WOW!

I swear it looks the same......the only thing that was different was the VW logo of the engine cover!

It's the 2.8L 30 valve motor! The same frame right down to ALL of the componentry that goes under the hood--including the brake fluid container, the power steering fluid container, the window washer fluid cover.....EVERYTHING! Even the folding key that Audi Provides is given with this car!

What makes the Audi so much better? (besides the
Quattro option)

1. Handling with A4 sports package
2. Quattro
3. Fit and finish (though the Passat is nice)
4. Smaller size making the A4 sportier
5. More 'refined' interior
6. For some reason, the A4 is faster
7. Better stereo with A4 Bose option

Did I leave any out?

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It's the same scenario between the A4 1.8T and the Passat 1.8T.
I checked out his Passat engine and it looked very similar although
he didn't have the folding key (it was the 98 Passat). I let him drive
my A4 and he got used to it quickly enough. He told me that the
manual tranny drove nearly the same, but the handling and interior
were much more refined than his. He loves the dash layout and
when we took the first curve that's when the A4/Passat similarity
ended. He was blown away at the different feeling of this car.
I have to admit though that the Passat fit and finish is very good
as well.

-Alex D.

said that VAG had gone to great lengths to instill different tuning and feel into each car line even though they share the same platform. The article lauded VAG for accomplishing something that other car manufacturers had failed at.

nt

nt.

The Passat might twist a little more die to its slightly increased wheel base but to me it is negligible.

nt

Really? I recently looked a friends Passat V6, and it didn't have the double firewall?! Is that a production variant?

Searl

I just sat in both side by side yesterday at my dealership. The Passat is a GREAT car for it's price, and when similiarly equipped, is not that much cheaper than an Audi. BUT, the quality of the fittings in the interior was the most obvious difference. The audi is just a cut above the VW. For example, the VW has a lot of hard plastic vs the soft vinyl coverings of the audi. I felt the prices I was looking at for both cars was fair for their visual differences alone, even if there weren't any major mechanical differences. If choosing between the Honda or Toyota, though, the VW winds my purchase hands down...

nt

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If you need to have 5 adults in the car for any length of time the Passat is a much better car but if not the A4 (I have one) is more sporty and fun to drive. Though it may not feel that way, vinyl is a type of plastic.

I haven't seen that much "bashing" of the Passat here, but you won't get much support for the idea that since Passat and A4 share many components, they are essentially the same. I drove a Passat and think it is a good car, but it certainly doesn't offer the same kind of driving/ownership experience of an A4. It is a different car designed for a different market. This doesn't mean it isn't an excellent automobile, which it certainly is.

n

I'll admit my over reaction and a little bit of sensitivity. This thread started out with someone's amazement that the V6 in the Passat was apparently the same one that's in the Passat. I've owned 2 Audis & 2 Passats over the past 10 years and have seen the two come closer and closer together, a fact that many are not fully aware of. Owning a Passat is somewhat like being an orphan, even though recent comparison reports have put the Passat as #1 in it's class, the Passat still seems to live in the dark. My VW/Audi dealer does not showcase the Passat and 90% of the people I encounter have no idea what kind of car it is without examining the emblems! Fortunately, the consensus is that it's definitely European, not Japanese. After owning two Audi 100S sedans in the past I wanted an A6 but only saw fully optioned out $40,000 A6 models on the dealer lots. Paying for two kids in private college ended that quest. I thought seriously about the A4 but with a family of teens approaching 6 feet tall and mostly legs, it was out of the question. The next logical choice was the new Passat. I've owned Audis and I see only very minor quality differences in the Passat. There's no factory sport suspension package option but I've personally added 16 inch alloys & 205/55 tires, sway bars and Bilstein HD shocks. I've fully benefited from the info concerning chips on A4.org and I have a Neuspeed chip installed. What I drive is very closely equivalent to a FWD Audi A4 with the sport suspension package - plus it's larger!

nt

nt