Key strengths: Styling, stereo, great pickup on turbo
Areas for improvement: Nothing
I had an 06 touareg that I becoma very disillusioned with. My reviews are on here, and you can see that all the good turned to bad in a short period. The brakes and tires and gas mileage was getting ridiculous so I went back to the dealership to see if I could get out of my lease a year early.
We came to an agreement and I ended up in a 2008 VW passat 2.0L Turbo Komfort Series. WOW. I haven't driven a "car" for about 6 years, having been in a mercury mountaineer and then VW touareg for quite a while now.
The VW is very sleek. It has nice styling that is both sporty and sleek and luxurius. The features inside are nice not overstated and not understated either. It is a nice leather inside, rides really smooth, and has really good accelleration when needed. At like 55MPH it seems to be in silent coast, very quiet and very good handling. Like most VW lots of "hidden storage" great radios and great design. I am a little over 6 feet and the seat can fit me just fine and probably fit someone 6'6".
Now for some specs. 2.0L I4, 16 valve, 200 hp @ 5100 rpm
6 speed automatic transmission 19 mpg city / 28 mpg hwy. Gets about 31 MPG realistically on flat highway and 22 around town right now. That is with AC on, and full tank of gas. The interior is a brushed chrome accents and the typical VW indigo and red backlighting. Plenty of leg room, plenty of butt room, plenty of room for 4 full grown and overgrown adults. Pass through into trunk and seats fold down. Lots of cup holders and little hidden change drawars etc.
Suspension is interesting, feels pretty stiff at high speeds and a bit softer at slower speeds. The steering wheel is electronically assisted, so at slow speeds it is like driving a cadillac steering, and at high speed it is sport tuned. The engine runs real quietly for a 4 cylinder, even when the turbo comes into play there is no high pitch grunting like most 4 cylinders. Lots of cool features like a button you can press when in traffic that will prevent The running costs for Volkswagen Passat Variant Automatic are normal
Safety: 75
Equipment: 65
Reliability: 72
Driving: 68
Comfort: 68
Design: 78