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I'm sure more than one Octavia owner is or has considered this change over
My impression of the B7 Passat wagon after much familiarity with the Octavia wagon.
I had assumed it was going to be entirely an improvement - because the Passat at more $$s should be slightly more up market, and the B7 should be newer and come with design advances you'd otherwise have to wait for the next Octavia to get.
Here are the negatives, some surprised me, some did not:
Smaller (to put the best face on it, more cosy) inside, many switches (eg RNS510, window switches, steering wheel buttons etc) feel like they've dropped a grade in pastic quality, the operation of pushing in the ignition key makes a particularly cheap sound.
Higher rear wagon trunk floor (less space)
Smaller trunk cupboards, the ones with the covers
No underseat storage bins, no overhead sunglass holder (if you opt for panoramic roof), no rear cubby below the a/c vents, no dashboard cubby
No umbrella holder behind the rear cargo cover
RNS510 screen resolution much higher but touch screen functions less responsive
The doors feel less substantial
No red warning open door lights (but better puddle lights)
There is less lateral space to lean my left leg towards the center of the car
The DSG6 coasting function adds a feeling of lightness to the car when you get off the accelerator it just rolls
The new vw group silver key feels cheaper (and it is larger). It rattles as well.
The glove box is small. More so after the operating binder goes in there.
Ridiculous pull out media connectivity thingie in the glovebox, hard to explain it.
The rear passenger lights operate with a cheap click, instead of two map lights and one center light there is just one ambient either side.
The auto-closing tailgate isn't soft close, it really slams at the end, it also moves less than perfectly smoothly
The hill start assist when releasing can be a bit unrefined
The MFD has not increased in resolution or quality since 2009, it is still black and white and low res dot-display
The positives are the more obvious stuff. Just features like the stop/start, the hill hold, the cruise control is on its own stalk, the media functions, the interior is brighter and better looking in general, the factory sound is a bit better, the exterior styling while dull isn't a styling mis-cue like the Octavia. Rear seatbelt icons in the MFD show who isn't plugged in. It has an attention assist thing. It would be unfair to compare the ride quality because my VRS was firmer by nature. visibility from driver position is better.
My overall feeling is that VW having satisfied themselves with the "Passat" are now working out how to build it more cheaply, taking away material that they don't believe are necessary.
For example -- I recently bought a new PS3 super slim game console to replace an old PS3 fat. The super slim is admirable in many ways it consumes less power runs cooler is much lighter and smaller and so on. But the materials have clearly gone down several grades in quality - you can tell it costs much less to screw together. I've the same feeling getting this new Passat.
I just hope that the hollowing out was really nothing important for reliability, but the tactile sensation is clearly less even if the overall look inside and out is better.
I'm wondering if Skoda is just picking from the VAG parts bin, if the new octavia will see the same down-rating in quality of some buttons and controls.
My impression of the B7 Passat wagon after much familiarity with the Octavia wagon.
I had assumed it was going to be entirely an improvement - because the Passat at more $$s should be slightly more up market, and the B7 should be newer and come with design advances you'd otherwise have to wait for the next Octavia to get.
Here are the negatives, some surprised me, some did not:
Smaller (to put the best face on it, more cosy) inside, many switches (eg RNS510, window switches, steering wheel buttons etc) feel like they've dropped a grade in pastic quality, the operation of pushing in the ignition key makes a particularly cheap sound.
Higher rear wagon trunk floor (less space)
Smaller trunk cupboards, the ones with the covers
No underseat storage bins, no overhead sunglass holder (if you opt for panoramic roof), no rear cubby below the a/c vents, no dashboard cubby
No umbrella holder behind the rear cargo cover
RNS510 screen resolution much higher but touch screen functions less responsive
The doors feel less substantial
No red warning open door lights (but better puddle lights)
There is less lateral space to lean my left leg towards the center of the car
The DSG6 coasting function adds a feeling of lightness to the car when you get off the accelerator it just rolls
The new vw group silver key feels cheaper (and it is larger). It rattles as well.
The glove box is small. More so after the operating binder goes in there.
Ridiculous pull out media connectivity thingie in the glovebox, hard to explain it.
The rear passenger lights operate with a cheap click, instead of two map lights and one center light there is just one ambient either side.
The auto-closing tailgate isn't soft close, it really slams at the end, it also moves less than perfectly smoothly
The hill start assist when releasing can be a bit unrefined
The MFD has not increased in resolution or quality since 2009, it is still black and white and low res dot-display
The positives are the more obvious stuff. Just features like the stop/start, the hill hold, the cruise control is on its own stalk, the media functions, the interior is brighter and better looking in general, the factory sound is a bit better, the exterior styling while dull isn't a styling mis-cue like the Octavia. Rear seatbelt icons in the MFD show who isn't plugged in. It has an attention assist thing. It would be unfair to compare the ride quality because my VRS was firmer by nature. visibility from driver position is better.
My overall feeling is that VW having satisfied themselves with the "Passat" are now working out how to build it more cheaply, taking away material that they don't believe are necessary.
For example -- I recently bought a new PS3 super slim game console to replace an old PS3 fat. The super slim is admirable in many ways it consumes less power runs cooler is much lighter and smaller and so on. But the materials have clearly gone down several grades in quality - you can tell it costs much less to screw together. I've the same feeling getting this new Passat.
I just hope that the hollowing out was really nothing important for reliability, but the tactile sensation is clearly less even if the overall look inside and out is better.
I'm wondering if Skoda is just picking from the VAG parts bin, if the new octavia will see the same down-rating in quality of some buttons and controls.
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