About to buy new Passat - advice please

[2VWs]

We have now decided to purchase a new Passat V6 Highline sedan plus the option of 12-way adjustable seats with driver's memory setting.

My wife and I are debating to add the sports package which has:

1. comfort sports seats v standard seats are called comfort seats. Comfortable seats are a top priority for us. Are the sports seats better?

2. different design alloys 18x8 235/45 R18 v standard is 18x8 235/40 R18 Does the difference in tyre profile make a difference e.g. harder ride, more road noise in the cabin or whatever?

3. dark tinted side and rear 65% light absorbing glass v not tinted glass. Does the dark tint in the rear window make it more difficult to see what is behind in traffic?

Looking forward to your experiences.

[Passat R36]

1, Sports seats are better.

2, probably you are not able to tell the difference.

3, nope.

[Hillbilly]

The 12 way seats are an expensive waste of money unless you have several drivers regularly.

They are however quite comfortable

Mine came with them and yesterday was the first time I have altered them in over a year.

Lower profile = Harder ride in my experience

Standard tint has been OK

EDIT in the brochure I have the 12 ways come standard in a V6 so why are they an extra ($1500 in mine)

[Diesel_vert]

We have now decided to purchase a new Passat V6 Highline sedan plus the option of 12-way adjustable seats with driver's memory setting.

I thought 12-way electronic front seat adjustment is standard fitment on the V6 Highline?

My wife and I are debating to add the sports package which has:

1. comfort sports seats v standard seats are called comfort seats. Comfortable seats are a top priority for us. Are the sports seats better?

I think the side bolsters are more pronounced. Having said that, anything to do with ergonomics really requires the user to experience it first hand - what you consider luxurious may be torturous for another.

In the case of seats, you and your wife need to physically sit in them (and ideally, go for a drive). Only then, can you make an informed decision.

2. different design alloys 18x8 235/45 R18 v standard is 18x8 235/40 R18 Does the difference in tyre profile make a difference e.g. harder ride, more road noise in the cabin or whatever?

It's a typo - it should be 235/40 R18, not 235/45 R18 - which hasn't been corrected for several years now (really, Volkswagen?) even though the brochure itself is updated often.

You may wish to verify this at the dealer, if they happen to have a Passat with the Sport Package in stock (also a good time to try out the seats, as well as seeing what the tint is like).

[2VWs]

Thanks to each of you. Your comments were helpful. The 12-way electric seats are standard on the V6 Highline. We saw a Passat with the tinted windows and we did not like it. As the profile is the same for the standard wheel and the sports wheel, then there was no advantage and simply spoke design would not be sufficient to sway us. There were no sports seats around to test so we have just opted against the sports package. Also, there are reports from R36 owners of problems with the bolsters (see this forum) but that may be on earlier models - VW may have rectified the problem in the interim. I guess if we really dislike the standard seats after a while then we may be able to replace them. I hope they are more comfortable than our cloth seats in our 5 yr old Golf; the Tiguan at work has better seats but it is newer. Thanks again for your comments.
We have placed the order for the car. The dealer is really very good and wants to follow though, not simply chalking up another sale.

[Cplus]

interesting comment of "We saw a Passat with the tinted windows and we did not like it"

whats not to like?

we pick our Passat up within the week - with the sports pack. there were no sports packs around to sit in at the time either - but the CC has the seats, so jumped in that.

chalk and cheese for us, the stock seats are too pillowy and "lazy" for us - but we have come from cars with Recaro's and also Subaru's - so it's also what you are used to.

the bolster issue with the R36 doesn't seem to be repeating either - slightly different seats, and no airbag adjustment trickery in them either.

i'm not a huge fan of the wheels option on the sports, but it is growing on me and it won't show the brake dust as much either so thats a win in my book!

as far as trying and then thinking of replacing them - this will be a very expensive exercise! replacements seats from VW will be $5k++ easy.

[2VWs]

Yes, it would be very expensive and far more than the package. On a search of VW option codes - download from the net -there is one for Recaro seats.

Just thinking: would new seats have to be programmed for airbags, memory or whatever? If yes, would it be done via the Canbus? Thanks.


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[Cplus]

knowing VW they would be plug and play, but possibly need Canbus too.

having siad that, more than likley the difference between stock and sport is simply the foam and the covers. the adjustments and airbag locations are the same - so maybe not even need a reprogram.

on Recaro's i've only seen them in Golf R's - hellishly expensive option too. but i expect overseas you can get them in other models.

[2VWs]

Fantastic seats suitable for a lounge room. Fo us, we will just have the seats that come with the car. Costs prohibit a retrofit with other vw seats.


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