My wife bought a new Candy White 2013 Passat SEL on Halloween night this year. It has nearly 5,000 miles on it now. The first road trip we took in it we were able to average around 43 mpg at extra legal speeds in Texas and Arkansas. Over the Christmas holiday weekend, fuel mileage was considerably less for some reason (around 38 mpg).
Anyway, for my first post I wanted to relate how well this car handles snow and ice. On Christmas night, we left San Antonio bound for Memphis. The forecast for the I-30 corridor between Dallas and Texarkana was for little expected ice accumulation. Just west of Dallas around 11 pm we found the road to be a solid sheet of ice into Arkansas. Any cars were off the road along the war, tucks stuck or jack knifed, etc. The Passat just chugged along determinedly. In Arkansas, the ice began to blend with snow. Deep snow. 10 inches or more. We probably saw around 100 vehicles abandoned that were stuck, wrecked, or out of fuel, plus 30 or so 18 wheelers that were unable to proceed. The Passat pressed on.
Westbound I-40 east of Little Rock was buried unplowed in snow. There was no evidence of any salt, sand, etc. The Passat doggedly churned along.
There were only a couple of times the Passat felt unstable or had traction problems - once while coasting across a wet but icy bridge and once when climbing and entrance ramp after exiting into some very deep snow. The rest of the trip it rolled along without issue even on inclines where other vehicles were spinning their tires.
Living in the south, I've had limited experiences driving on untreated icy roads or in deep snow. The Passat's fuel range, front wheel drive, stock Hankook tires, and ABS lessened the stress of a 750 mile drive in pretty harsh conditions. What was normally a 12 hour drive ended up taking 17.5 hours.
Anyone considering a Passat who anticipates driving a lot of miles in snow or ice really should pull the trigger.
Anyway, for my first post I wanted to relate how well this car handles snow and ice. On Christmas night, we left San Antonio bound for Memphis. The forecast for the I-30 corridor between Dallas and Texarkana was for little expected ice accumulation. Just west of Dallas around 11 pm we found the road to be a solid sheet of ice into Arkansas. Any cars were off the road along the war, tucks stuck or jack knifed, etc. The Passat just chugged along determinedly. In Arkansas, the ice began to blend with snow. Deep snow. 10 inches or more. We probably saw around 100 vehicles abandoned that were stuck, wrecked, or out of fuel, plus 30 or so 18 wheelers that were unable to proceed. The Passat pressed on.
Westbound I-40 east of Little Rock was buried unplowed in snow. There was no evidence of any salt, sand, etc. The Passat doggedly churned along.
There were only a couple of times the Passat felt unstable or had traction problems - once while coasting across a wet but icy bridge and once when climbing and entrance ramp after exiting into some very deep snow. The rest of the trip it rolled along without issue even on inclines where other vehicles were spinning their tires.
Living in the south, I've had limited experiences driving on untreated icy roads or in deep snow. The Passat's fuel range, front wheel drive, stock Hankook tires, and ABS lessened the stress of a 750 mile drive in pretty harsh conditions. What was normally a 12 hour drive ended up taking 17.5 hours.
Anyone considering a Passat who anticipates driving a lot of miles in snow or ice really should pull the trigger.
