Car Brief: 2007 Volkswagen Passat Wagon

You need room for your stuff, but you don’t want a clunky SUV or pudgy crossover and can’t live with the daily-driving restrictions of a road-hugging, fun-to-drive sports car. Good thing VW’s got you covered with the new 2007 Volkswagen Passat Wagon, a stylish German sports wagon with comfortable room for five and plenty of cargo. Longer, wider, and taller, the new Passat Wagon is also more spacious inside, especially when it comes to rear legroom, which is up 2.4 inches over the old car. The standard engine is a 2.0-liter, turbocharged and intercooled inline four-cylinder making 200 horsepower and 207 lb.-ft. of torque. What’s impressive about this motor is that it’s fuel-efficient yet powerful, in part because peak torque is available across a flat powerband from 1,800 rpm to 5,000 rpm. After the 2007 Volkswagen Passat Wagon’s launch, a 3.6-liter narrow-angle V6 engine will be available with 280 horsepower and 265 lb.-ft. of torque that peaks at a low 2,750 rpm. The 2.0T can be matched to a manual or automatic transmission, while the 3.6L comes only with a six-speed Tiptronic manually-interactive automatic with sport mode. Volkswagen’s 4Motion AWD will also be available, but only on Passat 3.6L models. As far as safety is concerned, the Volkswagen Passat sedan has earned a Double Best Pick crashworthiness rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the agency’s offset frontal- and side-impact crash tests. With the 2007 Volkswagen Passat Wagon’s eight airbags – dual front, front side-impact, and side-curtain airbags – along with crash-active front headrests, this new Wagon should prove just as stout in an accident. The new Passat Wagon’s front seatbelts also get pre-tensioners with load limiters and all seatbelts have emergency locking retractors. Rear side airbags are optional, while ABS with brake assist, stability control, and traction control systems come standard. The 2007 Volkswagen Passat Wagon arrives by summer. If pricing follows the sedan’s structuring, expect the Passat Wagon to cost between $24,000 for a standard Value Edition 2.0T to a loaded 3.6L 4Motion at $45,000.

Photos by Ron Perry