Volkswagen Passat Video Reviews

The Volkswagen Passat wagon has more boot space than most mid-size SUVs, and nimbly gets around on the road. Is this the wagon that could steer you away from an SUV?

You’ve got to try pretty hard to find proper icy driving conditions in Australia, but when you do, you want to have every option at your disposal to give you the best chance of avoiding a collision. Just look at the popularity of inherently all-wheel drive Subarus in the Snowy Mountains area or Tasmania. Audi is another brand synonymous with all-wheel drive, but parent brand Volkswagen is turning all four wheels by an increasing measure, with 44 per cent of passenger car and SUV sales now wearing 4Motion badges. The German brand claims this is double the industry average. It’s not just ice where all-wheel drive can come in handy either. Gravel, wet bitumen and mud are much easier to come by, and often when you’re not planning to. Australian roads are still 56 per cent unsealed according to Volkswagen.It’s easy to say that stability and traction control systems go a long way to playing the same role as all-wheel drive when it comes to accident avoidance, but it’s important to understand that all wheel drive as a proactive means of preserving traction, unlike traction and stability control which are reactive. If you can prevent a problem before it starts, surely that’s better, and the systems actually compliment each other when calibrated to work in harmony. Given the lack of ice in Australia, we’ve just travelled to New Zealand to experience Volkswagen’s 4Motion systems in the most trying of conditions, at work in everything from a small SUV, to a hot hatch, to a full-size commercial van. Volkswagen 4Motion all-wheel drive is currently available in two main types, Haldex and Torsen. The Haldex-type used in all 4Motion models aside from the Touareg and Amarok, and is a part-time system where fluid pressure controls a clutch pack to send power to the rear wheels as needed.The latest fifth generation Haldex-type system is integrated with a whole bunch of drivetrain sensors to help predict traction loss before it happens.The Touareg and automatic Amaroks use a full-time system with a Torsen, or torque sensing, mechanical centre diff that’s essentially reserved for their north-south engine layout. The Torsen system was made famous by various Audi Quattro models, and also sees duty aboard vehicles as diverse as the Toyota LandCruiser Prado.The third 4Motion type currently in use is only found aboard manual versions of the Amarok, and is essentially the traditional mechanical low-range transfer case. This version was not available to test in New Zealand. Volkswagen chose the Southern Hemisphere Proving Ground in Cardrona to highlight 4Motion’s ice capabilities, which is the sort of James Bond mountain-top network of ice circuits you’ve probably dreamed about. It would be ideal to test the same cars back to back in two- and all-wheel drive, but given the ice was hard enough to walk on, two-wheel drive would have been next to useless. So the fact that the 4Motion cars were able to drive at all is amazing. They did have winter tyres fitted, but I really doubt they made any difference on the slick ice. The cars on hand represented a good spectrum of the VW 4Motion range, including the upcoming T-Roc small SUV in 140 TSI guise, the Golf R hot hatch, the Tiguan 162 TSI mid-size SUV, the Passat Alltrack 140 TDI wagon, the Arteon sedan, the new Touareg large SUV in NZ-spec 210 V6S guise, the Amarok Ultimate 580 and would you believe it, the big Crafter van in MWB TDI 410 spec. The two ice courses on offer proved a masterclass in weight transfer and how a bigger car is much harder to turn. And I’m not just talking about the Crafter either, the T-Roc may seem like just a Tiguan with the back of its roof chopped off, but it is so much more nimble than the Tiguan on the ice. The longer wheelbases of the Passat Alltrack and Arteon made them even more difficult to unsettle, but the lower ride height and roofline of the Arteon made it that much easier to change directions.The ice also highlights how each car is set up to suit its intended purpose. The Golf R will let you turn off all its stability control for proper Ken Block-style four-wheel drifting, while the cars aimed at more sedate driving, like the Touareg or professional use, like the Amarok and Crafter will keep some of the stability control on all the time in the interests of outright safety. This also highlights the role of stability control with all-wheel drive. Without stability control, it is a challenge to get a car sideways, and planting your right foot will quickly straighten everything out. But with stability control, it’s almost impossible to induce oversteer, and therefore pretty much idiot proof, so they work really well together.For this integration of systems to keep vehicles as large and rugged as the Amarok and Crafter stable in these conditions is simply amazing.  The benefits of all-wheel drive aren't so obvious on dry bitumen, which is indeed where most of us spend most of our time driving. But to demonstrate how broad the models’ range of capabilities are, Volkswagen gave us access to Highlands Motorsport Park race circuit to experience most of the same cars at the other end of their performance spectrum.We drove the Haldex-equipped Tiguan, Arteon, Golf R and Passat Alltrack back to back with the Torsen-equipped Touareg and Amarok, and couldn’t pick any difference in the systems on the dry bitumen surface. This is going to sound a bit like a VW ad, but our track time did highlight that both 4Motion all-wheel drive systems are beautifully integrated with the stability control, suspension and tyres, with no sense of tugging or unsettling emergency reaction when you reach the limits of adhesion.This includes the Amarok too, which is a big ladder chassis ute with a solid axle and leaf springs on the back, and it maintains stability and predictability. A dual cab ute! On a racetrack!

Tim Robson road tests and reviews the new Volkswagen Passat Alltrack Wolfsburg limited edition with specs, fuel consumption and verdict at its Australian launch in Sydney.

Ash Westerman road tests and reviews the Volkswagen Passat with specs, fuel consumption and verdict at its Australian launch.

The Alltrack represents an interesting move by the ‘do no wrong’ Volkswagen group. Essentially a Passat wagon with a lift kit, it is likely to give some stick to Subaru's Outback, not to mention Volvo's quieter achiever the XC70. All three are cast in the same mold.Alltrack is priced from a very competitive $47,790 which includes an auto. Standard features include satnav, Bluetooth, media device interface, heated front seats, a rear view camera, front and rear parking sensors, fog lights, stainless steel door sill plates with the 'Alltrack' signature, comfort seats in Vienna leather, interior accents in Titanium silver (signature on ashtray cover), pedals in brushed stainless steel and dual zone climate control.Other 'Alltrack' signatures are located at the front and rear of the vehicle and the instrument cluster greets the driver with the signature. 17 inch alloys are standard fitted with 225/50 rubber along with dual chromed tailpipes.It's powered by VW's acclaimed 2.0-litre turbodiesel, hooked up to a six-speed dual clutch tranmission with power fed to all four wheels. The diesel is good for 125kW and 350 Nm or torque, the latter from a low 1750 revs. During normal operation only 10 per cent of torque is channelled to the rear wheels to save on fuel. It can tow an 1800kg load and has a full-sized steel spare. Fuel consumption from the 70-litre tank is rated at 6.3 litres/100km.Alltrack comes with eight airbags, daytime running lights and electronic stability control as standard. Fatigue detection is also standard and detects waning driver concentration and warns the driver with an acoustic signal lasting five seconds; a visual message also appears in the instrument cluster recommending that the driver take a break from driving.We clocked up more than 500km of country kilometres behind the wheel. It's an easy car to live with and easy to drive, with comfortable seats that is suitable to long distance travel. The optional lane departure warning system comes into its own on country roads, but seems a bit haphazard in its reaction (sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't). During our tenure the car returned 8.1 litres/100km, a far cry from the 6.3 quoted (or 5.7 for extra-urban) but with 1500km on the clock it is still a long way from returning its best figures.The car stands 60mm higher and ground clearance is 165mm, more than the road going version but not nearly enough for anything serious. The engine however is protected by a solid engine underbody guard made of a steel plate. This protects the engine, gearbox, oil sump, exhaust system (front section) and various hoses from damage.An 'off road' button accommodates the demands of dirt or other slippery surfaces, automatically activating hill descent control, raising gear shift points and deactivating the engine Stop/Start system. It also introduces a higher threshold for the anti-lock brakes and the electronic differential locks (EDS) react quicker to prevent wheel spin, in parallel with with the engine's torque control (ASR) which is also modified.Likeable car. Looks great and attracts plenty of comment. Well priced and extremely well equipped, it includes a lot of technology for the ask and is likely to appeal to those who tow a boat and/or those who like to tread the path less beaten.