Watch: Volkswagen takes Passat off-road with Alltrack

Volkswagen’s Passat is an impressively solid-looking car. Therefore, adding an Alltrack pack that gives it an off-road ability and look transforms its stance and attitude on the road. For the Alltrack range, Volkswagen aims to produce an estate car that has the space and off-road ability of some of the larger 4x4s, but with a lot more road comfort when driving on the tarmac.

The Alltrack look is clearly different. The car has modified bumpers, rugged plastic-type wheel arches and better underbody protection that gives it a stronger look. You’ll spot that it is higher off the ground than the standard Passat, by 27mm. That gives it a ground clearance that’s comparable to some of the mid-range 4x4s on the market.

It also has a four-wheel-drive system that is more impressive than that fitted to the standard Passat 4Motion model. This includes a hill descent control system to tackle tougher off-road areas.

I was in Cork while I was test-driving the Passat Alltrack. The rough entry roads to the Ballyhoura mountain walks provided a great location to test the Alltrack’s abilities. The car has five driving mode settings, including eco, normal, sport, individual and off-road. The options are touch selected on the eight-inch central display screen, which also provides satnav.

At the edges of Ballyhoura, off-road was the obvious choice. You can sense the hill descent control coming in to give a type of speed control in some steeper and tricky areas. I never doubted its ability. However, what I missed in the Passat Alltrack was the higher driving position and the extra road visibility that comes with this.

The test car was the 190bhp version, so power was never an issue, supported by 400Nm of torque. That, again, is a match for the mid-range 4x4s, as is its towing ability at 2.2 tonnes with a braked trailer.

I liked the neat Volkswagen towing ball hitch storage and release system. This allows the towing ball hitch to be stored under the rear bumper. It is released by a simple button on the right-hand side of the boot area.

The powerful engine can deliver an impressive acceleration through the DSG automatic gearbox, even though it’s carrying an extra rear axle drive system that gets just occasional use depending on the road conditions.

The economy is another matter and this puts the Alltrack into the same league as some mid-range 4x4s. The official economy rating is 19.6km/litre (5.1l/100km or 55mpg) but I drove well over 1,000km and returned a figure about 35% poorer.

Still, the 66-litre fuel tank was able to give me a range close to 1,000km and that was impressive in itself.

Comfort

This is also an AdBlue car with a second filler lid for refuelling. Volkswagen claims that it requires a top-up every 9,000km, but so much depends on driving style, especially if there is a lot of off-road driving involved.

While the downside of a Passat Alltrack versus the mid-range 4x4 competition is the lower seat position, the car is more comfortable over longer journeys. The boot space is bigger than many 4x4s and its lower height makes it easier to load.

Volkswagen had fitted a full-size spare wheel in the boot and that gave some confidence when tackling off-road driving. The boot space is bigger than other 4x4 cars that I’ve compared it with, apart from the giant Skoda Superb, which is also available with a 4x4 drive system for a lot less money.

The test car came with all of the latest Volkswagen safety and driving aids, including trailer assist and car parking assist. I gave them a short test and they both work so well as to take some of the nervousness out of reversing and parking what is a big estate car.

The other competition in this sector also includes the Audi A4 Quattro, Subaru Legacy and Volvo XC60, but this model of the Passat Alltrack tops them all when it comes to pricing. The Skoda Superb Combi 4x4 is by far the best value.

There are very few used Passat 4Motion cars on the market, so getting a depreciation figure is more difficult than for a more popular Passat model. This can affect the depreciation levels, which always determines the overall ownership costs.

The standard specification on the top Alltrack model is impressively high and so is the price of €49,130 for the car I drove. Entry models start at €41,715 or £34,265 in Northern Ireland. I found that the three-year ownership costs will be higher than some of the mid-range 4x4s on the market.

The Passat Alltrack is a specialist car. It is a match for some of the mid-range 4x4s in terms of power, off-road ability and towing ability, while running costs will be comparable. It’s great to drive but so specialist that I was left wondering how that tag will affect resale values.