VW Passat W8

[veetwin]

Does anyone know anything about these cars? Has anyone actually owned one on PH? What are they like to drive, handling, power, etc.?

I have seen that prices are very reasonable for these cars now and I would like to find out what servicing will cost.

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

[mag76]

Never owned one myself but did stumble on this PH thread from a few weeks back:

http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.

Cheers

[huckster6]

Thanks.
I also thought it sounds like an alternative to BMW 3 litre diesel, which looks pricey on eBay.

[agent006]

If you can find a manual one, then it's a good alternative to the usual quickish stuff around. Mostly all autos though. Handling is a bit passat like, unsurprisingly, heavy engine up front is never a good thing really. Not as much power as a 4.0 engine would suggest, but at least has proper full time 4wd.

[Tripps]

I had an extended test drive when we were looking for a quick Estate a few years back and the W8 looked just the ticket at the time, but I was wasn't impressed at all.

The power delivery was very feeble, as I recall from the 4 litre there was only something like 250bhp or less and given the Passat's weight (which fully specced at the W8 is, must be 2 tonne) it really didn't want to go forward. Cornering was similarly strange, you feel the traction control working to stop the nose from washing forward in corners - I never got the feeling that I was punting it along under my full control.

The exhaust tone was soul-less too, if they'd got that right it could detract from the rest of the car, which I suspect is similar to the average Merc performance wise, ie. very good for driving normally, just not for having fun in.

In short for me it was a hugely expensive attempt by VW to produce an uber-saloon and it really didn't work, BUT it could well make sense second-hand if the values plummeted as I'd have expected, as the car itself was very well built and it would be great for wafting around in.