VW Passat R-line Edition
It was quick, practical and exclusive, but was that enough?
AFTER 11 MONTHS AND NEARLY 8000 MILES of service on the Fast Fleet, our Volkswagen Passat R-line Edition has left us. evo’s example of the range-topping, 268bhp Passat arrived in January 2020 and was one of a limited run of only 2000 cars, each fitted with pretty much all the goodies available on VW’S large estate car.
The Moonstone Grey paint – the only colour choice – was almost always the first talking point for anyone who crossed paths with KY69 BZN. It’s a very Marmite colour (not literally, of course), with some loving it but seemingly more unsure about it, but I thought it worked well with the black 19-inch wheels and smattering of gloss black trim pieces that were all part of the sportier R-line look.
Inside, everything was what you would hope for from a high-end Volkswagen. Stylish, quite minimalist and with a well thought-out design, the centrepiece was the entirely buttonless 9.2-inch Discover Navigation Pro infotainment system, although once you’d connected it to Apple Carplay it inevitably became just like any other largescreened entertainment system.
On the move the Passat proved to be a very capable companion. The turbocharged 2-litre petrol engine was admirable rather than spectacular. It’s quite a flat motor in how it delivers its performance and it didn’t show much enthusiasm for being driven hard. It certainly didn’t offer enough to stretch the 4Motion four-wheel-drive system. Meanwhile Volkswagen’s latest DCC adaptive dampers soaked up the worst that a ravaged British road could throw at it and also kept body movement nicely in check. Altogether, it made for comfortable, confidence-inspiring progress in all weathers, although a little more feedback would have been welcome.
The spacious load area made the Passat an ideal photographer’s car, and also led to it being borrowed by deputy editor Adam Towler
for a family holiday. His thoughts were that it was a pleasant car but somewhat devoid of character, making it hard to justify spending over £45k on it when a lesser Passat could do all the practical, large-estate stuff just as well. And after spending a iittle time in a 2-litre diesel Passat estate, I would have to agree. As a Volkswagen performance estate the R-line Edition was clearly a stopgap before the full-blown Arteon R Shooting Brake arrives, packing more power (315bhp, from the same 2-litre turbocharged four as the Golf R) and hopefully being more fun to drive.
The Passat has never been a focus for VW’S performance aspirations, and despite the best intentions of the R-line Edition, it’s still best considered as a family holdall.
Date acquired January 2020 Duration of test 11 months Total test mileage 7814 Overall mpg 29.7 Costs £0 Purchase price £45,035 Value today £31,495
‘It was confidence‑ inspiring in all weathers and made an ideal photographer’s car’