The ‘swagen: 2009 VW Passat R36 Estate
Discussion
After six months with a 2006 Audi A6 Avant 4.2 V8 (Readers Car here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... as a practical family car to chauffeur my newborn son around, I decided it was a little too decadent fuel economy and maintenance-wise.
I planned to get something big-booted but cheaper to run and fuel and considered everything from Toyota Avensis and Honda Civic Estates to 3.0-litre supercharged A6 Avants and 1.8 TSI Skoda Octavia 4x4s (with a view to getting a 214bhp remap).
As you can see, I failed on the 30mpg+ and sub-£360 road tax fronts and yesterday picked up this R36 four hours away from home. However, I worked out that over the first 250 miles (mostly motorway, lots of 50mph and 60mph roadworks, some leisurely country road driving and a little bit of town driving), that the car returned 34.4mpg. The A6 wouldn’t have done that, despite the VW being the faster car…
I’ll fill in lots more details about specs and other details in time, but for now here it is:
I planned to get something big-booted but cheaper to run and fuel and considered everything from Toyota Avensis and Honda Civic Estates to 3.0-litre supercharged A6 Avants and 1.8 TSI Skoda Octavia 4x4s (with a view to getting a 214bhp remap).
As you can see, I failed on the 30mpg+ and sub-£360 road tax fronts and yesterday picked up this R36 four hours away from home. However, I worked out that over the first 250 miles (mostly motorway, lots of 50mph and 60mph roadworks, some leisurely country road driving and a little bit of town driving), that the car returned 34.4mpg. The A6 wouldn’t have done that, despite the VW being the faster car…
I’ll fill in lots more details about specs and other details in time, but for now here it is:
furrywoolyhatuk said:
Love these, the sound is sublime, even with a standard exhaust. I looked at the saloon version of these but ended up with an r32 golf instead. Not sure how many of these r36’s are in the Uk roads but it can’t be many, great buy.
It really is. It sounds magnificent - louder than I expected.Think it’s only 150 or so…hence why I thought the time to take advantage of the most powerful VR6 ever made (at least that’s what I think it is…) was now.
fantheman80 said:
Lovely. As your man maths is in full swing there are super charger kits for these...!
Nice idea, but I made money on my less sensible A6 V8 and lost money on my more sensible - and cheaper - S60 2.4 T5, so I think rare, exotic-ish cars don’t even need man maths sometimes…or they blow up and cost you tens of thousands!The amount of power is just right for now. May graduate to a supercharged Audi S4 in time. And then remap that to near-500hp…
RoVoFob said:
After six months with a 2006 Audi A6 Avant 4.2 V8 (Readers Car here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... as a practical family car to chauffeur my newborn son around, I decided it was a little too decadent fuel economy and maintenance-wise.
I planned to get something big-booted but cheaper to run and fuel and considered everything from Toyota Avensis and Honda Civic Estates to 3.0-litre supercharged A6 Avants and 1.8 TSI Skoda Octavia 4x4s (with a view to getting a 214bhp remap).
As you can see, I failed on the 30mpg+ and sub-£360 road tax fronts and yesterday picked up this R36 four hours away from home. However, I worked out that over the first 250 miles (mostly motorway, lots of 50mph and 60mph roadworks, some leisurely country road driving and a little bit of town driving), that the car returned 34.4mpg. The A6 wouldn’t have done that, despite the VW being the faster car…
I’ll fill in lots more details about specs and other details in time, but for now here it is:
That looks superb and I'm not even a huge VW fan... I planned to get something big-booted but cheaper to run and fuel and considered everything from Toyota Avensis and Honda Civic Estates to 3.0-litre supercharged A6 Avants and 1.8 TSI Skoda Octavia 4x4s (with a view to getting a 214bhp remap).
As you can see, I failed on the 30mpg+ and sub-£360 road tax fronts and yesterday picked up this R36 four hours away from home. However, I worked out that over the first 250 miles (mostly motorway, lots of 50mph and 60mph roadworks, some leisurely country road driving and a little bit of town driving), that the car returned 34.4mpg. The A6 wouldn’t have done that, despite the VW being the faster car…
I’ll fill in lots more details about specs and other details in time, but for now here it is:
What's to look out for if considering one of these?
I've seen a few listed on the usual places, mainly Jap imports and that's fine with me as having owned quite a few Jap imports inc my previous BMW E39 Touring, I'll always consider them
Any must haves and no-no's?
Court_S said:
That’s pretty damn cool and very rare.
The last one I saw had been full on ‘scened’; airbags, silly camber, stretched tyres etc which was a shame.
They seem to be either modded out or very standard. Hoping to keep this as standard and invisible as possible. Sure the exhaust is extra fruity, though, which is fine with me!The last one I saw had been full on ‘scened’; airbags, silly camber, stretched tyres etc which was a shame.
Bright Halo said:
Great choice, a real pistonheaders car!
Is the exhaust and aftermarket item as the tailpipes look none standard?
Please share the spec etc.
The exhaust wasn’t advertised as being non-standard, though it is louder than I expected. Will have to have a look under the car…Is the exhaust and aftermarket item as the tailpipes look none standard?
Please share the spec etc.
Will write a bit more about the car and add some new pics in the next couple of days. Got the spec from VW earlier. Options are as follows. Glad to have the Dynaudio speakers, though they seem only good rather than great, but the optional leather/alcantara seats are fantastic…
-[8E8E] Reflex Silver Metallic
-[IU] Black/Grey 'San Remo'
-[4KF] Heat insulated tinted glass from B pillar back
-[7A2] 6 disc CD-autochanger in glove compartment
-[7RT] DVD (Europe)
-[8A0] Rear view camera & sensors
-[9WL] Multimedia socket to connect external audio source
-[R2D] DVD nav/radio touchscreen, Dynaudio s/pack
-[WL8] Leather trim 'Vienna' / micro fiber
tgr said:
How is the DSG gearbox and has it been correctly serviced? Most adverts are silent about that, which makes me worry (sure yours is fine!)
Absolutely fantastic. I’ve driven a lot of new dual-clutch autos and this is as slick and quick-to-shift as any of them. Really impressed. Think it’s had two DSG services over its years, though it could probably do with a third now. Think it also had a new mechatronic and rebuild at one stage…d_a_n1979 said:
That looks superb and I'm not even a huge VW fan...
What's to look out for if considering one of these?
I've seen a few listed on the usual places, mainly Jap imports and that's fine with me as having owned quite a few Jap imports inc my previous BMW E39 Touring, I'll always consider them
Any must haves and no-no's?
DSG and Haldex services, cam chains, normal servicing and condition aspects, are the main things I think.What's to look out for if considering one of these?
I've seen a few listed on the usual places, mainly Jap imports and that's fine with me as having owned quite a few Jap imports inc my previous BMW E39 Touring, I'll always consider them
Any must haves and no-no's?
All of those are harder to assess with imports. Mine has a few small rust spots and iffy paintwork, so I want to get that addressed. The paintwork and rust situation was much better on my three-year-older A6….
Sat-nav and the 600W Dynaudio speakers were must-haves for me. Many people want the blue paintwork, too. I did, though I love the subtleness of the silver. The leather and alcantara seats look better than the standard cloth ones to me, too.
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