Words and cars for this next feature comes from Erik202: While i liked that Accord Touring posted recently and am willing to go along with the suggestion that its the best way to go fast while powering only the front wheels, having 4doors and staying in the DT price range, I’m curious which of these […]
The B5 generation Passat is 20 years old. Let that sink into your head. This car isn’t a spring chicken, but it doesn’t look like an artifact from a bygone era or something that your grandfather would drive. Yes, this next one is a bit scratched up, and the rear windows don’t work, but it […]
Today’s third Syncro de Mayo entry is not a vintage Vanagon or a sweet Mk 2 Golf Country, but it does have VW’s syncro all-wheel drive system which was later known as 4Motion. Those earlier syncro Golfs and Vanagons have become expensive due to the uniqueness of their drive systems, so we’ll have to dig into the early 2000s to find something appropriately cheap and ready for your 4×4 adventures. This B5.5 Passat is the unicorn of Passats — it has all of the right pieces — 6-speed, 4Motion, and 1.8T 4-banger. You might wonder why anyone would want the smallest engine in the family (versus the 2.8V6, or 4.0W8) but it is the lightest of all engines and easily more powerful than the V6 with the addition of a simple ECU chip and with some intake/exhaust and a small turbo upgrade it’ll blow the doors off the W8 as well. Trust me, get the 1.8T and feed it premium fuel and synthetic oil, you won’t regret it. Find this 2004 Volkswagen Passat GLS 4Motion offered for $2800 in Sacramento, CA via craigslist. Tip from Michael.
We automotive scavengers tend to spend a lot of time complaining about how product planners at the big auto companies miss our desired combination of big-engine and manual gearbox, in a wagon shape (hello BWM, hello Toyota, etc). However, there was a time when Volkswagen, of all people, got it right! They put the crazy W8 engine into the wagon version of the B5.5 generation Passat and let us have a 6-speed manual gearbox mated to all the wheels via VW’s 4Motion system. It was glorious and expensive and not many were sold, but used ones are cheap. Find this 2004 Volkswagen Passat W8 4Motion offered for $6,500 in Narragansett, RI via craigslist. Tip from Cory.
This next car comes as a tip from SecondMouse who writes: For some automobile enthusiasts, there is a special interest in sporting wagons. That interest often grows if we are talking about German cars, and it goes up a bunch if the vehicle in question is a honest-to-goodness manual transmission. Here is one that might […]
The Passat has been Volkswagen’s large family sedan option for many years and it is typically been based on a platform shared with the Golf and built in Mexico, but the B5 generation Volkswagen Passat was built on a Germany built platform shared with the Audi A4/A6 from 1997 through 2005. This means that it […]
The Volkswagen CC was a fastback 4-door coupe version of the Volkswagen B6/7 Passat that took the baby Audi feel of the Passat and added a swooping rear end and some firm sporty suspension. Power in the manual equipped versions came from a turbocharged 4-cylinder engine and today’s example has been boosted up a few […]
The B5 generation Passat was launched in the 1997 model year with a product that looked/drove/smelled a lot more like an Audi than the previous generation Passat. In 2001 Volkswagen introduced the B5.5, a cosmetically refreshed version of the platform that added more chrome trim (inside and out) some fancy taillights and a unique W8 […]
The B5 generation Volkswagen Passat had an interesting model lineup during its 1997 through 2005 lifecycle. It started with the basic 1.8T powered 5-spd stripper models that offered a surprisingly fun drive for economy car price and included a turbo-diesel option, but went all the way upmarket to a 4.0 liter W8 powered leather infused […]
This week’s Mid Week Match-Up is to help Jeff who is considering a trip to Mechanicsville…no…that isn’t right…Mechanicsburg, where you can find this 2004 Volkswagen Passat W8 with a 6-speed manual– BUT, we have a short window to talk him out of it. What should Jeff get instead? From Jeff: I know nothing about German cars. The only […]