To Sport or not to Sport? Here atMotor Trendthe answer is usually always yes — the more sport, the better. While the Passat Sport trim level comes with a bunch of attractive aesthetic extras (Sport badges, a snazzy black roof, deeper two-toned leather seats, imitation carbon-fiber trim, 10-spoke wheels, etc. ), its mechanicals haven't been sportified — no sport suspension, or stiffer anti-roll bars, or sportier gearing.
So how sporty is it? The new 1.8 turbo (it replaced the 2.5L five-cylinder) has 170 horses kicking up 184 lb-ft of torque. It feels peppy enough in city driving. It's a little buzzy, but the ride is refined and comfy, and the steering is Goldilocks responsive. When in Sport mode — and I always keep it Sport — it chooses the appropriate gear more quickly, as it tends to hunt a bit in the lower gears in regular mode. It also mimics how I'd shift if I were driving a manual. InMotor Trendtesting it reached 60 mph in 7.9 seconds and finished the quarter mile in 16.0 at 87.3 mph, appropriate for highway merging and commuting.
My daily driving is 70-percent freeway and 30-percent stop-and-go city streets, and I've been getting about 420 miles per tank between fill-ups of the 18.5-gallon tank. (I try to get as close to empty as possible.) It doesn't need premium gas, which is nice when gas is more expensive. On a recent road trip it clocked 480 miles per tank. The Real MPG of 28.8 is slightly better than the EPA combined city/highway rating of 28.
FellowMTcopy editor Jesse Bishop took the Passat on a weekend road trip to Bishop, California (founded by one of his forebears), and had an odd interlude where the seatbelt sensor beeped repeatedly even though he was belted in and there was no one in the passenger seat. I had a similar instance where I put a wet towel and swimsuit on the passenger seat and the sensor thought a person was there. The beeping stopped when I moved the wet stuff to the floor. I'll mention it when I take the Passat in for its first service, but it's not a big deal, and I'd rather have the sensor be too sensitive than not sensitive enough.
