I picked up my brand new IG MY10.5 R36 wagon last Monday after a very long 5 month wait, and so far I've done about 300kms. I thought I'd share my first impressions of it.
So far, I'm enjoying it immensely. The biggest difference between the R36 and my old car (2004 Accord Euro Luxury), that is instantly noticeable as you pull away, is the power and torque available. I haven't yet fully explored the capabilities of the R36 since it's not yet run in, but already I love the way it pulls, how it sounds. It also has FAR more toys and tech than my old car.
The headlights in my R36 are also a bit yellower in hue than my Euro.
I think the Passat looks a little bit unconventional, but in a good way. It's not the best looking car on the road, but it has its own appeal, and certainly looks purposeful. It really is the ultimate sleeper. Apart from the front grille and the bigger rims, there's not a great deal that visually distinguishes the R36 from the rest of the Passat range, especially if you weren't familiar with the Passat family.
Cool stuff/What I like
What I don't like
I've also come up with some questions that I haven't been able to find answers to yet.
So far, I'm enjoying it immensely. The biggest difference between the R36 and my old car (2004 Accord Euro Luxury), that is instantly noticeable as you pull away, is the power and torque available. I haven't yet fully explored the capabilities of the R36 since it's not yet run in, but already I love the way it pulls, how it sounds. It also has FAR more toys and tech than my old car.
The headlights in my R36 are also a bit yellower in hue than my Euro.
I think the Passat looks a little bit unconventional, but in a good way. It's not the best looking car on the road, but it has its own appeal, and certainly looks purposeful. It really is the ultimate sleeper. Apart from the front grille and the bigger rims, there's not a great deal that visually distinguishes the R36 from the rest of the Passat range, especially if you weren't familiar with the Passat family.
Cool stuff/What I like
- The engine - heaps of power and torque, and it makes a fantastic noise. Can't wait for the engine to be fully run in!
- The DSG gearbox - it's seamless and intuitive. It seems to be in the right gear pretty much all the time, and the shifts are silky smooth.
- The wide variety of settings that are driver configurable through the MFD.
- The MDI and the touchscreen stereo - I have a 4gb flash disk hooked up with a bunch of music on there.
- The seats - comfortable, yet immensely supportive and grippy
- Auto hold - handy for stop/start traffic, and hill starts, given that the DSG gearbox doesn't give as much 'creep' as a conventional slushbox, so you have to be more aware of rollback.
- The puddle lights in the wing mirrors - my garage is fairly dark, so it's handy to have some light available.
- The fixed cornering lights that kick in at under 10km/h, and then fade out. I haven't driven long enough to experience AFS in action yet.
- The variable instrument backlighting - the backlight (including the MFD) varies from nothing to high brightness depending on the prevailing ambient light. For example, on Sunday, I drove out of the sun into a dark underground carpark. I watched the backlight fade from full brightness to nothing over the space of 5-10 seconds.
- The guide lines on the RVC - I'm still finding it easier to use the mirrors, but I can certainly see it behing handy when you have to get into a tight spot.
- The fold-flat rear seats - it makes the cargo space that much more practical. You can even move the cargo partition and mount it right behind the front seats when you have the seats folded down.
- The blue instrument needles - very distinctive, and a constant reminder that you're driving something that's a little bit special.
- The hidden manual door lock and key
- The umbrella holder in the driver's door - what a great idea!
- The cartridge key - cool idea, but I'm kind of surprised that VW didn't go that little bit further and make it a proximity key instead. I know they have the KESSY system overseas - why not make it standard?
What I don't like
- The fuel consumption - currently averaging 12.5l/100km, but I managed to get it down to 10.2l/100km earlier today. Hopefully that will improve as the engine wears in, and I adapt my driving style.
- The cruise control - IMHO, the stalk is poorly designed - having the 'cancel' function halfway between the 'on' and 'off' positions is annoying. Already I've managed to push it too far more than once while trying to cancel cruise, and ended up turning it right off instead. Also, the accel/decel function seems to work in units of 10km/h. Most other cruise controls I've used will adjust the speed by 1-2km/h, which is much more useful.
- The speed warning chime - is too quiet. I can barely hear it over the stereo.
- Limited ability to control audio tracks/stations via the steering wheel - you can only change tracks/stations from the steering wheel when the MFD is displaying the audio info. With the newer style steering wheel fitted to other Passat models, you can change tracks regardless of which MFD screen you are at.
- This is nitpicking a bit, but the interior lights come on immediately at full brightness when you unlock the car or turn off the ignition. It would have been a bit more refined to have them fade in, the same way that they fade out (like they do in my Accord Euro)
I've also come up with some questions that I haven't been able to find answers to yet.
- Is there a way to enable/disable the dynamic/static bend lighting? The owner's manual refers to using the "Driver Assist" button on the end of the indicator stalk, but this is not fitted to my car, and there is no corresponding "Assistant" menu in the MFD
- Variable instrument lighting - is there some way to control this? Or force the backlight to always be on or off?
- What is the 'Conv. mode' menu setting for? The options available are "Off", "All" and "Driver". I can't find any reference to this menu item in the manual. There are settings for how the doors unlock with the key elsewhere, and there are settings for the remote-controlled window up/down function elsewhere too, so I can't work out what it does. Unfortunately I can't post photos to show exactly what it looks like.
- The "alt speed display" function - is there a way to change the speed units? MPH isn't very useful here in Australia.
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