This is Chasing Cars and this is a great family car. The Volkswagen Passat station wagon, which has just received its major facelift in its current generation. It’s, a fairly subtle change to the design. But thankfully, this you know fairly slab sided cleanly shaped estate. Car didn’t really need many changes to bring it up to speed for 2020, but the slight changes outside are not the only differences with this updated version of the Passat. There’s, also tweaked engines that are going to be available, starting with this 140 kilowatt 2 litre turbo Petrol version. Inside there’s, better connectivity with stuff like wireless Apple CarPlay, but this is mainly still just a big spacious, five seat family car that makes driving really fun even when you need to transport people and stuff and, Φυσικά, Αυτό είναι. One of the big benefits of buying a wagon over an SUV is, they do drive so much better. That comes down to the fact that they just sit so much closer to the ground.. Their centre of gravity is low, so if you’re jumping out of a mid size or large SUV, a Passat wagon is going to feel like a sports car seriously, And then you jump into an interior that is very smartly presented and premium without being overly opulent. Και, given that this specification, the new 140TSI Business costs just under 48000 before on road costs, you don’t expect sheer opulence, but you do expect something upscale and i think that’s, what you get.

. So we have a new steering wheel, Volkswagen’s new corporate wheel design, no not sure if it’s a massive improvement, it’s just different.. We have more sort of geometrically spaced controls here in black plastic, with a little bit of silver, bright work, but still really nice. Creamy leather. Finish on the rim. Feels good in the hand same with the leather shifter and the best thing about the Passat, especially compared to the Tiguan SUV, which costs about the same is that the interior quality in the Passat is much better.. So we’ve got a lot more soft touch materials on the doors down here on the console as well. Really everywhere you touch, Ξέρεις, squidgy grab handles in the Tiguan they’re hard.. It just feels like a more expensive car, inside. It’s, πραγματικά ωραίο. The technology has also received an upgrade. We now have wireless Apple, CarPlay, wired, Android, Auto and the Volkswagen Passat actually becomes one of the first non BMW cars on the market in Australia to get wireless CarPlay, so that’s terrific. That works about as well as you would expect, which is really well It’s. Just a shame that as standard this reasonably expensive, Passat gets Volkswagen’s, smaller eight inch display and the resolution isn’t great. That’s one change. I would make.. We also don’t get the Volkswagen Active Info Display as standard.. We get their very handsome analogue dials, but those who are seeking more tech will have to wait for the higher spec 206TSI 4MOTION variant to come out.

Now this might sound like nitpicking, but when a car is very good and this Passat is very good, you have To nitpick, so the next one can be even better. In a mediocre car that you know rides badly and has a small screen you’re, never going to care about the small screen. You’re going to concentrate on the big stuff Here in the Passat. We really are just sweating, the small details. Speaking of small details. This used to be a clock up, Εδώ. It’s. Now just the Passat logo. I don’t love it. But what i do love are the seats. Really nice comfy supportive, luxurious, seats., Electric adjustment on both sides.. We have memory and a massage function, and this black leather looks very smart, though a lighter color option would also be nice.. Usb C connectivity. Practicality is okay, two big cup holders a little shelf here ahead of the shifter, but no wireless phone charging, which seems like a missed opportunity., Another USB C port and a felt lined box down here for your wipes, et cetera. So all in all nice place to be up front.. What about in the second row, Any family car has to be spacious back here if it’s going to be worth its chops. So, Ω, that is a solid heavy door Sounds like quality. And then you jump back here and you find it’s very spacious. Έτσι και για μένα, at six foot headroom is excellent.. This car doesn’t have a sunroof there’s, no Passat variant with a sunroof back on the market.

In Australia yet, but that will change later, this year. Legroom for myself is extremely generous. and toe room is very good too.. You could fit three people across it’s a fairly broad car.. We do have a hump in the floor here, αλλά είναι., not the worst I’ve seen.. We have air vents, a separate temperature zone fold down arm rest with two and a half cup holders. We have sun blinds built in so you don’t have to have tacky aftermarket ones, soft touch materials. I mean you get a lot of stuff in the Passat.. You get a lot of quality items.. It feels like a nice place to spend time.. Nwo, Φυσικά, it is only a five seater. Because it’s a wagon. Δυστυχώς, you can’t get stuff like the rear facing third row in any station wagon in Australia, anymore and that’s. Sad., But if all you need is five seats, something like this is going to be better than just about any mid sized SUV., But all right I’ll get off that bandwagon now and just go back to telling you the facts, which is that around the back. There are a few noticeable changes.. The Passat lettering is now spelt out like it is on the Touareg and other new Volkswagens sort of more broadly.. I think that looks good.. We have a different design in the tail lights, just like back in the headlights as well, which are LED.. You open up the boot by that cool Volkswagen trickit should be an electric tailgate.

I think at this price. Θέλω να πω, είναι., δεν είναι τίποτα σπουδαίο., because for me this is easy, but if you’re petite or you know, if your hands are full, an electric tailgate would be better.. But the boot itself leaves you with nothing to complain about because it’s 650 litres, big so bigger than you know, most SUVs. Totally flat floor. So you can slide stuff straight in and out. Cubby spaces remote releases to fold down those rear seats and they actually drop all the way. Without you having to do anything., We have takeaway hooks a 12 volt socket and then underneath the boot floor. We have some storage and a space saver spare so all in all it’s, very complete in terms of practicality. Αυτό είναι. One of the reasons the Passat is popular as a fleet wagon, because you can park this thing in loading zones, But it also makes it good as a family car., But is the facelifted Passat still great to drive Spoiler alert? Ναι, But let’s find out why? By jumping into the driver’s seat., So what is the facelifted Volkswagen Passat like to drive? Καλά, αρκετά καλό, actually for a number of reasons that make these lower riding family cars or work cars so generally good to drive, but especially when we’re talking about a real quality product like the Volkswagen, Passat and I’ll, come to the really good ride and handling of This vehicle shortly., But first let’s remind ourselves of what’s under the bonnet.

. Now the Passat differs in many different countries as to what engines it’s offered with and even how. It looks, especially if you’re watching this from the United States.. But here in Australia, Volkswagen are pivoting. The Passat lineup to really be petrol only., So this grade on the outside looks quite a lot like the old Passat Highline, which was diesel only, but now this Business line is powered by a petrol engine.. So a two litre, turbocharged four cylinder very familiar engine to us here on the channel and it’s, now been bumped up from the previous 132 kilowatts of power which it had in the Comfortline grade previously now to 140 kilowatts of power and still the same 320 newton Meters of torque, so it’s a pretty middling sort of petrol engine.. It offers a good mix of performance and economy while also lending the Passat 140TSI, as it’s now known with a little bit of athleticism and sporting flair.. It does about an eight second zero to 100kmh sprint which for a car like this, is you know reasonably nippy., Not fast, but certainly nippy enough, and it jumps off the line pretty well aided by its seven speed. Dual clutch automatic, gearbox and Volkswagen have really refined these transmissions for many years now and for the most part, it feels very normal, very unobtrusive, a pretty decent gearbox in fact.. Now Passat fans will know about the 206TSI version of this car, which was the top end grade of the Passat available here in Australia up until recently.

. That is coming back with the Golf R’s tune of this two litre: Μηχανή 206, kilowatts of power and 350 newton meters of torque.. Those outputs could be tweaked a little bit but it’s going to be along those lines paired to an all wheel, drive system and that’s. A really effective combination, a really cool sleeper sort of wagon, maybe a poor, man’s Audi S4. I reckon that’s pretty awesome, but actually this engine and gearbox combo in the 140TSI is more effective than I expected. It’s, actually quite nice indeed. But the nicest part is how the Passat wagon gets down the road because it just drives smaller than it is.. It feels like a nice tight car, just a enlarged Golf, Αλήθεια, which you know given that it’s based on the MQB platform, that’s kind of what it is. But that’s a good thing, Starting with the ride. Δεν είναι αυτό που νομίζω.. A good combination of firmness and compliance. It’s, pretty supple. Even on these 18 inch wheels that are big enough to look good outside, αλλά είναι., not crazy overboard. So you don’t get big jarring feelings in the cabin from going over a square, edged, bump. And at higher speeds and on the highway it just lopes along in that great sort of big wagon kind of feel.. We do have the fixed suspension here so non adaptive. Dampers, but they just have one setting that works well. On the higher end, Passat that comes out later on this year, there will be adaptive dampers, so you’ll be able to select from a range of settings for those dampers, but this setup works very well.

. Now one thing I did find that was interesting is that they have significantly lightened the steering weight on the facelift Passat, but this is customisable.. So, if you’re a long time subscriber – and I hope you are you’ll – know that I generally like the Comfort or Normal steering setup in cars that have adjustable steering., I typically like a lighter feel., But in the Passat it’s super super light now.. That makes the Passat really easy to manoeuvre around town, but it also just means it’s, totally devoid of any feel.. So I actually customised the Individual drive mode setting in this car to have the heavier steering which really just feels about normal, while leaving everything else in sort of Normal or Comfort mode. And this is a blend that I find works well.. But the handling itself is excellent. You know really unimpeachable. There’s good grip from the Pirelli tyres on this car, but the whole car just feels really cohesive.. It tips into a corner nicely very little weight kind of sitting over the front axle so turn in is fairly eager.. The steering’s mid weighted so it’s, not especially darty, but it certainly goes where you want it to. And then the whole bodythere is a little bit of roll through the corner, but it’s manageable and actually just lifting off the throttle. A little bit in quite dedicated, cornering you’ll get a little bit of float.. It all feels actually reasonably sporty, but without sacrificing comfort and that’s.

Exactly what I like in a car like this.. Now there are virtually no options on this specification of Passat. Apart from the colour, so all the safety tech is standard., So we have adaptive cruise control AEB that works at very high speed. Lane keep assist blind spot monitoring, so it all feels pretty complete here in the Passat, though the addition of a 360 degree parking camera would make this big barge a little bit easier to park.. So those are our detailed opinions of the facelifted Volkswagen Passat wagon.. This class of mid size to large station wagons is really good as far as i’m concerned, because these are the thinking person’s family car.. They handle really well, they ride well, they’re lighter they’re spacious and they have big boots.. So if all you need is five seats, go for something like this. Do something a little bit. Different. Don’t just follow the crowd into a midsize SUV.. There are plenty of good SUVs out there, but none of them are as good as wagons like this.. Let me know what you think of the Passat down below this video, whether the changes they’ve made are enough.

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