2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI: The Best of the Breed

Every once in a while, an automobile catches you by surprise.  Such was the case with the 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI, which I had the pleasure of piloting for over 1,000 kilometres of road-trip goodness over the course of the past week.  I initially approached the Passat with a wary attitude - after all, how good could a mid-size sedan be if it didn't offer the same electronic bells and whistles stuffed into almost every one of its competitors?  It turns out that the answer to that particular question is 'superb.'  The Passat TDI's design philosophy emphasizes driving and comfort over distraction, and the end result is one of the most pleasing vehicles to put through its paces in its segment.

Premium, Not Luxury

The word that best describes the 2013 Volkswagen Passat's personality is 'restrained.'  Not in the sense that it's wearing a straightjacket in a mental institution, but rather that it prefers to wear clean, classic lines within and without.  The four-door sedan's straight edges and almost, but not quite slab sides give the car a visual heft that reminds one of a well-tailored suit - a direct contrast to the more bulging look of the similar, yet miles-away Jetta compact sedan.  The details on the car's front fascia and rear trunk lid are equally understated, helping the car court elegance all around.

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Further restraint is visible throughout the Passat's interior.  I drove the Highline version of the sedan, which brought the full bore of Volkswagen's upscale equipment list to bear on the Passat TDI.  Compared to rivals which pack in all manner of entertainment systems, safety features, and ambient lighting options, the Passat's combination 'Dinamica' fabric / leather seats, simple navigation and stereo system, and uncluttered dashboard stood in stark contrast.  Although a bit behind in terms of its touchscreen interface, the rest of the Passat's features were a welcome change from the button-and-screen-laden efforts from Ford, Hyundai, and Nissan.  The overall effect was one that felt a touch nicer than its $32,875 price tag suggested it would be, without tipping all the way over into the luxury side of the market.

Acres Of Room

One of the most noteworthy aspects of the 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI is the enormous amount of passenger room that it affords those riding in any of its five positions.  For a mid-size car, the Passat over-delivers in the rear seat, with a tremendous amount of space available for stretching out one's legs and arms.  Opening the car's back door for the first time had me wondering if I had accidentally discovered a portal into the rear seat of a Toyota Avalon.  The Passat's trunk also shares in this promise of oversized bounty, as I was unable to completely fill its 450 litres with all of my luggage and purchases during a weekend at the Loudon, New Hampshire NASCAR race.

Agility And Comfort Go Hand In Hand

It's certainly true to few drivers will ever mistake an affordable family sedan for a sports car, but the 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI is actually far more engaging than it has to be on secondary roads where elevation changes are frequent and straight stretches are few.  The vehicle's pleasant steering feel communicated well how the tires were interfacing with the tarmac underneath them, and the Passat's long wheelbase contributed to excellent stability in long, sweeping corners.  That same length was also responsible for helping the sedan remain comfortable across a wide variety of road surfaces.  The predictable, easy-to-drive nature of the Passat made it an excellent road trip companion, and I hardly noticed the hours passing by as I ate up the highways between Montreal and my New England destination.

Fuel Miser

Part of why my 1,000 kilometre trip seemed to begin and end so quickly was the fact that I didn't have to stop to refuel the Passat TDI during the course of the entire three-day weekend.  That's right - a full tank of diesel netted me quadruple-digit range at sustained 120 km/h speeds.  The 140 horsepower, 2.0-liter turbodiesel four-cylinder engine in my Passat TDI test vehicle was mated to a six-speed dual-clutch automated manual transmission (a traditional manual is also available), and by the end of the trip I had recorded fuel consumption of just 5.6 l/100 kilometres.  This outstanding by any measure, notwithstanding the size and comfort of the Passat, and the car's performance beat the factory rating for the autobox by a significant margin (manuals are even more frugal).

To be sure, 140 horses isn’t a lot to write home about, but this output was balanced by the motor's 236 lb-ft of torque.  Although I was never tempted to use the car's steering wheel-mounted shift paddles, acceleration off of the line was on par with daily driving needs, and only an occasional shortness of breath while passing indicated that I was driving an oil burner instead of the turbocharged gasoline or six-cylinder editions of the Passat.  The trade-off in fuel economy is well worth the slightly slower pace of the TDI model.

An Excellent Buy In Any Guise

Despite the fact that model I drove topped the $30,000 mark, it's possible to pick up a 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI for just $26,575 - an excellent deal that still comes with modern features such as dual automatic climate control and a trip computer.  To truly appreciate what Volkswagen has been able to accomplish with the Passat TDI, however, it is necessary to look beyond the spec sheet and actually test drive the sedan, which gives you the chance to sample the simplicity, practicality, and quality exuded by this mid-size family front-runner.  If you're patient, you might even want to wait for next year's TDI edition, which will boast as much as 60 more horsepower without sacrificing the car's sparkling fuel efficiency.