2011 Volkswagen Passat for Europe - First Drive Review
A new Volkswagen Passat is coming, but we won’t see it in the U.S. Instead, we’ll get a yet-unnamed replacement currently known only as the “new mid-size sedan” and likely to be called, uh, Passat. But it won’t be the same as the Passat the rest of the world drives. Are we missing out? Visual ties between everyone else’s new Passat and the previous car are obvious. The daylight opening, with its BMW-like kink, carries over, and the wheelbase remains virtually identical. But the design team has managed to transform the look into something rather more angular and substantial. The side panels now have creases with smaller radii, the shoulder line stretches through the C-pillar, the front overhang is shorter, and the rear overhang has been elongated. The shortened front end was made possible by using the CC’s crash structure. The dashing side mirrors are another donation from the CC parts bin. The new Passat’s somewhat bulky front grille and lighting units evoke the Phaeton, as do the t
