Power corrupts. I’m driving alone in the middle of the night, on an empty stretch of road accelerating from red light, to red light when a F10 528i engages me. We stop at the final set of lights and make eye contact. Game on. As the lights turn green, the beemer is left in the wake of what looks like a regular Passat CC sprinting forwards with little drama. I can imagine the look of surprise on the driver’s face; my own mug plastered with a silly smile. The truth is, this is no regular CC. I’m driving VW’s Passat CC R and under the bonnet lurks a potent 3.6L V6 mill. There are three ‘R’ cars in the Volkswagen stable and this CC R is the big kahuna (younger siblings being the Scirocco and Golf R).
Fantastic, aural V6.
The 3.6L V6 is a brute of an engine – its raucous rumble sounds fantastic inside the cabin as it does outside. The power figures it makes are impressive: 300PS and 350Nm are transferred via a 6-speed DSG box to all four wheels. Yes, typical of VW’s R cars, the Passat CC R is equipped with VW’s 4MOTION all-wheel drive system. Zerotohundred? 5.6 seconds. Top speed? 250km/h. This car just doesn’t want to be driven slowly; gifted with a monstrous overtaking ability, it doesn’t take very much to cruise past legal highway speeds. Does power corrupt? Yessir, it does.
Super clean profile, although design is starting to get dated. The average person will not be able to tell this is an R.
Very few subtle cues help to differentiate the CC R from the regular CC. On the outside, there is a front spoiler, side skirts, 18-inch ‘Mallory’ wheels, a pair of R-line logos on both front side sections, smoked rear lights, and a tailpipes on both corners of its rump. On the inside, the changes are harder to figure out – flat-bottomed ‘R’ steering wheel, engine start button, analogue clock, supportive seats wrapped in Nappa leather and plenty of aluminum trim. It is just like any other VW in here. One minor adjustment is parking brake button has also migrated to the center console (now much more intuitive); this button was on the driver's side in the regular CC. As a visual overall, the Passat CC remains a handsome package but is admittedly starting to get dated.
Rev limited to 4,000rpm when car is immobile.
But enough about how its looks; with a big displacement V6 under the hood, visual aesthetics (for me at least) have the least priority. Have I mentioned already how aural the brute of an engine is? It sounds great; easily one of the best sounding V6s available on the market currently. Rev the engine when stationary and the limiter cuts off at 4k rpm, so the natural thing to do is navigate to a long stretch of empty tarmac, or do a tunnel run. Better if you do both, of course. Mash the accelerator pedal and you’re momentarily pushed into your seat as the car lurches forwards. It might be hard to imagine, but the CC R is actually quicker off the line than its smaller R brethren. Paddles are standard so the option of manual shifting is always there, but leave it in auto and you have two drive modes: D and S (presumably for Drive and Sport respectively). Slot into S and acceleration is a notch more aggressive with the engine sounding even more raucous. Unfortunately, you also get is a longer gear ratio – the DSG box dragging 500rpm or so before shifting up. I found this slightly annoying and left it in D most of the time. Top speed is electronically limited to 250km/h (we managed 260km/h) but you can feel it running out of steam past 220km/h.
4MOTION works to keep the CC R an all-terrain vehicle. Sort of!
Handling is perhaps this car’s other strongest suit; grip, both in dry and wet conditions, is phenomenal and turn-in is sharp, precise, with the steering providing plenty of feedback. The 4MOTION system transfers power to all four wheels but come across a hairy moment where traction is lost, and you can feel the power being distributed to other wheels that have surface contact. If you watch the video below, you’ll note that was no squeak, nor did the traction light flash as I launched the car on our regular testing grounds. The car feels incredibly planted at all speeds, even when accelerating mid-corner. Ride is supple, and while this is not the most comfortable car, it soaks up bumps better than the average Japanese saloon.
Analog clock not found on the pre-facelift Passat CC, but already integrated into the Passat. It looks like it was placed there as an afterthought, though.
Naturally, I do have several gripes with the Passat CC R. Awesome power and an all-wheel drive system typically equals horrible fuel consumption; I managed ~320km on RM180 worth of Ron97. Less hoonery will undoubtedly extend mileage but I was unable to find out as my time with the CC R was rather brief. The frameless window design also means there is plenty of wind noise at speeds above 160km/h, essentially drowning out the glorious soundtrack up front. Which brings me to the looks of the Passat CC R. Placed next to a regular CC, it is difficult to distinguish one from the other. VW has priced the Passat CC R at RM373,888 and justifying the RM100k premium over the already very good, ‘regular’ Passat CC is also pretty tough.
Same same, but different. Hard to tell the difference, eh?
Clear then that the target market for this car are the eclectic few who want to be very different. At this price, there are many other continental premium and luxury offerings on the market, but few will have the tech, or firepower, that the CC R possesses. Nor will any of its competitors have that lovely V6 burble. Closest in competition is from the BMW camp in the form of the 335i; similar performance figures, but a lot less usable space. You’ll also need a spare RM100k or so on top of the base price of the CC R. To make things sweeter, only 30 units of the CC R is said to have been brought in to Malaysia, so sightings will be a rare occurrence. All of a sudden, the Passat CC R is beginning to make a lot more sense…
On the rear, note the smoked tail lights and tailpipes on both corners.
Interior is very similar with the regular CC as well, with a few minor changes. Oh, there's quite a bit of aluminum in here.
Key fob slots nicely here. Push the fob in to start the engine. Very Aston.
Plenty of legroom in the rear, but headroom suffers a little. Hey, that's the price you pay for style!
These are the only 'R' badges that highlight this car's naughty nature.
Quick! Tell me in 2 seconds which one the R is!
Volkswagen Passat CC R - YouTube
To view all the pictures of the Passat CC R-line, click here.
Volkswagen Passat CC R
• Zerotohundred: 5.6secs
• Top Speed: 260km/h (tested)
• Engine: 3.6L V6
• Power: 300PS / 6,600 rpm
• Torque: 350Nm / 2,400 – 5,300 rpm
• Weight: 1,704kg (kerb weight)
• Fuel Economy: N/A
• Wheels: 18” x 8J alloys
• Tyres: 235/40 R18
• Price: RM373,888 (OTR excluding road tax and insurance)
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