Volkswagen Passat
Ford and VW aim to prove there’s life in the family car yet
Inearly choke, holding back a snigger. Sitting in a press conference for the new Passat, an assembly of journalists is being lectured on the car’s ‘positioning’ by Christine Roch, who’s in charge of Passat marketing worldwide. She says older generations of Passat were driven by “travelling salesmen”. But the new one, the MkVIII, she claims, is “more premium”. Oh yes, it’s being aimed at “key account managers”.
And there you have it in a nutshell. A perfect if unwitting refection of the endless travails of the big mass-brand family car. It doesn’t seem to have dawned on Ms Roch that every manufacturer says their machines are getting more and more premium, and they’ve been saying so for generations, and they never ever win. The Passat gets extra chrome trim and a super-quality interior. Ford will elevate the Mondeo to include a Vignale grade, with posher leather and special dealer services for the driver. The new Mondeo and Passat are indeed better cars, but all other cars have moved upward too. So out there in the real world, perceptions of this pair won’t change an iota. Sure, they’ll be driven by key account managers, but that’s only because travelling salesmen have awarded themselves fancy new job titles. Same job, added pretensions. And they’re the same sort of cars – if you want to impress the neighbours, both the Passat and the Mondeo still fall somewhere shy of an Audi A4 or BMW 3-Series.
And you know what? It doesn’t matter that their position on the social ladder steadfastly refuses to climb. Look at their engineering quality and the amount of space they ofer, and they’ll give the premium brands a very close run for a lot less money. Both this Passat and Mondeo truly are all-new, and they’re serious eforts.
DESIGN AND ENGINEERING
Mondeo frst. In line with Ford’s globalisation policy, it’s a twin car of the US Ford Fusion. Thus we frst saw the saloon version in January 2012 at the Detroit show. But the outgoing Mondeo was only fve years old at the time, and Ford had a two-year plan to develop the versions of the new car that we Europeans needed: diesels, and the hatch and estate bodies. But then Ford, losing billions in Europe in the recession, had to close its Belgian factory. Shifting the Mondeo to a plant in Spain took more time, so it goes on sale three whole years after that Fusion was unveiled. Must be due a facelift soon. Still, it feels modern. Although it was largely
engineered in the US, the design originated with the European team.
That big chromed grille and slim headlights give a new and sleek face, and the roofine takes a long fast swoop down to the tail. Strong creases down the bonnet and fanks emphasise that the bodywork is all-new. Still, as with VW’s eforts with the Passat, Ford has elected to build a car that everyone will recognise, both as a Ford and as a Mondeo. Designers from Ford and VW claim this strategy makes their cars timeless. We’ll have to see.
The Mondeo’s dimensions have barely changed, but the shell is stronger yet lighter. With the aim of a softer ride without spoiling the handling, there’s an all-new multi-link rear suspension. It uses some expensive light aluminium castings. Petrol engines range from the 1.0-litre three-cylinder to a 240bhp version of the Focus ST’s engine. But people will buy the diesels. They start with a 113bhp 1.6, for 94g/km CO2, but I’m in a 178bhp 2.0-litre. A twin-turbo 4WD 207bhp version comes next year. And there’s a hybrid, the petrol CVT-type similar to Toyotas, which is fne for wafting around a town but little fun outside it.
Volkswagen’s global policy is diferent from Ford’s, and this Passat isn’t twinned with the cars of the same name made in the US. Instead this one uses the MQB components. But compared with the Golf – also MQB – it’s longer in the wheelbase and wider, and uses some more expensive parts including an aluminium front subframe. The MQB architecture means the nose is shorter, which helps the looks, and the longer wheelbase means even more space for slobbing about in the back seat. The whole car is lighter too, and with a 2.0 diesel it weighs 110kg-odd less than the equivalent Mondeo.
In Britain, the Passat can be had only with diesels. The 1.6 118bhp makes 105g/km CO2, then there are 2.0s with 148 and 187bhp, and a 4WD twin-turbo at an impressive 237. A plug-in petrol hybrid with DSG (should be fun) arrives next year. They sit behind a chromey nose which, according to the chief engineer, is his proudest achievement, because the chrome and the lights and the grille and the bonnet all line up so exactly. And, yes, that sort of obsessive quality is evident throughout the car.
ON BOARD
If you look, the Mondeo’s American roots do show. The seat bases are a bit fat and soft, and it was obviously designed with automatics in mind: the manual gearlever isn’t quite in the right place so you keep banging your elbow in the armrest. The standard dash screen runs the American Ford/Microsoft Sync system, which like BMW’s iDrive annoyed the heck out of buyers in the early days but has now matured nicely. If you want to delve deep into the climate settings you dab the screen, but basic settings are on the console, controlled by dull all-black plastic buttons, not the rotaries Europeans are used to. Most trim levels have clear, confgurable virtual dials, where only the speedo and rev-counter scales are physical constants and the rest is conjured
digitally. It works very smoothly. Those bulky front seats also mean there isn’t quite as much rear foot space as a car this big would have you believe, but it’s a long way from cramped.
Overall, the Mondeo’s cabin quality isn’t a deal-breaker, but oh, my word, the Passat’s trim quality smites you the second you fall into the seat. VW is all about deeply impressive plastics, touches of chrome on all the buttons and dials and super-tight joints. Even as you use it all at length, the layout and usability keep you happy. So do the driving position and seats. VW’s version of a virtual instrument pack is even more confgurable than the Ford’s, with the option of plastering a full map over almost all its 1,440-pixel width. But that’s a £600 option, and the standard clocks are so jewel-like you’re hardly missing out. Thanks to its lengthened wheelbase, the Passat’s back seat provides room to swing an improbably overgrown cat.
PERFORMANCE
Disclosure: this isn’t a twin test. I drove them the same week, but in two diferent places. However, for our purposes, they were similar sorts of roads.
Given the Mondeo’s weight and its economy-biased long gearing, you fnd yourself working that 180 diesel pretty vigorously. Keep it between 2,000rpm and 3,500rpm for best results. Just as well that it’s remarkably refned, burbling away as softly as the best rivals.
If you were going to take issue with the Mondeo’s chassis, it might again be because there’s a trace of Americana in its priorities. It lopes along on a soft chassis. But underlying it is the precision that Ford of Europe has always been so good at. The suppleness of the ride is top-notch, and careful isolation of suspension and tyre noise means you feel even more comfy because you barely hear the bumps, either. At a cruise, wind noise is well mufed too, so you spear down a motorway without a care, helped by well-judged self-centring in the steering. Those sales reps will arrive at the far end of the M6 sharp-witted and ready to close the deal.
Soft it might be; soggy it isn’t. OK, so the damping could be a bit frmer, and it rolls a bit, but the Mondeo still corners handily, though without the vivacity of the last one. The steering’s weight and gearing are spot-on, and it has more feel than rivals do. You won’t get poleaxed by
understeer, and it copes with all manner of mid-corner bumps and holes. With the optional adaptive dampers, it feels quickerwitted in bends, but those dampers aren’t available in the UK.
Despite its fully baked interior, the Passat’s dynamics are a fraction underdone. The 150PS TDI engine pushes stoutly enough but sounds harder-edged and rattlier than it ought to, and the car kicks up noticeable suspension thump and a whistle of wind noise too.
Now, exact comparisons of basic UK suspension is hard: the test Passat has optional adaptive dampers. It controls its body movements well (but then, so does that adaptive Mondeo). Overall, it’s a bit tauter than the Ford and feels more agile. But, even so, the cornering is a little inert to the throttle. It all feels super-stable and VW-solid, rather than tweakable and fun. And the ride isn’t quite as smooth as the Ford’s either, and it kicks up more road noise, unless the roads I’m driving on are worse than they look.
TECH AND TOYS
So they both come with colour central dash screens, and you don’t have to go far up their ranges for active city-speed braking and navigation. The Volkswagen has radar cruise control and autonomous high-speed braking from mid-spec up, but Ford wants £900 for the same. Navigation on the Ford is a cheap £300. Either will sell you brilliant (literally) LED headlamps with self-shaping beams. VW will also do trafc jam assist, which goes, stops and steers all by itself at low speeds. For your rear passengers, the Mondeo has an option of seatbelts that infate into sausage-shaped airbags to soften the blow to their ribcages.
BOTTOM LINE
You can understand Ms Roch’s desperate plea that her car has shifted position. The audience for cars like this is leaching away, ending up in the full-on premium brands, or SUV crossovers.
TopGear says they should pause and refect. These are properly good cars. And good value. If a family bought one of these outright instead of a comparably powered and equipped posh-badge car, they could save enough to put a child through university for a year.