Passat CC V6 FSI - Test drive observations.

[sa-r32]

Firstly I need to declare I’m biased as I have a Candy White V6 Passat CC on order, and I am a VW fan.

I had an extended test drive which allowed me to pick the car up late yesterday afternoon and return it this morning. The following is my observations on the car. The demo vehicle only had 20km on the clock, so it was not run in yet, it had about 150km when I returned it, mostly city driving.

The exterior looks fantastic, the long flowing lines, sleek windows, short boot lid and classy 18 inch wheels, elegant yet refined aggression. Overall it looks gorgeous; I’d catch reflections of the car in shop windows as I’d drive past and was very pleased with what I saw. The rear side windows and back windscreen are factory tinted, probably the darkest factory tint I have ever seen. This also adds to the external appeal, and will look fantastic against the Candy White body when mine arrives. I’m now more likely to get the front side windows tinted as well, it looks like half a job has been done with only the rears being dark. The body colour of the demo I believe was “Iron Grey”, not bad but not something I’d choose.

While head room inside was no issue for me, the driver and passengers need to be cautious getting in and out. The roof line is very low, as a coupe should be. Once in the vehicle I did notice how low all the top of the window lines are, to the point where I doubt I would ever need to use the sun visor either to the front or the side. Visibility out the rear window is quite frankly poor, it’s no wonder that parking sensors are standard, while the demo didn’t have one I’d suggest the reversing camera is a must have, this is an option I had already ticked.

Inside is a very pleasant experience, the fittings all feel solid and classy. The driving position is fantastic, it would be no effort to drive the car on long country trips. The leather seats hug your mid section and hips making them as pleasant as a lounge suite to sit on while helping you remain in position through aggressive cornering. The tilt and reach adjustable leather steering wheel is great, although I’d like it to be a little chunkier. All the controls are well placed and easy to use.

The cruise control has a feature I’ve not seen before, you’re able to set it at 60kmh and then by flicking the control up, it increments by 10kmh. No doubt this is common now, but as my drive to work contains 50, 70, 80 and 90 zones this is something I need. Another observation was in the past the cruise control unit’s I’ve used would accelerate hard when engaged at below the set speed, the CC unit would gracefully increase the speed to the target, a much more refined process. The demo didn’t have adaptive cruise control but mine does and this should make the package complete.

The demo had the park assist option fitted; prior to trying it I had considered it a bit of a gimmick. I had expected it to be slow and frustrating, and something I just wouldn’t use, however I was impressed how efficient and effective it was. It is quite bizarre to have your hands off the wheel as the car negotiates itself into the space. The first time it started to swing the nose into the gap I was convinced it would hit the vehicle in front, needless to say it didn’t. I rarely need to parallel park so it’s not an option I’d choose but I no longer consider it a gimmick, and would recommend it to those that do need to parallel park frequently.

Another feature that surprised me is the auto hold switch. This enables you to come to a stop and when you take you foot of the brake the braking strength is held by the system until you touch the accelerator, great at the many set of traffic lights I’m forced to stop at. This feature seemed to turn itself off each time the car was shutdown, hopefully there is a setting that enables you to have it as the default. However I did get a sense that the car was slow to release the brakes when you did touch the accelerator, I expected it to be instantaneous but to me it felt like the first 2 meters were driven with the brake on. I’d be interested to hear other opinions ?

The electric push button “park brake” is the first I have ever experienced. At this point it just seems weird and will take some getting used to. Without the handle to pull up I often forgot to engage it.

The traction off the line and in the twisty bits is fantastic, when woken with the right foot the V6 sounds fantastic. I used to have an R32, and the CC doesn’t match its engine tone, it offers a more refined day to day experience until you get really serious. The ride settings available for the suspension are another feature I suspected was a gimmick, but to my surprise they were all noticeably different. While mine will likely remain in Comfort mode for most of the time, the Sport setting will widen my smile in the twisty bits.

Over all I was very impressed, if you’re in the market for a 4 seater coupe don’t overlook this ride. I’m now counting the sleeps to my delivery, BRING IT ON !!!

[Pook]

Nice write up. If you're interested my rear factory tint on the CC allowed 22% VLT based on the meter used when I had the fronts tinted.

35% is darkest legal in NSW, but apparently its not illegal if the manufacturer does it.. Still doesn't mean you can go below 35 on the fronts..

The car definitely looks better with the front tinted IMO.

Adaptive cruise is a great feature, you wont regret getting it. For long drives that and the 10km increments you mentioned make driving a lot less stressful. I did 900kms in about 10 hours down the Pacific Hwy a few months back, and was feeling good afterwards. In my last car a trip of 150kms and I was fatigued.

If I was ordering again I'd probably get Candy White. Black looks great when washed, but doesn't stay that way long...

[flyingfridge]

Re: Auto Hold

Yes there is an option to turn it on permanently in the MFD settings menu

[Static]

Nice write up.

I'm waiting on a Black one ... TDI

[Caddyman]

The electric push button “park brake” is the first I have ever experienced. At this point it just seems weird and will take some getting used to. Without the handle to pull up I often forgot to engage it.

If you set the Auto Hold to "On" in the MFD Settings menu, the "Park Brake" auto engages whenever you put the car into Park and take off your seatbelt, thus you won't forget it! it then releases automatically when you go to drive off in either drive or reverse so long as you have your seatbelt on. Works wonderfully well, my previous Passat (MY08 R36) auto hold was not able to be set to on all the time, this feature came with the white MFD from Feb 09 onwards.

Matthew

[sa-r32]

If you set the Auto Hold to "On" in the MFD Settings menu, the "Park Brake" auto engages whenever you put the car into Park and take off your seatbelt, thus you won't forget it! it then releases automatically when you go to drive off in either drive or reverse so long as you have your seatbelt on. Works wonderfully well, my previous Passat (MY08 R36) auto hold was not able to be set to on all the time, this feature came with the white MFD from Feb 09 onwards.

Matthew

This is good news, thanks for the info.

[Leagle]

Nice review sa-r32. Didn't you order the CC previously? If so, great to see the dealer generously lending a CC for an extended drive post sale!

some things that I wanted to comment on/add to

1. Tinted windows. I know its really personal but I have grown to actually like the contrasting tint between the front and rear. If the CC did not look so elegant (particularly rear), the tints make it look a little Soprano. I also would be wary about how much visibility would be reduced if you tinted the fronts, just my 2 cents on this issue.

2. Visibility/head room. The short windows annoyed me at first but you do get used to it. I have actually set my electric seats almost to the lowest position (though I am not over 6 foot tall) - I really like to sit low. However recently I have been experimenting with seat height. If you adjust your seats up, it almost becomes a remarkably SUV like driving position! It feels like you are driving a different car! There are now times when I pretty much transform the car to suit my mood. When I am feeling "sports car", I set DSG to sports mode, ACC (chassis) to "sports" and keep the seat low. When I want a soft luxury cruiser, DSG reverts to normal, ACC to comfort and seat height goes up. I now raise the seat even heigher for SUV mode lol.

3. Agree with how fantastic cruise control is. I did not tick Adaptive Cruise as an option yet cruise is still one of the best (if not the best) that I have seen. Aside from increasing or decreasing in 10 kay increments, I have also learned to "coast" (saving fuel) by flicking cruise towards the dash and then re-engaging by flicking back. When the car starts to reduce too much speed I simply flick it back on - it goes back to the pre-set speed (eg 70 kays). Brilliant. I would love to hear of your experience when you get Adaptive Cruise. It seems early cars had a few issues (eg read about it not being smooth, not working properly around corners etc) but from reading a lot of reviews on these forums recently it seems that newer owners are more impressed with ACC now.

4. Park assist - agree how useful it really is particularly in built up urban areas. I have found a few limitations (eg sometimes if you are parking next to a power pole it seems to have issues) however most of the time it is extremely accurate - and quick.

5. Auto hold - I prefer to switch it manually on. It actually becomes a pain in certain situations (eg when parking, reversing out of the drive way etc). Also be aware that the rear brake lights do NOT come on (unless you are also keep depressing the brake pedal) when auto hold is on. I prefer to drive without it except in heavy traffic or on hills when car would roll back without it being on. Still a useful feature, but there are limitations.

6. Traction. I must have a particularly fit car, I don't seem to get any front wheel spin that others seem to have momentarily experienced. With launch control on (which I have only used twice), I timed it to 100 in 5 seconds flat (slight incline). Nobody believes me (VW claims 5.6 and journos can't seem to crack 6) but anyway I know that I did it. The point is: this is one seriously quick car.

[sa-r32]

Nice review sa-r32. Didn't you order the CC previously? If so, great to see the dealer generously lending a CC for an extended drive post sale!

Not exactly, I test drove a diesel CC before ordering as the dealer wasn't going to have a petrol demo available for two weeks. By driving the diesel I was able to judge the feel and look of the interior, exterior.

As it turns out the Lease process to a while to complete, so while the dealer had already ordered my petrol CC from Germany it wasn't until after I had driven the petrol that the car was actually allocated to me. The dealer wasn't concerned if I didn't proceed with the purchase as they felt they could sell my specification easily anyway.

As I hadn't signed anything with the dealer, there was no risk to me.