VWDiesels.co.uk
Edited What Car Review of 1998 Passat.

No other car has seen its fortunes change so rapidly as the Passat. Barely a year ago, if you bought the then-current Passat it would have been for its space and solidity - little else.
Now there's a lengthy list of reasons why its successor is the best car in the class, and a waiting list of buyers that's almost as long. It's also the What Car? Family Car of the Year.

VW literally threw away the old template when it designed the latest Passat, with the result that everything - including cabin space and build quality - is better on the new car.
Bland, boxy looks were replaced by an arch-roofed design. The staid cabin has been hurled aside, too, and with it comes a touch of quality absent from any rival.
This adds to the practicality, durability and safety that are VW trademarks. Like the old car, the new one is available as a saloon or an estate. Both are highly desirable and to drive, there's little to pick between them.
Estates cost about £1000 more than the saloon, model for model, and all engines are available save the all-wheel-drive V6, which is fitted only in the saloon.

Estate or saloon, the driving environment is more than pleasing, too, imbued with a quality feel that some executive cars struggle to match. The dash is handsome, logical and can be adorned with trim materials from wood to fake carbon fibre.
There's a two-way adjustable steering column, ratchet-style seat height adjustment, masses of room and neat spaces for your chattels. This lifts the cabin no end.
Rear cabin space is superb, too, though the sloping roofline nips at headroom - and in the saloon there's a massive boot - a familiar feature in all four-door VWs. It's big and square with good access and strong mooring hooks, while the split/fold rear seat helps overcome some versatility disadvantages of the saloon body.
Seats up, the estate offers even more room than the saloon.

The Passat uses a stretched Audi A4 platform, the two cars sharing the same sophisticated front suspension, but VW retains its own rear set-up.
No matter: the Passat rides and handles extremely well. The vagueness of the old car is absent, the ride is softish but well-controlled, and there's more agility in the way it steers and corners.
Refinement is superb, too, with mechanical, wind and road noise largely absent in most versions.

VW has got itself into a bit of a knot over engine choices, and there still seems to be some delay in getting sufficient numbers of certain models. The line-up starts with a 100bhp 1.6, and moves up to the Audi A4's 20-valve 125bhp 1.8. It includes both 90bhp and 110bhp 1.9-litre turbodiesels and the latest 30-valve 2.8 V6 found in a variety of Audis. That's five. The sixth will, in time, be a new 150bhp 2.3-litre V-shaped five-cylinder unit called the VR5.

Most impressive are the 110 TDi and 1.8 20-valve: the former for its terrific flexibility and fuel economy (the engine won a What Car? award); the latter for its refinement, performance and value.

All standard gearboxes are five-speed manuals, but four and five-speed autos, some with Tiptronic semi-automatic shift functions, are options (at up to £1725).
Four-wheel drive is standard on V6-powered models, which are badged Syncro. It's an unnecessary extravagance for most would-be buyers, adding weight and hampering economy.
It also pushes the price of the flagship model up to an unfeasibly high £24,020.

Passats are a little more expensive than the class average, but they're better-equipped and covered by a three-year unlimited mileage warranty. Twin airbags, anti-lock brakes, electric front windows, RDS stereo, central locking, immobiliser and power steering are standard.
You don't have to move far up the pecking order before climate control, heated and motorised mirrors, sunroofs and alarms are also incorporated.

If you want a Passat, though, you'll have to wait, because delivery delays are running typically at three months, longer if you want the much-desired 110bhp turbodiesel.
Small wonder, then, that six-month-old cars are selling for ridiculously close to what they cost new.

VWDiesels.co.uk. The Independent VW Diesel Specialists