Vw Passat B5 sport 4motion vs 2wd

[larry bertlemann]

Hi All,

I'm currently looking for VW Passat Sport (B5 model) and have been offered a 4motion version. I like the idea of 4wd as a safety feature, and as we live in the countryside I guess it would come in handy now and again too. Looking on Parkers suggests the 4wd version isn;t much worse on fuel (on average 5mpg worse than the 2wd version) so just wondered if there are any reliability issues with the 4wd system? At the end of the day I don't need 4wd so if it's going to be a maintenance nightmare ( the car in question is 12 years old now) maybe I am better off with a 2wd model.....


Any thoughts/experience would be appreciated.

THanks

[Kell]

It might come down to engine choice rather than necessarily the 4-motion.

Is it diesel or petrol? From my own experience, the only 4-motion Passat I knew of was a neighbour's car and that was the 2.5 TDi V6 engine.

At the time, I had the same engine in an A4, and had no problems from 70,000k to 120,000k, but he had no end of bother with his. I don't know specifics other than he got rid pretty quickly.

[corvus]

The 4motion system is solid enough. If it's a 2.8, it'll be smooth and reliable, but they are thirsty and need revving to get the performance.

[NBirkitt]

The B5.5 Passat TDI 4Motion comes with the 130 PS high-torque version of the 1.9 TDI 4-cylinder 8-valve engine. ( I've been looking for a good one of these for some time ) It's essentially the same " bulletproof " Torsen diff four-wheel drive system used on the Audi A4, rather than the potentially troublesome Haldex system used on 4WD Golf / TT etc. The complex multi-link front suspension on the B5 Passat ( same as A4 ) is the only real area for concern as there are a great many joints and links involved and overhaul and geometry can be difficult...

[NBirkitt]

corvus said:

The 4motion system is solid enough. If it's a 2.8, it'll be smooth and reliable, but they are thirsty and need revving to get the performance.

The 2.8 in the B5 Passat 4Motion was the V6 petrol engine, the wide-angle Audi V6 ( 2771 cc 193 PS ), not the narrow angle VW VR6 ( 2792 cc ) engine used in Golf 2.8 V6 4Motion