Upper class - The new Passat moves up a class, offering more room and more luxury

摘要

REMEMBER how good the existing Passat looked when it was launched in Europe in late 1996. Up till then, all Passats had been workmanlike cars, the emphasis on practicality rather than good looks, but the B5 series broke new ground, its attractive styling helping to make it a best seller for Volkswagen. Instead of a transverse engine like its predecessor, the fifth generation Passat was based on the same platform as the Audi A4, with a longitudinal engine,, Now Volkswagen has reverted to an east-west engine location, the platform of the Passat virtually the same as the new Golf, but bigger. It has similar front and rear suspension to the Golf, but uprated to deal with the extra weight We expected that the extra length and transverse engine position would give more interior space, but this is very hard to determine. The wheelbase is virtually the same as the previous model, a mere 6 mm longer, but the technical information provided by Volkswagen does not permit an easy comparison with the outgoing model. Subjectively, there is certainly more space for those in the back.