Hi Everyone,
First post here.
I was googling for information on tyre pressure for my 2010 Passat CC V6 after changing recently to winter tyres and using an automated tyre pressure checker which only took settings in BAR rather than KPA or PSI and stumbled across this excellent review, so I thought I'd add what I could to this excellent review - thought you'd appreciate additional perspectives.
Highs
- Design - Like Leagle said, design is really very nice, and I too get people checking out my car - and I still glance back at it after I park. It's really very nice! The interior is also stunning - I got the full leather with air conditioned seats which really reduce driver fatigue on long trips. Heated seats in winter are very nice in Europe, especially in the cold snap.
- Quality - No rattles. I had one rear light get condensation inside, which was replaced under warranty.
- Performance - I have to go in to some details on this, because I've probably done more high speed driving in this car than some. In a word - amazing. Simply amazing. I love this engine + gearbox combination. It really is astounding. 0-100 is astounding at 5.6 seconds, and the climb up to 180kph is absolutely effortless. 180 - 220kph or so takes some more oomph but it's still a great deal of fun and blitzes many, maybe even most on the autobahn. 220kph+ is distinctly slower but still quite good - definitely better than anything else I've driven but I get the feeling some more torque wouldn't go astray here. I once tried to keep up with an RS6 accelerating from 160kph+ and ... couldn't. That car absolutely walked on me, and was a symphony of noise. Even over the noise of my engine, and the stereo, I could still hear the beautiful noise of that twin-turbo V10. Back to the Passat CC though ... as far as top speed goes, they say the car is limited to 250kph but don't believe it. Without modifying, I've had the car listing itself as doing 265kph. Did this about 10 days ago on an unlimited autobahn section running north from Dresden / Leipzig / Magdeburg. Naturally, I wasn't reaching for the GPS at that time to verify, but at slower speeds I have calculated speedo error to be around 8kph at that speed - it seems the speedo error in the Passat CC increases with speed - I suspect it's a safety feature. Bare in mind, this was with Alpine tyres - not summer tyres - so I'd suspect I could get the car to go even faster. And yes, my tyres are rated "V" so I shouldn't have gone faster than 240kph but ... how can you say no to an open stretch of autobahn and a chance to beat my previous record of 264kph?
- Handling - Also amazing. I've had some amazing fun driving down the autostrada along the cliffs from Milan to Portofino, really giving the 4Motion a run for its money. Not a squeal from the wheels, it hugged the road like the car was glued to it. Really really good fun. Check out that road on Google Maps to see what I am talking about in terms of opportunities for fun.
- Ride - Also fantastic, especially at high speeds. Set the cruise control to 190kph or 200kph and my girlfriend didn't even know I was going that fast until she noticed we were quite overtaking people.
- Brakes - I rate these as an absolute positive despite their sensitivity. They probably saved my life once - I was doing > 200kph on an unlimited 2-lane autobahn section approaching the Dutch border in the overtaking lane, and a Dutch truck pulled out right in front of me. Premonitions of doom before applying the brakes, wondering if braking too hard would cause me to slide and/or flip. No problems. The car handled it perfectly. Amazing. Ask me what I wanted to say to that truck driver ...
- 4Motion - Works really well especially in combination with Alpine tyres - not really a problem in Australia, but over here it really can help, and nice to know you've got that extra security if needed. The only bummer is others in the road in some countries don't have Alpine tyres ... but hey.
- Fuel economy - For city driving and traffic in some cities it's not fantastic, but considering the speeds I am doing on autobahns and if I get a good run, I can average 10.3 litres per 100km, combined, for a 900km or so trip. I think that's pretty amazing. If I push it and try and set new records I get around 13-14l/100km, but what do you expect. I once cruised a 55km stretch at 240kph right after refuelling and burned through I think an eighth of the tank - can't remember. But again, what do you expect?
Lows
- I've had some problems with the Premium Bluetooth package not connecting properly to either an iPhone 3GS or an HTC Desire, and despite a few trips to the dealer I haven't been able to get this fixed. I've heard of similar problems in Audis though, and someone I know eventually managed to get this fixed at a different dealer so I am going to look that dealer up.
- Lack of 5 seats - this has only once been an issue in that I couldn't go on a holiday with another couple and their baby as well. Considering I've owned the car for 16 months or so now though, clearly its not really an issue.
- Rear headroom in the back nearly had me not purchase this car as I am 6'4" - 6'5". But then I figured ... how often will I be in the back? Never. The nice thing about the back though is the large amount of leg room - very large amount - so taller people can just slide down a bit, at least for shorter journeys.
Got to run for a flight, but if people are interested I can post more stories of adventures in this car throughout Europe. It's the car I am absolutely overjoyed to have bought when I moved here from Australia. Now I am that black car zooming past on the autobahn!
Cheers,
Statesman
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