Fusion Dash Kits

2012 Volkswagen Passat 3.6 SEL Premium Road Test

By Warren Clarke, Automotive Content Editor

Volkswagen's new plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is a bright, airy facility that shatters old notions about assembly-line gloom. The 2012 Volkswagen Passat is built here, and it's a car that the manufacturer hopes will shatter old notions about Volkswagen being merely a niche player in the American market for full-size sedans. We're in Chattanooga to drive the Passat on a trip that will take us some 100-plus miles to Nashville, home of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry.

The marketing folks at Volkswagen aren't shy about saying the Passat has been redesigned with American audiences in mind; this is a car crafted for the mainstream, created to compete squarely in the lucrative family-sedan segment. U.S. shoppers like 'em big, so the current model is 4 inches longer than its predecessor, with an additional 3 inches of rear legroom. U.S. shoppers also favor value, so the sedan has become more affordable, with a base price that's been slashed by $7 grand to start at around $20,000 (although the top-of-the line SEL model we drove has an MSRP closer to $33K).

Happily, quality didn't wind up on the cutting room floor. As we cruise through verdant Tennessee countryside, the Passat feels substantial and expensive on the road, treating us to comfort without sacrificing road feel. And its cabin — with impressive materials quality and Euro-clean design — offers quiet elegance in a segment often cursed by mundane aesthetics.

It's hard to make a wrong move in the family sedan segment these days, and Passat rivals like the Ford Fusion , Hyundai Sonata , Kia Optima and Mazda 6 are all tremendous picks for various reasons. Still, the 2012 Volkswagen Passat succeeds as the best choice for those who want their big family sedans served with a dollop of European refinement.

The 2012 Volkswagen Passat offers a wide range of engines: a 2.5-liter inline-5 rated at 170 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque; a 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbodiesel that produces 140 hp and 236 lb-ft of torque; and a 3.6-liter V6 good for 280 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque. The V6 in our test car is a willing accomplice in every adventure, easily getting up to speed in the fast lane and providing enough off-the-line thrust to sweeten the driving experience.

Our test car features a six-speed dual-clutch automated manual transmission, which is the standard setup in every V6-equipped Passat. It's a good match for the V6; unlike some transmissions geared more toward fuel economy, this six-speed isn't slow to downshift, and makes the most of the engine's power. At the Edmunds test track, this combination helps it accelerate to 60 mph from a standstill in 6.4 seconds on the way to completing the quarter-mile in 14.6 seconds at 96.4 mph. The 3,517-pound car doesn't come to a halt with the same confidence, however, as it takes 131 feet for the 235/45R18 Hankook Optimo H426 tires to stop rolling once the brakes are applied at 60 mph.

Ford fusion dash replacement problem

Otherwise, you'll either have to paint a new panel yourself (a 'for plastics' paint such as Krylon Fusion paint may work well), pay to have the panel professionally painted (expensive) or just deal with the black or silver. I'm guessing you have other center console panels that match that color (?), so the silver would look out of place, but the black my look ok if you just try it as-is. Remember, the monitor will become the focal point of that panel, the color of the panel won't matter as much as it did with the bland and un-exciting factory radio in there. I would go with the black panel and try it out, since it is in the dead center of the dash/console and the other colors surround it you may find that it doesn't look as bad as you imagined it would.

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