New Passat B8 review

[Albatraozz]

We are loving our new Passat so far. But I do have a question in regards to the Lane Assistance feature. Many different VW Ads talk about activating a feature to keep the car within the middle of the lane. I know LA is on automatically but it only seems to keep the car within the lane only just, not in the middle of the lane like advertised. (like here)

After an exhausting search I should probably just assume such a thing doesn't exist but I thought i'd ask here just in case.

[booba]

Lane Assist won't keep you in the middle of the lane, it is designed to keep you within the lane. the video does not portray this accurately.

[00100100]

Is there a video showing what actually happens?

[DarkStar69]

Lane Assist won't keep you in the middle of the lane, it is designed to keep you within the lane. the video does not portray this accurately.

That was my suspicion from local freeway driving and then over the Christmas break i did around 2000 KM with most of it in 4 4Hr trips on the M1 and country B highways and so i was able to safely experiment with this feature on long straight stretches with no oncoming traffic.

It seems that the LA sort of "ricochets" you between the lines. This makes the system not quite as safe as i would like. Also it seemed, to me at least, to not take over and correct till the steering until the car was actually on or over the lines. Might even let you get close enough to say an oncoming semi to let the "suction" wind effect pull you into it? On the other side the danger is that some country roads have very little or no shoulder on the left side of the line so might get a bit hairy if the wheels went over the lip/edge of the bitumen and into the loose dirt/gravel. Not sure how well the system would do in controlling it. Did not test this for obvious reasons.

Perhaps the more advanced camera/software or the multiple 360 deg camera setup's in overseas models might give better results by giving the system more/better data as an input to the LA system? i.e. an advanced version of the LA we got here?

Another surprise is that it takes surprisingly little pressure on the steering from the driver to unintentionally override the LA and keep going in the direction that takes it over the line and into danger. I am not absolutely certain but feel that the system tried "harder" to correct the steering when crossing over single solid or solid+broken center lines then for broken lines. Perhaps this is intentional as it might be "less" dangerous and it might assume the driver had forgotten to turn the blinker on when overtaking? I did not experiment with crossing double lines to see if that was the case with them also or if it had an even stronger affect.

P.S. I was overall pleased with the ride and handling. Comfortable enough for my liking even with the 19" and lowered sports suspension. Always felt safe in it especially when overtaking as the power and acceleration keep the dangers part of the maneuver to a minimum. The navigation maps leave a lot to be desired though as for vast areas of Victoria it has no speed limit data and that tends to really throw it off when calculation the fastest route and the destination times as it assumes no speed data = 50KMH. Not sure who provides the maps to VW, not Sensis as my handheld GPS uses that as was OK with the region, but they obviously have ,major quality issues so will not be retiring the handheld just yet.

[Buzy_Robot]

The navigation maps leave a lot to be desired though as for vast areas of Victoria it has no speed limit data and that tends to really throw it off when calculation the fastest route and the destination times as it assumes no speed data = 50KMH. Not sure who provides the maps to VW, not Sensis as my handheld GPS uses that as was OK with the region, but they obviously have ,major quality issues so will not be retiring the handheld just yet.

Indeed! I would suggest that the infotainment system needs some more work put into it when it comes to music as well. I use iTunes to rip music and load onto my iPhone 6S Plus 128GB using iOS 9.2.1, but album art is a hit and miss affair:

1) No problems displaying album cover art using Apple CarPlay;

2) Playing music through Bluetooth results in album art being replaced by what the system thinks is correct. Why it ignores the album art on the iPhone and seems to draw on an external database is beyond me;

3) No album art whatsoever will appear while playing music on an SD card unless it's embedded in each song.

Go figure!

Otherwise, all is great with the new Passat!

[Albatraozz]

Okay thanks for the reply guys. That's a bit annoying as when I was purchasing the car I thought it would be able to keep the car in the middle of lane. Also I'm a bit disappointed VW didn't include cameras that would give a 360 degree view like in overseas models.

Also I wonder if we will get a software update to include Australian signage for speed limits? I doubt it but it would be a nice gesture on VW's part.

[2VWs]

Australian standards are not international standards for speed limits signage. Software would have to be written to accommodate our speed signs and then verified which is a costly exercise.

[DarkStar69]

Australian standards are not international standards for speed limits signage. Software would have to be written to accommodate our speed signs and then verified which is a costly exercise.

Reading the new Audi A4 brochure, page 44, "Tour assistance package (includes congestion assistant, predictive efficiency assistant, camera-based recognition of traffic signs, high-beam assist, Audi active lane assist) – provides assistance on motorways and country roads". So it would seem that this "costly exercise" has already been done but VAG are only allowing the Audi branch of the family to use it.

One more obvious example of VAG ensuring that the VW offering in the B8 Passat does not appear to be as advanced as the Audi A4 to ensure buyers have no alternative if they want the higher end technology. Perhaps the B8 might get this in a refresh later but for early adopters like me...

[Buzy_Robot]

Thanks to my raving about the B8 Passat, work decided to buy one for the fleet. They went for the Comfortline with R-Line pack.

Strikingly similar to my Highline with the R-LIne pack, the most obvious omissions at first glance being no driving profile selection, no chrome highlights to the mirror adjustment and power window switches and no colour multi-function display with animations.

I took it for a spin and the petrol engine is sweet as; however, I did find the propensity for the car to jerk forward from standstill rather disconcerting. Applying the same pressure to the accelerator pedal in the diesel makes for a smooth and seamless surge of power.

Is this a characteristic of the dry clutch 7spd DSG as opposed to the wet clutch 6spd DSG? Not sure if I like it, but otherwise a mighty fine mid-sizer.

[Lucas_R]

The best feature about the 7 speed DSG is that is has the tendency to self destruct multiple times during the life of the vehicle.

The 6 speed used in the diesel is a far better gearbox.