Travel greater distance by car? New VW Passat TDI has 800 mile range
 

I'm just back from a visit to the new VW factory in Chattanooga and had an opportunity to drive the new Passat TDI. The new 2012 Passat, incidentally, is bigger and more luxurious than its predecessor and costs 25% ($7000) less.

With its incredible 800 mile range (43 mpg), and limousine-like leg room in the back, this may do wonders for road trips versus flying. Too bad VW doesn't give out miles.

My review of the car is below (for those interested) but the broader question is whether a car like this would change people's habits.

2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI – Review and First Drive/Road Test

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I'm currently on my fourth VW Passat TDI (MY2010) and am an absolutely huge fan. I have almost gotten 1100 km to a tank so it looks like this one can do a bit more range.

I'm curious to see how this model fares, people have mixed feelings about the design.

It should be interesting. It's the first model to be built in the Chattanooga factory, it's only available in the U.S. and Canada, and it is deliberately larger to meet American expectations (and to compete with the Toyota Camry et al).

I don't think it's going to replace flying more than any other car has. 800 mile range? Great. Who's going to drive nonstop for 800 miles? At 70mph that's over 11 hours. We have to eat, we have to pee, and you might as well stop and get gas when you make your other pit stops along the way. No one's looking at this car as a way to get from Chicago to New York nonstop without setting foot on a plane.

Don't get me wrong, I love VWs, I'm not knocking them, I have one myself, I'm just knocking the idea of selling a car based on range (besides, if car A has a higher range than car B, that's meaningless in terms of fuel economy. Car A might have a much bigger tank). I know I wouldn't choose to fly or drive based off my car's range. Besides, as luxurious and economical as the new Passat is, I'd much prefer to take my GTI that only gets 400 miles on a tank of premium ;)

I don't think it will replace flying per se nor do I think people will drive 800 miles nonstop but this new extended range vehicle does make it more appealing for longer drives in a time when fuel prices are always seemingly on the increase.

Perhaps my limit is less than others. My longest non-stop drive was Chicago to St. Louis, and that was about as long as I would've been able to tolerate. Still had enough in the tank to go a bit more, but if STL wasn't home I probably would've stopped there anyways to use the bathroom, stretch my legs and grab something to eat, and fill up for the next stretch of driving. I just don't see where more range would benefit me. Maybe others have higher tolerances, but I'd think for most, 5 or 6 hours between stops is more than enough.

I think even more frequent stops are a good idea, so one can stretch and move around a bit. But one doesn't have to stop at a filling station with the Passat TDI. One can stop just about anywhere.

I've never owned a car that got the advertized mileage in real world driving conditions.....cold starts, running the A/C, up and down hills, 3 or 4 passengers, tires not absolutely perfectly inflated, and driving at a speed that I drive at which is 75 to 80 on the freeway. So I'd guess that 800 miles is more like low 700s for the typical person.

And whatever the number is, nobody will drive that long without filling up. Most people stop for gas when the tank hits about 1/4, especially if you're on a road trip on the interstate in the middle of nowhere with gas stations not readily available. So take that low 700s and realistically speaking the true range is in the mid 500s.

Finally diesel costs about 15% more than regular gas ( at least where I live). Which means the 43 MPG is equivalent to 37 for a gasoline car.

I have a 2002 Jetta TDI. My best tank has been 702 miles of mixed driving. I'm sure I could hit 800 if I dove about 60 mph on the freeway. Best tank has been 46 mpg.

The range is only part of it. The other part is the cost to drive; now if they increased the size of the gas tank by two-fold then this isn't such a big deal....however if the MPG has increased significantly over previous models (or just over "like" cars) then it is worth writing home about. Unfortunately my EOS gets nowhere near 800 miles to a tank.

My personal limit for driving has nothing to do with my car. I'm willing to drive about 10 hours one-way and that's about it. Longest I've done is 27 straight and a few 20s but those were hell. At 10 hours I still feel pretty decent, at 16 hours is where I hit the wall.

Hope the fuel doesn't get old and algae growing in it.

You might feel differently if you lived in the west, where (A) people drive long distances routinely and (B) air service is sparse, troublesome, and getting more so.

I think for a lot of people, airline trips of 500 miles or less are getting reconsideration now. The prices are getting higher, airlines are fewer, schedules are sparser, aircraft are crappier, the TSA is a huge disincentive, and Amtrak is erratic.

My son is contemplating going to college in a small town more than 1,000 miles from home with sporadic air service. I read jspira's review with interest thinking how I could get the Passat there and back on only three or so tanks of gas. If only VW would come across with a TDI wagon.

If only there were a Passat wagon at all anymore! I just looked at VW's website and it seems that the wagon is completely gone from the lineup. How depressing. Looks like I will be going back to Subaru after many happy years in my 2003 Passat GLX Wagon. I don't want a sedan. :(

Really? I'm another Passat Wagon fan, have had 2 in a row. I can't imagine them getting rid of it... it must just be a hiatus? I think the Jetta Wagon took a hiatus for a year or 2 recently...

I didn't realize VW had dropped the Passat wagon, either. Although my 99 Passat is a sedan, my 01 Audi S4 is an Avant (wagon) and I love it. The S4 is my road trip car.

I don't know if this is helpful in your case or not, but the new Passat is not a wagon but it is incredibly spacious.

I like wagons. Looking to replace an aging Volvo V70. No more Volvos in our driveway since build quality went south and Chinese ownership took over. A Passat TDI wagon would be perfect.

I like wagons too. Earlier this year - no make that late last year -, I drove a 535d Touring around Bavaria (my review of the 535d touring is online here if interested) and it was great. I love the look too.

You mean mainland Chinese ownership? Red China is trying to steal the name China. That is like optometrist are trying to fool the public into thinking they are real doctors. They now call themselves "optometric physicians". Physicians, my foot. Optometrists do not go to medical school any more than a rug doctor does.

There are actually 2 Chinas plus Singapore, which is 70% Chinese but nothing like mainland China.

I think most car manufacturers are moving away from the traditional station wagons towards the cross (between the station wagon and the mini van).. i.e. Matrix

You're right, and I hate the trend. VW has the Tiguan, which has seriously deficient cargo space compared to my Passat wagon. I don't want a hatchback...I have a lot of stuff to carry around!

Most crossovers are stupid vehicles. They bring the disadvantages of SUVs (trucklike stance, poor MPG) without enough of the advantages of regular wagons. A lot of them pull off the weird trick of being big and ungainly on the outside, small on the inside (cf. the new Dodge Journey, which I just spent 300 miles with courtesy of Avis, and the Ford Explorer). There's almost no choice out there for normal, traditional station wagons, especially now that Volvo has done away with theirs... you can only get a Volvo wagon now with all that Cross-Country plastic crap glued all over it. There's Subarus and the VW Jetta wagon, and then you vault into the luxury zone... like jspira mentioned, there's the BMW 5-series, but it strikes me as expensive for what you get. There's the Cadillac CTS wagon, which I kind of like, but it hasn't been a sales success and probably won't survive the next CTS design refresh.

I know, and I just don't understand why that is. I don't want a truck; I want a car with reasonably decent gas mileage and a healthy amount of cargo space. This should not be so difficult. As I said above, at this point it's basically the Subaru Outback or nothing. I want a little bit of luxury (things like heated seats and a nice stereo) and a nice-looking car, but I would feel ridiculous hauling bags of compost around in a BMW 5-series--not to mention that the maintenance costs on BMWs are too obnoxious to contemplate.

Maybe by the time my Passat really craps out, some new wagons will have come along. I'll keep my fingers crossed. At least Subarus are still there for me. I've owned two Subaru wagons in the past and had good experiences with them.

When they have one that goes 800 miles in 2 hours, I'm totally never flying again.:D

Exactly...

My A4 Avant is a fantastic car, and it can go 500ish miles on a tank (...of premium, unfortunately.), but there's no way in hell I'm enduring a drive of over 3 hours if I can avoid it.

What do people have against the Jetta Sportwagon? I picked one out about a year ago (TDI) and the purchaser (the ex) has been quite happy with it. I think its a step above Subaru in terms of luxury. It comes base with Leather and nearly every option you'd like, besides NAV.

I'm not a fan of the new Passat either, they took all the 'luxury' out of it. Gone are the trunk and hood openers, in is fake wood grain, no LEDs, even in the SEL. Meh.

I've got the new Golf Wagon and I am very impressed with it - it is better than the Passat Wagon we had 10 years ago, and certainly value for money. I have the petrol version, not diesel, but I can say, hand on heart, I have never panicked about my car only have a range of x hundred kilometers! I have no issue with stopping at a gas station, and, if I suspect there may not be a gas station (eg driving in the far north of this province) I am pretty sure I can pop a jerry can in the trunk!

I think its pretty cool. When I drove from NC to Boston (home for school) I would have to plan my stops to make sure there was a 24hr gas station - now thats not as much of a problem anymore, but it would have been great to know I could drive all night and not worry about finding gas - even if I did stop somewhere to take a break.

Let's not forget the astronaut-stalker demographic :p

http://www.denverpost.com/sitemap/ci_5167528

The Orlando police allege that Nowak drove 950 miles from Houston to Orlando wearing adult diapers used in space

The Golf wagon is a great car but we don't get it in the States -- VW sends us hatchbacks only.

One hopes the ones she wore were not previously used in space...

Ah that sucks! Comre border hopping and buy one :D

As far as I can tell from a little Googling, the Golf wagon sold in Canada is the exact same vehicle as the Jetta SportWagen sold in the US.

From a quick look at the Jetta TDI wagon on VW's website, it looks OK, but doesn't have some of the luxury features that my Passat wagon has, nor is the cargo space as big--it's sort of halfway between the Matrix-style hatchbacks and a real station wagon. One huge positive, though, is that it comes in a stick shift.

Subaru makes a nice wagon in the Outback. Well made a nice wagon. The 2011 redesign took it from a wagon to a cross over. But if you're looking for a wagon that is built well, anything up to a 2010 will work. And in snow/ice nothing will match it.

Very nice..

the Outback is a very nice vehicle.. also the WRX.. but in terms of stations wagons.. I believe the Outback is one of the most highly rated..

It's bleedin' enormous. It gets bigger with every redesign. The new one dwarfs an Impala. We're programmed to think of Asian cars as "compact," but the Outback is a parade float. How it got its greenie / tree-hugger cachet is beyond me, because it gets about 18 MPG. And I'm afraid I don't like the Outback for other reasons; the interiors seem crude to me and the ride / handling harsh.

I am on my 3rd VW Stationwagen now and I have done Southern Germany to Venice and back with 3 adults and 2 teens plus luggage like we were going to Turkey for 4 weeks. 8no we were on cruise for a week) All this on single tank of diesel and that was about 1.665 Km and some to spare.

This does how ever also depend on you own personal way of driving. Manuals are more efficient than automatics, shifting up faster plays arole, how you pull away at lights or stop streets, do you diving looking ahead and anticipating the traffic so that you don't have to use brakes excessively etc. It plays a role in how much fuel you will end up using. Then again those of us paying 10,- UDS and more for a gallon are probably more efficient now any way.

I don't know if It'd say it's enormous. But it is definitely bigger in 2011 than it was in 2010 and before. It went from a wagon to a X-over which I think was a bad move on Subaru's part. Now it's barely distinguishable from the 300 other X-overs out there whereas the previous model was one of a kind in the way it looked.

It gets better than 18 MPG. The 4 cylinder is about 30 hwy. And keep in mind that's with full time AWD. The vast majority of Outbacks are the 4 cylinder variety. Plus it has a high clearance so getting to the ski hills in a foot of snow is easy. Or offroading it with the kayak on the roof. That's how it became the outdoorsy preferred car.

The quality is also bulletproof and the cost is not bad. Low $20ks for the 4 cylinder. Compare that to $40K+ for the Audi wagon which is the only real alternative.

My inlaws have one with 100K+ miles and it runs like the day it came off the line. I've driven it a few times and there's nothing I can complain about.

Certainly from driving one it seems like a normal wagon to me (having driven an older Passat Wagon, a Saab Wagon etc.) It is certainly a lot bigger than the hatchbacks I have driven.

A quick look tells me that the Outback cargo space is 0.97 cubic metres, and the Gold / Jetta wagon is 0.93 cubic metres, so pretty similar in cargo space etc. (I had to look up the numbers, as I am more used to describing space as in 'how many large labradors will fit in' which I understand is not a universal term of measurement for some strange reason)

In terms of the luxury features, the Golf Wagon doesn't have a power seat, which would be nice, but I think I had everything else I wanted (heated seats, huge moon roof, tinted windows, nice stereo etc.)

Mine's automatic too - too many years of driving stick to miss it! I drive so much in town, I love automatics now, especially the VW as they really are very good.