The fashionable age has produced many wilfully boring vehicles. You’ll blame homogenised, ultra-conservative automobile corporations for that, to not point out consumers too simply glad with the designed-by-committee merchandise that emerge from them. Harsh, possibly to incorporate the Volkswagen Passat some of the multitude after part a century of manufacturing and 30m gadgets shifted, however its maker has at all times performed a remarkably nice activity of creating its middle-of-the-road saloon as bland as imaginable. Simplest very in short, with the W8-powered B5 and the R36-badged B6, has the type been accepted to let its hair down. Or even then VW performed it remarkably secure. 

After all, the benefit of all this moderation used to be an enduring popularity for solidity. Over 8 generations the Passat infrequently gave the impression to exchange, which intended that individuals felt like they knew what they had been getting. Not anything too flashy; only a dependable, sensible, well-made automobile which may be relied upon to get the activity performed. And for a very long time, that used to be sufficient. However the outgoing technology of Passat, on sale since 2015, used to be squeezed like no different. An increasing number of, most of the people sought after family-sized SUVs – and those who didn’t most popular to shop for their saloons from BMW or Audi. Familiarity, so steadily the lynchpin of its luck, abruptly set to work towards the Passat. Other folks forgot about it. 

Evidently then, exchange used to be wanted. Not anything too radical (that is nonetheless Volkswagen, in spite of everything) however now its maker has plundered the Skoda playbook to be able to realign the type with what consumers are it seems that after. The end result, which stocks its up to date MQB evo platform (and a manufacturing line) with the brand new Very good, is a miles greater automobile than the only it replaces, and shall be offered completely as a wagon from release. The exchange in blueprint is unmistakable: a 50mm building up in wheelbase period has ended in the ones elongated again doorways (a quintessential Very good trait) and that chunky rear overhang (ditto) that sees the ninth-generation Passat knocking on 5 metres. 

Is it handsome? Lord, no. Nevertheless it’s going to be massively giant within – be expecting oodles of rear legroom, and a cavernous 690 litres of boot area (1,920 litres with the seats down) – and there’s mentioned to be a brand new center of attention on convenience. No longer simply from a chassis that boasts a brand new technology of adaptive chassis regulate and, for the primary time, a tie-it-all-together Automobile Dynamics Supervisor – but in addition from not obligatory options like ergoActive Plus therapeutic massage seats and two-valve dampers with DCC Professional. Within, a fully new inner has been designed round what is said to be a a lot more intuitive infotainment gadget with a display screen that may be specced as huge as 15 inches. 

Extremely, the brand new Passat seems to stay with the commonly panned haptic slider controls for cabin temperature (the Very good, it will have to be famous, does no longer percentage those) and the tools selector has migrated to a transfer at the steerage column (redolent of the company’s ID-generation of electrical vehicles) however another way it’s a lot as you’d be expecting from a Passat in 2023. The similar is going for an excessively extensive powertrain lineup, which provides consumers the entirety from two flavours of plug-in hybrid (VW anticipates a 62-mile electrical vary from a brand new 19.7kWh battery) and a mild-hybrid 1.5-litre eTSI petrol, thru to a brace of two.0-litre TSI gadgets and (wonders by no means stop) a triumvirate of two.0-litre oil burners that we suppose gained’t all be offered in the United Kingdom. 

The possible ace within the hollow – no less than from a PHer’s standpoint – is the flagship TSI motor, which no longer most effective boasts 265hp and 295lb toes of torque, but in addition the usual 4Motion all-wheel-drive gadget that should ship a sub 6 2d 0-62mph time. The outgoing Passat used to be in short to be had with the 280hp lump that made the Very good 280 Sportline this type of widespread constituent of the PH fleet a couple of years in the past – however we by no means noticed one. Assuming Volkswagen has effectively harnessed what made the Very good such amenable corporate, it is going to but turn out to have a likeable rapid property on its fingers. Not anything too thrilling, naturally. However being huge and swift and comfortable (and moderately priced, let’s hope) could be simply sufficient to go back the Passat to one thing like prominence. If no longer, there is rumours of an R-badged type subsequent 12 months…