“The import car built right here in America”: Motor Trend test drives the 2012 Passat

August 5, 2011

2012 Passat

Think of it as a German-American: the 2012 Volkswagen Passat features the German Engineering we’re known for, but is being built at a new facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Because we know the folks at Motor Trend love nothing more than a driving date, we put on our finest new car fragrance and invited automotive journalist Michael Febbo to test drive the new Passat TDI, fresh off the assembly line.
We put a lot of effort into getting ready for our date, so we were glad to hear Michael say, “Many of the competitors in this class feel like a well-equipped affordable car; the Passat feels more like an affordable version of a higher-end car.” He went on to state, “While pricing has decreased compared with the outgoing Passat, standard equipment hasn’t. In short, there is now more of it.” Thanks for noticing!
Since we’ve gotten to know our new Tennessee home so well, we knew just the spot for our outing: the freeway from Chattanooga to Nashville via Lynchburg. Michael was not disappointed in our choice, writing, “The back roads on the way to Lynchburg are twisty, scenic, and ideal to test out the North American-specific platform.“ And the appeal of the TDI was not lost on him, either: “The car settles in at speed, feels confident, and hates the 65-mph limit as much as the driver does,” adding, “The engine is smooth and silent, the opposite of diesels of the past.”
But we don’t wanna give away all the details—check out the full story for yourself.