I've been in both cars... and unless you reall press the Accord hard, and
get way into its RPM band to get the VTEC to start really kicking in, there
isn't a huge difference... Yah, in a race the Accord would win, but the
Passat has MORE then enough guts to keep up, remember the Accord only has
216lb-ft of torque, and the spectrum for its torque output isn't as good as
the Passats... You're driving with a more flexible engine with a VW, which
is a very good thing, at least where I am living (lots of hills in the
country, and traffic in the city...)

I'm pretty sure VW will release more power with the new Passat, but remember
it came out later then the Camry/Accord it fought against... VW doesn't
synchronize their launches with the competition... so, big deal, it would be
boring if cars were launched every 5 years, from all brands... compact one
year, sedan the next, sports car the year after... and such.

According to road tests, the old Passat does QUITE well against
Camry/Accord - And out of all the midsize sedans on the VW and the Honda
have interiors I could live with.
"Steve Grauman" <oneactor1 (AT) aol (DOT) com> wrote

There is this thing called economics. A new car costs a bunch of money
design and produce. If they gain a few cars in increased sales but do
not offset the production costs they make less money. Their goal is to
make as much money as possible for the stockholders. A year longer
manufacturing cycle might be boring to you but may maximize their
profits. If you want ultimates, purchase cars from manufacturers that
have that in their mission statement. Porsche and Ferrari have that
mentality.

You don't need 240 hp in a small car. You want. I want too but not
really. I rarely drove my GTI hard enough to use its power. The TDI
has enough power for the way I drive. It spins it tires if I push it
hard. Of course as soon as it stops spinning there is not much more
acceleration even with a gear change but who's in a rush? Traffic jam
5 miles up the road anyway.

oneactor1 (AT) aol (DOT) com (Steve Grauman) wrote:


Jim B.

"Rob Guenther" <robertguenther (AT) sympatico (DOT) ca> wrote

Their NBs probably come from Mexico...and I wouldn't be surprised if their
Bora sedans do as well.

Yah the Bora/Jetta I believe does, but it's not very popular (from what I
have heard from family/friends who live, or have been to Germany) over
there, the Golf sells WAY more units, and is German built. The Jetta wagon,
interestingly enough is German built, a friend of mine has a 2003 and it has
a WVW VIN number.

Still tho, I'm glad they get to see if the new cars measure up before we
do.... I'm really looking forward to buying my first new car... it will be a
Mark V Golf of some configuration... I don't even want to cross-shop other
brands :-). (It's a purchase 2-4 years away tho, things might change, I
hope not)
"Matt B." <noway (AT) hellno (DOT) com> wrote

I understand the "Jetta" wagon is called a "Golf" wagon, or estate, or
whatever terminology they use for "wagon." Not a Jetta/Bora.

They have the Golf Varient over there.... Not sure of they have the Bora
Varient (as it would be VERY redundant) but the ones shipped here are made
in Germany... at least all the ones I have seen are.
"Brian Running" <brunning (AT) tds (DOT) net> wrote

The German VW web site (http://www.volkswagen.de) shows both a Bora
Variant and a Golf Variant. One might think it is an A4 / A5 issue, but
both the Golf Variant and the Bora Variant are A4 cars. The Bora Variant
retains the squarish headlights from the Bora / Jetta and the Golf
Variant keeps the more oval shaped Golf headlights. That would be the
only difference I could see from the photos on the site.

Rob Guenther wrote:

What?? Have you really been in both cars? Cause' I've driven both and this
isn;t the case. The Passat V6 FWD with Tiptronic needs 8.0 seconds or mor for
60MPh, the Accord doe it in 7.1. The Passat is a DAMN FINE car, but it's gonna
lose in the performance department.

I'm aware of economics, and more specifically profit managment which is what
you're writing about. VW would be making a LOT more money every year if they
could design a car that would sell like the Camry and Accord.

Want and need are different things, and EVERYBODY wants. The current market (at
least here in the U.S.) is demanding as much power as possible at as low a
price as possible, and the Passat isn't keeping up. The Camry SE with the 3.3
litre motor now makes over 220Hp, the Accord, Galant, Altima and Maxima have
anywhere from 240 to 260Hp. And Acur'a TL has 270, and it's very similarly
priced to a loaded Passat GLX V6 w/ Tiptronic.

I'm always amazed that Europeans seem to think the TDi is a good performer. The
accleration numbers on that thing are hardly impressive. My 1.8T is
considerablly faster for marginally more. It's the Fuel consumption of the TDi
that makes it worthwhile.

In article <20040417190221.27202.00000032 (AT) mb-m15 (DOT) aol.com>,
Steve Grauman <oneactor1 (AT) aol (DOT) com> wrote:
aceleration is not all... but seems to be all americans care right now
buying cars.

--
Eduardo Kaftanski |
e (AT) nn (DOT) cl | Freedom's just another word
http://e.nn.cl | for nothing left to loose.