Showing off with plastic is something Volkswagen have done before. You might think this is the Cross Passat, but no. This is the Passat Alltrack. It does have 4WD and offroad capacities. Here in the Austrian snow, you’d be lost with a normal Passat on summer tires. But not me. Hopefully. The Alltrack basically has the same technique as the Touareg and Tiguan. 4Motion, permanent 4WD which under normal circumstances will send 90 percent of the power tot the front wheels. If it gets rough, more power will be send to the rear axle. And that alone makes this car more capable on snow. Rather unusual for a stationcar is this offroad-button. It gives you an offroad programme, everything is optimised for offroading. The throttle can be controlled more precise. DSG will shift up at higher REVs, in manual it won’t shift up by itself. Also, ABS will change. ABS blocks and releases very fast. The interval gets longer in offroad. Sounds strange, but a blocking wheel pushes debris ahead. And that will help the car to slow down. It even has hill descent control. Rolling down, the car takes over control of throttle and brake. So I can concentrate on the steering. This is not a very rough environment, but the Alltrack feels okay. A normal Passat won’t do this. The question is though: who would buy this car in the Netherlands? I have no clue. It’s a lot more expensive, and for what use? Perhaps if your wife owns a horse and a trailer. Or you go on wintersport ten times a year. But this won’t become a bestseller back home. The Alltrack goes on sale with 4 engines, 2 diesel and 2 petrol. 4WD comes standard with the most powerful diesel and petrol. On the smallest diesel 4WD is optional. The smallest petrol is fake-4WD. + good offroad-programme + Complete – Expensive – 170 hp TDI not very fast on motorway .
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