A Stinger GT strains its roof with Lexus-esque black suede, and its plush door trims are brightened by stylish silver speaker grilles courtesy of the standard 720-watt Harman Kardon audio. 2500 further - only no-name eight-speaker audio is normal - and that presents a segue to some of the problems going through this posh Passat. Up entrance and, regardless of the completely different and extra fashionable exterior, the front seats and dashboard are shared between that 206TSI R-Line sedan and this liftback. The leather quality is nice, however the faux carbonfibre trim inserts seem as out of place as a skateboard would be streaming throughout an artwork gallery floor. The plastics may be basic, and typically mismatched, whereas that very same description applies to the lower-decision color driver show clashing with the excessive-resolution centre touchscreen. Also, the new addition of a head-up display only shines a speedometer onto a chunk of clear plastic that rises from the top of the dashboard forward of the driver. Given that almost all rivals (Stinger GT, Commodore VXR) beam digits onto the windscreen, it’s a dud resolution given the pod displays badly beneath Australian sun.
All of which may very well be forgiven if the Arteon was absolutely loaded with kit, but it lacks even a digital radio or ventilated entrance seats standard on the Kia and Holden. Volkswagen’s lane-keep assistance works superbly. The Arteon smoothly moves the steering around freeway bends without coming near nudging a white line. Highlighting the pace of progress, a 12 months ago a Passat was patchier in that regard. Sometimes the energetic cruise detected a bit of Armco on a slight curve and incorrectly slowed the liftback down, but generally it’s a very good operator too. The blind-spot system, though, panics when changing lanes even when loads of room is given to the car beside you. We hope it’s the subsequent in line to face the pace of progress. Compared with Passat, the Arteon additionally gets an adaptive suspension setup with 15 driver-select indents between the usual Comfort, Normal and Sport modes.
Around city every setting tries to disguise the results of low-profile wheels, and they actually succeed greater than different premium sedans do (just like the BMW three Series). None can ever totally erode the ever-so-slight jarring impact of them, and in a buyer’s coronary heart of hearts it must be recognised that an entry Volkswagen Passat on 17-inch tyres rides higher with its single fixed suspension and zero modes. The Arteon delivers excellent grip through corners, so when teamed with its punchy engine they are a formidable duo. But, actually, at low speeds round city only cuddling up to Sport actually works to keep away from the slight float and pitching sensation that Comfort and Normal ship, whereas on bad country surfaces Comfort involves the fore with loping progress. And for anything in between, Normal is just high quality. Simple rename Comfort as Country, Normal as Arterial and Sport as Urban - there’s no want for 15 indents. With its sharp and consistent steering, gorgeously refined but raunchy engine, a snappy seven-pace twin-clutch computerized, and Sport electronic stability control (ESC) mode, the 206TSI R-Line can be very entertaining.