'03 Passat W8 270hp!

[SR20DEN]

http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=4875

I was about to get worried about this car but weighing in at over 3900 pounds it won't be a problem. The Maxima is still faster and a much better buy IMHO.

2002 VW Passat W8
Base price: $37,900
Engine: 4.0-liter W-8, 270 hp
Transmission: Five-speed automatic with Tiptronic, all-wheel drive
Length x width x height: 185.2 x 68.7 x 57.5 in
Wheelbase: 106.4 in
Curb weight: 3907 lb
EPA City/Hwy: 18 /25 mpg
Safety equipment: anti-lock brakes, 4MOTION permanent all-wheel drive, front and side airbags, security alarm, pretensioning seatbelts, door automatic locking feature
Major standard equipment: telescoping/theft-deterrent steering column, multi function trip computer, cruise control, heated front windshield washer nozzles, rain sensor with automatic wiper speed control, power glass sunroof, headlight washer system
Warranty: Four years/50,000 miles

[GroovinGTR]

I wish VW would concentrate on affordable cars. After all how many affordable German car companies are there besides VW? 0 How about luxury German marques? 3

[nismotech]

I guess VW is trying to build a image, for example, Acura- NSX, Subaru- Impreza WRX, Honda- S2000.

Its like when you mention VW, you automatically think of "W8".

[SilverSleeper]

The engine setup with the piston layout seems weird

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Nobody would spend so much money on a VW. That car is smaller than maxima in every way lxwxh. And it outpowers max only by 15hp. But the W8 and AWD make it up.

-'00max

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Do u think the 2002 Altima 2.5SL or the 3.5SE can beat the W8

[Nizzan]

I'm not too sure about the 2.5 automatic. I do know that the 3.5 auto and especially stick would rip the W-8 a new @sshole.

[SilverSleeper]

Just don't pull up next to a W8 in the snow images/icons/grin.gif

[Nizzan]

LOL! Good point.

[Nizzan]

BTW, any word on the 6 box coming to the US shores for the W8?

[_Eric_]

Originally posted by Nizzan:
BTW, any word on the 6 box coming to the US shores for the W8?<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]Supposedly not until later this year along with a sport package with bigger 17" wheels/tires.

From what I've read, they're only expecting 0-60 in 6.5 from the 6-speed! Pretty crappy if you ask me for a car with 8-cylinders, AWD, 6-speed. I guess that's what you get for making such a small car like the Passat such a porker(~3917 lbs) images/icons/tongue.gif

[FanaticZ]

vw overrates all their 0-60 times. numbers in the 5's will be easy with a 6-speed and awd launch.

[_Eric_]

Originally posted by FanaticZ:
vw overrates all their 0-60 times. numbers in the 5's will be easy with a 6-speed and awd launch.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]I guess you mean "underrates" then. Either way, I too would expect lower times with the 6 speed. But I also wouldn't pass off 0-60 in the 5's so easily. This is one heavy car! I'm sure we'll see some test data within the next few months.

[shaun]

Originally posted by 2001MaximaAE:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]Originally posted by FanaticZ:
vw overrates all their 0-60 times. numbers in the 5's will be easy with a 6-speed and awd launch.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]I guess you mean "underrates" then. Either way, I too would expect lower times with the 6 speed. But I also wouldn't pass off 0-60 in the 5's so easily. This is one heavy car! I'm sure we'll see some test data within the next few months.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]well, while it is heavy, the awd does to at least some extent make up for the weight.

[Nizzan]

The AWD adds a couple hundred pounds as well.

[SR20DEN]

I plan to be on a 'seek and destroy' mission to find one of these cars. Sooner or later some unsuspecting W8 driver will decide to race my Maxima and be in for a huge dissapointment. However now I await the day I meet up with a Corrado that has been transplanted with a W8. I should have enough time to be prepaired for that. images/icons/cool.gif images/icons/grin.gif

[shaun]

Originally posted by Nizzan:
The AWD adds a couple hundred pounds as well.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]yah i guess i kinda had that in mind. the awd usually offsets the added weight of having awd in most cars.

[BigBadBuford]

The W8 in the Passat is a pretty cool piece of engineering. I'm surprised how small the engine is and how tightly everything is packaged. Too bad power production isn't as impressive. I think Motor Trend tested one of the W-8 Passats with a 6 speed and got into the 5's 0-60, but its been a while since I read it so I may be wrong. It sounds like a pretty nice car, but for the money you could get an Audi S4 which would be much easier to tune for more power, plus you have the Audi name for more prestige.

[limits_at_infiniti]

w8's first drive (http://forums.freshalloy.com/forum/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=17;t=000838)
according to edmunds the car should do 0-60 in 6.5 which is sluggish considering what its packing under the hood.

to me, why would you want a w8 instead of an audi with better options?

based on the a4's current pricing, whichcan get up to the high 30's, i would say that the s4 is going to be priced closer to the new m3.

[Daytona]

They're very different cars; not even in the same league. The W8 is a full-on luxury sedan; the Maxima is a sports sedan that so desperately needs to be RWD. Different demographic as well; th Maxima is really aimed at late 20 to early 30 somethings, whereas the Passat seems to be directed at late 30 and early 40 somethings with families. The W8 is a quirky format but is based in part on the VR6 motor, arguably the best V6 engine in the world, on par with the VQ series. Comparisons here are a little illogical; the Maxima's closest counterpart is the Jetta, not the Passat.

[FanaticZ]

think the maxima and passat are direct competitors. jetta is about the size of a sentra inside.

[Daytona]

I was more referring to the W8 model vs. the Maxima. Price-wise the non-W8 Passat and Maxima are competitors. I just don't think 'sports sedan' when I think of the Passat; I do think 'sports' when I see the Maxima.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

One other thing with VW going "Luxo", they don't offer the same level of customer service, such as loaner cars, that Infiniti offers. images/icons/tongue.gif

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Boy, I wonder what will happen when Volkswagen’s even more expensive 'Phaeton' hits north America in 2004! Guess there wil be even more VW trashing… or will there?

http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/2002/geneva/03.vw.phaeton.f34.500.jpg

Its a full size luxury sedan, and as big and heavy as it is it has a 6.0L 12 cylinder engine, 420 horsepower, 550 lbs-ft of torque, AWD, top speed 200 mph (yes its reached that in tests)... and when it hits north america (in 2004 i think) it will be the most technological advanced car available!

images/icons/grin.gif

[jOeHaCk98]

Originally posted by VW_Turbo:
Boy, I wonder what will happen when Volkswagen’s even more expensive 'Phaeton' hits north America in 2004! Guess there wil be even more VW trashing… or will there?

http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/2002/geneva/03.vw.phaeton.f34.500.jpg

Its a full size luxury sedan, and as big and heavy as it is it has a 6.0L 12 cylinder engine, 420 horsepower, 550 lbs-ft of torque, AWD, top speed 200 mph (yes its reached that in tests)... and when it hits north america (in 2004 i think) it will be the most technological advanced car available!

images/icons/grin.gif <font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]yes, but how many cup holders will it have.

[FanaticZ]

yes its a nice 'luxury' car speaking only about luxury but the 55k phaeton only has a v6, not good at all. the v12 is 90k.

[_Eric_]

OK, I can see that people are getting some information mix-up here. Yes the Phaeton will have the W12 engine with 420 HP. But it will not have 550 ft-lbs of torque or do 200 mph. You mixed up the 550 number. It has 550 N-m of torque, not ft-lbs. This translates to 406 ft-lbs. of torque.

Secondly, the 200+ mph was achieved by the W12 Coupe concept, not the Phaeton. Here's a pic of the W12 Coupe:
http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/large/1077-4.jpg

Here are links to info on both cars:
Phaeton: http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame.mv?file=car.mv&num=1119&left=
W12 Coupe concept: http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame.mv?file=car.mv&num=1077&left=

[Daytona]

Those are such beautiful cars. If only the Phaeton had some better wheels. I wonder how good sales would be if it were badged as an Audi vs. VW. Guess VW thinks they didn't need to fool the American consumer by creating a luxury brand.

[_Eric_]

Originally posted by Daytona:
Those are such beautiful cars. If only the Phaeton had some better wheels. I wonder how good sales would be if it were badged as an Audi vs. VW. Guess VW thinks they didn't need to fool the American consumer by creating a luxury brand.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]But Audi is in a sense VW's luxury division. VW is the parent company of Audi. Maybe you meant it differently?

[Daytona]

Really I meant they could've easily branded the Phaeton as an Audi, but they elected not to. VW's upmarket push is confusing since it negatively affects Audi's sales, unless they plan to divest Audi, which seems unlikely right now.

[_Eric_]

Ok, that's what I thought you meant, but wasn't sure by the way you worded it. I think that everyone is a little puzzled by the upscale move by VW. It just doesn't seem to make much business sense, at least from a Corporate perspective. I don't think it will accomplish what they think it will.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

just to get back to the Passat conversation, i was looking in a car magazine today (i cant remember what it was called but it was a canadian one) and the 2002 Passat won the editors choice award for best family sedan over $30,000!

... not to shabby eh!

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Can anyone that has actually seen this thing really tell the difference between it and a regualr passat? Not alot of popel would be able to. Aside from the little bits of chrome and the badging. What i cant beleive is the canadian pricing on this thing images/icons/shocked.gif The one in the showroom where i live was like $54,990. That is rediculous for a passat!

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Originally posted by infiniti2002:
Can anyone that has actually seen this thing really tell the difference between it and a regualr passat? Not alot of popel would be able to. Aside from the little bits of chrome and the badging. What i cant beleive is the canadian pricing on this thing images/icons/shocked.gif The one in the showroom where i live was like $54,990. That is rediculous for a passat!<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]i can tell the difference, but i work at a Volkswagen dealership. but anyway the reason for the high price is not the look of the car, its mostly the performance(engine) and the interior luxury. and its not THAT much of a increase. until the W8, the most expensive passat was the GLX which fully loaded is about $44,000 (canadian). But the W8 is much better, its a work of art!