It puzzles me everytime when people say Passat is the “driver’s car” of family sedans and other aren’t… I mean, all the sedans are products of compromise, some are compromised more than others, that’s it, to say that the Passat is a “drive’s car” while others aren’t is just ridiculous in my humble opinion.

I understand that most of us can only afford one car so we want the best balance of comfort, practicality and performance (I am in the same boat). Then my question is, if that’s the case, why would I want to get a VW? There are true RWD sports sedans out there that costs less than a comparable VW and performs better, for example:

VW CC VR6 Sport FWD: $39,015
VW CC VR6 4Motion AWD: $40,115

(I picked VR6 because that’s the only model that comes with the V6, VW doesn’t offer V6 for Passat anymore)

Infiniti G37 Base: $33,250
Infiniti G37 Journey: $33,700
Infiniti G37 Sport: $34,250
Infiniti G37 X: $35,750

BMW 335i: $40,300
BMW 335ix: $42,300

Lexus IS350: $37,295

MB C350 Sport: $39,750

Then there are those who just want a comfortable and yet reliable A-to-B commuter. Based on the simple comparison I did they have even less reasons to pick VW over the other family sedans:

VW Passat: $27,600

Toyota Camry SE: $25,840
Honda Accord EX: $26,805
Nissan Altima 3.5 SE: $25,680
Mazda MAZDA6 S Sport: $24,330

(I picked the V6 models to compare with the turbo-charge 4 banger Passat just for giggles, we all know that the I4 models cost even less than the prices shown above…)

So… Can anyone tell me what’s the point of VW?

Aston Martin Rapide

ffpower says: This Aston Martin is kind of interesting, from some angles it looks like one of the best looking 4-door coupe, if not the best, up to date but from other angles it looks down right weird… Don’t know what to think about it just yet but one thing for sure is: The more of these 4-door coupes the merrier.

BMW X1

ffpower says: Another BMW product that answered the question nobody asked… I’ll just take the 3-series wagon and call it a day.

Mazda MX-5 Superlight

ffpower says: Mazda just turned a great track car into an ultimate track car, where can I sign up?

Lexus LF-Ch

ffpower says: This is one aggressive compact hatchback, especially coming from a conservative company such as Lexus but I am sure the production model will be tone down a bit. This will provide Lexus the much needed boost in the European market and hopefully it’ll find its way to the other side of the pond.

Audi A5 Sportback

ffpower says: A handsome car but damn it Audi, all your cars look alike, this is getting bored fast…

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[Pictures source: Autoblog]

In November 2007, my first trip to Laguna Seca Raceway didn’t quite go as planned.  Since that time, I thought the place owed me one until I could make my return.  I say the place owed me because my mistake of running over the Turn 6 apex marker like many others didn’t seem that egregious.  A mid-January discovery of an open track day on February 25th with the Green Flag Driving Association (through MotorsportReg.com) paved the way for that return.

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