VW Passat Estate
It looks restrained, but established
carrier is still a great buy
Compared to the Mazda 6 Tourer, the
Volkswagen Passat Estate looks rather restrained. Its straight-edged styling is
smart enough, while the Sport model adds attractive 17-inch alloy wheels and
silver roof rails, but you’d struggle to call it exciting.
Inside, there’s an air of quality that
lifts the Passat a notch above the Mazda. The brushed aluminum trim on the
dashboard gives things a premium feel, while the switchgear works with a
precision that the Mazda can’t quite mach.
VW
Passat Estate front
It’s easy for the driver to get comfortable,
as there’s plenty of seat and wheel adjustment, plus lots of space, too. And
while getting in and out isn’t quite as easy, as the back doors are narrower
than the Mazda’s, once you’re in the rear there’s as much room as in either
rival, the seats are comfortable and the big windows mean it feels spacious.
The Passat is the clear leader here for
boot space. It has a capacity of 603 liters with the seats up – that’s 50
liters ahead of the Hyundai and nearly 100 liters up on the Mazda. As with the
6 Tourer, the VW has levers set into the sides of the boot that allow you to
fold the back seats easily. Once folded, there’s a maximum of 1,731 liters on
offer, but that’s only 12 liters ahead of the i40 Tourer.
Inside,
there’s an air of quality that lifts the Passat a notch above the Mazda
While the Passat has the largest capacity,
the load cover is rather fiddly when compared to the Mazda’s. Press it and it
retracts easily, but you’ll find it a bit of a reach to pull back again, and it
doesn’t always engage in the guides on either side of the boot.
VW
Passat Estate boot
On the road, the Passat and 6 Tourer were
closely matched for performance. The VW is marginally more powerful than the
Mazda, but the latter has shorter gear ratios, so the Passat had to give second
best in all our tests. However, a slick gearbox and instant throttle response
mean it never feels slow, and there’s more than enough overtaking power.
In corners, again the VW couldn’t better
the 6 Tourer. While it’s badged Passat Sport, and rides 15mm lower than the
standard version, it doesn’t feel quite as sharp to drive as the Mazda. Sure,
there’s plenty of grip, but the steering can’t match the 6 for feedback, and
the stability control cuts in too readily when pressing on. However, our car
was fitted with $1,208 adaptive dampers, which helped to smooth out the ride.
The
VW is marginally more powerful than the Mazda
In terms of costs, the Passat is only $75
more than the Mazda, at $40,718. But it has less kit as standard, with heated
leather seats, keyless entry and xenon lights all on the options list.
Elsewhere, road and company car tax are on a par with the Mazda’s, while both
models returned 44mpg on test. The VW can be had with a fixed-price servicing
deal, too, although surprisingly it has poorer residuals.
But is the all-round package convincing
enough to beat its two rivals here?
Specs
·
Price: $40,718
·
Engine: 2.0-liter 4cyl, 175bhp
·
0-60mph: 8.0 seconds
·
Test economy: 44.0mpg/9.7mpl
·
CO2: 123g/km
·
Annual road tax: $158
Hyundai i40 Tourer
Is a high gadget count enough to
steal family estate crown?
When the i40 Tourer was launched in 2011,
it marked a new era for Hyundai. This was the company’s first family estate –
and a handsome one at that. It features what the company calls ‘fluidic sculpture’
design, and in some ways looks quite similar to the Mazda 6 Tourer. There are
smooth curves in the bodywork, while the large front and rear light clusters
are a distinctive addition.
Tourer
is smooth curves in the bodywork, while the large front and rear light clusters
are a distinctive addition
Marking out the interior is a swooping dash
design with a prominent central binnacle. The dials are lit in distinctive blue
with white lettering, while the trip read-out between the dials looks neat.
It’s just a shame quality isn’t quite up to the standards set by its rivals
here. Everything is well built, but the plastics seem harder, the piano black
trim feels cheap and the spread-out buttons on the center console force you to
stretch for the stereo controls.
The Hyundai is large, though. There’s
plenty of room up front, the standard-fit panoramic sunroof doesn’t cut into
headroom and rear passengers get plenty of space, too. Unlike the Passat, the doors
open wide as well.
Decent-quality
Hyundai dash has the edge on kit, and neat styling hides a large boot
With the rear seats in place, the boot has
47 liters more space than the 6’s, at 553 liters. Folding the seats flat frees
up 1,719 liters, and that’s only 12 less than in the Passat. But this process
isn’t as easy in the Hyundai, as it does without its rivals’ seat release in
the boot.
Hit the road, and it’s immediately obvious
that the i40 Tourer is underpowered in this company. The 134bhp 1.7-liter
diesel gives away around 40bhp to its rivals, so the car lagged behind in our
performance tests. It wasn’t helped by the notchy, vague shift of the six-speed
manual gearbox. The engine had a distinctive surge in its power delivery when
it was above 2,500rpm, but the note became rather harsh compared to its rivals
here.
The
i40 Tourer is the best company car choice, and road tax is cheaper than for its
rivals, too
It corners, the i40 isn’t the most exciting
car to drive. Lifeless steering doesn’t inspire confidence, there’s a fair
amount of body roll and the Hyundai defaults to under steer if you’re pushing
on. Those large 18-inch alloys give a relatively comfortable ride, but the car
falls behind the Passat for cruising. Where it makes up for its dynamic
shortcomings is in terms of costs, though. While the $41,198 Premium SE is the
most costly car here, there’s loads of kit on board. Xenon lights, a heated
steering wheel, panoramic sunroof, lane departure warning, four heated seats
and lane assist are all standard. A Passat with this level of kit would need
options costing $11,250-plus.
Hyundai
i40 Tourer back
The i40 Tourer is the best company car
choice, and road tax is cheaper than for its rivals, too. But while the claimed
economy figures are the highest here, the Hyundai returned only 41.1mpg on
test, and residuals of 37.5 per cent are the poorest of this trio.
Can the i40 Tourer’s generous kit tally
help it take the win against its faster rivals?
Specs
·
Price: $40,643
·
Engine: 2.2-liter 4cyl, 173bhp
·
0-60mph: 7.7 seconds
·
Test economy: 44.0mpg/9.7mpl
·
CO2: 121g/km
·
Annual road tax: $158
Verdict
All three cars in this test have their
strengths, offering bags of variety for buyers. The Mazda 6 Tourer is as
involving to drive as its saloon brother, and it’s superbly efficient, too,
while the large boot means it’s an obvious alternative if you need the extra
space.
The Volkswagen Passat has sporting
pretensions, even if it can’t keep pace with the Mazda, but it makes up for
this by being the most practical car here. You just have to raid the options
list to bring it up to the same spec as its rivals, which soon makes it look
expensive.
And then there’s the Hyundai i40. It falls
between the other cars for practicality, and it’s loaded with kit. Yet it feels
underpowered in this company, and isn’t very exciting to drive
As a result, the 6 Tourer takes victory. It
offers the best mix of economy, practicality, kit and performance in a
sharp-suited package.
