Volkswagen Passat W8 2004 Review

Or worse, if they did, they'd probably mistake it for something less than half the price.

That is why you don't see many Volkswagen Passat W8 sedans around. Even if you did stumble across one, you're unlikely to recognise it as something special.

It is VW's hi-tech flagship but any more low-key and it would become invisible to speed cameras.

But it is fascinating, partly for what they've built into it (all-wheel-drive for starters and an eight-cylinder engine

unlike anyone else's) and because here is a Volkswagen or 'people's car' that costs about $100,000.

The price may come as a shock but technology doesn't come cheap. Many similar-sized and powerful European cars are much dearer than the VW. Ah, but the other top-dollar machines are from companies such as BMW and Mercedes, whose customers are used to paying for major-league motoring.

Not to be picky but VW's image lacks some of their gloss.

So no wonder the Passat W8 is vastly outnumbered by Porsches. Even Ferrari and Lamborghini outsold it in December last year, with just two registered nationwide.

The W8 is one of the rarest cars on the road. Just 28 were registered in Australia last year, which includes all VW's company cars and various dealer demonstrators.

The W8 is exclusive but not necessarily for the right reasons.

Unfortunately, for the $97,900 Passat, it looks virtually identical to the base-model version, which costs $49,990.

The 'cheapie' Passat boasts a revolutionary V5 engine but lacks the flagship's bigger engine, all-wheel-drive and countless luxury touches.

There is also a V6-engined Passat 4motion SE, close to the W8 in equipment level but $32,000 cheaper. A lot of money for an engine.

But it is no ordinary engine. With everyone having an eight-cylinder V8 powerplant these days, VW chose to be different.

Enter the W8 layout. Take two four-cylinder units in V-shape, then join them together side by side to form a W.

Perhaps VW has a whole bunch of engineers it wants to keep busy.

Their engine handiwork is compact, fitting in the space where a four-cylinder unit sat when the Passat reappeared in 1998.

But the techno-laden W8 doesn't feel as responsive as its 200kW-plus output suggests it should be.

First impressions are that it goes, but does nothing special. Then you notice the refined snarl as the revs rise, and eventually you discover that if prodded awake, it delivers.

Overall, it is not the effortless, easily accessible performance to be expected for this price.

Perhaps the automatic transmission is to blame. The test car's gearshifts were not as silken as they might have been.

Eventually, it was a matter of learning the knack of pressing on the accelerator gently at first, as though priming a pump, and then stomping on it.

At that stage, the W8 would respond surely and with a pleasing hint of aggression.

But the Passat's hefty weight means it is no scorcher.

It came to Australia because VW has ambitions to sell limo-sized sedans like S-Class Benzes – with the W8 seen as a first step on the upmarket path.

The Passat's problem is that it doesn't look five-star and neither does it drive that way, lacking the charisma and poise of cars in the $100,000 bracket.

Here, then, is a luxury car for people who don't want to shout about their wealth.