Making up for the pitiful 2011 choice of the Chevrolet Volt, Motor Trend has named the new 2012 Passat TDI the 2012 Car of the year.

There isn’t anything new here in our minds, the things that have made the TDI powered VWs so spectacular are the same things that Motor Trend cited as the reasons it won this year.

We have to commend the extra space and larger fuel tank, though.

Read more on Motor Trend.com. 2012 Motor Trend Car of the Year – Volkswagen Passat.

With over 700 miles and a first fill-up under our belt, we’ve gotten better acquainted with our 2012 Golf TDI. So far we like what we’ve experienced, with few exceptions. Our impressions follow.

2012 Golf TDI on Cape Cod

Although the MKVI is fairly new (this is its third year in the US), it’s an evolution from the MKV and most of you are pretty familiar with it by now. What’s special about the MKVI Golf is the bolstered seats, and nicer interior finishes. The interior looks durable, is great quality, but not luxurious. If you’re used to VWs you’ll be comfortable here. Finishes are excellent, the instruments are very readable, the MFD and stereo work well.
The rear seating area is more spacious than the MKIV, although the luggage area seems smaller. Sightlines are good, the cowl is low enough to provide good visibility, bu vision to the rear is more difficult. The C-pillar is wide and the rear window is fairly small, making parallel parking more challenging than in the MIV.

Lower Visibility Makes Parallel Parking Harder, but the 2-door Golf stll fits nicely in compact city spots...

So what is It like to drive? Not a lot like a TDI to those of us who’ve driven earlier TDIs for years. The engine is quieter, smoother, and more powerful than we’re used to. Cold starts are much quieter, and when warm the old saw “it doesn’t sound like a diesel” really is true. But there’s also good news: VW seems to have sorted out the driveability issues of the ’10 and ’11 cars. No stalling, lots of low speed torque, no stumbling. Power is good, impressive, even. We noticed that power seemed to be fading in 4th gear on a recent drive until we noticed we were passing 4000 RPM and 100 MPH. It got there remarkably easily.

6th Gear is Wonderfully Tall - Low RPM, High Speed Driving!

But as excellent as the common-rail TDI is, it’s the six-speed manual transmission that is the star. Light clutch, clear sift gates without being notchy, and gear ratios that are any diesel driver’s dream. 4th is good to over 100 MPH, 5th provides a great loafing gear on state highways, and 6th is a dream: 2000 RPM is 72 MPH, 2200 at an indicated 80. This gearing can’t help but contribute to the car’s fuel economy: we saw 42.8 MPG on our first tank despite a brand new engine, mixed driving, no special mileage techniques, and highway driving at 70+ MPH.

One major disappointment for MKIV owners was the mushy stock ride and lackluster handling. Understeer ruled. The MKV was considerably firmer, but in the MKVI VW got it right. The Golf still understeers, but you can get the rear to rotate by lifting in a corner. Turn in is crisp, the steering is linear, although the steering is somewhat numb. This may be in part because of the mediocre Continental all-season tires. Although they keep quiet, they’re eager to scrub in hard cornering and don’t provide much feedback. A good set of summer tires would be a big improvement.
The combination of firmer suspension, lower ride height than the sedan or wagon, and 17” wheels with 45 series tires makes for a firm ride. Road noise is noticeable on some surfaces, and the ride can get harsh on bad roads. Overall the ride-handling compromise is a good one, although some drives may prefer the taller ride height and 16” wheels the sedan provides.

Good Brakes Under Nice Wheels

Brakes? They work fine. They’re classic VW: sensitive to initial braking, spongy pedal, don’t inspire a lot of confidence in hard braking, ABS isn’t too easy to invoke. No surprises.

So what do we think so far? We’re very impressed. Roomy, refined, easy to drive, very quiet, spacious, tight and rattle free, great handling with acceptable ride quality. Although it’s too early to draw any conclusions on fuel economy, preliminary data is positive. This car could be a winner.

Most new cars feel “solid” when they are brand new, sitting on the lot. That solid feeling ends really quickly for many cars, but VWs always seemed immune, you could get into a VW with 200,000 miles on it and still get that satisfying solid feel from it. Then again VW interiors haven’t been known for their durability. The MkIV Jetta and Golf have serious peeling problems with dashboard pieces. The MkVI Golf was supposed to be an improvement in all areas, and in this article I will go over why I think that is true…

Lets start with the small details in the interior, little things that VW did that really help the overall experience.

The Lumbar Lever is a really nice touch...

The seats are typical VW with the wide range of adjustments that are lacking on many of its competitors including height and lumbar adjustment. The height is adjusted as you may be used to on earlier cars using a push-pull lever on the outside of the seat. The lumbar adjustment is more interesting – rather than a knob you get a much easier to use lever on the side of the seat. I find lumbar adjustment very important, especially on long drives where I will be changing my seating position.

Slide-Forward Lever on the Front Seat

Getting to the back seat is an easy affair and I was impressed again by the release lever on the seat. One of my cars is a MkIV Golf TDI (year 2000) and the handle is prone to being knocked off or broken by a over-zealous passenger getting into the backseat. The 2012 Golf TDI addresses this by protecting the bottom edge of the lever. It looks good too.

Seats fold down easily & without removing the headrests...

The rear seats fold down and are split 60/40. Thankfully folding down the seats does not require either lifting up the seat bottoms nor removing the head rests. In this two-door model I was able to release and flip down the back seats completely from the hatch and I did not need to use the side doors at all. Folding the rear seat back up is also headache free as the seatbelt is out of the way enough not to get stuck behind the seat.

The belt is far enough out of the way that it won't get stuck behind the seat back.

Overhead lighting is well done too. The front overhead lighting console incorporates some red ambient lighting as well as the controls for the Bluetooth integration with a cellphone. All controls have text that is backlit in red so they are easy to find, see and use at night. There is also a sunglass holder, but we’re not using it yet. The console has the two independent passenger and driver map light.

2012 Golf TDI Overhead Console

Rear passengers get their own map lights as well, though their controls aren’t backlit.

The rear seat lights have plenty of power to fully illuminate the backseat.

Thats a short outline of little stuff that we really liked. The next chapter we’ll go over the 2012 Golf TDI Interior from the drivers seat!

The 2012 Golf TDI is the 2nd model year production of the highly anticipated MkVI Golf TDI with VW’s new 2.0L, common-rail “clean diesel”. All of us here at TDIBlog are staunch fans of the earlier TDIs, so its taken lots of convincing to try out one of the new models.

2012 Golf TDI Side Shot - Note the Blue "I"

This is chapter one of what may be a 10-year long-term test, to see if this Golf TDI is as spectacular as its older sibling.

We picked up our vehicle on a Saturday from Paul Clark Volkswagen in Brockton, Massachusetts. Paul Clark is a smaller VW dealer and it not part of a larger “family of dealers” so the experience is much more personal than we’ve had in the past with other dealerships. The owner, Paul Clark, is an active part of daily operations and that seems to make a large impact on the experience.

For 2012 a lot of the “new engine” bugs seem to be worked out. Reports of fuel-pump failure have dropped like a rock in recent months. In my experience the build quality has improved as well. VW seems to have figured out how to streamline production and make improvements without adding much cost.

There are some tradeoffs – the 2012 packages and options are much more limited than they were in 2011. For instance Xenon/HID headlamps are not available outside of a large, expensive performance package. Our vehicle is a 2-door base model, no options. For the exterior we chose Graphite Blue – and we are very pleased with how this color looks in person. Its got great depth and “flake” in the metallic.

2012 Golf TDI - Graphite Blue

The interior of the 2012 Golf is only available in black – “You can get any color you want as long as its black.” But we think it looks really great. The seat bottoms are a tough-feeling, tight weave cloth with a white-gray pattern on the top surfaces. Along with contrasting stitching the seat design is very tasteful, though not exciting. As we mentioned, the build quality seems very, very good. We will go over the car’s interior material quality in a later post.

With 50 miles on the car so far we are thrilled with how it feels and drives. Our next report will focus on driving and feel, stay tuned!

The MkIV Jetta, Golf and New Beetle TDI are truely special vehicles. Even now, almost 14 years after the first arrival of the A4 chassis and ALH, 1.9 TDI diesel engine, many of us still use one as our daily driver.

So, 10 years on, stuff starts breaking. These cars were designed to last a few hundred thousand, certainly, but 300,000 miles and 10 years? Thats a lot of abuse. The glove boxes and armrest hinges are the two most common points of failure.

Armrest Hinge Repair Kit available at IDParts.com

Thankfully, there is now a armrest repair kit available for MkIV Jetta, Golf and New Beetles. This kit is available at IDParts and by its creator, AARodriguezcorp

Installation outline past the break…

Installation is hands on but straightforward, and can be broken into three parts – remove old hinge, install first half of new hinge, put top in place & install second half of new hinge. The most difficult task is removing your old, broken hinge. This requires cutting the hinge off using a dremel, hacksaw or sawzall.

The replacement hinge is made to work even if there is some of the old hinge left on the cover. On the underside of the replacement hinge there are two groves that accomodate the leftover material. The groves fit with the leftovers nicely, so it may actually be easier to align the hinge with some of the original hinge left on the cover.

The replacement hinge comes in two pieces. The first piece will be installed while the armrest top is still out of the car. Use the groves and leftover hinge material to align the first piece, then use one of the self-tapping screws to secure the hinge-half to the armrest top.

Now we must go into the car with the armrest top. Align the first half of the hinge into one of the hinge holes in the armrest. With that side in, take the second half of the replacement hinge and align that with the opposite side hole.

Once the second half is aligned you can snap the two halves together. Its a tight fit and it will only click in if its correctly aligned so it may take a few tries to get it right.

With the second half snapped in all thats left is to finish attaching the remaining self-tapping screws.

Installation video also available below:

In our first HOW-TO video, Corey installs an IDParts Aluminum Belly Pan on a 2004 Jetta TDI.

IDParts Aluminum Belly Pan

The 2012 Beetle was announced a few months ago and is now available at your local dealer.  We have one question: What gives?  No TDI?

Yes, we know that it will be available next year, but why not now?  Honestly the 2.5L engine should be completely forgotten about and removed from the VW lineup.  Beetle 2.0T and Beetle 2.0 TDI, what more do you need?

Pricing is out of line with what I’d expect as a consumer.  The New Beetle started in Golf/Jetta territory as an entry price.  This version, with a 2.5L gas engine and a 5-speed stick is 19,795!  Thats nearly identical to the same configuration 2012 Passat!

The Beetle looks cool, yes, and I think VW is going for this high-end compact segment with this one.  That segment works if you have good options, great build quality and GOOD engines.  The 2.0T would make a great “hot hatch”, but the 2.5? Yuck.

I hope the Beetle TDI isn’t priced similar to the Passat TDI…that’d be crazy…

We just completed our full review of the all new 2012 Passat TDI and the hardest question to answer was wether it was better than its siblings, the Jetta TDI, Golf TDI and SportWagen TDI.

We are in the middle of deciding which of the new models we want to pick up.  Here are some strong points for each model.

Jetta TDI

• Lowest Base Price

Golf TDI

• Great Size
• Made in Germany
• True “Euro” car that is the same as the European Golf
• Euro-ness means great upgrade options

Passat TDI

• Made in USA – means more value for the price
• Extremely Spacious
• Higher Quality Interior
• Apparently more efficient

SportWagen TDI

• Extreme Utility
• Also identical to European counterpart
• Great upgrade options

Those are our thoughts on the strong suits of all the models.  Which model would you buy?  Let us know in the comments below…

Chapter One of our 2012 Passat TDI Full Review comes from Peter, TDIBlog Editor, Priciple of IDParts.com and long time enthusiast and member of TDIClub.com.

I had the opportunity to drive the Passat several times over a three day period, covering over 100 miles total.  I drove it on a variety of roads including freeways, suburban streets, winding country roads, state highways, mostly in light to moderate traffic.  Here are my impressions.

Front, Angled Shot

Drivetrain

Acceleration is surprisingly strong, considering the size and power output of the engine and the size of the car.  It isn’t a rocket, but it feels quick and responsive.  I found the engine had what I can only describe as intake noise on moderate acceleration, but I couldn’t detect any turbo whine.  No lag, either.

I have absolutely no complaints about the DSG: it works so well in this application it makes me wonder if some of the hesitation and lag issues folks with A3s and Sportwagens have really are engine tuning and not the transmission, and if using urea on the Passat makes it drive better overall. The shifts are lightening fast: it’s fun to watch how fast the tach needle drops when it shifts.  The Sport mode holds gears longer, downshifts more aggressively, and hangs on to 5th even at 60 MPH so you don’t have to wait for a downshift if you want to accelerate.   However, I guess they decided that paddles or steering wheel switches weren’t in character for this car.  Good thing that selecting Sport mode eliminates the need for shifting yourself.

NVH

First, engine noise at idle from inside the cabin is almost non-existent.  There’s the above-mentioned intake noise on acceleration, but the engine is quiet at cruise.  Over 60 MPH you can hear noticeable wind noise around the A-pillars and mirrors.  Road noise, however, is most noticeable.  The Hankook tires seem sensitive to varying road surface and transmit a lot of noise to the cabin.  They also squeal with little provocation.

There’s no indication of diesel “shake” in the steering wheel or controls.  The 18” wheels on the SEL to thump quite noticeably on bumps at low speeds.  I suspect 17s would be both smoother and quieter.  It’s too bad 16” wheels are only available on the 2.5L base model: it would be nice to see 16” alloy wheels on the TDI.  They’d ride better, and most likely be lighter, too, for better acceleration and fuel economy.

Handling

First, this is not a sports car, or even a particularly sporty sedan.  The low profile 18s provide good turn in, but the car almost always wants to understeer.  Lifting in a hard turn can bring the tail around slowly, but it also invokes the ASR, quickly ending your fun.  And I don’t think there’s a way to defeat the ASR.

The electric power steering provide some road feel and isn’t too light once past parking lot speeds.  Body roll is well controlled in moderate cornering.  Like many VAG products, the dampers initially feel firm, but get weak when pushed hard: the car has that VW/Audi characteristic feel of too much spring and not enough shock.  This is a safe handling, predictable car that won’t get anyone in trouble, although they’d have to work pretty hard to have much fun, either.  Higher speeds and in long, sweeping turns allow the stiff chassis and suspension tuning to show off its stability and steering control.

Interior

High-MPG Reading

Although they look flat, the seats are really comfortable, visibility is pretty good although it has the same high beltline issues that so many cars have these days (especially when trying to back up). Finish inside is nice although I agree with others here that the analog clock looks a little cheap.  Also, there are two other clocks (one in the MFA and one in the Nav/stereo display. How many do I need? The Fender stereo sounds good, seems to have plenty of power, although the controls respond sluggishly and require a firm touch on the screen. The Nav display does pick up reflections at night when it’s off, which was a bit distracting.  Also distracting is the footwell lights that stayed on.  I’m sure there’s a way to turn them off but I didn’t figure it out in my short time with the car.

2012 Passat TDI Rear Seat

Interior space is very generous to say the least.  The back seat is very large: it easily is larger than the W124 Mercedes-Benz that was the benchmark for the mid-90s Passats.

1993 Mercedes 300D Rear Seat

Conclusion

In SE trim the 2012 Passat  TDI has got to be one of the best values in the mid-priced sedan class.  The drivetrain is both unique and excellent, interior quality is good, it has tons of room, and it has enough of that “German Sedan” feel for most.  But, as others have mentioned, it feels more like a German Camry or Accord than a VW.  Sitting in a 2012 Golf immediately after driving the Passat pointed out how much more Euro the Golf is than the Passat: controls, trim, appearance, and, yes, level of finish.  But let’s be fair: the 2012 Passat is, overall, as good inside as the last Passat TDI (2004-2005) and is a huge amount better than the B4 Passat.  I predict this car will do well, although maybe not with all VW fanatics.  Like its little sister the Jetta sedan, it’s gone mainstream.

2005 Passat TDI on Left, 2012 Passat TDI on Right