As an old friend of Chinese consumers, SAIC Volkswagen Passat stands like a benchmark in the mid-range car market, controlling the wind direction in the business field, and even the "brother" Maiteng only has a dry stare. The secret of Passat's victory is actually not profound, there is no shortcoming, the mediocrity will be excellent, coupled with the popularity and reputation accumulated in the Chinese market for many years, naturally made this good story. However, in the first half of this year, Passat's life was not satisfactory, but with the arrival of the mid-term remodeling model, a number of changes and upgrades have given it the capital to regain its former glory. Even, behind that mediocrity, there is a little more youthful atmosphere this time.
Appearance: Compromise with youthfulness
Youthfulness is undoubtedly the mainstream of today's car design, not to mention the improvement of the BBA in the young sports style of the same Ashkenazi "compatriots", even the Japanese mid-sized cars that focus on moderation and pragmatism have also been replaced by sports. Not to be outdone, the Passat was not to be outdone, and the mid-term revamped model not only added a youthful element, but also introduced two exterior styles. The model of the test drive is the 330TSI Starry Sky Premium Edition model, the word "Starry Sky" as the name suggests, naturally the main fashion, and its visual effects, it has indeed achieved "first-hand".
The Starry Sky edition has adjusted many appearance details, the most obvious of which is the front grille style, which is composed of dot matrix chrome decorations, and the matrix middle net is like a starry sky, and the stars twinkle under the illumination of street lamps at night. At the same time, the front surround adopts a double "C" shape similar to that of the Volkswagen brand R-Line Sport model, supplemented by a black mesh grille, which further enhances the sense of sportiness.
Although the rear part of the car continues the overall outline of the old model, it has replaced the popular through taillights, which is also a common design of the new Volkswagen brand in recent times. The internal light strip structure is more complex, the effect is exquisite after lighting, the double "C" style not only echoes with the front of the car, but also similar to the bottom imitation exhaust chrome decoration style, so that the vehicle elements are coordinated and unified, greatly improving the overall sense.
Interior: The latest family style
The interior style needless to say, for people who understand the recent Volkswagen brand new car is not unfamiliar, layered layout with multi-color adjustable atmosphere lights, undoubtedly become an effective means to enhance the sense of luxury in the car. At the same time, configurations such as LCD instruments and multimedia touch screens have also become standard in the whole series, but the screen size of medium and high-end models will be larger. However, since the new Passat is only a mid-term revamp and not a new generation, it is still equipped with a sequential mechanical barrier bar instead of the latest paddle electronic gear bar.
The test drive is the top version of the 330TSI, equipped with a 9.2-inch multimedia touch screen, and the low-end model is 8 inches. Its built-in MOS system, but not the latest 4.0 version, but the operation logic, fluency and function are not lagging behind, in addition to the traditional multimedia playback and navigation functions, such as wireless CarPlay, application market, car home interconnection and intelligent voice recognition and other functions are equipped. At the same time, the gesture control has not fallen, although it is still only possible to control the main page to turn the page, but the sensitivity is better than the car equipped with the MOS4.0 system, when the hand modeling icon appears in the lower right corner of the screen, it means that the system has recognized the position of the hand, at this time only need to swing the hand left and right to complete the operation.
The air conditioning panel is operated by touch-type buttons, with clear function markings and easy to get started. At the same time, in order to facilitate the viewing of the air outlet, the multimedia touch screen is also set up separately in the air conditioning control interface. It is worth mentioning that the "SYNC" dual-zone temperature function can only be operated in the touch screen, and there is no independent button for this function on the air conditioning touch panel.
In terms of comfort, the new Passat shows the qualities expected of a business midsize car. For example, the common open panoramic sunroof, the electric adjustment of the front seat, the main driver's seat memory, etc. will not be repeated. The car also provides seat heating, ventilation and massage functions for the front passengers, which can be said to be extremely comprehensive. However, although the air conditioning panel has a seat function of the independent adjustment button, but does not support the heating and ventilation between the switch, fortunately, after clicking the touch button, the left and right side of the multimedia screen will pop up the seat function selection interface of the main driver or co-driver, and the touch button will also tell you whether you are currently heating or ventilating through the blue or red indicator.
The seat massage function does not support the adjustment of strength or massage method, its working mode is achieved through the waist support function, some simple and rough, the body feeling is general, but it is better than nothing. In addition, the car is also equipped with rear seat heating, rear manual side sun blinds and rear windshield electric sun blinds, which can provide a skip-the-line riding experience for rear passengers.
Motivation: Pure "Wolfsburg" taste
In terms of powertrain, it is still the "golden power" combination of the familiar 2.0TSI turbo engine + 7-speed DSG wet dual-clutch transmission. The test drive is not the 380TSI version, but the 330TSI low-power model, perhaps this combination of maximum power 137kW, peak torque 320N·m parameters in the current joint venture brand 2.0T engine camp is not outstanding, not young, but the overall performance can still reach the mainstream, and after continuous adjustment and improvement, there is a significant improvement in smoothness.
Pull the car door, when sitting in the driver's seat for a moment, a sense of familiarity arises, this is the charm of the Volkswagen brand model, as long as you have been in contact with any model of the Volkswagen brand for a while, even if it is a long interval, sitting in the driver's seat again, holding the steering wheel in the moment, you can still feel familiar, just like your own car has affinity. Ignition start, stepping on the throttle, slightly sluggish throttle response and slightly conservative power delivery, well, that's the feeling, which I like to call the "Wolfsburg" flavor. The power output at the start is not tight or slow, even if the parameters indicate that the turbine will enter the peak torque platform at 1500 rpm, but the body feeling will not have the feeling of obvious turbo intervention, and the speed increase is linear and smooth.
The gearbox is slightly moving, and daily driving will not feel its working state except for occasionally jumping out to find a sense of existence when creeping at low speeds. If you want to experience the high efficiency of a dual-clutch transmission, then bigfoot presses the throttle, the gearbox will quickly understand the acceleration intention, instantly drop three gears in a row, and increase the speed in exchange for acceleration. If you still feel not addicted, then continue to accelerate at full throttle, watch the tachometer's hands jump in the high speed range again and again when changing gears, and instantly experience what it is like to change gears fast. Of course, as a low-power version, there is still a gap between the power performance of the 330TSI model and the 380TSI model, and although the acceleration force is obvious, it cannot produce a sense of pushing back.
The suspension system of the new Passat is a combination of front McPherson + rear multi-link independent suspension, and the overall tuning is biased towards comfort. Many people may ask, is the German car not the main control? In fact, there is a small misunderstanding here, although the German car has a clear sense of the road, but the overall suspension tuning style is still biased towards comfort, and in the mid-size car level, in fact, based on the TNGA platform to build the Toyota Camry and the tenth generation Honda Accord as an example, this new Japanese car but the chassis tuning is harder.
Of course, it is not that Japanese cars pay more attention to handling than German cars, but because chassis tuning styles like Volkswagen and a series of German brands are recognized and loved by Chinese and global consumers, so other car companies in various countries have also begun to set up research and development centers in Europe, and strive to create similar handling feelings and driving textures, in the early days, Ford and General Motors Group, such as this generation of Ford Mondeo and Buick Regal, are actually from the hands of european research and development centers of two brands.
Far from it, let's talk back to the new Passat. Therefore, the chassis tuning of the Volkswagen brand is superior, and the rich road sense when driving can give the subjective feeling of excellent handling, but for passengers, the bumps caused by uneven road surfaces will not interfere too much with comfort. It's just that the new Passat's road sense feedback is indeed a little less, but after all, as a medium-sized car, the priority of comfort needs is naturally the highest, and there is nothing to blame.
In terms of handling, although the new Passat is biased towards comfort, the bottom is still there, and when passing through the large arc bend at a speed of about 80km/h, the body roll is properly controlled, the posture is stable, and it is as "moral" as ever. The steering wheel has a moderate damping sensation, and the new three-spoke multi-function steering wheel has a thicker grip of three and nine points, and with a perforated leather wrap, the steering feeling is further enhanced. If you want to demand driving pleasure on the mountain road, the new Passat can still meet this small selfishness, provided that you don't compete, don't pursue the limits of control too much, and the point is good.
Space: Business reception is not rude
The 178cm tall experiencer sat in the front row and punched in the head space. In terms of storage space, the number and volume of storage slots are normal, and the front storage slots are equipped with wireless charging functions, which is convenient and practical. The storage slot to the left of the front cup holder also has a fixture inside to hold some items that are easy to shake.
Keeping the front seat unchanged, the experiencer came to the back row, the headroom was also one punch, and the leg space was about three punches, which was excellent. However, the bulge in the middle of the rear row is also an old problem, which will affect the comfort of the rear passengers. The rear storage space behaves normally, and the rear central armrest storage slot is complemented by a flannel substrate, which does not resonate even if hard objects are placed in it.
The performance of the new Passat's trunk has not changed much, the volume is 521L under normal conditions, the interior is more regular, the right side is equipped with a larger storage slot, and when the floor cover is lifted, it can also be seen that the lower part is equipped with a non-full-size spare tire, and the middle part of the spare tire can be used as a storage slot. However, on the top model, the middle part of the spare tire will be replaced by a woofer due to the Harman/Kardon Carlton sound system.
Security: Proactive security is fully configured
As always, the new Passat has a relatively rich active/passive safety configuration, which can escort the driving safety of the people in the car. After turning on the lane departure warning and lane keeping assistance functions, the system will monitor the current driving lane in real time, and the steering wheel will automatically correct when it deviates from the lane to ensure the driving trajectory of the vehicle. This function provides a certain margin, if in a non-adaptive endurance state, the system will not slightly deviate from the lane to intervene, but when the wheel on the side of the vehicle has been pressed to the lane marking line will actively correct, more humane.