Volkswagen Phaeton W-12 4MOTION

Volkswagen Phaeton W-12 4MOTION Volkswagen Phaeton W-12 4MOTION
Short Take Road Test

In Japan, you can buy a Toyota luxury sedan called the Century. It features a 48-valve 12-cylinder engine, an air suspension, and Magic Fingers vibrating seats. We asked why the Century was sold nowhere but Japan. "Because," explained Engine magazine editor Masafumi Suzuki, "no one but us would admit to driving an $85,500 Toyota."

In America, you can buy a Volkswagen luxury sedan called the Phaeton W-12. It features a 48-valve 12-cylinder engine, an air suspension, and Magic Fingers vibrating seats. Purchase the automobile depicted here and there will come a time, like it or not, when your neighbor asks, "Hey, what kind of new car did you buy?" You're going to have to look him in the eye and say, "Well, I bought a $91,415 Volkswagen."

Before the poleaxed expression departs his face, you might add, "But, hey, my VW shares its platform with the Bentley Continental GT." If he still looks as if he might momentarily laugh so hard that fluid exits one or more nostrils, flip him your car's keys. First thing he'll do is start this VW and not realize it's running-yes, it's that silent, with no telltale vibration thrumming up through the steering column. The engine at idle sounds like the low-speed fan on a Cadillac Seville, which, by the way, this VW exceeds in length.

What will happen next is that your neighbor will come close to breaking the speed limit by the time he reaches the end of your driveway. Not because the Phaeton W-12 is a hot rod-although 0 to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds is impressive for anything weighing 5436 pounds-but because it attains illegal speeds as if by magic. There is no chirp at launch, thanks in part to 4MOTION all-wheel drive. And the 6.0-liter W-12-essentially two narrow-angle V-6s attached to a common crankcase at 72 degrees-delivers its 420 horses with electric-motor-like smoothness, emitting only the serene whoosh of a jet four miles overhead. You're just wafted to colossal speeds, with 6000-rpm WOT upshifts clicking past as imperceptibly and silently as mile markers. The quarter-mile vanishes in 14.0 seconds, 1.1 second quicker than an eight-cylinder Phaeton we tested last December. There's so little drama involved, so little head snap, so few clues suggesting vehicular strain or stress, that a back-seat mother-in-law will remain blissful right through her weekly harangue about your apparent inability to afford an Audi.

The suspension's pneumatic struts and compressors are co-conspirators in this cosseting, with the long wheelbase and astounding mass eliminating any residual ride harshness or crash-through. Distant da-dumps suggest the chassis is getting a workout, but it's like scullery maids clicking and clacking in a faraway kitchen-soothing, gratifying, and none of your concern. In tight switchbacks and S-bends, understeer manifests early, as does noticeable body roll, at least in the "Basic" default damper mode. Still, major yumps are overcome with but one cycle of the dampers, and although the Phaeton always reminds that it is as large and heavy as Dresden, it rarely translates to outright ponderousness. Lateral grip is on par with an Audi A8L's. The suspension shows to best effect in high-speed sweepers, where it takes a confident set and delivers fine path control. It's like those spaceships in Close Encounters that floated up the hill after Richard Dreyfuss-silent, awesome, quicker than you'd think.

This flagship VW is not without flaws. Its steering is light-appropriate for an auto that many Europeans will deploy as a limousine-but the effort does not increase in step with cornering forces. The driver's seat is hard and lumpy, and we'd have preferred three or four modes of adjustment rather than 18. The long throttle travel takes some getting used to. The brakes are strong-70 mph is dissipated in 173 feet-but the first pulse of ABS is tricky to predict, also loud. Top speed is governed to a wimpy 130 mph. And there is an LCD screen that delivers multiple threats of mayhem and mutilation should you attempt to read it while driving. The screen won't even allow you to alter cabin temp without acknowledging its presence.

None of which matters when you're lounging on the vast rear sofa, whose seatback angle encourages sleep. Stretch your legs, read the Times, finger the exquisite eucalyptus trim, marvel at the 270-watt stereo. This may be the perfect car for millionaires worried about a profligate image. "Hey, man, I'm lean, I'm green, " Ralph Nader could tell voters without flinching. "I mean, come on, I drive a VW."

Fast and serene, the Phaeton W-12 is what might have resulted if Mercedes had its way with a Lexus LS430 and Jaguar did the interior. It's everything a luxury car should be. Question is, is it everything a Volkswagen should be?