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| Long-wheelbase version has miles of kneeroom |
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The Phaeton can pander to the lunatic fringe too, however: the other diesel engine in the range is the phenomenal 5.0-litre V10, a category winner in the influential International Engine of the Year awards organised by Engine Technology International magazine. Giving 313bhp and an utterly mind-bending 553lb ft of torque, it accelerates 0-60 in a supercar-baiting 6.9 seconds, though its most awesome talents are midrange. Top speed is limited to 155mph though you get the feeling that it's capable of far, far more. The anti-slip regulator and four-wheel drive put a check on wheelspinning - probably feasible in even the uppermost gears, though we were too chicken to put this too far to the test - but this is one hell of a hot rod saloon. OK, fuel consumption's under the 25mpg mark, but think what a comparable petrol engine would drink... As a pin-up model for high-performance diesel technology, the V10 doesn't disappoint. The only downside is its price tag: £60,375. Yes, £60,000-plus, for a Volkswagen.
Obviously, the V10 TDI will remain a minority-interest choice in an already rare-groove model range. As such, it will either become a monstrous white elephant of a car on the secondhand market or sought-after by a hardcore of derv-sniffing enthusiasts - but even in the latter scenario, depreciation will nonetheless be fierce. What a secondhand bargain this car could be, but don't expect to get much back on a V6, either. This issue is arguably more off-putting to would-be buyers than snobbery over the Volkswagen badge, and good enough reason to play it safe with the more established luxury car makers.
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| Some wood trim may look a bit tacky, but it's all high-quality |
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Volkswagen UK expects to register around 325 Phaetons next year, the majority (70 percent) being V6 TDI models. That'll probably include the cars assigned for its own use, for internal evaluation, press road-testing and corporate-sponsored hospitality - VW laid on a fleet of Phaetons to take special guests to the recent V music festival- as well as dealers' demonstrators. Last week, we were shown round the Dresden factory, a stunning state-of-the-art architectural achievement with more smiling, uniformed hospitality staff than visitors and high-quality restaurant catering; the building is used for a large number of corporate entertainment functions as well as for car-making though Volkswagen is still a long, long way off from recouping its investment in its construction. With the capacity to make 150 cars a day, the facility is currently assembling just a fraction of that number, and the few white-coated technicians sighted were working at an unhurried rate. The production lines - on super-clean pale wood floors - are more like a performance art installation than a functioning industrial manufacturing unit. Sadly, unless there is a radical re-think of how the Phaeton is positioned, advertised and marketed, it is likely to stay that way.
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