Volkswagen Passat 140TSI Business 2020 Review

There are plans afoot to fill out the Volkswagen Passat range in Australia with a more powerful 206TSI model and an Alltrack soft-road variant.

But at present the range comprises a sedan and wagon with just one powertrain and trim level, the Volkswagen Passat 140TSI Business, denoting the new 140kW engine under the bonnet and a new specification to succeed the previous ‘Comfortline’ grade.

The vehicle on test comes with a bag of standard comfort and convenience features for its price of $46,590 plus on-road costs. These include: 18-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights with static cornering lights, self parking, wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, Vienna leather seats, power fold-in mirrors with electric demisting, power front seat with memory function and three-zone climate control.

An eight-speaker stereo and satellite navigation are also standard.

The Volkswagen Passat 140TSI Business draws on crash-safety testing that dates back to 2015 for its five-star ANCAP rating, and that rating is based on data supplied by Euro NCAP from a year earlier.

As standard, the Passat comes with autonomous emergency braking (AEB), forward collision warning, lane keep assist, emergency assist, adaptive cruise control, side assist and rear cross traffic assist, driver fatigue detection, a reversing camera and 360-degree all-round monitoring.

Inside, the occupants are kept safe by side-impact airbags, side curtain airbags and a separate airbag for the driver’s knee, as well as the frontal airbags.

As the name suggests, the Volkswagen Passat 140TSI Business produces more engine output than the Passat 132TSI it replaces. That 8kW and 70Nm difference is not disproportionate to the increase in engine displacement from 1.8 to 2.0 litres.

The newer engine is powerful enough, and delivers brisk acceleration when required.

It sounds pleasant at low revs with a comforting burble. In the mid-range and up, the engine signals that it’s up for a bit of fun with a more muscular tone. Conversely, at 100km/h it’s turning over at 1600rpm and fades into the broader ambient soundscape.

As the engine hits the 6000rpm redline, even in manual mode, the transmission automatically changes up to the next gear. The dual-clutch transmission shifts smoothly and responsively, but unless you use the auto-hold function (which I personally don’t like), the car will roll forward in reverse if you’re backing across the camber of a road – into a driveway, for example.

Over the course of the week, the Passat posted a fuel economy figure of 8.7L/100km, but was up around 9.0L/100km initially, that figure skewed by short trips from cold starts. On a 72km test run the Passat finished with a figure of 7.5L/100km, which is not too far from the official combined-cycle figure of 6.4L/100km.

Finished in a solid white, the Volkswagen Passat tested looked a little inconspicuous. But there’s certainly nothing offensive about the design, and it is undeniably a nice place to be once you slide in behind the wheel.

The attractively presented interior features a premium material for the headlining and a subtle, elegant combination of silver crosshatched lacquer and brushed aluminium trim pieces around the cabin.

Electrically-adjustable lumbar support complements the comfy, very well bolstered leather-trimmed seats, and the extendable base is atypical but welcome in a car of this type, at this price point.

The instruments are easy to read and restful on the eye. For quick reference, important datapoints like external temperature and the time are sequestered where you’d expect them to be, in the trip computer cluster.

The switchgear is ergonomically correct and there are some nice touches – so to speak – such as the touch-screen proximity sensor , and satellite navigation that appears to anticipate the destination you’re entering based on previous routes travelled.

USB-C ports provide faster charging, we’re told, but aren’t compatible with USB sticks or USB-A leads that are more commonly available for portable music devices and smartphones, although the Passat gets around that with wireless CarPlay and Android Auto anyway.

On the road, the Passat’s cruise control is very effective at maintaining speed on hills and limiting speed to the programmed figure. A fine touring machine, the Passat is very quiet at open-road speeds.

At night the Passat’s LED headlights are excellent, even on low beam, with static cornering lights lighting up street corners in the dark. Auto high beam would be nice to have, but the headlights are very effective even without that.

Ride comfort is very measured and well controlled, and yet handling was safe and secure too.

The Passat turns in adroitly at speed and delivers safe handling and levels of grip that are at least commensurate with the expectations of owners, if not better than many of the car’s rivals in the market segment.

While the Pirelli P7 235/45 R18 tyres do protest as they near the limit of their adhesion, the Passat provides a well-defined margin of safety at that point – a margin you can sense through the seat and the wheel.

The steering is quite responsive, and offers reasonable feel even in the lightly weighted normal or eco modes. Similarly, the Passat’s brake pedal feel allows fine modulation for soft stopping, but the brakes can really bring the car to a halt in a hurry, when an emergency demands it.

The self-parking system works to specification and is simple to use, but lacks the responsiveness of the more sophisticated system in the more expensive Volvo S60.

As a family car, the Volkswagen Passat 140TSI Business sedan is a competitive offering in the medium passenger car segment, one that families won’t soon outgrow.

Larger teens will feel quite well served in the rear of the Passat, with plenty of legroom for anyone up to 180cm tall, plus room under the seat in front to place one’s toes.

The Passat also scores brownie points for its useful and practical loading. Cable releases in the boot allow the seats to flop forward in a 60/40 split without being pushed from behind or pulled down from the side, but they don’t quite fold flat.

The boot lid and the seat backs are both spring-loaded for ease of lifting in the case of the former and for remaining folded forward in the case of the latter.

There’s also a ski port for those occasions you want to transport longer, narrower objects as well as four passengers.

The boot floor is moderately shallow, but conceals a full-size alloy wheel and matching spare tyre for the spare. Having a spare that matches the road wheels is bound to be appreciated by many Passat owners in the country.

A couple of minor glitches included a brief showing from the ‘EPC’ warning light, which indicates a potential throttle problem (resolved by pulling over, switching off the engine and restarting), plus some randomness in music streaming from a smartphone.

But the Passat’s virtues far outweigh any shortcomings, on balance.

It’s comfortable and relaxing, driveable and safe, practical and affordable.

A very sensible choice for a buyer wanting a refined package that signals in an understated way that they’ve made it.

How much does the 2020 Volkswagen Passat 140TSI Business sedan cost?
Price: $46,590 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 140kW/320Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel: 6.4L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 147g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2015)

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