Volkswagen Passat R36 2008 Review

Not so much
>> Rattles is test cars
>> Driver seat places you at an odd angle
>> Key-start system

Overall rating: 3.5/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 3.5/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 3.5/5.0
Safety: 3.5/5.0
Behind the wheel: 4.0/5.0
X-factor: 4.0/5.0

About our ratings

OVERVIEW
Volkswagen is already embracing sexy, with cars like Eos and Passat CC -- now it wants to sell performance. Though long known for its sporty Golf GTIs, the Saxon brand has now added a high(er) performance arm to its stable.

You could say the company is putting its Rs on the line... You see, 'R' is to Volkswagen, what 'M' is to BMW -- or, perhaps more accurately, what FPV or HSV are to Ford and Holden locally.

In truth, the R cars may be developed and built by VW Individual and feature bespoke engine tuning, plus appearance, chassis and interior upgrades, however, the modifications aren't at the same wholesale level as carried out by BMW's skunk works. There's yet to be a unique R engine for instance.

Originally a single model 'range' Down Under (the Golf R32, more here), the importer now offers three R-badged cars. The Golf 'start-up' model is the most populous (over 1300 of the latest Golf V AWD version have been sold Down Under), the 850Nm V10 turbodiesel R50 was launched earlier this year and now there's the Passat-based R36.

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT
Already officially on sale, the R36 is available in both sedan and wagon variants priced from $65,590 and $67,590 respectively (including 33 per cent Luxury Car Tax).

Based on the 25 per cent LCT pricing Volkswagen is still promoting, the R36 models represent a price premium of $8000 over the Passat V6 3.2 4MOTION sedan and wagon models, effectively the donor cars for the R36.

Fortunately, the R36s come with a swag of goodies to justify the extra dollars -- not the least of them bodywork tweaks and a unique version of the 3.6-litre V6 (see MECHANICAL below).

Indeed, there's little chance the R36 will be mistaken for a standard Passat. An aggressive restyle of the grille and bumper announces its arrival with R-specific mesh and added chrome/alloy highlights. Running down the side of both the wagon and sedan variants you'll notice colour-coded wheel arch extensions and deeper sill sections.

Both the Passat R36 sedan and wagon feature rear spoilers. On the four-door is a neat boot lid lip, while the five-door gets a "roof edge spoiler" which VW claims provides 'real' downforce at speed.

Dual exhausts, smart 18-inch Omanyt alloy wheels, low profile 235-section rubber, tinted LED tail lights and the de rigueur rear diffuser-style bumper complete the external differences.

Inside, the Passat cabin is made-over with chunky, cloth and alcantara trimmed sports seats with electric 12-way adjustment and electro-pneumatic side bolsters, a thick-rimmed multi-function steering wheel (with gearshift paddles, of course) and upgraded "dark brushed aluminium decor" trim. Alloy pedals, sill plates and bespoke gauges all proudly feature the stylized chequered flag R logo.

Rain sensing windscreen wipers, auto self-leveling Bi-xenon headlamps with dynamic cornering, parking distance sensors (front and rear) and a six-disc MP3-compatible 10-speaker 250W audio system are all standard.

Optional equipment includes Dynaudio 600W audio system, electric glass sunroof (slide and tilt adjustable with sunblind) and RNS510 satellite navigation system with high resolution touch screen display. Wagon buyers can also choose an automatic tailgate and/or rear view camera plus with "dynamic guidance lines".

MECHANICAL
The heart of the R36 is a specially tuned 220kW version of the same narrow-angle (10.6-degree) V6 that powers the standard 3.6-litre Passat and the Touareg V6. Those 220kWs make the R36 VW's most powerful passenger car (it's only topped by the R50 SUV). With a 0-100km/h time of 5.6sec (5.8 for the wagon) it's also the quickest.

The engine calibration is unique to the R36 and pushes power a touch high in the rev range. Peak power is produced at 6600rpm.

Maximum torque of 350Nm is nothing to write home about in days of 400Nm 2.2-litre turbodiesels. At least it's available over a relatively wide band from 2400-5300rpm.

Volkswagen's excellent DSG dual-clutch six-speed sequential manual with auto function is the sole gearbox option and downstream the R36 (like its R32 Golf stablemate) features VW's 4MOTION all-wheel-drive system.

Much of the rest of the mechanical equation is close to the standard Passat fare (see our Passat reviews here) save for the fact the R36's mac-strut front/four-link independent rear suspension and brakes also get an upgrade befitting the car's performance potential.

The firmer sports suspension is 25mm lower than the standard front and rear. The brakes are oversized (345mm front; 310mm rear) and feature calipers unique to the model. They're painted blue, R's trademark hue.

VW claims the top speed of the sedan is electronically limited to 250km/h. In terms of speed, the Passat R36 outstrips every other production Volkswagen in accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h: the sedan reaches the 100 km/h mark in 5.6 seconds (5.8 seconds for the wagon).

PACKAGING
There's little to compromise the practical nature of the basic Passat that lurks under the R36. There's legroom for Africa in the back seat, though not the width consumers of local 'big' cars would expect. More than enough room for two adults but three's squeezy.

Up front the finish on the test cars was typically classy VW. Good materials, good design and well bolted together. Only an annoying rattle on one car we drove let the side down.

In R guise the front seats feature heavy side bolsters that some larger types might find a touch narrow. We liked the extra location they lended when driving quick. What we weren't as sure about was the odd slightly angled (towards the centerline of the car) driving position the seats seemed to dictate, although this was not apparent on the sedan we had for a seven-day test.

The Passat wagon is positively cavernous and the sedan's bootspace was Tardis-like. Slightly compromised by the high floor required for the drivetrain components underneath, it was, nonetheless, deep and wide enough with sufficient length to swallow kids' bedding, food, clothing and half the household's toys to keep six- and eight-year olds happy for a night. That's more impressive than it may sound on the face of it...

SAFETY
No shortage of safety paraphernalia in the R36. First and foremost, however, the basics of a taut, well-behaved chassis and all-wheel drive traction needs a plug from an active safety point of view.

As we found out on the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, the R36 is a wieldy yet predictable and forgiving car to drive fast. This augurs well for the road.

In terms of safety technology the Volkswagen gets the main must-haves -- antilock brakes with Brake Assist and Electronic Brake-Pressure Distribution (EBD). Traction and stability control are also standard.

Eight airbags are fitted standard -- front, side (front and rear) plus side curtains. A tyre pressure monitoring system and full-size spare are also fitted.

COMPETITORS
Look out A4, the R36 is gunning for you. Indeed, given the latest generation B8 A4 is such a pricey beast once optioned, we'd be hard-pressed to recommend the more prestigious badge over the Passat R36.

Given the Passat's impressive performance and poise -- it sprints to 100km/h in 5.6 seconds which puts it lineball with the likes of the BMW 335i (which costs $40,000 more) -- it could end up being shopped against some disparate machinery.

Some of the more predictable competitors include: Subaru's topline performance Libertys and the local performance sedans (and now Sportwagons) from Holden and Ford.

ON THE ROAD
VW launched the R36 alongside its R32 and R50 stablemates with a track session at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit and a short road drive nearby. Thus we held our launch review of the hottest ever production Passat back a couple of weeks until we could grab a road test example and put some decent kilometres under its wheels.

On the fast sweeping Phillip Island layout and on a sharp road loop in the nearby Strezlecki Ranges in South Gippsland (Vic), the R36 mixed surprisingly capability on the track with reasonable road manners. The suspension proved firm and sensitive to sharp-edge bumps, but it is in keeping with the expectations of the buyers of this style of vehicle.

The trade-off for a touch of brittleness in the ride on the road comes with better high-speed manners. It's a wieldy device that feels better the faster you punt it. The suspension is a bit of a conundrum on the road, allowing a little more body-roll than expected, given the 'laminar-flow' ride -- it follows every contour of the road like slipstream in a wind tunnel -- but the car is not thrown off-line by mid-corner bumps, for all the ride's firmness.

And, as already mentioned, the ride is something you would willingly accept in exchange for the car's exceptional roadholding and handling. There's little sense of throttle-related twitchiness or weight transfer, although the R36 certainly feels closer to neutral on a trailing throttle. In fact, we did manage to provoke a touch of oversteer into a slower corner and on dry bitumen, but it was mild and predictable, pointing to the car's fundamental good manners in the suspension tuning department.

On the track back-to-back with the R32 Golf you could feel the extra bulk of the Passat body, but overall roll and pitch is well controlled. The extra size (and longer wheelbase) of the Passat seems to gel better with the 4MOTION system to boot... There's less of an impression of the drive 'hunting' to and fro as the car searched for traction out of corners, for example.

Braking performance on the track was very good -- strong enough and consistent.

On the road, the brakes signalled their high-performance potential (and perhaps some track abuse!) with some vibration as the car slowed to a halt, but mostly they were unobtrusive.

They were there when it counted, avoiding a plucky but fatalistic wombat at one point. On the downhill section of road, they worked the ABS to death and the pedal kept sinking under the foot as the system depleted the hydraulic pressure available to equalise the braking effort on each of the four wheels, but Wally the Wombat lived to frighten another driver...

Keen drivers will appreciate the fact the stability control system is not too obtrusive. If Volkswagen is serious about this segment of the market, however, it needs to offer an intermediate 'sport' setting that allows a touch more attitude.

On the road -- and dry road at that -- the R36 Passat's grip is so high that it was hard to provoke the stability control. On the one occasion (mentioned above) that the tail of the car stepped out, the stability control was not at all conspicuous, but a sport mode would enhance the enjoyment of the car on a track.

Our brief launch day road drive highlighted the refinement of the wagon variant (our seven-day tester was a sedan) -- with eyes forward you'd be hard pressed to pick which body style you're driving. The way it should be.

In the case of the sedan, the DSG box was less impressive. Not at all smooth away from a standing start, the clutch was aggressive and felt like it had suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune at the feet of lead-footed journos for too long. Even in drive mode, it wouldn't just soak up the torque from a standing start. The transmission was excellent once on the move, but just clunked and thumped once in a while.

Leaving aside the fact that it wasn't as smooth as other DSG boxes we've driven -- including in the wagon at launch -- the sedan's transmission remained a clever piece of kit when it comes to sequential shifting and knowing which gear to be in. When you run out of revs (at 6500rpm), it will change up for you if you don't lift the right foot. It will hold gears longer when you're using the paddles to shift and it will even change down if it figures you want engine braking -- and in our experience, it gets it right every time.

The performance doesn't appear to come at too high a price in terms of fuel. Even at the relative quick pace we set, the R36 returned around 10.5L/100km on the rural road loop. A brief check of the 100km/h cruise mileage suggests better than 9.5L/100km should be possible on country cruises.

Over the week we ran the R36 sedan, fuel consumption averaged 11.2L/100km, which combined a fair amount of open-road work (about 160km), some about-town stuff (approximately 40km) and some performance testing (roughly 60km).

If there was one little niggle, it lay with the key-start system -- and we freely admit, it's something owners will doubtless get used to.

Unlike other cars, in which you insert the key and then push again for the starter motor to operate, the Passat is one push-and-hold to start the car. A second push will eject the key. If you don't hold the key until the engine has fired -- and the R36 does take a little cranking before the engine fires -- and you push it a second time, you then have to push it a third time to reinsert the key and fire the engine.

Volkswagen is on the right track, but just hasn't taken the idea to its logical conclusion. Set up the key system so that the engine management system keeps the starter cranking away until the engine fires, whether or not you're holding the key pressed into the slot -- or else go to a keyless start system with a button that works the same way.

A word about lights. During night driving, the xenon lights were very good on low-beam, with a reasonable range and not set too low. By comparison, on high-beam, they were not as dazzlingly bright as one might expect.

In some ways, that's a good thing. On those occasions that the lights were dipped for an on-coming car as the R36 entered a corner, it wasn't as if someone had turned out the lights completely -- there was less disparity between low and high beams.

And figuratively speaking, that's the R36 all over. It shines out in the dark... exactly like wombats don't. Thoroughly enjoyable to drive, the Passat R36 is without significant flaws and remains quite a practical and comfortable car in every respect.