Nineteen years ago, I learned to drive in a Nissan Pulsar 1.4 SLX (manual, naturally) and passed my Class 3 test in the same blue car. Some other driving instructors used the carburettor 1.3-litre version of the squarish saloon, but I didn’t mind paying a bit more per hour of tuition for fuel injection.
Never did I envision that 19 years later, there would be a 1.4-litre four-door that is as long as the Cefiro circa 1993 and turbocharged like the 200SX coupe of the same era. And it has two clutches instead of one, yet there is no clutch pedal to challenge a 20-year-old learner driver, because the transmission is a dual-clutch auto.
Besides performing gearchanges for the fellow, the VW Passat 1.4 can even help him “valet”. The Park Assist recognises a parking space – whether parallel or perpendicular to the road – and proceeds to slot the car in, with the driver only needing to control the accelerator and brakes. The system can even manoeuvre the car out of the parking lot. Sure beats using an imaginary set of black-and-white 1.5m guide poles.
The chilled front seats are soothing, but the blowers get noisy in their strongest setting.
Even the handbrake is less of a handful in the Passat compared to the Pulsar in my past, thanks to electronic operation. The one-button parking brake also has an auto-hold function, which would have made life a lot easier for me in 1993 when doing the dreaded “move off on upslope” exercise in Ubi Driving Centre.
Helping to keep a shaky L-plater (or P-plater, for that matter) “cool” behind the wheel are the Passat’s ventilated front seats. The only other VW in the local lineup with air-conditioned seating is the Phaeton flagship, which costs twice as much, but its switches for said equipment are far classier than those in the Passat, of course.
The Passat package is otherwise classy, comfortable and complete, even more so than the mid-range Jetta that employs the same 1.4-litre drivetrain – which is to be expected since the newcomer is $30k more expensive. The entry-level Passat model certainly passes muster, more so than the Pulsar I remember.
This story was first published in the November 2012 issue of Torque.
2012 Volkswagen Passat 1.4 (A)
ENGINE 1390cc, 16-valves, inline-4, turbocharged
MAX POWER 122bhp at 5000rpm
MAX TORQUE 200Nm at 1500-4000rpm
GEARBOX 7-speed dual-clutch with manual select
0-100KM/H 10.3 seconds
TOP SPEED 203km/h
CONSUMPTION 15.6km/L (combined)
The 2016 Volkswagen Passat takes on its predecessor here
Check out the 2016 Volkswagen Passat Variant R-Line here
We review the 2016 Volkswagen Passat R-Line here
