2016 Volkswagen Passat B8 – Three Variants, What To Expect

Volkswagen Passenger Cars Malaysia is set to launch the all-new Passat B8 in the middle of this month, and order books are expected to open soon.

Prices have yet to be announced, but at the ongoing pre-launch media drive of the Passat B8, VPCM officials have confirmed that three variants will be on offer, powered by either 1.8- or 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engines.

The new engines are the third-generation development of the EA888 family. Besides being turbocharged, they also feature variable valve lift and dual (direct & port) fuel injection to give a better optimized spread of power and torque across the rev range.

The 1.8 TSI engine is therefore not a carryover from the preceding B7 model but a significant redevelopment with uprated internals and components.

Outputs of the engines are as follows:

• 1.8 TSI: 180PS, 250Nm, 7-speed dry dual clutch transmission
• 2.0 TSI: 220PS, 350Nm, 6-speed wet dual clutch transmission

Organization of the line-up sees the 1.8 TSI appear in two trim levels – base-spec Trendline and mid-spec Comfortline – whilst the 2.0 TSI gets the full bells and whistles in the Highline version. Key features of the three variants are listed below:

1.8 TSI Trendline

• 16-inch alloy wheels
• Front & rear fog lamps
• Halogen reflector headlamps, bulb-type DRL
• Fabric seats – front with manual adjustment
• Engine start button, no keyless entry
• Steering-mounted controls
• Conventional instrument cluster with colour info display
• Parking sensors – front & rear
• 5-inch touchscreen
• Brushed metal dashboard trim

1.8 TSI Comfortline adds:

• 17-inch alloy wheels
• LED headlights with DRLs
• Leather seats – front with electric adjustment and memory
• Engine start button, keyless entry, handsfree boot lid opening
• Reverse Camera
• 6.5-inch touchscreen
• Reverse camera
• Park Assist 3.0
• Paddle shifters

2.0 TSI Highline adds:

• 18-inch alloy wheels
• Active Info Display – 12.3-inch TFT virtual instrument cluster
• Wood dashboard trim
• Electric sunshade
• Satellite navigation
• Lane Assist

Safety is standard across the range, with all variants getting things like electronic stability control, hill start assist, anti-lock brakes, and ISOFIX mounts. The 2.0 TSI, accounting for its superior performance, additionally gets XDS+ torque vectoring for better cornering behaviour.

Follow this link for our sneak preview video of the all-new Passat B8 produced in collaboration with our friends from Autofreaks.com, Malaysian EVO, and Roda Pusing.