2009 Volkswagen Passat CC V6 FSI Road Test Review

Both V6 and diesel CC models feature Continental’s remarkable ‘mobility’ tyres. These contain a viscous polymer seal (it feels a bit like chewing gum) coating the internal surface of each tyre that, for punctures up to 5.0mm in diameter, reseal automatically.

It’s remarkably effective, and, like most good ideas, brilliant for its simplicity.

It not only works, but the tyres feel and perform like any other high-performance tyre at the wheel (unlike, it has to be said, the harder on-road feel that comes with ‘run-flats’).

For protection, the CC comes as standard with driver and passenger front and side airbags, rear-seat passenger side airbags plus curtain airbags front and rear. There are also three-point seatbelts front and rear with pre-tensioners.

Dynamic safety features include anti-lock brakes, brake assist, traction control, and electronic stabilisation program (ESP), plus, of course, the security of Volkswagen’s sure-footed 4Motion all-wheel-drive system.

Nothing missing in that features list.

Mechanical Package

The CC V6 FSI, with six-speed DSG, and 4Motion AWD, shares the narrow-angle 3.6 litre V6 with the R36.

It musters up 220kW @ 6600rpm and 350Nm @ 2400-5300rp, and, as we commented in our ‘first drive’, though the CC V6 FSI is not as sprightly as the R36 (nor with the same glorious wail when being pressed), it has serious urge available should it be called upon.

The six-speed twin-mode DSG is selectable between Sport or normal Drive settings. When left to its own devices, shifts are blindingly quick in both modes, hanging on in the gears right to the redline in Sport.

Or you can take things in hand, snicking through the delightful six-speed twin-clutch box using the smallish (… perhaps too small) paddles on the wheel or the centre shifter.

Down below, directing traction where it’s needed, is Volkswagen’s proven 4Motion all-wheel-drive system with an electronic Haldex clutch.

Both diesel TDI and V6 FSI models come with Volkswagen’s Adaptive Chassis Control - switchable between Sport, Normal and Comfort modes. It works by analysing the signals from the steering, engine and DSG transmission and adjusts the damping to each wheel every millisecond.

Sport is harder and sharper; Comfort is softer, while Normal is… well, for normal driving. (A word about its effectiveness in ‘real-world’ driving shortly.)

Braking performance – ABS and ventilated discs front and rear – is at the top of the class, pulling up arrow-true and without a hint of fade on a long winding sub-snowline run while in our care.

The Drive

On the road the Passat CC performs very impressively; here its overall sophistication and premium segment credentials shine.

At the wheel it is quiet and well-balanced, and beautifully refined. Even at speed, wind noise is at a minimum, and road roar barely a distant shearing.

While you are aware of its weight over the Passat, it tips the scales at 1656kg, the CC’s double wishbone front end and multi-link rear communicates what’s happening with the wheels without jarring or pitching (depending on the chassis control selection).

The steering is speed sensitive, it lightens at lower about-town speeds and for parking, becoming heavier and with improved feel as speeds rise. Some may find it a little ‘dead’, but the CC is, after all, more sporting saloon than sports car.

With that potent 3597cc ‘narrow head’ V6 up front, the CC is deceptively swift. Even in the wet it does things with such balanced aplomb and all-wheel-drive surefootedness (thanks to the 4Motion system below) that you can be unaware of how quickly you are swallowing the kilometers.

According to Volkswagen, the V6 FSI will pull 0-100km/h in 5.6 seconds. Though that’s a feat we couldn’t achieve in a couple of unscientific runs, it is nevertheless seriously quick.

Off the line, the grip of the 4Motion has it bogging down momentarily, but it simply soars once speeds begin to rise.

Taking the DSG in hand in Sport mode, it can be punted around a mountain road with alacrity. Turn-in and grip is at performance car levels, only the weight of the CC reminds you that you’re in a large luxurious saloon.

But after a week on a range of urban, freeway and secondary country roads, my view of the effectiveness of the Active Chassis Control system – for real-world driving  – has changed somewhat.

While I can feel the 'setting' changes, I don’t discern a noticeable improvement in performance in the Sport mode setting when pushing the envelope.