New passat is here

[richard t]

Well it's here and I'm not impressed. The guy drove it 90 mile to deliver it. He must have stopped at burger king for lunch as there was seeds from a bun on the seats and floor, big ring on the screen from his sat nav, covered in dead flys, muck all up the side.
Asked for it de-badged but it has it's badges.
Now I've driven it for 100 mile I'm not over impressed. Much more road noise than the B6 there are rattles from the rear noise from suspension is more than the old one.
When I plug my I-phone in to play music I have to leave it in the glove box and I can see me leaving it in there unless I use the jack plug in the cosoll but then the multi function won't control it.
On the plus side it looks great in White when it's clean. Pics to follow once I've washed it again.

[The Fingers]

My delivery experience was the same, mine came 80 miles and was dirty when it arrived, It had also had a poor PDI as there was dust everywhere.

Soon got over that, i am more than impressed with mine, wind noise is less than my b6 of the 57 flavour. Although there is some rumble from the conti's its been kitted out with.

Suspension wise i would say its better than B6, it feels more planted, however my comparison is from the last few weeks with my B6 at 70K miles, it was getting a bit baggy to say the least.

Rattles Currently NONE noticed (yes none at all) the only rattle i have is from the cradle of my tomtom 910, which gets really bad when the sun has been on it all day.

I have an ipod touch (gen 1 running homebrew firmware off a gen 3 or 4) in glove box all the time, which works well (could do with an upgrade to radio as the 310 only has one line of text for browsing ipod) I then run my blackberry through the blue teeth, if i have an album on my phone that is not on ipod i set it off playing and then stream it over the bluetooth kit. i think the conectivity / media kit has come along way since the B6 SE kit which was standard 3 years ago.

I am sure the initial bad taste will turn sweet soon enough!!!!!!!

[logiclee]

Did your old Passat have 16" alloys and 215/55 tyres?

Even on the B6 there is a significant noise difference between 215/55X16's and 235/45X17's. This might be what you are hearing. There's also a noticable difference in handling between the two sizes.

For me having the ipod or iphone hidden away in the glove box is a major plus, I then just control from the head unit and MFSW. A massive improvement in controlling the MDI is made by swapping the 310 for a 510 with 6.5" touch screen.

Check all the spare wheel and tools are secure in the boot, the noises maybe something simple.

I picked my car up from the dealers and the experience was good, car was spotless but not nearly as good as other new cars I've collected.

Debadging is easy, a bit of fishing line behind the badges and steadily work off, clean the residue of with autoglym resin polish or similar. They will come of easily as the car is new.

I'm sure you will get to love it.

Cheers
Lee

[richard t]

Just been told by the tow bar fitters that the B6 bar won't fit the B7. Can anyone confirm this before I stump up £350.00 for a new one.

[Passatier3]

That as well as the looks is another reason I won't be buying a B7. I've got a removable tow-bar which supplied and fitted was getting on for a grand!

[richard t]

Quote""Did your old Passat have 16" alloys and 215/55 tyres?

Even on the B6 there is a significant noise difference between 215/55X16's and 235/45X17's. This might be what you are hearing. There's also a noticable difference in handling between the two sizes.""

Yes it did have the 16" wheels and michelin tyres which thought were great. This one does the 17" and runs on conti's which your right is what i am hearing.:(
forgot to say the rear number plate is on at an angle, guy who fitted it must have been drunk, didn't think i would be getting a screwdriver out just yet.

on the plus side i now love it even with the extra noise. i will get a cheap i-pod and leave it in the glove box.
having trouble pairing the i-phone to the car, tried several times, it picks up my work nokia every time. i know i might have to have a few more attempts but anyone else had a problem.

[pussaty]

Makes me think maybe I should have gone for Insignia. The infotainment system that comes as standard is light years ahead of the Passat's version.

Paying for this badge is getting ridiculous.

[Nogotkov]

Makes me think maybe I should have gone for Insignia. The infotainment system that comes as standard is light years ahead of the Passat's version.

Paying for this badge is getting ridiculous.

Insignia is clearly weaker than the Passat. We in Russia was a good test in one of the car magazines, participated Infiniti G25, insignia, Volvo S60, Passat and Passat CC. Seats were distributed as follows: Passat - 870 points Passat CC - 855, Volvo S60 - 855, Infiniti G25 - 805, insignia - 795. Opel was the worst car.

[DSG4ME]

Makes me think maybe I should have gone for Insignia. The infotainment system that comes as standard is light years ahead of the Passat's version.

Paying for this badge is getting ridiculous.


The problem with the Insignia is 18 - 20 inch tyres, ouch!, no room for rear legs and heads, looks nicer I admit, but that's not hard for me cos I was a long term VX buyer, but on cost and function the Passat is better although duller, if I had a 25k budget now I'd be testing the Accord,Superb,Mondeo or if it wasn't my money an Alfa, Avensis is nice but the quality rumours make it a bit of a risk and the Japan thing could make getting it repaired hard right now.

[logiclee]

The insignia is a bigger car that feels smaller inside. The looks aren't bad but the driving experience is poor. The SRi with VXR bodykit and 20" wheels I drove was the most bone shaking, tyre rumbling, tram lining machine I've driven.
The Mondeo is a much better car than the Insignia, It's also a big car but has the space to go with it and it's a great drive and excellent ride.

But if it's motorway refinement you want then it has to be the Citroen C5 Exclusive. Air Suspension, double glazed side windows, acoustic windscreen and sound proofing throughout. WhatCar say it's the most refined motorway cruiser this side of an S Class. I had one for a while and the ride and refinement are certainly something special but the driver isn't really connected to the driving experience. I had one for a while but didn't work out to well for me.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s167/logiclee/C5Outside_17-05-10_43.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s167/logiclee/C5Outside_17-05-10_1.jpg
Nice looking motor though.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s167/logiclee/C5Interior_17-05-10_18.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s167/logiclee/C5Interior_17-05-10_26.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s167/logiclee/C5Interior_17-05-10_30.jpg

C5 V's Passat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybKpFvpvWsA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZZjVg-2DzE&feature=related

I think the Passat is in the middle ground, it's not massive, it rides OK, handles OK, is economical, refined and well built. Top Gear say it's unbelievably competent, does every thing you expect it to and nothing you dont. But they can't love it for being Vanilla. I don't think that's far off.

Cheers
Lee

[pussaty]

Thanks for your input.

Although I should mention the test Insignia I have been using at the moment is an 11 plate with only a few hundred miles on the clock.

I once had a 1.8 petrol as a hire car- horrible.

I've had a 2010 Passat BMT for the last year- does the job, nothing special.

This Insignia is an Auto 160PS SRi and I can't fault it. Very quiet, powerful and inviting and most of all, no gimmicks! The Fatigue Detection on the so-called new passat is just such an example of one. I couldn't pick up any on the Insignia and their sales have gone up recently with massive lead times on new orders.

[DSG4ME]

Thanks for your input.

Although I should mention the test Insignia I have been using at the moment is an 11 plate with only a few hundred miles on the clock.

I once had a 1.8 petrol as a hire car- horrible.

I've had a 2010 Passat BMT for the last year- does the job, nothing special.

This Insignia is an Auto 160PS SRi and I can't fault it. Very quiet, powerful and inviting and most of all, no gimmicks! The Fatigue Detection on the so-called new passat is just such an example of one. I couldn't pick up any on the Insignia and their sales have gone up recently with massive lead times on new orders.


The 1.8 petrol has always been a gutless fuel hog tbh, it's got poor PTWR, however those CDTI engines although developed with Fiat have really good mid range hoof on them, and having owned 6 VX car's as cab's all I can say is they hold up well, I always had them because I knew the car would be OTR rather than OTR *on the ramp* a lot more than other brand's, reason's I don't have one right now is I tried a Skoda out and after 3 years she proved herself a gem, the Insignia has limited rear space and the tyre's are too expensive unless you buy a base model, which I never do, I got the Sat because of the Skoda, and so far she's been nearly as good and just as reliable.

[richard t]

Sat in the car having lunch today with the engine turned off automaticly and after 10 mins it re-started it's self. Does it have 2 batteries, one for starting and one for the electrics or does it re-start so as not to flatten the one battery?

[VeDubDan]

Hey - sorry not been on for a while but I've been a busy boy.

Well, my Passat one month is the dogs plums! - Love it. MPG isn't as great as I thought it would be althought it's not bad by no means. I just have to try to get mid 50's rather than just forget about it and drive. Never had it in the 60's.

It's polishes up a beaut (tis white sport with panoramic Sunroof)) still yet to post photos which I will do soon.


Done a couple of climbing/camping/caravan trips and it copes with all my kit (and family) no probs.


All in all , spot on.