awesome. something you would not expect in a VW even a few years ago. and i have no clue where the 4Motion place itself in the VW/Audi group when Quattro is the deal. and yes, even Audi doesn't offer BiXenon headlights as in the top model Passat overseas.

 

It seems to have a tighter turning radius. It has a 12v outlet in the trunk. The radio stays on until I pull the key out. And the nifty blue dash, though it wouldn't suit an Audi.

 

I like the automatic rain sensing and speed sensitive wipers, standard on GLX--nice

 

products sharing considerable parts across models and brands. This includes axle suspension, fit and finish, drivetrain components, and even seats (not seat coverings).

The Audi A4 and A6 will get a plethora of internal workings from the golf/passat with the exception in some cases of powerplant. If a part works in the golf and the A6 believe me it will be shared. The different models and brands will be unique through the use of powerplant control and drive(transmission) controls. In other words, even if they share power output or the same powerplant they will be programmed differently to allow for unique performance profiles.

These are not my words and I don't work for Volkswagen. Dr. Piech is stating that in order for the company to attain the profit margins they desire, they have transformed the product(s) into a true shared strategy. You used to be able to argue that the Passat and A6 shared nothing more than a few cosmetic parts. That cannot be said going forward. They will share a vastly greater number of mechanical and aesthetic qualities.

Believe me, I am no fan of this strategy but it is what it is. Camry/ES300 = very little difference other than quality of cowhide and some baubles. A6 and Passat are converging/converged in the same method. I hope that Audi will stun us with some uniquely Audi things but the flow of technology/design/evolution/strategy is almost a 100% push to Audi. There is very little data pull the other way.

Audi Sport and Audi racing are really gathering data for the Volks brand of products. Audi will get some slopover of "hey look what this thing can do" in the production vehicles. Virtually everything however is going into the Volks pipeline first and then filtering across and down to Audi, seat, skoda, etc. . .

The exception being Lambo. I myself am not in that market. I will be someday, but not right now. So, while the Passat may not quite be A6 it's going to be there maybe as early as 2002.5. Dr. Piech says it's going that way and he is running the company. It might blow up here at some point but so far he has been splendidly successful and making some serious return on investment. As he states without any hesitation, it's about profit.

In my opinion, if Audi falters quarter over quarter in the not too distant future you can bet on many Audi projects hitting the storage bin. Steppenwolf will be Steppenout. RS6 will become Deep6. I am only basing this on what I read so it's is just an opinion. I dislike my particular car right now but I like Audi products. I certainly don't "want" to see the products merge in the Japanese platform strategy. The reality is that it is almost complete in this case. So sad.

Oh well, as I said before there are many unique platforms that have some great techonology. More awd options, more sporting options, more performance options, etc. . . I'm not anti Audi. I am on the S6 waiting list (numero tres) and also on the mini waiting list. One is for legitimate driving experience and the other for fun.

Brian

 

in front and 2 inches in the rear. The A6 is 8 inches longer as well. All of these ( except body width ) have some bearing on the turning radius.

The outlet is neat. The Audi Avant line does have rear outlets.

As cool as the blue looks, some people have problems reading them. VW trainers have said that the reason for the blue is that the cars spend most of their time in town and this colour is easy to differentiate from others around them outside.

 

Must be my eyes, I have difficulty with the VW dashes, and the subsidiary things like the blue illuminated clock in the bug might as well not exist to me.