A 1.4-liter engine in such a large sedan? The downsized yet powerful 1.4 TFSI engine can now be ordered for the Volkswagen Passat with the new 7-speed DSG dual-clutch gearchange (a combination announced in the Seat Bocanegra concept recently as well). With these options, the car manages to get around with 6.4 l/100 km (6.5 in the station wagon version, which comes to about 37 mpg U.S.) and yet still reaches 200 km/h (115 mph). This Passat can also be ordered with the DCC adaptative chassis for a more sporty experience, although it costs extra. Prices start at €26,600 for Germany.

[Source: Auto News]

15 million anything is a lot, but when it comes to cars, it feels like an even bigger number. Thus, Volkswagen is celebrating the production of the 15 millionth Passat today at its Emden plant in Germany. In a green/charitable touch, VW donated the car, a silver Passat Variant BlueMotion 1.9 TDI with 77 kW (105 HP), to the DKMS (German Bone Marrow Donor Center).

VW has been making Passats for 34 years, and the new BlueMotion editions have been winning eco certificates with their decent CO₂ per km emissions numbers. VW also sells a bunch of these cars in Germany and worldwide. Congrats.



[Source: Volkswagen]

Volkswagen of America, Inc. announced that its Electronics Research Lab (ERL) and the Stanford University Racing Team will participate together in this year's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Urban Challenge on November 3, 2007 with an autonomously-driven diesel-powered Passat wagon.

The experience is not only set to win the contest but to investigate further applications in production cars. The chosen vehicle for this edition is a an autonomously-driven Passat wagon, named 'Junior' in homage to Leland Stanford Jr., founder of Stanford University. It will compete on a 60-mile mock urban course that involves merging with traffic, crossing traffic circles and negotiating busy intersections while following traffic laws.

Volkswagen of America's ERL helped outfit the fuel-efficient Passat wagon TDI with computer-controlled electromechanical power steering and electric throttle, gear shifter and parking brake. Custom mountings for the wide array of sensors were also designed and built at the ERL. Intel Core 2 Duo processors make up the car's "brains." The Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab added a new software that makes the car fully autonomous.

Volkswagen won the $2 million grand prize at the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge with a diesel powered Touareg named Stanley, on a 132-mile championship race over rough desert roads, mountain trails, dry lake beds and tunnels, using only onboard sensors and navigation equipment.

[Source: WV]

During a launch event for the updated version of the Volkswagen Touareg, the company showed the version powered by the 3.0L TDI V-6 with BlueTec. According to VW of America Public Relations Manager Steve Keyes, the engine which has already been shown in the Audi Q7 will turn up in additional Volkswagen models.

One car that won't get the diesel V-6 is the GTI which will remain four cylinder only. However the mid-sized Passat seems like a natural fit for the six and VW last year announced there would be a high performance Passat R36. Installing the TDI in the sport model with its near 400 lb-ft of torque would make for a quite a lively R30 TDI model that still gets great fuel economy.

[Source: Winding Road]

Click on the image for a gallery of high-res images of the 2007 Volkswagen Passat.

This is the second part of a review of the 2007 Volkswagen Passat TDI. Yesterday we covered the Passat's pricing, appearance and some of its many features. Click here to read part one.

Today we cover the interior, safety, economy and on-road performance.

Probably the first thing you'll notice if you hop in and go to turn the car on though is the key fob itself. Instead of a traditional key, the entire key fob slots into the dash for push-button electronic on / off operation. VW thought of everything though because hidden inside the key fob is a "conventional", plastic key which can gain you access to the vehicle but will not start it up. This allows you to leave the (expensive - $500!) key fob locked in the car while you go surfing and just take the plastic key into the water.



Like the on / off control, the parking brake is also a push-button job located close to the ignition switch, and must be engaged for the car to be turned off. An associated feature is the Auto Hold function which neatly answers the question, "I'm on the side of a hill and I don't have a hand brake to stop me rolling back down, what do I do?" Again a push-button operated feature, this time flanking the transmission, Auto Hold automatically activates the electronic parking brake for painless hill starts. Eliminating the hand brake has the added benefit of freeing up room around centre console, resulting in a simple, uncluttered layout.

Continue reading part two of the review after the jump.

Click on the image for a gallery of high-res images of the 2007 Volkswagen Passat.

Late last year I had the pleasure of helping my father choose his new vehicle, and after determining that he wanted a diesel sedan, we quickly narrowed the possible options - BMWs, the 300C, Audis, Peugeots, Mazdas, Fiats, Alfas and VWs - down to the Volkswagen Passat. Offering a great blend of size, comfort, features, diesel economy and price, he picked the Passat up in late November last year. Having helped pick it, I am biased about this car. But that said, let's look at why it worked for my father and me.

The 2007 Volkswagen Passat TDI leads VW's car line-up in Australia as their largest model apart from the Touareg luxury SUV. The 2007 Passat offers three models each in a sedan and wagon format ranging from AUD$42,990 (US$34,056) for the Passat 2.0 TDI Sedan 6 Speed Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) transmission, through AUD$44,990 (US$35,641) for the Passat 2.0T FSI Sedan 6 Speed Automatic and topping out at AUD$54,990 (US$43,563) for the Passat 3.2 V6 FSI Sedan 6 Speed DSG. The wagon equivalents of each adds $2,000. Frankly I don't understand this pricing scale because the TDI delivers better fuel economy and good performance via VW's outstanding DSG 6-speed gearbox, in which the clutch and gearshift are controlled electronically, for a lower price than the equivalent automatic petrol model.

Despite the array of standard features in the Passat, there are still a good dozen options that you can play with if your wallet allows including sunroofs, sat nav, bi-xenon headlights with dynamic cornering, leather upholstery etc. My father however had a limited range of options due to the fact that multiple Volkswagen dealers in our area quoted delivery times of over six month and as high as nine months due to a global shortage. So, when he was presented with a silver model kitted out with black leather upholstery, he signed up straight away.

Continue reading part one of the review after the jump.

Click on above image to see complete high resolution gallery.

Car and Driver have posted a feature article on the wide array of different powertrains that Volkswagen is testing in a bid to capitalise on new developments under way in a host of technologies. Ten different vehicles were available for test driving during the Volkswagen sponsored even in Valencia, Spain as Jared Gall reports:

"The mind-boggling array of vehicles present ran on six different fuels and included four different diesel-derivative engines: a current-production Polo BlueMotion diesel; a next-gen Jetta "Clean TDI" coming to the U.S. in '08 under the BlueTec banner; a New Beetle convertible running on SunFuel, a diesel fuel manufactured from biomass-plants, woodchips, and other forms of biological waste-and a Touran (think Mazda 5 tall wagon/mini-minivan) running VW's Combined Combustion System (CCS), a mixture of gas and diesel that is said to burn more completely and is therefore cleaner than either fuel on its own. We also sampled two compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles, a Touran and a Passat running VW's new TSI turbo- and supercharged engine (this engine was also present in two gasoline trims); a half-baked hybrid Touran; and a Touran powered by a hydrogen fuel cell."

A highlight was the compressed natural gas (CNG) powered Touran EcoFuel which emits 80-percent-less carbon monoxide, 23-percent-less carbon dioxide, and 80-percent less oxides of nitrogen than a similar gasoline engine. The EcoFuel Touran also costs about half of what a similar gasoline engine does to feed, and about a third less than a diesel.



The story continues after the jump.