I’ve just driven the Volkswagen Passat 206TSi R-line sedan – a sports orientated sedan featuring all-wheel-drive and the same 206kW engine from the Golf R hot hatch – whilst it has a sporty edge Volkswagen have wisely given the Passat 206TSi a level of sport luxury that makes it a strong competitor for the likes of the Audi A4, BMW 3-series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class but in fairness not perhaps matching their brand cachet. But I was surprised at the level of class in this mid-sized Volkswagen – it does carry a somewhat premium price of $57,990 but offers plenty of premium in return – like a full leather interior, tri-zone air–conditioning, Sat Nav, a full adaptive suspension, a sports body kit and 19-inch alloys. Excellent comfort levels, great seats while the 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine linked to a six-speed dual-clutch automatic is lively to say the least. Five adaptive drive modes are available – normal, comfort, eco, sport and individual. So you can tailor the drive-train characteristics to suit your mood – the various settings also adjust the firmness of the dampers – sport mode the most discernable with the engine far more responsive. And of course the VW 206TSi comes with a swag of driver assist modes like low speed autonomous braking, rear traffic alert, lane departure warning and driver fatigue monitoring. I tested this all-wheel drive sedan during the recent wet weather and its grip on a wet surface was impressive to say the least – a very polished European sedan. I’m David Berthon

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