2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI SE

2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI SE 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI SE
Short Take Road Test

In the car world, being one of a kind can be a dubious distinction. There’s only one Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet for a reason. In the case of the Volkswagen Passat TDI, though, you might wonder why no other automaker has bothered to offer a relatively affordable, diesel-powered mid-size sedan since VW gave us its Passat TDI of 2004–05. There are other diesel sedans but no mainstream family ones. And so the new Passat TDI occupies a very slender market segment all by itself.

Here’s one reason why there are no copycats: Diesel models sell in small volumes here and usually require expensive exhaust after-treatments to meet emissions standards. VW expects buyers to order just 12 percent of their Passats with compression ignition.

Bladder-busting range.

As for the cost, some of the expense of engineering the Passat’s drivetrain is defrayed by the Golf,  Jetta,  and Audi A3—all of which share the 2.0-liter engine. Output is the same sensible 140 horses as in those other cars; torque remains a mighty 236 pound-feet. The rest of the toll is passed on to the customer: The entry-level manual TDI SE starts at $26,765—$2270 more than a 2.5-liter gas-fed Passat SE (our car’s sunroof and six-speed dual-clutch auto added $1900).

EPA figures of 31 mpg city and 43 highway for the manual are excellent but don’t pay off in cost savings until at least 60,000 miles. The automatic is rated lower, at 30 mpg city and 40 highway. VW’s press department figures that the six-speed’s shorter gearing hurts it when subjected to the quirks of the EPA test. But we saw 45 mpg on a round trip from Ann Arbor to Long Island, New York, and our observed 42 mpg overall reflects the high proportion of freeway miles on that jaunt.

For unexplained reasons, our car’s fuel gauge showed one tick short of full after a fill-up, but that didn’t stop us from going 670 miles each way on a single tank. From fully dry, the Passat will theoretically hold 18.5 gallons of fuel. Such range freed us from worrying if the next highway exit offered diesel. The Passat also alleviates any anxiety over classic diesel issues such as smelly exhaust and noisy engines. This tailpipe is odor-free, and the clatter is muffled.

If you plan on purchasing a Passat TDI, order it with the manual transmission. The dual-clutch automatic is an awkward match with the diesel engine.

Just like the 3.6-liter Passat that won our comparo last month, the TDI is an excellent highway cruiser. It glides over expansion joints and wafts over bumps. Cornering is less rewarding despite a skidpad figure of 0.82 g, or 0.03 higher than the Passat 3.6’s. The TDI feels nose-heavy, and the steering is slow to respond to driver inputs. But the brakes offer easy modulation and a commendable 178-foot 70-to-0 stopping distance (13 feet shorter than the six-cylinder).

A 0-to-60 time of 8.6 seconds is decent, too, but the quarter-mile figure of 16.8 seconds at 83 mph reflects the patience required to cope with the car’s meager 140 horsepower. What the numbers will never show is how awkwardly the diesel mates with the dual-clutch gearbox. It’s like a Great Dane trying to mount a Shih Tzu in there. The engine’s preferred combination of high torque and low rpm results in bumpy shifts.

As with the SEL we drove last month, this Passat’s interior shows no marks from the beancounter’s ax that befell the cheaper Jetta. The SE comes with brushed aluminum-look trim around the beltline, soft-touch plastic on the top of the dashboard, and a touch-screen radio.

So besides cost, why haven’t automakers rushed to crowd in on VW’s family-diesel monopoly? We suspect carmakers would rather make hybrids as they’re more buzzworthy  to both government bureaucrats and corporate marketing types looking to boost their green creds. Meanwhile, the TDI ­quietly achieves something we have yet to experience in a hybrid—better-than-promised fuel economy. It’s the sort of thing we wish other car companies were eager to copy.