Test Drive: 2012 Volkswagen Passat 3.6

By Kevin Harrison

Have you heard of the slow movement? It’s essentially a movement which promotes, you guessed it – slowness. Why? Well apparently we are living in such a fast paced world that it’s taking a toll on our health, our happiness and our mental state.

Also known as ‘time poverty’, the movement explains that if we all continue down this road of fast food, fast internet and fast technology all together, we’ll all eventually have nervous breakdowns. So promoting slowness in every aspect of our daily lives is what the slow movement advocates.

I thought Volkswagen had hopped aboard the slow movement when I first got into the new Passat:

-Get in, push the start button and…nothing happens. You have to push and hold the start button down for a few seconds and eventually the engine will turn.

-Before setting off, I went to find something decent to listen to on the radio (a hard task, I know) and I thought something was wrong with the touch screen. I’d push a button and nothing. But in actuality there was nothing wrong, I just need to wait a few seconds for it to respond to my request.

-When I set off, waiting in a left hand turn with my indicator on, I noticed that it was blinking much more slowly that everyone else’s “tic….toc….tic….toc”.

Was this an indication of things to come with my time with the new Passat?

Firstly, while exterior styling is more conservative, that’s not to say that it’s boring – quite the opposite in fact. While the lines are subtle, they exude quite an eye catching look. I’ve always thought that European cars, specifically German cars, were able to make eye-catching vehicles without trying to hard style-wise and the Passat is a great example. Those 18 inch wheels really help to create an aggressive look and subtle touches such as a lip spoiler and faux chrome trim help the Passat to stand out a bit more, although I could easily do without the latter. There’s no question that this is an attractive and agreeable design.

Inside, the attractive theme continues. Even though Volkswagen’s plans for world domination include scaling back on luxurious quality materials for the sake of lowered MSRP’s this top of the line trim level certainly feels anything but cheap. I like the leather and suede seat combination. It gives a good blend of comfort and the suede helps to keep you in your seat while driving, however it could use a bit more side bolstering. Unfortunately my tester came equipped with a very light cream colour which not only clashed with the white exterior colour in my mind, but also made dust, dirt and hair more apparent. Almost everyone that I had in the car agreed unanimously that black is the way to go for this interior.

There is lots of rear leg room thanks to a rather substantial 3.4 inch gain over the previous model. Honestly the Passat could easily take over chauffeuring duties from the discontinued Lincoln Town Car. There is lots of shoulder and head room to boot and the massive trunk is truly impressive.

You may remember my review of the 2012 Volkswagen Passat 2.5. I thought that engine was unrefined, underpowered and just plain ancient. The engine finds itself in the Golf and Jetta as well. While I can think of plenty of other engines that are worse, I have to wonder why Volkswagen doesn’t just give it its final rights and move on.

Well Volkswagen has three to choose from in the new Passat: the aforementioned 2.5, the TDI and the 3.6 litre V6, which is what my tester had. There is certainly no signs of slow movement here! The V6 produces 280 horsepower and 258 pound feet of torque. Power comes in early at around 2,500 RPM and stays there almost until red line. 0-100 takes about 6.4 seconds. As impressive as that is, that number only becomes true if you can put the power down to the pavement. Even when slightly pushed, the Passat can spin the wheels and of course, Aunt traction control steps in to ruin the fun. Turning off the traction just means prolonged wheel spin. But this really is a strong and solid engine – it far exceeds the 2.5 litre engine by miles kilometers. It’s much more refined, much more solid and much smoother.

The latter is likely helped by buttery smooth gear shifts from the DSG automatic transmission. It provides for exceptionally quick gear shifts that are neither delayed nor choppy, especially when used in sport mode. This is the mode to keep it in for true spirited driving because otherwise, in regular drive mode, gear shifts are quick for fuel efficiency so you don’t ever really get to take advantage of that great engine. But there’s no doubt about it, Volkswagen makes among the best DSG in the business.

On back roads, the Passat is solid feeling and handles decently, however its increased size means that it doesn’t feel as nimble has it once did. There can be some moderate body lean and if you push the Passat hard and under steer can be the result. It’s wafty feel may leave hardcore VW enthusiasts disappointed but sadly, typical VW handling and performance is not that the market is demanding right now. This Passat is made only for North America (and China where big cars are more popular than SUV’s) and sorry to say it, but North Americans don’t care about handling as much as enthusiasts do. They’d rather be comfortable than spill their Pepsi while taking a corner. One could argue that the Passat is able to do both, but only if not pushed to any large degree. Steering feel is okay, there tends to be a numbness when the wheel is centered, however it provides decent feedback when it really matters. On the highway the Passat is quiet, comfortable and stable.

So, has Volkswagen hopped on board the slow movement? Hardly. In fact, as disappointing as a North Americanized-only version of the Passat may be, it’s actually quite forward thinking. Volkswagen needs to make models that keep up with the market and if you haven’t noticed, the mid-size sedan segment is pretty much full-sized. Every competitor has made their mid-size offerings to be monstrous now. Volkswagen is just keeping up with the joneses and they can hardly be blamed for that. In fact one of the worst things Volkswagen could have done is to react to slowly to the fast pace nature of the auto business.

However this decked out press vehicle with an as tested price of $46K is a hard pill to swallow (which puts it in a completely different ball game altogether).  But as good as the V6 is, it’s not the engine to get in the Passat, neither is the 2.5. If you really want to get the best engine, get the TDI. You get lots of addictive torque all while returning amazing fuel efficiency. In terms of forward thinking? This Passat TDI is almost the epitome.

As tested price: $46,149

Pros:

• Excellent interior, well laid out
• Class leading trunk space and lots of rear seat legroom
• Powerful V6
• DSG is quite responsive

Cons:

• Larger size makes it less nimble
• Difficult to put the power to the pavement
• Unresponsive centre control system

Overall: 8/10