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Go the CC...
I bought my CC (seems to be a twin of Leagle's) Oct '09 from Denlo.
I saw it in a pic 6 months before and thought it was the best looking VAG car (VW Audi Group) I'd ever seen but was convinced they'd just furnish it with a tiddler of a TDi - hence my interest ended right there and then.
Looking for a spare car to my Merc SLK55AMG up to 80 grand the R36 popped onto my radar - a bit hardcore to be companion to my already harder-core sportscar. A friend said 'what about the CC?' - when he said it had the R36's engine I had the nearest dealer on the line in under 5 seconds booking their demo for a drive 15 mins later!
Build quality and materials are second to none. Equipment almost without peer in the automotive world - at any price.*
World's best transmission. World's best 4wd system for a roadcar. Active damping. It parks itself. It drives itself (Active Cruise). Touch screen satnav. BT phone kit. Heated and cooled seats. Rear camera. Optical Parking System. Etc etc etc - you go mad just listing them all.
It looks beautiful. Hauntingly beautiful in an almost subtly masculine way. I'd say the design is probably ahead of it's time even today - likely to look fresh 5 years from now (unlike other VAG products which tend to date terribly - I reckon that's by design). It has frameless doors - OMG I LOVE THEM!!! I love the weird teardrop-shaped door mirrors (how cool are they?) and the funky molten shape to the rear light clusters and the amazing duck-tail-almost-hatchback rear-end. It's swoopy, sexy, stunning, and surprising all at once. And yet still looks like a VW to anyone from any angle. Can anyone tell me how you do that?*
I've yet to hear anyone say anything other than 'How long has this been around? I've never heard of it - but it's the most beautiful car I've ever seen!'.*
It sold itself to me in a way no other car has.
I took another demo V6 CC up to Akuna Bay at 6am one Sunday morning - and thrashed it. OMG. I laughed so hard (a kind of muhahahahahahaha on*98 Octane) my throat was hoarse for days it was SO MUCH FUN to drive!! The sheer ability on that crappy but challenging 2-lane country D-road would easily outpace my tiny 400hp (modified) AMG convertible - the CC's DSG/DCC/4Motion all conspired against the forces of nature to deliver an incredible average speed - and so easily I could have done it with one hand!!
It's not just what it does - it's HOW it does it. Last year I drove 3000km across France in 6 super cars including an Audi R8 V8, Gallardo, F430, Porsche Turbo, etc, on the best roads in the Alps and even a stint in a real Formula 1 car, then headed round the Nurburgring in race-prepped M3's, and zapped the new SLS AMG Gullwing around a track in London.
Suffice to say - even if that was the only experience I've had driving fast wheels it would have been a good trip - but it's not.
The CC is - in effect - an R8 - with 120 less horsepower and 2 extra doors. Same tech - different spot in my garage.
I imagine the owners that speak of the CC's smoothness & it's almost cloud like ability to waft over potholes and expansion joints without jarring (on Comfort) have never punted the car to it's limits on Sport. Well neither have I. Because I can't find them. Not because I haven't tried - they're just so high you need a racetrack.
Like all 4Motions the CC understeers going hard but predictably and this can be tamed by alignment setup - or if you're so minded - by an aftermarket Haldex 4wd Controller. Body control on Sport is breathtaking as is the response-time of it's dampers. There was nothing I could do to make it lose composure or lateral grip. The brakes are Supercar territory in response, feel, and ability (I assure you).
The electrically powered steering lacks true feel and some would say is overly light - but as I personally bought this as a luxo-sporty thing its great to not have to manhandle the steering around like in the AMG - and it holds the turn radius on freeways and gentle sweepers without needing minor corrections - taking a massive chunk of hassle out of long-distance driving.
The CC's radar cruise control has got to be the best invention since the automobile! I'd say it saves my Licence daily (it just holds speeds SO well I don't even bother to unless punting hard - I don't curse School Zones anymore cos I'm not the one driving!), and takes about 90% of the effort of driving on freeways away from you. OMG.*
Even after a year - every time I use it my jaw drops. What an awesome option! (it costs $9,000 on a Benz - VW gives it to you for $2,000).
Park Assist not only stuns people - it spooks them out!! Several have checked the boot to see if there was someone hiding in there with a second steering wheel! Optical Parking System with audible alerts front/rear, Rear View Camera with predictive lines, wing mirrors that turn down on selecting reverse - it makes this 4.7m long car ridiculously easy to park. If you can remember what button to press to make it all happen that is...
It's almost disturbingly quiet at speed, but a beautiful turbine-like V6 note when punted - and an unusual pop-off-valve-like sound when changing up under full throttle. No idea why but it sure is cool!
Under 'Sport' on the DSG the throttle response and travel, steering, damping, and tranny all tighten up - when used with Sport on the chassis control the car sits up and listens. It can handle ANYTHING you ask of it. It's as comfortable as any Bentley I've driven (also a VAG...coincidence?), and yet as alive and surefooted as an R8 when asked - just chose your settings and there you have it.
And despite all the tech - it has real character. It's big, way bigger than a 4-seater has any right to be. It's even bigger than the 5-seat Passat it gets most of it's stuff from. It lopes along lazily most of the time like a labrador, the comfort sublime - but poke it and it salutes and you have the whole German Army at your disposal - taut and honed. A 4-door usually trades ability and sex appeal for practicality - the CC trades a bit of practicality to deliver more ability and sex appeal than most sportscars! It's not really a sedan - it's a sports car with extra doors - I'd say it's in a niche all it's own. Have you ever thought what it would look like as a 2-door? Almost the same I'd imagine. That says it all!
The interior is just a about the nicest I have seen, in every way carrying through with the promise of the exterior.
In summary it's the most amazing car I've ever owned (and there have been quite a few!) - I actually miss it when in another city or country - I really do. I'd say it's*the best all-in-one motoring package that money can buy - AT ANY PRICE. The equivalent Benz would be the CLS500 - at over 3 times the price and it's NOT even available with 4wd as an OPTION!!!*
There are downsides - it drinks fuel like a small-block V8 (but performs like one - buy the diesel if you care), and there isn't a VW Serviceperson in the Southern Hemisphere who could find his ass if you handed it to them. More a VW than a CC issue - but I've resolved to never take it to a VW dealer for anything ever again - even warranty. They are SO useless I wonder why they are paid. It's easier just to enjoy the car and pay a mechanic I can trust to keep the party rolling. The car is so cheap (relative to what it offers) - I see it as a trivial price to pay (needless to say cost is not a big problem for me - for others I just hope your car works the way the Germans designed it to!) for motoring nirvana.!*
Enjoy your CC's - and if your thinking of buying one - look a little closer - you'll be amazed what you find. I still can't believe how lucky I was to discover it..
JD*
Sydney Australia
I saw it in a pic 6 months before and thought it was the best looking VAG car (VW Audi Group) I'd ever seen but was convinced they'd just furnish it with a tiddler of a TDi - hence my interest ended right there and then.
Looking for a spare car to my Merc SLK55AMG up to 80 grand the R36 popped onto my radar - a bit hardcore to be companion to my already harder-core sportscar. A friend said 'what about the CC?' - when he said it had the R36's engine I had the nearest dealer on the line in under 5 seconds booking their demo for a drive 15 mins later!
Build quality and materials are second to none. Equipment almost without peer in the automotive world - at any price.*
World's best transmission. World's best 4wd system for a roadcar. Active damping. It parks itself. It drives itself (Active Cruise). Touch screen satnav. BT phone kit. Heated and cooled seats. Rear camera. Optical Parking System. Etc etc etc - you go mad just listing them all.
It looks beautiful. Hauntingly beautiful in an almost subtly masculine way. I'd say the design is probably ahead of it's time even today - likely to look fresh 5 years from now (unlike other VAG products which tend to date terribly - I reckon that's by design). It has frameless doors - OMG I LOVE THEM!!! I love the weird teardrop-shaped door mirrors (how cool are they?) and the funky molten shape to the rear light clusters and the amazing duck-tail-almost-hatchback rear-end. It's swoopy, sexy, stunning, and surprising all at once. And yet still looks like a VW to anyone from any angle. Can anyone tell me how you do that?*
I've yet to hear anyone say anything other than 'How long has this been around? I've never heard of it - but it's the most beautiful car I've ever seen!'.*
It sold itself to me in a way no other car has.
I took another demo V6 CC up to Akuna Bay at 6am one Sunday morning - and thrashed it. OMG. I laughed so hard (a kind of muhahahahahahaha on*98 Octane) my throat was hoarse for days it was SO MUCH FUN to drive!! The sheer ability on that crappy but challenging 2-lane country D-road would easily outpace my tiny 400hp (modified) AMG convertible - the CC's DSG/DCC/4Motion all conspired against the forces of nature to deliver an incredible average speed - and so easily I could have done it with one hand!!
It's not just what it does - it's HOW it does it. Last year I drove 3000km across France in 6 super cars including an Audi R8 V8, Gallardo, F430, Porsche Turbo, etc, on the best roads in the Alps and even a stint in a real Formula 1 car, then headed round the Nurburgring in race-prepped M3's, and zapped the new SLS AMG Gullwing around a track in London.
Suffice to say - even if that was the only experience I've had driving fast wheels it would have been a good trip - but it's not.
The CC is - in effect - an R8 - with 120 less horsepower and 2 extra doors. Same tech - different spot in my garage.
I imagine the owners that speak of the CC's smoothness & it's almost cloud like ability to waft over potholes and expansion joints without jarring (on Comfort) have never punted the car to it's limits on Sport. Well neither have I. Because I can't find them. Not because I haven't tried - they're just so high you need a racetrack.
Like all 4Motions the CC understeers going hard but predictably and this can be tamed by alignment setup - or if you're so minded - by an aftermarket Haldex 4wd Controller. Body control on Sport is breathtaking as is the response-time of it's dampers. There was nothing I could do to make it lose composure or lateral grip. The brakes are Supercar territory in response, feel, and ability (I assure you).
The electrically powered steering lacks true feel and some would say is overly light - but as I personally bought this as a luxo-sporty thing its great to not have to manhandle the steering around like in the AMG - and it holds the turn radius on freeways and gentle sweepers without needing minor corrections - taking a massive chunk of hassle out of long-distance driving.
The CC's radar cruise control has got to be the best invention since the automobile! I'd say it saves my Licence daily (it just holds speeds SO well I don't even bother to unless punting hard - I don't curse School Zones anymore cos I'm not the one driving!), and takes about 90% of the effort of driving on freeways away from you. OMG.*
Even after a year - every time I use it my jaw drops. What an awesome option! (it costs $9,000 on a Benz - VW gives it to you for $2,000).
Park Assist not only stuns people - it spooks them out!! Several have checked the boot to see if there was someone hiding in there with a second steering wheel! Optical Parking System with audible alerts front/rear, Rear View Camera with predictive lines, wing mirrors that turn down on selecting reverse - it makes this 4.7m long car ridiculously easy to park. If you can remember what button to press to make it all happen that is...
It's almost disturbingly quiet at speed, but a beautiful turbine-like V6 note when punted - and an unusual pop-off-valve-like sound when changing up under full throttle. No idea why but it sure is cool!
Under 'Sport' on the DSG the throttle response and travel, steering, damping, and tranny all tighten up - when used with Sport on the chassis control the car sits up and listens. It can handle ANYTHING you ask of it. It's as comfortable as any Bentley I've driven (also a VAG...coincidence?), and yet as alive and surefooted as an R8 when asked - just chose your settings and there you have it.
And despite all the tech - it has real character. It's big, way bigger than a 4-seater has any right to be. It's even bigger than the 5-seat Passat it gets most of it's stuff from. It lopes along lazily most of the time like a labrador, the comfort sublime - but poke it and it salutes and you have the whole German Army at your disposal - taut and honed. A 4-door usually trades ability and sex appeal for practicality - the CC trades a bit of practicality to deliver more ability and sex appeal than most sportscars! It's not really a sedan - it's a sports car with extra doors - I'd say it's in a niche all it's own. Have you ever thought what it would look like as a 2-door? Almost the same I'd imagine. That says it all!
The interior is just a about the nicest I have seen, in every way carrying through with the promise of the exterior.
In summary it's the most amazing car I've ever owned (and there have been quite a few!) - I actually miss it when in another city or country - I really do. I'd say it's*the best all-in-one motoring package that money can buy - AT ANY PRICE. The equivalent Benz would be the CLS500 - at over 3 times the price and it's NOT even available with 4wd as an OPTION!!!*
There are downsides - it drinks fuel like a small-block V8 (but performs like one - buy the diesel if you care), and there isn't a VW Serviceperson in the Southern Hemisphere who could find his ass if you handed it to them. More a VW than a CC issue - but I've resolved to never take it to a VW dealer for anything ever again - even warranty. They are SO useless I wonder why they are paid. It's easier just to enjoy the car and pay a mechanic I can trust to keep the party rolling. The car is so cheap (relative to what it offers) - I see it as a trivial price to pay (needless to say cost is not a big problem for me - for others I just hope your car works the way the Germans designed it to!) for motoring nirvana.!*
Enjoy your CC's - and if your thinking of buying one - look a little closer - you'll be amazed what you find. I still can't believe how lucky I was to discover it..
JD*
Sydney Australia