2012 VW Passat 3.6 vs. 2011 Honda Accord V6, 2012 Hyundai Sonata 2.0T - Comparison Tests

Middle Class Acts: Can VW's Passat satisfy the mainstream without pandering to it? We bring along two 10Besters to find out.
BY MICHAEL AUSTIN, PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN ROE August 2011

Volkswagen has big plans for the United States. Big, as in 800,000-sales-by-2018 big, which is more than three times what it sold here in 2010. First came the Jetta, price-cut for the American market, universally unloved in the C/D office, and selling like hotcakes to the car-buying public. The new Passat takes the Jetta approach a step further, not just reconstituted for our bland, ketchup-loving palates but specifically built for and in America.

VW set pricing low, at a suggested $20,765 to start, $7180 less than the 2010 Passat. But we’re hardly interested in the Walmart model, with its anemic 2.5-liter inline-five making a meager 170 horsepower. And the Passat TDI, as the only affordable mid-size diesel on the market, is quite literally in a class of one. That leaves the Passat 3.6, fitted with a 280-hp, single-head narrow-vee six-cylinder and a six-speed dual-clutch transmission.

The powertrain is pure VW, the perfect foil for determining whether the rest of the car is true to the brand that brought us the GTI. A Passat 3.6 in SE trim starts at $29,765. Our particular car, a $33,720 as-tested SEL model, includes amenities such as keyless ignition, remote start, leather seats, a 6.5-inch navigation screen, power passenger seat, wood inlays, and extra chrome interior trim.

Whether the Passat is a worthy VW may be something only a die-hard few care about; how it compares with the competition is much more significant. So we invited comparable versions of the two family sedans on the Car and Driver 10Best list: the Honda Accord and the Hyundai Sonata. In EX-L V-6 form with a $2200 navigation option, the $32,600 Accord checks every factory-equipped option box.

The Sonata, introduced last year as a 2011 model, is similarly loaded in 2.0T Limited guise, albeit with the lowest price in the group, at $31,285. Running changes for 2012 Sonatas include a panoramic sunroof; a bigger, seven-inch touch screen; and a 1-mpg bump in EPA highway fuel economy to a best-in-test 34.

If the Passat can hold its own against two of the best in the family-car segment, it stands to reason that Volkswagen’s ambitions could be realistic. There’s only one way to find out.


2012 Hyundai Sonata 2.0T Limited - Comparison Tests
Third Place: Middle Class Acts

Highs: Good value, attractive inside and out, buttoned-down chassis.
Lows: Compromised rear seat, disconnected steering, droning engine note.
The Verdict: A worthy effort in need of some polish.

Full write up on Sonata;
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparisons/11q3/2012_vw_passat_3.6_vs._2011_honda_accord_v6_2012_hyundai_sonata_2.0t-comparison_tests/2012_hyundai_sonata_2.0t_limited_page_2

2011 Honda Accord EX-L V6 - Comparison Tests
Second Place: Middle Class Acts

Highs: Well-tuned suspension, natural driving position, comfortable rear seat.
Lows: Interior is plagued with buttons, excessive front-seat lumbar support.
The Verdict: Aging gracefully, but aging nonetheless.

For the full write up on the Accord;
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparisons/11q3/2012_vw_passat_3.6_vs._2011_honda_accord_v6_2012_hyundai_sonata_2.0t-comparison_tests/2011_honda_accord_ex-l_v6_page_3

2012 Volkswagen Passat 3.6 SEL - Comparison Tests
First Place: Middle Class Acts

Highs: Cushy ride, smooth engine and transmission, high-class interior.
Lows: Lots of body roll, non-centered steering wheel, full-time stability control.
The Verdict: VW aims wide and hits the mark

For the rest of the Passat write up;
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparisons/11q3/2012_vw_passat_3.6_vs._2011_honda_accord_v6_2012_hyundai_sonata_2.0t-comparison_tests/2012_volkswagen_passat_3.6_sel_page_4

Acura MDX vs. Audi Q7 3.0T, BMW X5 xDrive35i, Land Rover LR4 HSE, Lexus GX460 - Comparison Tests

Sleighboys: Five three-row SUVs travel from coast to coast with ease.
BY TONY SWAN, PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROY RITCHIE January 2011

The words “coast to coast” have very specific connotations when they appear in this magazine. The Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, for one. Not this time. Do you see any California beaches in these photos? Any Red Ball Garages?

The coasts visited on this tour do lie on vast bodies of water, but the water is fresh (so to speak) and defines the eastern and western boundaries of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.

So, rather than the 2798-mile blitz from New York City to Redondo Beach, California, as in the original Cannonball Run, our coast-to-coast dash was a little more modest—135 miles, from Alpena on Lake Huron at the east to Traverse City, tucked into Grand Traverse Bay off Lake Michigan, on the west. With some dirt-road diversion, plus the trek from and to Ann Arbor, it added up to 650 miles. Which seemed like enough. More than enough, in at least one of these vehicles.

There were five, and their classification isn’t quite as easy as their shapes might suggest. We’re tempted to call them crossovers, but for all its elasticity, that word can’t stretch quite far enough to cover the Lexus GX460. One of the guides we use in identifying crossovers is their construction—unibody  versus body-on-frame, usually based on front-wheel-drive passenger-car architecture. The 460’s body doesn’t catch up with its chassis until late in the assembly process. Which makes it a truck.

For that matter, even though the four others are unibodies—frame rails integrated with the body structure—the front-drive passenger-car connection is pretty much absent.

We also look at towing capacity. Vehicles rooted in front-drive architecture tend to be relatively anemic as draft animals—usually 4000 pounds max—but even that simple rule of thumb fails us here. The Acura MDX, which traces its ancestry to the front-drive Honda Odyssey minivan, has the lowest rating in the group, but it’s a respectable 5000 pounds.  And the max capabilities range up to the Land Rover LR4, pegged at 7716.

In the end, we settled for a classification based on one inarguable attribute: three-row seating. Not very snappy. But accurate. You could add the word “luxury” because that, too, is accurate. The ­amenity quotient is high across the board, and so are the prices. The as-tested ticket for each member of this quintet is well above $50K, soaring to a max of more than $67,000.

With snow in the forecast, we climbed into our three-rows and set out for Michigan’s northeast coast, right where the index finger would poke up through the mitten of the Lower Peninsula. Suffice it to say, Dom DeLuise won’t be starring in this movie, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t entertaining.

In This Story
Introduction (just click on the vehicle below and it will take you to the write up)
Fifth: 2010 Lexus GX460
Fourth: 2011 Land Rover LR4 HSE
Third: 2011 Acura MDX
Second: 2011 BMW X5 xDrive35i
First: 2011 Audi Q7 3.0 S-line

Source;

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparisons/11q1/acura_mdx_vs._audi_q7_3.0t_bmw_x5_xdrive35i_land_rover_lr4_hse_lexus_gx460-comparison_tests