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 !!!
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Originally Posted by sa-r32
MY10 Passat CC V6 - RNS510, GPS, RVC, self park, dynaudio, cooling seats!
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