R36 vs V6 FSI Highline Engine question

[Jesterarts]

Bit of a technical questions I hope you guys can help me out.

It's already posted in the "newbie" sections, but I suspect I will have more luck here.

Long story short, I'm looking to get myself a new car and at the moment the 2010 R36 Passat Wagon or the 2011 V6 FSI Highline Wagon are both top of the list.

I'm trying to work out which one is best for my needs/wants.

The key thing I am interested in, is what are the differences between the R36 and the Highline under the bonnet?

On paper both look to be identical in configuration, displacement, hardware, power and torque, but the R36 needs 98RON while the Highline 95RON.

I mean, I know a tune would allow for this, but it strikes me as weird to have a different tune that only accomplishes being able to use a lower octane fuel.

Thanks in advance!

[prn31]

The 220 FSI engines are identical in the 2010 R36 Passat Wagon or the 2011 V6 FSI Highline Wagon. The only difference I believe is that the B7 (2011+) has a regenerative system that assists the alternator and along with revised gearbox ratios (5th and 6th gears are taller) makes the B7 slightly more economical. The lower weight makes the B7 marginally faster as well.

As for fuel, 95RON is the minimum for both but you would be mad not to use 98RON where you can.

[booba]

The 220 FSI engines are identical in the 2010 R36 Passat Wagon or the 2011 V6 FSI Highline Wagon. The only difference I believe is that the B7 (2011+) has a regenerative system that assists the alternator and along with revised gearbox ratios (5th and 6th gears are taller) makes the B7 slightly more economical. The lower weight makes the B7 marginally faster as well.

As for fuel, 95RON is the minimum for both but you would be mad not to use 98RON where you can.

can confirm, b7 v6 should have 98 however 95 is ok if you can't find 98.

[00100100]

The 2011 V6 FSI Highline has a lot of updated parts. So potentially more reliable ... potentially!

The even have the same brakes! But I find the R36 to look better. The dulled down the looks in the B7 abit.

[ASR36]

I'm biased here but the highline is not an r36 though.

[Jesterarts]

Thanks for the responses. Agree that the Highline is not a R36. It's it's own beast and I definitely prefer the look of the R36.

Really I was curious about the fuel requirements. All the reading I have been doing, and this thread included, suggests that the engine and box are identical (6th gear ratio aside).

And I was also reading about fuel requirement amendments VW put out for the cars in 2009 suggested the R36 needs 98.



Now it's just bugging me what's different given the fuel update seems to all R36's,

[2muchcoffeeman]

Having driven both, the highline (stock) felt like a boring family truckster in comparison to the R36 I owned.

[Jakeys]

As for fuel, 95RON is the minimum for both but you would be mad not to use 98RON where you can.

Incorrect, minimum for R36 is 98, definitely. I own one, there is no question it is min 98, it's all over the car/manuals.

As for why to pick one over the FSI... I am not really sure if the engine is tuned differently but the interior and exterior styling, brakes, wheels, suspension, possibly chassis (???) are all improved on the R36. I saw an earlier comment that the FSI has the same brakes but although I am happy to be proven wrong, I doubt that. The R36 has very beefy brakes, much larger than you would see on a run of the mill family wagon. Surely they must be upgraded either in caliper or rotor size.

All that said though, to be honest each thing on it's own actually doesn't really seem to make a difference but the R36 comes together as a much superior package. Gear ratios are most likely different too, possibly the way the DSG and/or engines are tuned may differ in response. Hard to say really but for me it was never a contest, the R36 was the way to go and I've never for a second regretted it.

I'm speaking all from performance though. If you don't need the extra performance and don't fancy the extra styling, maybe it's the wrong car.

[Jesterarts]

Performance and styling is a bit of a factor for me.
For context, up until two yeahs ago I had a 600hp HSV R8. Then I decided to go completely the other way and ended up with an x-trail.
So the R36 seems like a happy median. Equal parts fun and practicality.
The fuel is a factor, thus my curiosity on the topic.

[Jakeys]

The R36 will outhandle an R8 and also has the better transmission (Not for feel if you're a manual guy but for actual performance), but obviously has nowhere near the straight line performance. As long as you won't miss the raw engine power which coming from the X-Trail I guess you won't, the R36 will definitely be plenty of fun for you, just a different kind of fun as you will like corners more than you did, but straights less.