2020 Volkswagen Passat review: Perfect for ride-hailing

In a world full of spiffy new Honda Accords, Hyundai Sonatas and Toyota Camrys, the 2020 Volkswagen Passat sort of appears to be like a dud. It is really got super outdated bones and that will come by way of in just about every portion of the encounter. But spin it an additional way and there is certainly 1 way in which the Passat genuinely, definitely excels.

The 2020 Passat is the fantastic vehicle for trip-hailing motorists. It is really got tons of place for travellers and a large trunk for airport runs. It has challenging-donning leatherette seats and not particularly magnificent carpets, so it’ll be easy to preserve cleanse. It receives decent gas mileage and also has a big fuel tank, so its cruising array is epic. Consider for a instant you are a driver for Uber or Lyft — all of these characteristics are appealing, proper?

Let’s break these characteristics down in a little bit more element, starting with the drivetrain. The 2020 Passat is only available with a two.-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, which is good for 174 horsepower and 206 pound-toes of torque. You might be not going to blow anyone’s doorways off with individuals quantities, but they go the midsize sedan all around with enough self-assurance. The two.0T is mated to a six-pace automated transmission, which will work perfectly adequate, even though it can be a little jerky at slow speeds.

Jointly, the engine and transmission aid the Passat return 23 miles for each gallon in the town and 34 mpg on the highway. The 34-mpg figure just isn’t all that extraordinary on its possess, but combine it with an eighteen.five-gallon fuel tank and you can travel more than 600 miles involving fill-ups even factoring in some town driving, 500 miles for each tank just isn’t way too poor.

On the road, the Passat is sort of bouncy and not exceptionally forgiving of road bumps, even though I will chalk some of that up to the reasonably big 19-inch wheels of this R-Line tester and the lowish profile 235/40-sequence tires. General, this just isn’t precisely a sporty vehicle, but it can be easy to generate, with easy-to-modulate brakes and mild steering.

Inside, the Passat borders on large. The back again seats have 39.one inches of legroom and 37.8 inches of headroom. The rear seats also have twin USB charging ports, which add to that trip-hailing attraction. Unfortunately, the inside just isn’t exceptionally silent and there are a whole lot of low cost-experience plastics employed in the course of the cabin. But once again, at the very least it’ll be easy to cleanse.

The leatherette seats in my tester are heated but not cooled and whilst they are cozy adequate on short drives, the deficiency of support won’t genuinely make me want to pile on the miles. I am an outlier when it will come to measurement — I am six-toes, four-inches tall — so your mileage might range. Weirdly, even though, on my R-Line tester, only the driver’s seat is operated by electricity.

From an infotainment standpoint, the 2020 Passat just isn’t horrible. It is really got a little, six.3-inch monitor and consists of regular Apple CarPlay and Android Car compatibility. My R-Line tester lacks the typically terrific Fender audio procedure discovered in other Passat styles, but the foundation stereo will very likely be wonderful for most buyers.

The instrument cluster just isn’t fancy and sadly lacks VW’s electronic cockpit engineering, discovered in the Atlas, Jetta and Tiguan. You will find a enjoying card-sized multifunction display involving the analog gauges, which gives basic information like tire pressures, mileage, a electronic speedometer and so on.

The Passat’s roster of security tech is competitive, but only on bigger trims. The foundation vehicle will come regular with ahead collision warning with pedestrian detection, blind-place monitoring and rear cross-targeted visitors alert, but if you want adaptive cruise manage, lane-keeping help, parking help, park distance manage or automated superior-beams, you have to phase up to bigger trims. In actuality, individuals very last three are only available on the array-topping SEL.

The 2020 Passat is reasonably economical at $23,915 to start, together with $920 for place. All loaded up, an SEL will set you back again $32,015, which undercuts the price tag of other, equally geared up sedans. But individuals other sedans give far better interiors, far better driving dynamics and far better regular security tech, building them a significantly far better worth, even if they are more high-priced.

If you want a vehicle with terrific cruising array and a big back again seat for your trip-hailing get the job done, the 2020 Passat is for you. But if you are seeking for a perfectly-rounded midsize sedan with ease and comfort, type and terrific on-road manners, you can be substantially far better served by 1 of this VW’s fresher rivals.