Cadillac Lyriq vs Volkswagen Passat

What's the difference?

The Lyriq Luxury combines handsome styling and luxurious appointments with responsive yet supple ride quality, the choice of relaxed driving or exhilarating performance as desired and a decent driving range. Its lack of towing ability may be a deal breaker for some, but it's certainly worthy of consideration by prestige SUV buyers with a penchant for electric power and (for now at least) sub-$100K drive-away pricing.

I so enjoyed driving the Volkswagen Passat 206TSI R-Line. It's a roomy wagon that should fit a lot of different types of families. It still has sporty performance that will entice even the most reluctant family car buyer, so don't be turned off by its large proportions! I really like the comfort, convenience and handling of this one, so it gets an easy 8.0/10 from me.

My kid thought the blue colour was cool and loved having so many things to play with in the back seat. His only complaint was about the heavier doors but he still managed. He gives it an 8.0/10, too.

The Lyriq has a generous 3095mm wheelbase, is more than five metres long (5005mm) and almost two metres wide (1977mm, including mirrors). Its 1620mm roof height is relatively low for a large SUV, resulting in a sleek and sporty profile combined with a muscular surefooted stance fronted by a finely-etched solid grille.

It rides on five-link independent suspension with GM’s ‘passive plus’ dampers, plus there’s electric power-assisted steering and big Brembo disc brakes in each corner featuring classy Cadillac scripts on the calipers. Turning circle is 12.1 metres, which is to be expected for a car of this size.

The interior design is an elegant blend of soft-touch materials and discreetly textured surface finishes with an emphasis on chrome and satin chrome highlights. It’s also spacious as you’d expect, with the panoramic sunroof creating a bright and airy feel.

We applaud Cadillac’s adherence to tradition with physical buttons and knurled dials and knobs for controlling key cabin and driving functions, in preference to annoying and distracting touchscreen menus. There’s also nice attention to detail with small jewel-like Cadillac emblems and scripts contributing to its prestige look and feel.

The Passat is a large car and stands at 4708mm long, 1832mm wide and 1504mm high. The boxier rear and long nose make these proportions feel even larger.

The 2023 model doesn't see much change, if any, to the previous iteration. The exterior features the classic VW sharp pleat that runs the length of the body, slim-line LED lights and pronounce grille with lots of chrome accents found throughout.

It looks shiny, new and stylish, but not garish. You'd be proud to be seen in this.

The interior is also classically VW – sharp, a little pared back and hosting easy to see buttons and dials. The adjustable ambient lighting elevates the cabin space, as does the black headliner (R-Line exclusive).

An interesting feature is the directional air vents, the slatted design is carried the entire length of the dash which accentuates the width of the car. It all looks seamless and well thought out.

The Lyriq’s 2687kg kerb weight (largely due to its hefty propulsion battery) and 3200kg GVM results in a modest 513kg load capacity, which could easily be used up by five large adults before you could think about loading their luggage. It’s also not rated for towing in Australia which limits its appeal as a recreational vehicle.

Driver and front passenger enjoy palatial space and comfort plus ample storage with a bottle-holder and bin in each door. There's also a large glove box, pop-out drawer in the dash and a ‘floating’ centre console equipped with a lower tray, three USB-C ports, a 12V socket, wireless phone charging and a felt-lined box at the back with padded lid that doubles as an elbow rest.

The rear doors open wide for easy entry to the rear bench seat which even for tall people (I’m 186cm) offers ample room for knees and feet, enhanced by a flat floor with no transmission tunnel for centre passengers to straddle.

However, the top of my head brushes the roof lining and the unusually high floor height (we assume caused by the underfloor battery) results in raised thigh angles that concentrate more weight on the lower back.

Given the rounded lower backrest cushions, which integrate with the ISOFIX child seat anchorages in the outer seating positions, also protrude into a passenger's lower back region, the rear seat provides less than ideal comfort for tall passengers in contrast to the sublime luxury up front.

Even so, rear passenger storage is well catered for with a bottle-holder in each door, pockets on both front seat backrests and two cupholders in the fold-down centre armrest. The rear of the centre console offers two more USB-C ports, adjustable air vents and adjustments for numerous comfort settings.

The power tailgate provides access to the fully carpeted rear luggage area, which offers up to 793 litres (almost 0.8 cubic metres) of load volume with the rear seats upright and up to 1722 litres (almost 1.8 cubic metres) with the seats power-folded flat. This provides a versatile space for carrying everything from a mountain bike to flatpack furniture.

The luggage area also has four tie-down hooks, a 12V socket and a hinged floor section which when opened reveals an underfloor bin ideal for storing charging cables (see image).

A very practical family wagon with all passengers enjoying ample head and legroom.

The amenities in both rows are very good. The seats are fairly comfortable but the lumbar support isn't awesome. The massage function on the driver's side is a nice novelty but not strong enough to be called a massage. Think of it as gently stretching.

For storage, you get a decently sized middle console, dedicated phone tray, cooled glove box, drink bottle holders in each door and two cupholders.

There are plenty of charging options available for the front with two USB-C ports and a 12-volt socket. Bonus having the wireless Apple CarPlay (and Android Auto), as it's one less cable you have to worry about.

In general, I like how easy the tech is to use. The 9.2-inch touchscreen multimedia system looks great and is responsive.

It's easy to get all the connections going and you can pull the built-in satellite navigation directions through to the 10.25-inch digital instrument panel. I did miss having a head-up display this week but the info on the instrument panel is displayed clearly.

The back seat gets a couple of cupholders in the fold-down armrest and drink bottle holders in each door. It also has directional air vents with climate control, reading lights and one USB-C port for charging. However, I would have liked to have seen another charging port, to limit sibling squabbles.

There are ISOFIX child seat mounts on the outboard seats plus three top tether anchor points.

The backseat is wide enough to fit three child seats side by side if needed, and there's plenty of room for front passengers when a 0-4 rearward facing child seat is installed.

The windows are wide and offer good visibility but I really like the 142mm ground clearance. It was super easy for my six-year old to climb in and out.

The only thing he mentioned he didn't like was how heavy the doors were to operate. I don't mind this because they feel solid but they do swing wide, so be wary of letting any wild kids just hop out themselves in a crowded car park. You may get (or inflict) some dings.

The boot is a great size at 650L, with all seats in use, but if you pop down the backseats, that jumps up to 1780L.

The back seat also split-folds 40/20/40, which opens up your storage options. I enjoyed using the powered tailgate with kick function, it's handy on the grocery run.

The 206 TSI R-Line is top of a (small) two-model line-up. Our example has been finished in 'Lapiz Blue', a colour exclusive to the R-Line. Otherwise, expect a sea of monochromatic colour options.

We say top model but it's not necessarily a massive jump up in specifications from the 162 TSI Elegance, you're paying for the engine performance on this one.

This R-Line will cost you $67,790, before on-road costs. That's a $4K price hike from the 2022 model with no discernible upgrades.

And that price tag still puts it well above its closest rivals, with the Octavia RS 180 TSI being $53,090 and the Mazda6 Atenza at $52,140 (all before on-road costs).

However, you won't be disappointed with the features list with Nappa leather-appointed seat trim, R-Line stitched detailing on the floor mats and seats, electric and heated front seats, massage function on the driver's seat, a panoramic sunroof as well as wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto all coming as standard.

The R-Line also enjoys 19-inch alloy wheels, a full-sized spare, heat insulating tinted glass, 65 per cent light reducing rear privacy glass and 30-way adjustable ambient lighting in the cabin.

The Lyriq features drive units with single-speed transmissions located at the front and rear which provide permanent all-wheel drive. Each is equipped with an electric motor, which combined produce 388kW of power and 610Nm of torque. There are also numerous selectable drive modes. Claimed 0-100km/h acceleration time is a rapid 5.3 seconds.

The R-Line has a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbo-petrol powertrain with a maximum output of 206kW/350Nm.

That puts its engine specs 44kW up on the Elegance model and you feel that difference when you put your foot down.

The six-speed auto transmission provides surprisingly smooth shifting in most settings. The grunty engine combined with the all-wheel drive creates a sporty and purposeful driving experience.

GMANZ claims official combined consumption of 22.5kWh/100km and up to 530km of driving range from the Lyriq’s 102kW lithium-ion propulsion battery.

When we collected our test vehicle the dash display was showing 100 per cent charge and an estimated driving range of 583km.

We drove 239km over five days and still had 52 per cent charge and 300km of range remaining when we did an overnight charge at home using the supplied AC charger with a domestic three-pin plug.

However, after 15 hours the charge only increased from 52 to 65 per cent for just 76km of extra driving range, so we would recommend installing a dedicated wall box for faster home charging.

In total we covered 297km across our usual mix of suburban, city and highway driving with average energy consumption just under the Cadillac's official figure, so based on our test results a driving range of around 500km per charge is credible.

GMANZ claims 7.4kW AC charging can add up to 43km of range per hour, which increases to 94km with 22.1kW charging. And up to 128km of range can be added in just 10 minutes using 190kW DC fast charging.

That powerful engine does cost you a little bit with efficiency. The official combined fuel figure is 8.1L/100km and real-world testing saw my figure at 8.6L.

Not too bad for the type of driving I did this week, which was a combo of open-road and urban. I wasn't scared of putting my foot down but I would expect to see a double-digit figure in an urban setting.

This has a 66L fuel tank and based on the official combined figure, you should be able to get around 815km driving range, which is great.

The driving position is supportive and comfortable with multiple power-adjustment of the seat and steering wheel ensuring people of most heights and girths can enjoy luxurious travel.

The low dashboard height ensures vision to the front of the bonnet and its array of physical buttons, knurled dials and knobs minimise touchscreen use, which makes driving far less distracting than having to search through digital menus.

It’s very quiet given its electric drivetrain. Most noise emanates from the tyres but that is also minimised by the audio system’s noise cancellation technology and the cabin’s effective acoustic insulation.

Ride quality and handling are excellent thanks to the Lyriq’s suspension refinement and close to an ideal 50-50 weight distribution mostly influenced by the positioning of its drive battery.

This battery’s considerable heft (we reckon it weighs at least half a tonne) also creates ample sprung weight to assist the suspension in smoothing out bumps and its underfloor location ensures a low centre of gravity for surefooted cornering.

Standing start acceleration is more than impressive for a luxury car weighing almost 2.7 tonnes, with instantaneous torque from its two electric motors helping to propel the Lyriq to a neck-straining 100km/h in about five seconds.

This spirited response creates a sporty and engaging drive that belies the vehicle’s weight, particularly in Sport mode with its sharper throttle response and firmer steering feel.

We also like the choices for regenerative braking which include ‘One Pedal Driving’ mode with 'Normal' and 'High' settings, both of which make the quartet of disc brakes largely redundant (the High setting feels like heavy pedal braking) while optimising battery charge. There’s also a small paddle on the steering wheel which increases regenerative braking in response to the amount of finger pressure applied to it.

Our only criticism from a driver’s point of view is the absence of a head-up display (HUD) and traffic sign recognition (TSR), both of which are notable omissions for a prestige vehicle in this price range.

The performance of this is to be commended. Powerful but poised, there's a sense of performance in reserve when you put your foot down and while still fun, it's not unbridled power.

It inspires confidence, the lower centre of gravity and firm steering meaning you tackle corners with minimum roll. You can accelerate out of a corner a little earlier than you might normally in this.

The cabin is nice and quiet with some road noise at higher speeds but not enough to intrude on chatting.

Despite suspension that feels sporty, aka stiff, the ride comfort is very good, with back seat passengers also feeling the comfort. There's not a lot of jostling in this.

Let's talk parking. It is a large car but you don't feel those dimensions when you park it.

It's very forgiving to manoeuvre with the front and rear parking sensors, crisp 360-degree view camera and tight 11.7m turning circle!

And if you're not confident it has a self-parking feature.

This has a good list of safety features with the following being standard: LED daytime running lights, lane departure alert, lane keeping aid, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, 360-degree view reversing camera with dynamic guidelines, front and rear parking sensors, driver fatigue alert, and adaptive cruise control (with stop/go function).

I like the Emergency Assist feature which will provide multiple visual and sound alerts if there's no steering wheel activity detected. If there's still no driver input, the car will slow down and ultimately come to a complete stop.

The Passat's maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating has just expired and at the time of writing was yet to be retested.

The 2023 Passat has nine airbags, including side airbags for the rear outboard seats, as well as curtain airbags covering both rows.

There are three top tethers across the rear row and ISOFIX child seat mounts on the outboard positions.

The Lyriq comes standard with a five-year/unlimited km warranty including five years' of roadside assist, while the propulsion battery is covered by a separate eight-year/160,000km warranty.

Scheduled servicing is every 12 months/12,000km whichever occurs first, with costs for the first five years of scheduled servicing or five scheduled services included in the vehicle’s purchase price. These servicing terms are generous for this segment, although some rivals offer similar enticements like Audi’s six-year ‘complimentary’ servicing for its Q8 e-tron.

GMANZ has a national network of 45-50 dealerships across most capital cities and some regional areas but not all offer vehicle servicing.

The Passat comes with a market standard five-year/unlimited km warranty, and roadside assistance is included for one year (through Allianz Insurance) if you get your car serviced at a VW centre.

There is a three- or five-year capped price servicing plan that can be pre-purchased and will save you money compared to the pay-as-you go option. Servicing averages $620 though, which is expensive for the class.

Servicing intervals are reasonable at every 12 months or 16,500km – whichever occurs first.