Two trim ranges might be accessible when it arrives later this year, the R-Line with its extra sporting demeanour, or the Elegance, which dials back the assertive looks of that R-Line a touch, including some chrome and extra consolation-biased equipment. Nobody can accuse Volkswagen of not going all-in on the styling. As bold a VW as we can remember, the Arteon is actually a head-turner. Proportionally it’s low and broad, the effect on the front exacerbated by the grille that neatly joins with the LED driving lights. The headlights look deeply cowled - the Arteon, even in its much less overt Elegance trim asserting a assured nose among the traffic. That impact doesn’t end there, both. Sharp traces run up the vast bonnet and alongside the Arteon’s flanks, while the pillarless doors and tight windows above create a shape that’s svelte and placing, the wheel arches certainly needing the 20-inch wheels to fill them convincingly. For all its rakish seems the Arteon is sensible, that longer wheelbase than its Passat relation is to the good thing about interior space, while the boot isn’t just sizeable, but it’s accessed by a wide-opening hatchback.
If we’ve one criticism, it is that in some areas the design is a bit busy, but then if the intention is to get it noticed VW can consider it a job well executed. The cabin mixes Volkswagen’s ordinary high commonplace of match and end with advantageous materials quality and operational simplicity. There’s plentiful tools, as befitting VW’s upmarket aspirations with the Arteon, the dashboard devices all digital and configurable, whereas there’s a touch-display screen sat nav and leisure system with all the most recent connectivity, too. What impresses inside is the feeling of house - there’s loads of head and legroom front and again, the glass space in the again stretching behind the rear seats, giving an actual airy really feel again there regardless of the tapering roofline. How does it drive? The engine choices at launch will likely be limited to a pair of 2.0-litre models of differing outputs. One is a turbodiesel with 240hp, the opposite a twin-turbo petrol four-cylinder with 280hp. Those excessive-power engines outline the Arteon’s upmarket intent. There's discussion from Volkswagen of a wider vary in time, however till the German manufacturer has tested the market it’ll persist with the massive engines.
Both come mated to a seven-speed DSG automated transmission and 4motion four-wheel drive, while adaptive suspension offers a variable choice of choices by way of a slider bar on the touchscreen within the centre of the dash. Volkswagen’s chassis engineers are quick to level out that the Arteon was developed from the very beginning to journey on giant 20-inch alloy wheels, and for essentially the most part it’s good. We’d default to the Comfort setting, though, as selecting something above that does result in some undesirable frequencies and knocks from less than good surfaces; even that Comfort setting generally troubled by lumpy tarmac. Blame the R-Line’s slightly sportier suspension settings right here. It’s never actually unsettling, however the tautness is barely at odds with its otherwise relaxed gait. The turbocharged petrol engine delivers performance, which, on paper, seems to be very spectacular. It’ll reach 62mph in just 5.6 seconds, but you do must rev that 2.0-litre fairly laborious to do so. It’s all quite unbecoming for something so large and luxurious.
