The midsize car segment has been littered with models for many years that have come from a variety of places. You see models from American, Japanese and Korean brands that are made to give you a fantastic menu of vehicles to choose from, but there is one lone European model that’s part of the mainstream midsize car segment, the Volkswagen Passat. This is a car that offers you the driving manners you’ve been looking for and the features that make it one of the most impressive midsize cars on the market today.
The Volkswagen Passat is a car that has clear German styling, engineering and driving characteristic, which makes it a great alternative to the luxury brands that come from the same heritage. This car offers you a large rear seat for your passengers and the opportunity to have safety and technology improvements you need to enjoy. For 2017, the Passat upgrades the R-Line and SE with more technology packages, more equipment and including Forward Collision Warning and Autonomous Emergency braking which are both now standard on the Passat. These additions may seem minor, but they will help keep you safe and aid you in avoiding a collision.
Even though the diesel engine is now gone from the lineup of Volkswagen, there are still two remaining engines for the Passat to give you the drive you want to enjoy. The base engine is a 1.8-liter turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine that offers up 170 horsepower and 184 lb.-ft. of torque. This engine uses a six-speed automatic transmission to give you the driving dynamics you want to enjoy and helps to deliver excellent fuel mileage which comes in at 23 city/34 hwy mpg for you to have the power and efficiency you’ve been looking for.
Next up is the 3.6-liter V6 engine which uses a dual clutch automatic transmission to have the shifting exactly how you want it. Of course if you want to shift this transmission yourself, you can and the powertrain will give you a full 280 horsepower along with 258 lb.-ft. of torque to make sure you have the power you want and a European feel on the road. This powertrain gives you 20 city/28 hwy mpg to let you enjoy the fuel mileage you need from a larger engine choice. All Passat models are FWD for you to enjoy a familiar driving setup in this excellent car.
As for the features you’ll get to enjoy, the standard items on the Passat include dual zone automatic climate controls, automatic headlights, an infotainment system with a five-inch display, Bluetooth connectivity, USB ports, a rearview camera a 60/40 split folding rear seat, Automatic Post-Collision Braking and Forward Collision Warning. This gives you a Passat that has some features which aren’t even included on models that reach up into the luxury realm of driving.
The options you can find on this great vehicle include the V-Tex faux leather upholstery, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alerts, a sporty appearance package on the R-Line model, a moonroof, leather seats for the SEL, a premium audio system, a radar based cruise control system, semi-automatic parallel parking, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto on Passat models that have the VW Car-Net system. The comfort increases and the features improve when you choose any or all of these options for your Passat, but the most important part of driving this car is the driving.
While you might expect a car with European manners to mean it has RWD, the Passat is only offered in FWD. This gives you a car that you will be familiar with right from the start and enjoy the feel of as soon as you sit down. This car acts like a sophisticated machine that should cost much more than it does, but it’s car you can afford and love the ride on a daily basis. Take the Passat out for a drive and let it loose on the highway where it can show you the athleticism it has with smooth and easy weight shifts to keep you confidently planted on the road.
Is this the right car for you? There’s only one way to find out; stop by your local VW dealer today and take one for a drive. You’ll love the way it feels and may have found yourself a new favorite car.
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