Volkswagen Passat 1.4 TSI 150 GT 2017 review

At fast approaching three years of age, the eighth-generation Volkswagen Passat is branching out. The car is now available in the UK with a choice of four petrol engines as well as four diesels, remedying a situation that meant the only petrol-powered current Passat that we Brits could buy, until quite recently at least, was the top-of-the range GTE plug-in hybrid.

In light of what’s currently happening to the interest in diesel-engined new cars of so many shapes and sizes across Europe, this may be considered less of a sensible, prudent  move and more of a blatantly essential one, you would think, for a car maker hoping to maintain the reach of one of its biggest-selling models.

The current Passat was introduced to UK showrooms late in 2014 with an almost entirely diesel engine range, nearly a year before Dieselgate hit the headlines. Had the scandal in question not been so squarely centred on the Volkswagen brand, you might have had a bit of sympathy for the UK distributor in stacking all of its chips behind diesel only to watch the croupier change the rules of the game shortly after their bet. Three years ago, after all, the expectation that a mid-sized saloon might sell to UK consumers mostly with diesel engines would have been entirely reasonable.

Since that point, meanwhile, VW can be forgiven for addressing one or two more pressing problems than the missing half of its mid-sized saloon’s model range. Now, however, there are 123bhp and 148bhp 1.4-litre TSI turbo petrol Passats to choose from, as well as a 178bhp 1.8-litre TSI and a 217bhp 2.0-litre TSI. The more powerful of the 1.4s has Active Cylinder Shutdown technology fitted and is therefore one of the most tax-efficient cars in the whole Passat range. It’s also the one we elected to test here.

These engines have been available to Passat buyers elsewhere in the world for the past couple of years, of course, so ushering them into UK showrooms isn’t exactly a stretch. We can assume that VW’s new 1.5-litre EVO petrol will be added to the Passat range when the car gets its big mid-cycle facelift.

The Passat’s 1.4-litre turbocharged engine develops 148bhp (which leaves it at a slight disadvantage on power relative to some like-for-like downsized petrol rivals) and 184lb ft of torque (which is more competitive). Although VW’s identically powerful 2.0-litre diesel Passat is nearly 40% more torquey on paper, it’s also slightly slower-accelerating (8.4sec versus 8.7sec for 0-62mph) – not to mention nearly £2000 more expensive and 2% more punitive on benefit-in-kind tax (for as long as the current regulations survive).

Ignoring whichever way the breeze of public opinion is blowing, then, there are good objective reasons to prefer a Passat petrol to a diesel before you’ve even got near the driver’s seat. And once you’re installed, the Passat 1.4 TSI isn’t backwards in coming forwards with plenty more reasons. This is a smart, spacious, comfortable and very well finished modern saloon whose cabin excels with its apparent material integrity and technological sophistication. Furthermore, a relatively refined and free-revving, yet still flexible, turbocharged petrol engine suits it even better than a diesel would.

The Passat’s driving position isn’t desperately sporty-feeling but it seats you low enough to feel like your hips are fairly close to the roll axis of the car while also giving you a good view out. The fascia design is clean-lined and simple, with its complementary senses of material class and attention to detail percolating slowly through the fit, finish and feel of its mouldings, switches, fittings and controls, and through the intuitive placement and easy usability of its secondary systems. You wouldn’t call the overall effect dazzling, but it’s certainly impressive in a slow-burning, everyday-use sort of a way.

Buy the car in GT specification and you get plenty of technological sophistication as standard. The car’s flat-screen digital instruments are presented very clearly on a 12.3in screen that VW calls Active Info Display and, once you’re familiar with its various settings and menus, they can be made to display just the information you want in just the way that suits you. Alongside that you get VW’s 8.0in Discover Navigation infotainment set-up, which, although a step down from the top-of-the-range Discover Pro system, would actually be our system of choice in the car. That's partly because, unlike its sibling system, the standard set-up retains physical knobs for adjusting volume and map zoom – and also partly because VW’s headline ‘gesture control’ system on the optional 9.2in set-up is gimmicky anyway.

VW’s 1.4-litre engine is particularly quiet at idle and at a gentle cruise, and although it operates with a little bit of latency at low crank speeds, it compensates with very useful torque between 2000rpm and 4000rpm. The upper limit of its useful range is about 5000rpm, beyond which point it will spin – although a bit unwillingly. During typical road use, though, it seems a very well mannered and flexible engine with a decent enough turn of pace for assured overtaking and plenty of stout in-gear muscle to make for easy motorway work. Real-world cruising economy can easily be made to hit the high-40s to the gallon on a decent trip, although it does nosedive more quickly than a diesel might in more demanding use.

Luckily for frugal types, this Passat isn’t the kind of car that encourages a speedy rate of progress. The examples of the car we’ve sampled before have mostly been tested on VW’s optional Dynamic Chassis Control adaptive dampers. This may be the first occasion we’ve tried the car on UK roads with standard passive suspension and one of its larger alloy wheels. Thus equipped, the car deals with a typical UK road fairly softly and with decent bump absorption, but with slightly leaden-feeling wheel control and a ride that’s a bit short on dexterity and finesse.

The Passat fidgets a little over an even motorway, lacking the initial damper response and the well-matched springing that might have kept it more level and calm. It thoroughly isolates its driver via its major controls, as most modern VWs tend to do – but the car’s handling isn’t as precise or well rounded as that of some of its range-mates and doesn’t stand up as robustly when driven quickly. 

Quite possibly – allowing for a caveat or two.

In the face of a renewed challenge from the Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport, the ever-present lure of the ‘compact premium’ hatchback segment and the increasingly numerous ways you might spend similar money on a crossover hatchback, VW’s Passat continues to appeal. Very few cars offer so much apparent substance, technical accomplishment and all-round maturity for the same outlay. If a liftback-style boot would make your daily life easier, a classic three-box saloon clearly isn’t for you – and yet this car’s practicality showing isn’t to be sniffed at.

A wide choice of turbo petrol engines certainly broadens the reach of the Passat range and will bring greater refinement and value to it for many, the 1.4-litre 148bhp TSI being strong. But investing plenty of time in equipping your car just so is clearly advisable if you want to be sure of buying this car at its best – and if you’re opting for bigger wheels, make sure you also have adaptive dampers in order to preserve your car’s touring comfort levels.

Volkswagen Passat 1.4 TSI 150 GT

Location Feltham On sale Now Price £25,900 Engine 4 cyls, 1395cc, turbo, petrol Power 148bhp at 5000rpm Torque 184lb ft at 1500rpm Gearbox 6-spd manual Kerb weight 1387kg 0-62mph 8.4sec Top speed 137mph Economy 56.5mpg CO2/tax band 116g/km, 22% Rivals Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport 1.5T 165 SRI, Ford Mondeo 1.5T 160 Titanium