Review Volkswagen Passat CC

As motoring journalists, we’re very lucky to have the newest and shiniest cars in town parked in our porch. After awhile, the “immune system” gets build up to a level that only the very captivating will leave a mark.

The Volkswagen Passat CC is one such car because it’s such a beauty. I caught myself looking back everytime I walked away. I unrolled the curtains so I could occasionally look at it while reading the papers. Such was the effect.

Continue reading the report after the jump.

While the Passat CC looks pretty good in pictures, only in real life does it create the abovementioned symptoms, like the captivating girl you remember so vividly one week after that brief five-second encounter.

The CC is not so much a makeover of the standard Passat, but it’s as if this was the original sketch VW designers came up with before sensibility took over. Personally, I think that this car looks better than the Mercedes-Benz CLS, which we presume was VW’s inspiration for its four-door coupe.

Like the CLS, the Passat CC sports a wider, lower and sleeker shape over the car on which it’s based on, and it shares no body panels with the normal Passat.

To be exact, the CC is 34mm longer, 35mm wider and significantly, sits 55mm lower. This, plus the high and rising waistline results in a slim glasshouse which contributes to the CC’s coupe aspirations. Oh, and aren’t those turbine 18-inch alloys sexy?

The frameless doors also do their part in adding sense of occasion. Open them and you’ll find a sumptous cabin in tan leather. Perhaps VW has gone overboard in trying to make the Passat CC special by having just two individual rear seats; while it was just nice for my family of four, the lack of seating for five could be a potential deal breaker for many.

Moving on, while the basic dash design is carried from the normal Passat, the cozy and cocooning surroundings (you sit much lower too) and the very luxe Nappa leather makes it all feel a tad more exotic. The brushed aluminium trim is convincing and VW’s excellent RCD 510 system (not found in GTI/Scirocco) is a welcome inclusion – the full colour touch screen unit incorporates a rear parking camera and ParkAssist, which gives a bird eye’s view of the car relative to obstacles. Just as well, because outward visibility – especially the over the shoulder rear three quarter view – isn’t great, thanks to the small glass area and thick pillars. Coming out of junctions could prove tricky too.