The Volkswagen Passat CC V6 long-termer is no more with us, having gone back to VW Middle East. Unlike any of our previous borrowed long-term cars, this one will actually be missed. It was easily among the best all-round midsize sedans we’ve ever driven, if not the best.
The Volkswagen Up! small city car won 2012 World Car of the Year, defeating the 2012 BMW 3-Series and the 2012 Porsche 911.
As a last hurrah before our 2012 Volkswagen Passat CC rides off into the sunset, we decided to properly check out what sort of fuel economy numbers it was capable of getting. Being a 300 hp all-wheel-drive midsize sedan had to be a fuel hog, right?
We stopped reporting on recalls last March because, firstly, it’s boring news, and secondly, there’s just too many of them. Most publicised recalls are issued according the U.S. NHTSA agency. But we’ve decided to list all the recalls since then, just to make sure we’ve covered them, and potential buyers of these cars can get the whole story, so here goes.
It’s rather ironic that anyone who’s been to the Sub-continent, or even maybe Europe, has some sort of experience with Compressed-Natural-Gas cars. And yet, we being the largest automotive guide in the GCC, had never driven a CNG-powered car before. The fact that we are in the GCC might be the reason. But there is a real push by certain entities to bring in vehicles with cleaner emissions here, and Volkswagen threw their hat in the ring with the VW Passat Ecofuel, a car that is already offered in Europe, which can run on both natural gas and petrol.
We’ve had our V6-powered 2012 Volkswagen Passat CC for more than four months now. But it’s only today that we finally decided to take it out for a 0-100 kph flog. Truth be told, we always thought the CC was quick, but not that quick. But we were totally flabbergasted when the timings came in, so much so that we couldn’t wait to share it.
The last few weeks were pretty awful in terms of weather. Daily sandstorms took a toll on cars in Dubai. It was even worse when, you think the worst of the dusty weather is over so you wash your car, and then there is yet another dust-storm the next day. Frustrating indeed. And it took a toll on a car’s performance too.
Our Volkswagen Passat CC had taken a back seat for the last month as we fiddled around with, what else, other Volkswagens. We drove the VW Phaeton and the VW Passat Ecofuel recently, and we have become quite familiar with Volkswagen DNA by now. Of course, we’ve come to realise that the Passat CC is indeed tuned to be sportier than other sedans in their fleet, as our car rides a wee bit firmer than either of those cars, while taking corners with much more confidence. But does it make a good highway cruiser?
The Volkswagen Scirocco R, the most potent version of VW’s 3-door “coupé” is now on sale in the GCC.
This is one car that caused a lot of controversy back when it was launched in 2002. Most had issues with the fact that the Phaeton was “too expensive for a Volkswagen.” Of course, many failed to realise that the Phaeton was pretty much a cheaper Audi A8, possibly better even, considering it used the dedicated all-wheel-drive Bentley Continental platform.