And luxurious it is. The fact that no options are offered is evidence enough of its extra long list of standard features. With leather seats and trim, beautifully detailed chrome accents and superb workmanship inside and out few cars in its class come close to competing. And there lies the conundrum. I tried to write a list of competitors at the end of the article, like I usually do, and found it difficult to find any. I had to choose premium European and Japanese brands that more often than not aren't close to matching the Volkswagens performance. Ironically its most direct competition seems to come from the luxury-performance-oriented, V8-powered American brands, at least on paper. The Lincoln LS and Oldsmobile Aurora are the only two of the entire list that offer V8 power. Not even the Audi A4, which falls into VW AG's 'sporting' category, has 8-cylinder motivation - my guess is this will change in the near future.
While softer riding than the Audi A4 the Passat W8 can hardly be called a slouch when the road begins to wind. It's helped along by traction control and VW's 4-Motion AWD, necessary to keep the W8's substantial 273 lb-ft of torque under control. The suspension itself is independent at all corners, while 17-inch alloy wheels shod with P225/45R17 tires round out the handling package. Four-wheel disc brakes with ABS are also standard equipment.
Its interior is spacious, with excellent leg and headroom front and back. Lots of storage bins and cupholders keep the interior tidy while the 400 L (14.1 cu ft) trunk with carpeted trunk and chrome trimmed lip is ample for larger items.