Volkswagen Passat R-Line

The cabin of the Volkswagen Passat R-Line is a good mix of sophistication and sportiness, with the all-black cabin getting a clean and tech-rich layout. The Nappa Carbon black leather upholstery with R-Line badges, R-Line front, and rear aluminum scuff plates, and ‘Dark Diamond’ flag decorative and piano black inserts make it look very rich and premium.

The other highlights which make the Volkswagen Passat R-Line a premium car from the inside are LED ambient lighting, a 9.2-inch touchscreen infotainment system with an 8-speaker sound system, a 12-way power adjustable driver seat with memory and massage function, powered co-driver seat, wireless Apple Carplay, and Android Auto, three-zone automatic climate control with rear AC vents, powered tailgate, sunroof, push start-stop button and full TFT instrument console.

The Volkswagen Passat R-Line has a sharp and crisp design that looks elegant from whichever angle you look at it. The traditional stance and silhouette of the Volkswagen Passat R-Line can make one believe that the sedans are still here to stay.

The Volkswagen Passat R-Line has a very clean-looking front fascia, comprising of a horizontally stretched front grille with horizontal chrome slats tapering towards the headlamps on the sides. The headlamps here are inverted trapezoidal units, which get dual LED projectors and sleek daytime running LEDs on their upper edges. The long air dam on the front bumper has large and angular-looking fog lamps, the housings of which seem to be engulfed in the large air dam itself. 

The Volkswagen Passat R-Line looks poised and elegant when viewed from the sides as well. The smoothly flowing roofline and crisp character line flowing sideways through the door panels make it look purposeful. Even the large 19-inch multi-spoke ‘Verona’ alloy wheels go well with the overall elegant look of the sedan.

At the back, the Volkswagen Passat R-Line resorts to minimalism with a clean-looking boot lid and sharp and angular-looking two-part LED tail lamps. Apart from the chrome garnish around exhaust tips and door handles on the sides, this R-Line variant gets additional garnishes R-Line black headliner, R-Line sport front and rear bumpers with black accents, and R-Line logos on side fenders and front grille.

The Volkswagen Passat R-Line is bestowed with Dynamic Chassis Control and Driving Mode Selection, both of which make the driving experience pretty much spot-on and very enjoyable. The overall suspension setup is tuned on a stiffer edge, which makes it a very balanced car around corners, but it comes with a small compromise on the front of ride quality.

Powering the Volkswagen Passat R-Line is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, which is the mainstay of several cars from the Volkswagen group of brands. The engine, here in the Passat R-Line, is available with a 7-speed DSG gearbox as standard and puts up maximum power and torque outputs of 190 PS and 320 Nm respectively.

The Volkswagen Passat R-Line gets an elongated list of standard safety features like front, side, and curtain airbags, ABS with EBD, brake assist, side assist with rear traffic alert, electronic stability control, electronic differential lock, hill hold control, front and rear parking sensors, driver alert system, reverse camera, and tyre pressure monitoring system.

The Volkswagen Passat R-Line is one classy-looking car that successfully tries to look and feel sporty as well with all the R-Line specific visual details, powerful engine, and sorted driving dynamics. It is a good build sedan that feels much more premium than other similarly priced cars on sale.