29 Jul 05
Four petrol and three diesel engines are on offer, most of which are common across the VW-Audi-Seat-Skoda group. All of the Passat's engines have direct-injection technology which boosts power and economy over the old model's multi-point injection engines. All the Passat's engines meet the upcoming Euro IV compliance ratings, too.
Pick of the engines is the tried-and-tested 2.0-litre TDI which produces 140bhp and 236lb ft of torque (available at a low 1800rpm). This will muster a 0-62mph time of around 10 seconds, pretty respectable for the 1400kg Passat Estate. Economy is very good, at 47.8mpg on the combined cycle. A more powerful version of the 2.0 TDI with 170bhp will be available a few months after launch, which will shave a second from the 0-62mph and deliver a top speed of 136mph. A 1.9-litre TDI with 105bhp and 184lb ft of torque is also available.
Petrol choices are a 1.6-litre FSI with 115bhp, two 2.0-litre FSIs with 150 or 200bhp, and a new 3.2-litre V6 FSI with 250bhp. We tried the 2.0-litre engine in both regular and turbocharged form but neither was as flexible and responsive as the diesel engines. The turbocharged engine (as in the Golf GTI) felt laboured and slow, particularly when mated to VW's six-speed tiptronic automatic gearbox. With the manual, performance felt closer to the claimed 7.8secs to 62mph, but lacked the mid-range punch of the 2.0-litre diesel. We've yet to try the 3.2 V6 FSI but it should be impressive, especially as it's matched to VW's excellent DSG double-clutch gearbox.
We're mightily impressed with the DSG box, it works particularly well with the 2.0TDI enabling lightning-quick gearchanges, which keeps you in the fat of the torque band all the time. In fact, the DSG box seems particularly well suited to torquey diesels, so if you have the choice of specifying your Passat with the DSG box, do.
