2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI: Fuel Economy Update for July
August 2, 2013
We put 1,225 miles on our long-term 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI during the month of July. That's a low total for us, but several of us are planning road trips in August, including our technical director, Dan Edmunds, who will be traveling to Oregon. One way or another, we'll get our diesel Passat's mileage up.
Although no one topped last month's range record of 616 miles, we set a new high for mpg on a single tank at 42.4 mpg.
2013 Volkswagen Passat: Enormous Cargo Potential
July 26, 2013
I had an awkwardly shaped TV stand and a 6-foot-2 floor lamp to transport a few blocks. Now, I could've taken the easy route and used my wife's Mazda 3 hatchback, but what kind of automotive journalist would I be if I did that? Before going to the bullpen, so to speak, I had to see if my own starting pitcher was up to the task.
2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI: A Cool Character
July 25, 2013
Senior Editor Josh Jacquot says our Passat is where personality comes to die. It's a typically caustic Jacquot assessment of any car that can't get air or handle a rally stage, but it's not totally fair. Yes, the steering wheel is inexplicably off-center, annoyingly so. The center console is almost useless. The brakes are grabby.
But the 2013 VW Passat TDI has personality. It's tempting to tag it with our classic German stereotypes: stoic, clinical, humorless. Few of which I believe anyway. Break bread with a group of German backpackers on holiday and you won't either.
2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI: Got Wood?
July 24, 2013
I just got back from driving the all-new Mercedes-Benz S-Class, a car with a spectacular cabin highlighted by its tasteful application of wood trim. It's integrated beautifully into the design and when removed, say in the carbon fiber-equipped S63, the cabin loses a lot of its panache.
Having said that, I'm usually not a fan of wood trim in cars since it's so rarely done well. Exhibit A: Our long-term Volkswagen Passat TDI. Indeed, it would appear to have even more wood trim than the new S-Class, but it's completely unconvincing and in such abundance that I can't decide if it's tacky or just horribly out of fashion. Nevermind, it's both. It's on the dash, the console, the doors and on the thin trim piece just below the windshield. It turns what is otherwise a cool, Teutonic environment into an homage to the Hyundai XG350.
2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI: Got Range?
July 23, 2013
When you fill up many cars, especially those of the more high-performance variety, it's quite common for the DTE gauge to read about 325 miles when it resets. It wasn't too long ago when that was common for more mundane cars as well, such as the VR6-powered 2000 VW Jetta I drove for seven years. Getting 325 miles out of her would've been a good tank.
2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI: Compact Console
July 22, 2013
You can fit the starting midfield for the German national soccer team in the 2013 Volkswagen Passat's rear-seat, yet the center console is this skinny, inefficient space. I think even the Focus ST's is larger. Lame.
Look, no one's gonna mistake the Passat for a driver's car. It's a nice, big utility sedan with a premium sheen. As such, give me big bins and compartments where I can throw keys, phone, wallet, sunglasses, gate opener, a compact camera sometimes, access cards to the office and garage, and other junk that attaches itself throughout the day.
2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI SEL: Track Test
July 19, 2013
Our long-term 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI gets 40 mpg out of its 140-horsepower 2.0-liter turbodiesel. What does that translate to on the track? Check our track test to find out.
2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI: What Companies Should Give Their Travelling Sales Reps
July 18, 2013
If I were a sales rep who had to do a lot of driving, I would love to have our 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI as my company car. (And yes, I'll have to assume here that I'd be good enough of a sales rep to get a company car.)
2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI: Nice Seat Upholstery Inserts
July 17, 2013
If you're buying a 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI, you're not going to find one with cloth upholstery. Even the starting TDI SE model comes standard with leatherette (premium vinyl). But if you go with the top TDI trim level, the SEL Premium (like our car), you get leather upholstery with these front-seat faux-suede inserts.
2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI: How Much Money Do You Save With TDI?
July 11, 2013
Recently I came across a study that concluded that a diesel-fuelled new car can save its owner potentially thousands of dollars over five years of ownership compared to a regular gasoline version of the same car.
2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI: Secure Handling
July 9, 2013
Great fuel economy is why you buy a 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI. But if you happen to find yourself on a curvy two-lane road, the handling capabilities of this fuel miser are still on par for a family sedan.
2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI: Trip to the Coast, MPG Report
July 8, 2013
This is the second update from my recent road trip to California's central coast. I've got the final fuel economy numbers here, which has a bit more fuel economy detail to go along with our recent mpg update for June.
2013 Volkswagen Passat: Fuel Economy Update For June
July 2, 2013
We added about 2,000 miles to our long-term 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI during June. The majority of that came from normal driving around Los Angeles, but we did use the car for a 400-mile road trip at the end of the month.
2013 Volkswagen Passat: Trip To The Coast, Part One
June 27, 2013
I've had a summer vacation trip planned to California's central coast for a while. The week has finally arrived, and I happened to be signed up for the long-term 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI.
My trip has only just started, but I'm already enjoying the Passat quite a bit.
2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI: Diesel Dirt
June 25, 2013
This is more the fault of the gas station and diesel fuel in general than of our long-term 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI, but pumping diesel fuel is dirty business.
2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI: Similar, Except For AdBlue
June 24, 2013
We've had a lot of Volkswagen test vehicles with the TDI engine come through the Edmunds long-term program over the years. (Most recently, and the only one currently available to read about, was a 2011 Jetta TDI.) For our new Passat TDI, the driving experience is pleasingly familiar, and I'm sure we'll have a lot of updates during the next year about that.
But one new thing that is different about the Passat TDI is that for emissions purposes it requires the use of a diesel exhaust fluid additive (DEF).
2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI: Interior Tour Video
June 19, 2013
I made you a video tour of our long-term 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI. Click through to view after the jump...
2013 Volkswagen Passat: Shifting Simplified
June 18, 2013
Our 2013 Volkswagen Passat shouldn't really get credit for having a simple shift mechanism. That sort of thing used to be standard in any car with an automatic. But these days such a setup isn't guaranteed.