2009 Volkswagen Passat CC

Let’s get one thing straight immediately – the Passat CC shares very little in common with its namesake, the Passat. In fact, for all intents and purposes, it’s a completely different car. 

Judging by the name, and taking into account naming history, the Passat CC should be a folding hardtop version of the erstwhile Passat, Volkwagen’s five-seater volume saloon that’s been around for years. The letters CC, on every car that has boasted them in the past, have denoted coupe-convertible. 

But not this time. On the Passat CC, the last two letters stand for comfort coupe. But it’s not a coupe. It’s a saloon, dressed up to look like a coupe. 

The best way to describe it is to look at the Mercedes-Benz CLS. Here was a saloon car that sacrificed a bit of practicality in terms of rear-seat passenger space for sharper lines, a lower roof and a generally sleeker profile. The Passat CC is cut from the same mould. It’s positioned above the standard Passat in Volkswagen’s range, offering a more ‘premium’ product that takes a bit more care over its appearance. 

Putting the confusing name aside for a moment, the Passat CC does look handsome. It has a purposeful yet stately air about it, like a sheikh that’s also a respected athlete. It shares little more than a passing resemblance to the regular Passat – like a brother that moved away years ago and did very well for himself while the regular Passat stayed at home and worked at a fast foot joint. 

And inside it’s considerably nicer than the standard Passat too. The design is logical and stylish although recognisably Volkswagen – don’t expect anything too outlandish when it comes to flair. The levels of refinement in terms of the touch and feel of the interior also feel a step above the traditional Passat fare (which is, to be fair, still pretty good). 

The seats feature some fancy horizontal stitching on the leather and are nice and supportive – definitely chairs that you sit in, rather than on. The rear seats are also nicely sculpted, although there are only two of them – a storage tray in the middle stops any hopes of carrying a fifth person, which is a bit of shame. We’re sure another seat could have been shoehorned in for added practicality. However, the boot is of a decent size. 

Fire the car up and the 2.0-litre engine purrs into life. It’s a fine unit, smooth and unruffled, with good throttle response that stops just short of being sporty – this is a cruiser rather than a sports car. Handling is also of a good standard – a decent amount of feel through the steering and a nimble chassis tuned to offer fine levels of comfort while being stiff enough to stop too much body roll around corners. The car features adaptive chassis control as standard – a series of buttons that allow you to select different suspension modes to focus on sportiness or comfort. The gearbox is a regular automatic – no twin-clutch DSG box here, although the auto is almost as good.