Just like Miley Cyrus tried to convince us that she is different, the VW Passat B7 doesn’t fool anyone. It’s just an heavily facelifted Passat B6. Or is it?
In 2011 VW took the old Golf V and facelifted it into the Golf VI. So they took an Passat B6, sent it to a beauty salon, improved the reliability and they presented the result as a whole new car – VW Passat B7. Much like people that make all sorts of resolutions on New Year’s Eve – the “new year, new me” b/s.
Statistics show however that most people forget their new year resolutions in the first 15 days of the new year, and yet the VW Passat B7 is still among us and doing a fine job. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a VW Passat B7 fan, on the contrary.
“I’m 45 years of age, I got 2 kids at college, a well paying job and a passion for sport. I got 3 bicycles!”
VW Passat B7, more than any other generation of Passat, is made for middle aged people that want a comfortable transport that is geared for family needs, whilst keeping it sober. The sort of guy that partied off his 20’s and now he’s a family man. He wakes up at 7 in the morning on Saturday and hits the gym. The sort of guy that eats salads during the weekend and then stuffs himself on weekends with steak and a shelf of Fosters. The sort of guy that always has tissues and medicine stuffed in the armrest.
What’s new in the B7 Passat?
A lot of improvement on the side of reliability. Now you can take on trips that are over 200 kms in safety. A lot of new technology such as Bluetooth connectivity, rear view camera, adaptive cruise control and other complicated words that I don’t understand. And yes, you can retrofit everything to the old B6 Passat. Oh yeah, and you get a clock on the dashboard because a smartphone is too advanced for you.
Petrol
Diesel
I’m not a fan of the Passat B7. Still, in a half-assed attempt to write some words and to please the 2 regular readers, I’ll say that the VW Passat B7 is the spiritual successor of the Audi A4 B7, a car which I do respect.
VW Passat B7 – a discreet car, comfy, that can be very luxurious and very expensive, but also anonymous. Not everybody wants a discreet and anonymous car, but it’s nice to know that VW still offers such options. Maybe because VW still clings to it’s old ways, when everybody else is moving forward, such as the Mondeo or the A4 B8. But if you insist on something discreet, you can go for the B7 – a middle aged car for middle aged people.
Which engines do I recommend? For the VW Passat B7, I would say that the 2.0 TDI is the most balanced engine for this kind of car. If you insist for a petrol engine tho, the 1.8 TSI still remains king of the hill.
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