After 2 months of owning the V6 Passat

[Lance B]

Great review Lance. Many thanks.
I'm taking delivery of a new 3.2 wagon just like yours, hopefully on Friday. My first venture into Dubland!

I was wondering whether the very latest 3.2s off the production line have overcome the annoying hesitation from standstill that I have noticed in 3 separate V6 Passats I tested. I had an extended drive of a second-hand car built about May 2007, and the hesitation was almost enough to stop me from ordering one. I've noticed on a couple of US websites that the latest software for the DSG on the 3.6 Passats ostensibly overcomes this hesitation, and I'm hoping they've installed the same software on our models.
What has been your experience?

Great tips, BTW

Cheers
DubDub

Congrats on your upcoming Passat V6 4 Motion. I am sure you will love it as much as I do mine.

Our business also runs a VW Caddy 1.9TDI with DSG and it seems to have the hesitation whereas my Passat does not, so I do know what you are talking about with regards to hesitation. Maybe there is something they have overcome with the new DSG's? Who knows? Or maybe I was lucky?

[Lance B]

How long do you have your Passat?
Oil usage on Subaru is very unusual - if driven normaly on the roads sticking to road rulles. After all they are the cars for road use not a race. In race you wouldn't care if it use a bit of oil would you?
Check this forum and other VW forums for VW engines oil usage.

I have had the Passat for 2 months and not a drop of oil has been used.

The 4 Subarus I had consistently used between 1-2lts per 10,000kms. I ran the first 3 in according to what the booklet describes and they used oil. I then tried running the last Liberty in slightly differently, but it made no difference and it too used about the same amount of oil.

I am not a racer and stay with the traffic on the roads. I generally do not race the engine unnecessarily and mostly just totter about town with the occassional splurge for fun. One of the reasons for getting away from the Liberty 3.0R was because it was difficult to totter about as they required revving to get them going due to the lack of low down torque, which the V6 Passat has in spades.

As I said, search any Liberty forum and you will see that many have oil useage problems. Even where I took all my cars to be serviced at a Subaru dealer where I purchased them from, they said that they use oil and should be expected to!? I also used a variety of oils both synthetic(tried both diester based and non diester based) and non-synthetic, low viscosity and and slightly higher viscosity and it made no difference.

Not a big deal, but it shouldn't happen in a modern engine, IMO.

[R36 Dreamer]

I have had the Passat for 2 months and not a drop of oil has been used.

The 4 Subarus I had consistently used between 1-2lts per 10,000kms. I ran the first 3 in according to what the booklet describes and they used oil. I then tried running the last Liberty in slightly differently, but it made no difference and it too used about the same amount of oil.

I am not a racer and stay with the traffic on the roads. I generally do not race the engine unnecessarily and mostly just totter about town with the occassional splurge for fun. One of the reasons for getting away from the Liberty 3.0R was because it was difficult to totter about as they required revving to get them going due to the lack of low down torque, which the V6 Passat has in spades.

As I said, search any Liberty forum and you will see that many have oil useage problems. Even where I took all my cars to be serviced at a Subaru dealer where I purchased them from, they said that they use oil and should be expected to!? I also used a variety of oils both synthetic(tried both diester based and non diester based) and non-synthetic, low viscosity and and slightly higher viscosity and it made no difference.

Not a big deal, but it shouldn't happen in a modern engine, IMO.

My Boss had a 2006 Liberty STI Tuned Wagon, in Manual. He has sold it recently, as over the last 2 years he has had 3 engine failures.

Subaru were good in fixing the problem each time, and lamented that oil usage is a problem in 3lt engines with manual transmissions.

I agree that Subaru are known as bulletproof and reliable, but my bosses experience made me think twice.

The interior of the Subaru is not in the same league as the Passat IMHO, I cannot stand the japanese approach to luxury car feel... from the lexus to subaru to mitsuibishi, the luxury models look and feel cheap as SH%T I reckon.

[Lance B]

My Boss had a 2006 Liberty STI Tuned Wagon, in Manual. He has sold it recently, as over the last 2 years he has had 3 engine failures.

Subaru were good in fixing the problem each time, and lamented that oil usage is a problem in 3lt engines with manual transmissions.

I agree that Subaru are known as bulletproof and reliable, but my bosses experience made me think twice.

The interior of the Subaru is not in the same league as the Passat IMHO, I cannot stand the japanese approach to luxury car feel... from the lexus to subaru to mitsuibishi, the luxury models look and feel cheap as SH%T I reckon.

I think the thing is that there will be examples from all manufacturers of horror stories like your boss' Liberty GT. Some more than others.

I was once a staunch proponent of the boxer engine and AWD "symmetrical" layout but not now. It maybe the design of the engine or the implementation by Subaru, but I became a little more skeptical after the oil useage issues.

Don't get me wrong, the Liberty was very good and I can see why many like them, but it is not for *me* due to the issues outlined in my posts here. After all, like many things, it's all a compromise and you need to find which compromises best suit you.

I too like the interior treatment of the Passat and the way the Germans do *most* things on the cars over the way the Japanese do *some* things on their cars.

[R36 Dreamer]

I think the thing is that there will be examples from all manufacturers of horror stories like your boss' Liberty GT. Some more than others.

I was once a staunch proponent of the boxer engine and AWD "symmetrical" layout but not now. It maybe the design of the engine or the implementation by Subaru, but I became a little more skeptical after the oil useage issues.

Don't get me wrong, the Liberty was very good and I can see why many like them, but it is not for *me* due to the issues outlined in my posts here. After all, like many things, it's all a compromise and you need to find which compromises best suit you.

I too like the interior treatment of the Passat and the way the Germans do *most* things on the cars over the way the Japanese do *some* things on their cars.

Perfect Timing - Did you see the article on drive.com.au, saying all new 2.5T Subaru engines have been pulled from the market due to a fault.

Not saying anything bad about Subbies, just interesting timing given the above thread on quality

[DubDub]

Thanks to Lance and Cro for your responses.
Cro, well picked. I had always assumed the US V6 also had the DSG box. The DSG hesitation seemed to be more pronounced in the older car that I drove, so it'll be interesting to see if it gets worse with more k's or if it has been fixed/improved on the latest build.
At least this hesitation is predictable. About 3 years ago, I got rid of a 6 month old car with horrendous and unpredictable hesitation on kickdown (2 to 3 seconds) which was downright dangerous. So I'm a bit sensitive to the issue!

Notwithstanding the slight hesitation, I was so completely stunned by the overall performance of the Passat's V6, the silky gear changes and that oh-so-sweet engine note that I was converted!

I'm moving from a Terror-tory, so the change will be sheer bliss.

Only 2 sleeps until delivery (I hope)!

Cheers
DubDub

[Lance B]

Thanks to Lance and Cro for your responses.
Cro, well picked. I had always assumed the US V6 also had the DSG box. The DSG hesitation seemed to be more pronounced in the older car that I drove, so it'll be interesting to see if it gets worse with more k's or if it has been fixed/improved on the latest build.
At least this hesitation is predictable. About 3 years ago, I got rid of a 6 month old car with horrendous and unpredictable hesitation on kickdown (2 to 3 seconds) which was downright dangerous. So I'm a bit sensitive to the issue!

Notwithstanding the slight hesitation, I was so completely stunned by the overall performance of the Passat's V6, the silky gear changes and that oh-so-sweet engine note that I was converted!

I'm moving from a Terror-tory, so the change will be sheer bliss.

Only 2 sleeps until delivery (I hope)!

Cheers
DubDub

The hesitation of a "normal" slushbox is one reason why I swore I would never go back to one, that and the "unconnected" feel that they give. As you know, the DSG is "like" a manual gearbox in that it still uses clutches like a manual and therefore is very "connected", so to speak.

The DSG has very little hesitation in normal Drive mode, but when put to Sports mode, the DSG is generally already kicked down a gear or two as it senses you slowing down and selects the appropriate lower gear for quick response, whereas the normal Drive mode will keep a higher gear and then will only kick down when power is applied, so there will be that slight hesitation whilst it selects the appropriate gear.

If you use tiptronic, then you get no hesitation when you change the gear as it is super fast in changing. I use this mode regularly.

I think it would be nice if there was a middle ground between Drive mode and Sport mode. Maybe they could make Drive mode an Economy mode, then add a Drive mode which is in between Economy and Sport. At the moment, I think that the difference between Drive and Sport is too big a difference as Drive is all too ready to change up a gear for economy purposes and Sport can be a little too aggressive at times. This is why I think the Drive mode as it is now should be relabelled Economy and then add a Drive mode which is in between Economy and Sport. Maybe a 3 position(or infinitley variable) dial which could vary the difference between Sport and Economy would be a good option instead.

[guthrie]

I think it would be nice if there was a middle ground between Drive mode and Sport mode.

Agree... I hate the way Drive mode tries to hold 3rd gear through 90 degree corners and roundabouts. The car falls off boost (tdi) and too slow.

Sport on the other hand will stay in low gears even with small throttle openings - might sound nice revving the V6 at 4500rpm but i hate it in my tdi

[Lance B]

Agree... I hate the way Drive mode tries to hold 3rd gear through 90 degree corners and roundabouts. The car falls off boost (tdi) and too slow.

Sport on the other hand will stay in low gears even with small throttle openings - might sound nice revving the V6 at 4500rpm but i hate it in my tdi

Let's hope VW are reading these forums.