The Truth About Cars » Volkswagen

Review: Volkswagen Passat CC

Jay Shoemaker — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:40:56 +0000

The CC stood out like a swan amidst a gaggle of homely Jetta ducklings on the VW dealer's lot, its aesthetic appeal undeniable. In contrast with the company's marketing approach with the Phaeton, the CC is virtually badge-less and, at first blush, hard to identify as part of the VW family. I suppose it still looks vaguely Germanic since it shamelessly cribs from the Mercedes CLS it aspires to be. Comfort Coupe or Caustic Copy?

2009 Volkswagen Routan Review

Michael Martineck — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:38:06 +0000

A large percentage of TTAC readers arrive here via a Google search of a specific vehicle. They know nothing of-- nor care much about-- our "take no prisoners" editorials or Inside Baseball auto industry analysis. So, in their honor, let's start with THE key fact: the VW Routan is a rebadged Chrysler minivan. Rebadged as in mildly reworked. So why buy a VW Routan instead of a Chrysler product? For the same reason you'd buy a Chrysler minivan over a Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna: no reason at all, really. But there's more to it than that. At least in theory...

2009 VW Jetta SportWagen SE Review

Frank Williams — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:18:49 +0000

The previous gen Jetta was one of the few small station wagons available in the U.S. It garnered a dedicated following amongst those who needed extra space but didn’t have to prove anything to anyone by driving an SUV. When the bulbous fifth generation Jetta debuted, the wagon was missing-- but promised. Three years later, it’s finally here. Was it worth the wait?

2009 VW Tiguan SE 4Motion Review

Frank Williams — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 11:42:35 +0000

First impressions last. And many are formed by the appellation given a child at birth by well-meaning parents. Guys named Percival, Chauncey and Marion know the answer to "what is in a name?" And now, Tiguan. Pronunciation? Is it TEE-gwan? TIG-yoo-wahn? Tig-WAHN? Any way you say it, Tiguan sounds more like some species of sub-Saharan reptile than a girlie soft-roader. Like that boy named Sue, Smuckers or Huckabee, any vehicle with a bizarre name better be able to stand up for itself. So is VW's new mini-ute good enough to compensate for its cumbrous cognomen (stupid name)?

2009 Volkswagen Jetta 2.0 TDI Review

Justin Berkowitz — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:43:38 +0000

In the past five years, Volkswagen has had its pants around its ankles. Gas tripled in price, Al Gore invented the environment and the brand once known for frugality didn't have U.S. products that could compete on fuel economy. Volkswagen’s diesel-powered Jetta and Passat weren't even legal in VW-friendly California, NY and Massachusetts. After miles of regulatory legwork, VW brought one of its new generation European diesels up to fifty-state compliance. The Jetta 2.0 TDI hits dealers this fall. So is it The One?

2008 Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI Review

Jonny Lieberman — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:03:01 +0000

The VW Phaeton was the answer to a question no one asked: who wants to buy a $70k Volkswagen? Marketing mishegos aside, "Piech's folly" is a superb car: relatively quick, preposterously quiet and completely comfortable. Lest we forget, VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech is something of a master engineer. He was directly responsible for Porsche's 917; a race car so dominant they canceled the entire race series. Piech also willed the Bugatti Veyron into existence. The Touareg V10 TDI was born from the same world-crushing crucible as the Phaeton and the Veyron. So, how does the uber-oil burner measure up?

Volkswagen Jetta Review

Tony Sterbenc — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:42:18 +0000

My name is Tony and I’m an ex-VW owner. Like most exes, it’s taken me a couple of decades to overcome my bitterness to the point where I can render objective judgment on the German automaker’s products. As a test drive reveals nothing about long-term reliability, I will mention it no more and judge the facts at hand. One of which is Volkswagen automobiles are still beset with mechanical and electrical gremlins. Damn! So, the Jetta. Nice looking car, eh?

Volkswagen R32 Review

Robert Farago — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 11:22:16 +0000

When the Volkswagen R32 first arrived stateside, enthusiasts gave the hot hatch a hero’s welcome. The all wheel-drive, VR6-powered Alpha rabbit made its pre-GTI siblings look like a bunch of ectomorphic accountants at a supermodel slumber party. The R32 was rare, fast, agile, sharp-looking and tighter than the Osmond family at Thanksgiving dinner. The latest version is all that, again, with the notable addition of the world’s best gearbox. And yet the R32’s suddenly become a deeply unloved (if not unlovable) automobile. So who shot JR?

Volkswagen Polo Review

Martin Schwoerer — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 22:11:10 +0000

At the tail end of the last century, the European built, Eurozone-only Volkswagen Polo was the "Mercedes of small cars.” While the Golf/Rabbits MKIII and MKIV suffered from iffy quality, the smaller, staid Polo was known for being reliably unbreakable. Then, something happened. Just as Mercedes' quality nosedived, the VW Polo lost its rep for bullet-proof build. Since 2005 quality has (reportedly) markedly improved, which has put the car back on the list of frugal consumers looking to buy something “classically VW." But is it ready for a U.S. debut?

Triple White New Beetle Convertible Review

Megan Benoit — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 11:02:48 +0000

There are only two reasons why anyone would buy a New Beetle convertible: a craving for cute or a need for nostalgia. Once you rule out these emotional drivers (so to speak), you're far better off in any number of more economical and practical machines. But that's OK, isn't it? Acquiring a Ferrari isn't exactly a rational decision. So analyzing the New Beetle's desirability comes down to this: does it suck enough to put off the retro- fashionistas?

Volkswagen Passat Review

Walter Pabst — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 10:16:13 +0000

Slide into the snug, over-bolstered leather seat. Push the chunky key fob into a slot labeled “start/stop.” Tune an ear to combustion as smooth as a baby’s backside. Grab hold of the three-spoke leather-wrapped helm. Engage first gear. Mash the throttle and drop the clutch. Brace for wheel hop, snick through the gears to triple digit speeds, then slam on the brakes. Escape through the heavy driver’s door and slam it shut. Glance back at the Volkswagen Passat 2.0T.

VW Rabbit Review

Walter Pabst — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 11:00:14 +0000

Rabbits are renowned for their reproductive skills. Clever ads for Volkswagen’s long anticipated A-platform hatch show city-dwelling Rabbits multiplying by the dozens. Ironically, the tiny population of US-bound Volkswabbits is hardly bound to satisfy demand, never mind dominate the landscape. A prospective buyer is lucky to sample Wolfsburg’s new bunny prior to placing an order, and then faces a wait of around 60 days. VW dealers couldn’t care less; nurturing understandably impatient leads is hardly worth the pennies of revenue it generates. So, with lukewarm fanfare, scarce availability and laughable profit, the Rabbit is back.

Volkswagen Touareg TDI Review

Walter Pabst — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 11:25:33 +0000

Every day, VW sales consultants encounter “diesel ups.” (For those unfamiliar with car lot lingo, an “up” is a browsing customer, bound for service by a revolving pool of salesman.) For the last three years, California-based “diesel ups” have been a shortcut to nowhere. Since 2003, the Golden State’s rigid emissions laws have outlawed diesel-powered Vee Dubs. Meanwhile, hybrid owners, cheapskates and other mileage-crazed customers pester commission-hungry staff about TDI’s that get 50 mpg on spent French fry oil. So, after three years of consumer anticipation and wasted ups, CA has finally given the A-OK to a diesel VW: the Touareg TDI. It’s a great landing at the wrong airport.

Volkswagen Eos Review

Jay Shoemaker — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 13:03:35 +0000

There is no way to overstate the appeal of the new Volkswagen Eos’ folding hardtop. I sat inside the car for ten minutes, opening and closing the lid, marveling at the mechanism’s precision and design. What kind of mind can develop something that folds and unfolds with such infinite grace? If you like to visit high speed factories spitting out hundreds of widgets per minute, filling them with liquids and shrink wrapping them in three swift motions, then you will never tire of lowering and raising the Eos’ five-piece hardtop. As for the rest of Vee Dub’s CSC (coupe-sunroof-convertible), it’s danger, boredom ahead.

Volkswagen Golf GTI DSG Reviews

Robert Farago — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 00:00:00 +0000

I don't know about you, but I've been feeling sorry for Volkswagen for a while now. VW didn't so much lose their mojo as strap it to the nose of a Titan IVB and fire it into deep space. No disrespect to the world's fifth most populous country, but was anyone really surprised when a Brazilian Golf turned out like German bobo de camarao? Now that Vee Dub's got THAT out of their system, here comes the new, Wolfsburg-built Golf GTI. It's an Old School hot hatch with a Masters in Engineering. Viva VW!

For reasons best left to The International Museum of Marketing Doublespeak, Volkswagen decided to begin their mission-critical US Golf refresh with a two-door. More's the pity. The fifth-gen four-door is a far more handsome beast than the coupe-- if only because the Golf's rear portals soften the enormous disparity between the front windscreen's bottom edge and the side windows' lower boundary. This bizarre asymmetry pisses on the Golf's 32-year history of two-box harmony. The resulting rear end trades brand recognition for something vaguely Japanese-- as if the Golf suddenly decided to play the Accordian. And then there's the front end's unresolved echo of Audi's unconscionable house snout...

Volkswagen Beetle Review

Robert Farago — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 00:00:00 +0000

The power of love is a curious thing. It makes one brand weep, another brand sing. Change a bug into a little white Dub. More than a feeling; that's the power of love. Yes, I know it's old News, but Volkswagen's Beetle still gets a lot of love. You would've thought a retro reissue of Hitler's people's car would've fallen down the same rat hole that swallowed-up the mustachioed Plymouth Prowler, Chevrolet's WTF SSR and Ford's turkey T-bird. But no. Eight years after its re-introduction into the US market, VW's self-titled "New Beetle" is still here, people still adore it, and I still don't get it.

Admittedly, I'm not gay. While I do enjoy a well-formed six-pack, and consider myself a far better interior decorator than that stuck-up Connecticut con artist, I can't understand how anyone could find VeeDub's Bauhaus Bug "cute." I reckon J Mays drew the St. Louis arch over a Kohler bathtub and called it good. All the superb detailing that gave the 60's version its cutesy-tootsie cartoon character has been replaced with generic post-modern jewelery. To my eyes, the slab-sided minimalist Beetle is about as emotionally engaging as a Braun razor. The '06 facelift offers rounder headlights, more tapered wrap-around air dams and flat-edged wheel arches. It looks like… a slightly newer Braun razor.

Jetta Tdi Review

admin — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 18:32:20 +0000

For years, Volkswagen’s diesels were like cod liver oil: a worthy medicine that few American consumers could stomach. The stripped-down oil-burners hidden in the back of US forecourts seemed specifically designed for penny-pinching college professors and health food store managers. Customers who considered engine clatter, black smoke and lack of comforts (creature or otherwise) a badge of honor. When $3-a-gallon gas arrived stateside, hordes of “normal” customers suddenly joined the Euro-throngs clamoring for their daily dose of diesel. And no example was-- is-- more sought after than the VW Jetta TDI.

Volkswagen Golf R32 Review

Robert Farago — Thu, 20 Mar 2003 00:00:00 +0000

What's it like to drive a Volkswagen R32? Have you ever driven a Porsche Carrera 4? Well, it's like that, only smaller. The R32's engine provides the same silky smooth, addictively aggressive shove. The Vee Dub's 4Motion system generates the same tenacious grip. The uber-Golf has the same razor-sharp steering and seats-of-the-pants feedback. In fact, the only significant difference between Wolfsburg's finest and the pride of Stuttgart is the styling.

And the suspension. And the relative street cred, speeds involved and price. But let's leave such comparisons for the end. At this early stage in the game, suffice it to say that any VW that can play in the same ballpark as a modern Porsche is something you need to drive, if not own. So, let's take this German pocket rocket for a spin…

Volkswagon Passat W8 Review

Robert Farago — Mon, 17 Feb 2003 00:00:00 +0000

Here's a good way to lose money. Take a mass-market saloon and spec it to the max: sat nav, heat insulated tinted glass, parking radar, Bi-Xenon headlights, 17" rubber, alloy wheels, sports suspension, Tiptronic gearbox and the biggest damn engine money can buy. Come trade-in time, you'll get just about the same money for your superfast gin palace as Mr. Repmobile gets for his plain vanilla version. And yet…

Your hi-spec mass-market machine will cost less than a bare bones prestige model. Case in point: the Volkswagen Passat W8 4Motion Sport. For £34,070, you get all the goodies above (including an eight-cylinder engine) for two hundred quid more than a no-spec six-cylinder BMW 530i Sport. The VW gives you more German automobile for less of your beloved English pounds, ja?

2002 Volkswagen Phaeton Review

Robert Farago — Fri, 02 Aug 2002 00:00:00 +0000

According to Hans-Gerd Bode, VW's top marketing man, any luxury car that wants to make it in the German market must have 'uberholprestige'. 'Autobahn drivers who see a new car's nose looming in their rear view mirror must rate the machine highly enough to pull over and let it pass.' Thanks for that. Now give me the keys and show me that autobahn…

Approaching the Phaeton, you'd be forgiven for thinking you're about to get behind the wheel of an over-sized Passat. The Phaeton is huge: 16.5' long, and 6' wide. Despite these luxo-barge dimensions, the Phaeton is elegant, in a stealth wealth, 'I'm not a Mercedes' kind of way. Understated. But not under-equipped. The Phaeton comes equipped with all the must-have luxury car toys: sat nav, on-board computer, built-in and hands-free phones, cruise control, adjustable suspension, rain sensitive wipers, five ways to change gears (automatic, sport automatic, Tiptronic, paddle shift and wheel-mounted buttons), seats that heat, cool and massage; the lot. A Golf driver wouldn't know where to start.