My sister is buying a car and is interested in the VW Passat....what enging should she get? Both are close in MPG's but what will hold up better ? Anyone know anything about VW's?????

 

why not the 8 cylinder?

 

Yeah... Get the Passat W8 if you can afford it.
Awesome car... i have heard nothing but good things about it.

 

She's my sister not a race car driver! Although I would love the 8!!!! She wants fuel economy and reliability.

 

Since she's not a racer get the V6.

 

Will it be reliable???

 

Yes my cousin has a 99 VR6 Passat and she has had no problems with her engine. The VR6 is a good engine...but with VW it isn't engine you should worry about its the electrical system that has all the problems.

 

yet again, we find another sucker!

 

yet again, we find another sucker!

 

i will chose VR6 passat instead of 1.8T..as passat is too heavy to have 1.8T engine which only has 150HP...1.8T will be good for VW golf or jetta or A4.. besides V6 engines have more torque and will run more smooth ..quieter too

 

2.8 sucks.

Buy the 1.8T and chip it and add an intake. That will it will be subtle and quiet but have more HP.

Technology is the only replacement for displacement.

 

So there is still no agreement on what to do...some liek to mod the 1.8 others like the more refined 6cyl.... Common guys! Someone speak out!

 

Autoweek just did an article on the W8 and in it they said that the passat no longer uses the VR6 engine.

I'm not sure if Autoweek was correct but they implied that it was either the 1.8L 4 or a 6-cyl engine that is fore-and-aft mounted. Apparently the VR6 was a transverse mounted engine that is no longer offered in the Passat.

I don't know if this is correct, but I happened to read it in Autoweek last night.

By the way, I traded in my 1991 Passat GL for the CL-S, so I was an early Passat adopter : )

 

1.8 has more potential

 

This years 1.8 Turbo Passat has 170 H.P. stock and with an inexpensive chip upgrade gives you 210-220. That's what i'd do.

 

How do you expect to get 40-50 H.P. just out of a chip? You've been watching to many movies.

 

Please, somebody back me up here !! Fact is dude, that's stage 1 . Stage 2 is over 250, and stage 3 over 300. The 1.8 is highly tuneable. Maybe you should read a car mag once and awhile.

 

you are completely correct sir the chip for my audi gives about 30-40 hp more

 

Ger the 1.8T they are very easy to chip if you need spped later, and they get more MPG then the 3.0 or 2.8 whatever liter it is!

 

My boy has a 1.8T ADR Chipped Stage 2 and that thing hauls ass.
He keeps up withe the CL now, I still take him but barely!

 

For the ulitmate MPG, she could get the TRD. My neighbour has one, and goes like 650 miles on a tank!

 

u mean TDI? Well, VW doesn't sell them anymore, but they plan on bringing them back soon.

 

My friend used to work for a VW dealer and he would not recommend any VW. The Passat is a great looking car and the VR6 is nice but there are too many electrical problems. As a matter of fact, about 4 months ago, I saw a Passat go up in flames (only engine bay) on Northern Blvd in LIC (about 2 blocks away from Paragon Acura). Then again, my cousin has had one for 2yrs with no problems.

 

Oops, yeah TDI. TRD is Toyota's thing. I didn't know they had stopped selling them...the VW site still shows the TDI available on the Jetta.

 

First, as someone pointed out earlier, the Passat doesn't use the VR6. It has the 2.8 V6 that the previous generation A4 used.

However, if she is not a "racer", she would be better off saving a few $$$ and getting the 1.8T. By the way, the 1.8T has been rated one of the best engines on the market for years. Plus, if she wants more power, she can chip it down the line.

Second, You should do a post on www.vwvortex.com. You would be better off getting opinions from actual owners.

 

Yep, VR6 Passat was '94-'97

The '98-'02 Passats share the chassis, 1.8T 4 cylinder &
60degree 2.8L V-6 with the '96-'01 A4

 

The V6 used in the Passat and the previous gen A4 is a good engine. I have a 99 A4 (lease is up next week) and the engine has been great. It'd got a nice wide torque band, so it's smooth across the board.

A couple things to remember with the Passat: Some options are only available on the V6 models, so make sure you know what you want on the car when you look at option groups. My wife looked at the Passat, but with V6 and the options she wanted, the price ran up really quickly. It's also a bigger and heavier car than it looks. It's basically a stretched A4 chassis, but with the v6 and without 4Motion, it's still pretty peppy. Throw on 4Motion, and it's pretty slow to accellerate, but runs smooth in all weather.