Passat GT Est.

[verbatrium]

All,

i have had my Passat 2.0 GT Est for a month now and thought i would give some feed back on a few of the options and my resons for upgrading to GT over Bus. Ed.

1. DCC (£650).
I specified this in lieu of the self leveling option that was deleted after i tried to order it in november 15.
I have to say i can most certainly feel the difference between my friends passat and mine once we have loaded up our estates (i am on 18 inch GT wheels, he has 17 in Bus Ed wheels). On comfort the 18's are like high profile 16's, i can actually enjoy looking at decent wheels, without being jarred to death, and the sport still provides a similar driving response to my previous Mazda 6 Sport (2013). Not sure if this is worthwhile on 17 inch rims though...but on 18's and 19's its well worth it...

2. Dynaudio upgrade (£800 for GT, £1500 for Bus. Ed.).
i have seen some reports that it is not worth the money... i can't disagree enough.....at least in the GT and R-Line spec....paying an extra £800 is well worth the quality of vibration free sound provided....but for the Bus Ed. an extra £1500 is a bit harder to swallow (need the full tyre and climate control as part of upgrade, standard in GT and above). I would rate the Dynaudio as being better than the Bose system in the Mazda 6, mostly due to the inclusion of a decent subwoofer that works well and allows the car door speakers to work at their optimum frequency range....and you dont need to turn the volume way up to get good quality sound....well done on this Dynaudio...

3. Car Stick (£60 after market)
works great to create a wifi hotspot in the car for the kids and my non 3g enabled work phone (allows me to bypass the works firewall through 3g)...auto on and off, very tidy, intergrates with the sat nav, much tidier than the mifi device i did have....

4. Car Net App (£100).
complete waste of money....should have researched this better.....need to have phone plugged into the centre armrest USB slot....where my car stick is....one or the other....stupid....MORE USB slots please VW, and in the dash where the Cig. Lighter point is, where my Brodit cradle is.....

5. Full Alloy Spare tyre (std in GT, cost in Bus Ed and below)
complete must have item for expensive tyres....cost me hundreds with the Mazda and BMW wrecking tyres with punctures on construction sites and needing to wait for the AA to make a temp repair that most garages wont carry out a perm. repair on, or using the fluid and getting told that the tyre cant be saved....stupid...

6. Seats Half Leather/Alcantara (std in GT)
very nice, much more stylish than the same seat in the Bus. Ed in all cloth....always had full leather before in previous cars, but find the half-half actually more comfortable, but perhaps not so easy to clean ?

7. Rear View Camera (£300)
have had to reverse many times down thin country lanes at night and during the day....find the camera a very usesful tool for this, especially at night where the camera/screen is much better than my eyes in poor/zero light.
Also find it helpful for routine parking, although the untrasonics are perfectly fine.

8. 240V socket (£100)
not so sure about this, need a 240V supply for test gear in remote sites, used to have an inverter bumping about under the drivers seat....much neater, but you need a euro 2 pin coverter, i made up a flying lead as i was concerned something would break the connectors as it sticks out so much....

9. Self installed Dash Cam behind the rear view mirror (Thinkware F750).
very easy to wire from fuse box behind the glove box on a spare ignition switched spare way using a piggy back fuse holder....end panel easy to remove, run cable up A pillar and along top of windscreen behind roof trim....

I have to say, the Passat has really impressed me, i just wish i could have got the self levelling suspension option...with a full boot the front end is a little light, especially to use the available 150 BHP/340NM, let alone 190BHP. I learned that from the Mazda too...but the Passat is refinement, not sports car....