I can't remember a car ever giving me information I was so pleased to receive. The range prediction on the dashboard of the Passat had been churning out ever more impressive figures, but I could not believe it would ever get to the point of announcing that I could do another 700 miles before I needed to refuel.It did, though. And I was making no particular effort to drive economically. I was going as quickly as I wanted to over a road which, despite its A classification, was full of bends and twists and dips and crests. This was in darkness, too, so the headlights were on, requiring more energy than the engine would have needed to produce in daytime. Most splendidly of all, the tripmeter reminded me that I had already covered 65 miles since the last fill-up.I did not actually cover 765 miles between fuel stops, since there was a lot of town driving to come. It seems reasonable to assume, however, that the owner of a Passat TDI could easily achieve a range of 600 miles, and perhaps a good deal more than that on a very long cross-country journey.This is partly the result of a large fuel tank, of course, but it's also a testament to the Passat's superb economy, which during this test exceeded 50mpg whenever I was on the open road. And with this lack of thirst comes a willingness to perform - thanks to the excellent two-litre TDI unit also found in several other Volkswagen Group products and used here in 138bhp form - which makes the Passat a much quicker car in the real world than the official 0-62mph time of 9.8 seconds suggests.I like the Passat for other reasons too. It's comfortable, it has loads of space for four adults, and you can fit a fair amount (1 fair amount = 485 litres) into the luggage compartment as long as it's not too bulky to be accepted by the slightly narrow boot opening. The car is also quiet, has well-balanced major controls and, to me at least, is subtly attractive both inside and out.It could, however, be nicer to drive. Like so many other cars in its sector - though to nothing like the same extent as some of them - the Passat is more ponderous over lumpy surfaces than it used to be, even though Volkswagen says it is no heavier than the previous version.The UK arm of the company brought some engineers over from Germany to show them just how awful some British roads are, but it hasn't helped the Passat, perhaps because there wasn't time to fix it, or because the engineers didn't believe what they had found, or because they didn't know what to do about it.Whichever it was, the Passat lumbers over the gentlest undulations and transmits the effect of more sudden bumps all too readily into the passenger compartment. It's enough to make this merely a very good car when it might otherwise have been a great one.You can, if you choose, make this car ride even more poorly by choosing the Sport specification, but as discussed in our launch review the effects of the lower-profile tyres and stiffer suspension are sufficiently grim to render this a bad move. Volkswagen doesn't sell a 138bhp TDI Passat in range-topping SEL trim (though this is available with the 168bhp version of the same engine) so the realistic choice is between the SE, as seen here, and the entry-level S.There's £900 in it, and what you get for the extra investment includes cruise control, six-way adjustment for the driver's seat and height and lumbar adjustment for the front passenger's, rear electric windows, a centre armrest with a four-litre air-conditioned storage space underneath, and eight-speaker radio/CD player (the S gets four speakers) and slightly fancier alloy wheels.The test car had a number of optional extras, namely uprated air-conditioning, heated front seats and windscreen washer jets, rear side airbags and satellite navigation with a CD autochanger. These brought the price up to £20,695, and while this means that an important psychological line has been crossed I don't have a problem thinking of the Passat as a £20,000-plus car.All current Passats get a keyless door-locking and engine-starting system, and a push-button electronic handbrake is standard across the range too. If I found myself in the position of being a potential Passatist I might prefer these to be delete options.They're not, though, so I would have to live with them, though I wouldn't much like it - they are more complicated to use than a conventional key and handbrake lever respectively, so I don't feel they add anything helpful to the ownership experience. And, oh my, what if they went wrong? Engine 1968cc, 4 cylinders Power 138bhp Fuel/CO2 47.1mpg / 159g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 9.8 seconds Top speed 130mph Price £18,405 Details correct at publication date
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