A4 Vs New Passat

[greeng4309]

Hi,

Has anyone previously owned the B8 A4 and now has the new B7 Passat?

Interested to know how the cars compare?

Just changed jobs and have been told that they have ordered me a new 2.0 140 Tdi SE, delivery in early September. Previously had the A4 2.0 170 Tdi SE, which was simply awesome, best car I have ever driven.

Hoping the Passat is a similar drive.

Cheers.

[JamesMo]

Hi,

I don't have direct experience of a B7, but my wife owns a B6 estate se and I've had both a B6 estate (08 plate PD engine) and a b6 saloon (58 CR engine) on long-term hire and I now have an A4 S-line TDI.

So how do they compare?

Well the VW is much bigger inside, though the quality and design of the Audi dash and seats is better in my experience. The Audi handles better (though mine is an s-line) but the ride is much better in the VW (again the s-line suspension doesn't help here). I find the steering on the passat to be less direct than the A4, but the passat holds the road well - there's just very little "feel" throught the steering.

The VW is much more practical when compared to the audi - the estate boot is huge and swallows all our family junk with ease.

I genuinely wouldn't be disappointed with a Passat vs the A4 - I would seriously consider one myself when I come to renewing my A4.

Hope that helps - if you have any specific queries let me know and I'll try and help.

Cheers

J

[greeng4309]

Cheers, much appreciated..

Had a look at passat today at local dealership. Huge inside vs A4, very similar seats and plastics looked identical. Passat boot is massive vs the Audi.

Only difference is centre console and one or two standard options such as parking sensors and dual climate that were standard kit on the Audi SE.

Still, very impressed with the Passat aesthetics. Lets hope it drives as good as it looks.

[yuppyflyer]

Had similar recent quandary when choosing what to replace my A4 B7 Avant with. To the amazement of my colleagues went for Passat 140 Sport Estate instead of the A4 B8 Avant Technic. It will be delivered in 3 weeks.

Having spent lots of time test driving etc. the space and comfort of the Passat won me over, as well as the feeling of buying a newly released model rather than the A4 which came out in 2008.

There is no doubt that the Audi has a strong kerb appeal and a slightly higher quality finish inside, but as soon as you try to fit in passengers and luggage the sentiment changes.

Assuming you are going to run the Passat as a company car then you should find a nice saving on BIK tax with the low emmisions and list price compared to your A4

[greeng4309]

Thanks for your feedback, your post also made me chuckle. Company car drivers are such a spoilt breed.

I actually spent days trying to convince one of my old colleagues to choose the A4 over the Passat at my last company. No idea why... Didn't work though, he chose the new Passat and loves it. I thought he was mad at the time, but that is pure badge snobbery. I generally love VW's, I've had two Golf's in the past but my last two cars were a 320d and then the A4.

Agree that the A4 Technik pack is stunning, leather interior, AMI and Sat Nav, but that spec was far better than the standard A4 SE spec I had, so the Passat SE is almost identical if not a little more interesting than the car I've just left. Would prefer the Sport but not an option with my new company.

I've got two kids under 3 so the Passat makes much more sense than the A4. Struggled shifting big loads in the Audi, plus Audi rear seats useless for seating adults.

Hope you enjoy your new car, collecting mine a week on Tuesday.

Cheers.

[pauldoherty]

Hi,

I currently drive a B8 2.0TDI SE 143 Saloon, and I have just chosen the Passat 2.0TDI Sport 170 over the A4 2.0TDI SE 170. My reasons are similar to some mentioned above, but in the main it came down to - a 'new' model rather than another virtually identical A4 for 3 years; and the huge BIK saving (now around £50 per month rather than £160 with the A4).
Before my Audi I had the previous model Passat - I don't see much difference in the interiors from new and old, but I like the extras with the sport. Of course, there is more room too!

Dorts

[BenR]

There's no comparison; the A4 is a very "compact" saloon aimed at the middle executive who wants a bit of bling and a nice badge to impress the neighbours. The dashboard dominates the car, the centre consol crushes the occupants and there is no rear leg room. The Passat is bigger all around, more practical (we regularly fit 3 people + 3 bikes in out estate and have even had 2 adults and 2 kids + 4 bikes) and of course cheaper than the Audi. VAG realised they were missing a trick with the Passat because business drivers who looked carefully saw the deception and wisely bought a Passat so the B7 is the same car but blinged up to justify a price increase.

[greeng4309]

Managed to take a 170 tdi Sport out for a test drive yesterday. Great car, similar drive to the A4, but marginally bigger. Deja-Vu in regards to control layout, parking break, key start, switches etc, although some of the plastics felt a bit thinner than what I had in my Audi.

The one real huge positive is that the Passat does not suffer with offset pedals that have plagued the A4 since it's release. Brilliant, hopefully no more lower back pain on long journeys.

Rear leg room was excellent, I'm 6ft 4 and got into the back easily behind my drivers seat set-up. I couldn't even get into the A4.

Would disagree with the above post in one area. Centre console in the A4 is stunning and built around the driver. I also had plenty of room in the front of the A4. VW is a nice place to sit, but I still prefer the A4 console to be honest.

Lastly, just a couple of questions: I take it the VW has an ipod or MP3 connection?Does anyone know if this displays tracks on the Stereo screen for easy selection, or do you have to select tracks from your ipod device? I had AMI in my A4 which was very easy to navigate around, but a standard AUX connection in my 320d which was a pain to navigate around as you had to take your eye off the road to select tracks, playlists etc etc

Lastly, totally confused re DRL on new Passat. Seen three variants. The Led's, nice but an extra option, the fog light area at the bottom which is the setup on a majority of the B7's I've seen, but today I saw a Sport with corner lights on within main headlamp unit, similar to the A3 - A4 SE drl's. Are there various DRL options to select? I understand that the LED's are a cost option but I'm confused to what the standard Passat DRL setup is?

Cheers.

[BenR]

I have an iPod "drawer" in my glovebox, into which you can fit different carriers for different shapes of iPod, which slot in very tightly. The CD player simply recognises this as a new drive and gives you six menus, which are actually the first six playlists on your iPod so you need to order them correctly if you want to play them in the car. You can then move through each playlist by using the > and < buttons. It's crude and not very clever and it upsets my iPod so much that I've given up using it in the car. In fact my iPod has never been the same since I attached it to my Passat so I won't be doing that again.

[walker77]

"Lastly, totally confused re DRL on new Passat. Seen three variants. The Led's, nice but an extra option, the fog light area at the bottom which is the setup on a majority of the B7's I've seen, but today I saw a Sport with corner lights on within main headlamp unit, similar to the A3 - A4 SE drl's. Are there various DRL options to select? I understand that the LED's are a cost option but I'm confused to what the standard Passat DRL setup is?"

I'm confused with the DRLs aswell. I have a 140 Sport saloon. Didnt take the LED option but a friend noticed in his rear view mirror that my spot lights came on when indicating and turning - I think the headlights have to be on aswell though. Are these the corner lights you refer to? I asked at the local VW garage and was told if you indicate and turn the wheel a corner light will come on to light up the verge/kerb side of the road you are turning into. I was confused as I hadnt ordered any additional option but he said they were standard and were classed as 'xenon' lamps. I'm not sure if it is the DRL or the spotlights that come on - it's a bit of a difficult one to monitor on your own. (as is the hefty rattle i've got somewhere behind the glove compartment)

Have to say that with the IPOD glovebox connection, I think it's great. Basically see the full ipod menu on the touchscreen (RNS315) - charges the ipod aswell.