Making a Pass at Luxury
They’re touted as more luxurious than functional, but how do the new Volkswagen Passat and Passat Variant measure up? Jane Ngiam finds out on a road test of both cars on a convoy drive to Kuala Lumpur
he glaring sun over the hill made me squint. I closed my eyes briefly as I felt the car accelerate and pull effortlessly up the slope. Lulled by the gentle bobbing over slight bumps, with soothing music in my ears and the caress of smooth nappa leather in my hands, I tuned out… Awaking with a start, I was startled for a second before I realised with relief that I was the passenger on this leg of the drive. “Is it that easy to be comfortable in this car?” my co-driver jibed as she kept her eye on the road. I had to agree. As I reached for the air-conditioning to turn it up a notch on the passenger side, she was happily enjoying the cool air blowing in her face on the driver side of the car—the classic polar bear meets sun bear situation—and we are both ensconced in the luxurious confines of the Volkswagen Passat Variant. As she guided the estate sedan to The Majestic Hotel in Kuala Lumpur where we were putting up for the night, my thoughts floated back to the day’s eventful drive when we drove it up to Genting Highlands on my leg of the drive. Frankly speaking, I find it hard to really test-drive a car proper on Singapore’s roads, unless a safe and controlled environment such as track driving has been arranged to push it to the limit. So a drive to Malaysia, where uninterrupted long stretches of road assess the car’s speed handling and manoeuvrability, as well as its real fuel consumption, is always welcome. Driving the Passat Variant up the steep, winding and rain-fogged roads to Genting Highlands, however, was the unexpected bonus. To me, nothing is scarier than an underpowered vehicle when you’re driving in an unfamiliar place. So while steering this 2.0L, four-cylinder, TSI petrol engine car up the treacherous winding roads of Genting Highlands, I was grateful for the bursts