Volkswagen Passat 2025 review – a breath of fresh air next to leaden EVs
Being ‘only’ 1500kg has its advantages. The latest Passat in petrol-only form reminds us ‘normal’ cars can and should be above average
In a time of such upheaval in the automotive industry, it shouldn’t be so easy to forget a long-standing nameplate that continues to endure. Yet here I am, reminding you that Volkswagen still sells the Passat. Just.
Now into its ninth-generation no less, the Passat has been relegated to ‘petrol/hybrid alternative to the ID.7,’ as an estate-only offering for the first time, priced from £39,840. With the Zero Emission Vehicle mandate and associated fines (reduced though they are), manufacturers are liable for a hit on every ICE unit that takes them over the sales volume threshold. As such the ‘Passat or nothing’ customer, rare as they surely are, might just receive thanks from VW for not bothering, or looking elsewhere.
The thing is though, you shouldn’t. Because while EVangelists would uncharitably dismiss it as vestigial of a legacy brand’s bygone heyday, I say it’s a rare reminder of how good cars used to be, back when they were lighter, simpler and their proprietors could afford to build them properly. I don’t need to tell you that a Volkswagen Passat isn’t ostensibly an evo car but you’ll know how much we appreciate – and miss – a level of honesty and Piëchian togetherness that’s all too rare from the Group these days, save for much of Skoda’s (internal combustion) output.
So to the Passat. To look at there’s a bit of the smoothed-over lozenge language pioneered by the slightly awkward ID cars. Draped over a conventional estate shape, though, it works well enough. R-Line design elements – that schnoz – might be a bit much, but it’s a handsome thing, with those ‘IQ Light’ matrix LED lights adding a bit of night time jewelry to the look, not to mention that they bathe the road ahead in a crisp, crystalline glow.
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The latest Passat rides on a revised version of the MQB Evo platform, being more or less twinned underneath with the Skoda Superb, even being built alongside it in Slovakia. The powertrains are low-end VW Group standard fare, with a 1.5-litre TSI in both standard MHEV and hybridised forms. Without electrical augmentation, it has 148bhp, and with hybrid assistance, the Passat can have either 201bhp or 268bhp, a dead-ringer for the figures available from the PHEV Cupra Leons and Terramars, as well as Skoda Octavias and Superbs. There’s also a 2-litre TSI good for an identical 201bhp to the entry PHEV.
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The hybrids however, are lumbered with the six-speed DSG that’s less talented than its seven-speed sibling, with which the ICE Passats are fitted. Petrol-only Passats are also up to 300kg lighter than the PHEVs and, as I’ll come to explain, this car’s mass (or relative lack thereof) and how it handles it, is a big part of its surprising appeal, in petrol-only form at least.
Granted, the 148bhp available from the 1.5 eTSI isn’t exactly a voluminous power reserve but the engine doesn’t feel strangled or restrained by the car in which it’s installed. In most scenarios beyond an outright sprint from a stop, you can find decent pace in short enough order. You’ll need to get familiar with the rev limiter to see under 40mpg, too. If 9.2sec to 62mph on paper is too tardy, the slightly heavier 2-litre will do it in 7.5, its 236lb ft giving more guts more of the time, than the 184lb ft of the 1.5.
But talking about performance is a bit of a dead-end discussion. None of them are fast, not even the 268bhp PHEV. The enjoyment, in the lighter ICE-only cars, is in what the car’s like once you’re up to speed. Threading the Passat down a flowing road is a surprisingly satisfying experience. Granted, 15-way adjustable Dynamic Chassis Control dampers are standard fitment on R-line cars and we’ve not tried a car without them, so this is an endorsement only of examples so-equipped.
The sense of rightness about how the Passat heaves, dives and settles on its MacPherson strut front and four-link rear suspension is palpable. The DCC isn’t exactly set up for performance, or absolute flat-footedness but there is control. Pitch the car in at high speed and it’ll roll to a degree and then settle so assuredly at its selected angle that you’re free to enjoy the feeling of the car’s mass moving around, of it leaning on the sidewalls, of the balance, the centre of movement kneading around the car’s backbone with transparency. The latter I’m sure is actually aided by the longer wheelbase and therefore the extra stability the Passat has over say, a Golf. The best way I can describe it is by posing a question: what if Alpine did a 1500kg estate car? It sounds ridiculous, I know.
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No, the steering isn’t in any way shot through with feel, nor are the brakes particularly groundbreaking, but everything’s set up and calibrated just-so, without corruption and free of the burden of handling excess mass. There’s just a clarity and a common sense to all the control weights, such that you’re free to not pay them attention and concentrate on the way it flows down a road. Needless to say, the other side of this coin is a really nicely resolved ride quality – 18-inch wheels with 45-profile tyres are about the limit in terms of preserving this, I’d say.
In all, it reminds you of just how alien the likes of the ID3 felt when EVs of its ilk started arriving around 2020. Many more have come since and not a lot of progress has been made, which means a car that ostensibly uses tech and specs lifted from seven years in the past, when it was considered ordinary, feels borderline extraordinary today. Is the Passat amazing, or are the heavy, leaden EVs that were supposed to take its place just a step backwards? Certainly, it’s a schooling in the advantages of lower weight.
Of course all of this talk of dynamics and how it feels at speed is totally irrelevant, for a practical, unassuming, slow, capacious family estate car. But then again, here’s why it isn’t: we’re not always at the wheel of our second cars. A lot of the time, while the 911 GT3 slumbers in the garage, it’s the family workhorse you spend the most time in… and life is a lot nicer when that workhorse doesn’t erk you, or better yet, actually intrigues.
Unfortunately, some of the most irritating aspects of modern motoring have prevailed in the Passat. Physical buttons on the steering wheel are a big win but, a large number of important controls, like climate, being held hostage within the 15-inch infotainment screen, is as usual a big loss. The chintzy 30-colour ambient lighting is equal parts pointless and pleasant, depending on your taste for gimmicks. As is the soft-touch ‘Karoso’ trim.
Otherwise, the cabin is very well put together and very nicely appointed, a refreshing reminder of VW’s past form in this area. You probably don’t need me to explain to you that it’s spacious, comfortable and incredibly practical.
Price and rivals
We’re duty-bound to four-star the Passat. It’s no supercar or even a super-estate, but it is pretty super – a surprisingly enjoyable thing, though this could be more an endorsement for low weight and an indictment of heavy EVs, than the Passat being a mindblowing device in and of itself.
It’s a bit pricey if you go for the wrong one, though. That’s to say, a hybrid, though of course that’ll appeal to some buyers – company car shoppers – for all sorts of sensible financial reasons. Our 1.5 eTSI R-Line was £48,265 as tested, with the £1200 pano roof an option we’d omit. The £800 Harmon Kardon sound system was good, though, as was the larger infotainment screen, for the added clarity extra pixels afford.
The ‘Life’ introductory spec starts from a sturdy (and near Golf GTI-matching)£39,840 for reference, with standard LED lights and adaptive cruise control. Decidedly ‘90s-sounding ‘Elegance’ splits the two, adding the variable rear lights, sports comfort seats with massage functionality and more. Matrix LEDs, spicier styling, the ‘Koroso’ not-Alcantara cabin trim and the 18-inch wheels punctuate the upgrade to R-Line.
Rivals? Few and far between these days. A Skoda Superb Estate is cheaper spec-for-spec and will do the same things if equipped correctly (ICE only, DCC, <18-inch wheels). It’s also probably more naturally handsome than the Passat. Same again for an A5 Avant, only it’ll be more expensive. Ditto the BMW 3-series Touring and Mercedes C-class estate. Most other ‘repmobile’ rivals are dead – RIP Honda Accord, Ford Mondeo, Vauxhall Insignia et al, all replaced with SUVs.
