If you have doubts that the motor industry can hit all those super-low far-off emissions targets set by cyclists in the European Parliament, then don’t worry – the VW Passat Bluemotion 2 is here.
This may sound a little bit over the top, and maybe it is. However, on my first trip in the 2.0-litre diesel Passat, the trip computer read 75.8mpg after 53 mainly motorway miles, and all I’d done was turn off the aircon and set cruise control to 70mph.
The official combined fuel figure is 57.6mpg and the extra-urban figure is 68.9mpg. Until now, we’ve only ever got near official figures in any car we’ve tested – with this Bluemotion 2 we smashed the official figure.
How has VW managed the impossible? Even the 1.9-litre Bluemotion Passat (which is still available for £175 less) wasn’t this efficient.
While the 2.0-litre diesel in the Bluemotion 2 is the same displacement as the 140 and 170PS versions we’re more familiar with, there are some changes. In simple terms the engine’s been given a new computer brain tuned for out-and-out economy and it’s twinned with a five-speed gearbox with longer ratios in third, fourth and fifth. There’s also aerodynamic aids (mainly an underbody tray) to smooth airflow round the car, and to top it off there is stop-start tech and low-rolling resistance tyres.
If you think the 75.8mpg figure was a one-off, I also achieved 69.2mpg with the aircon on and without cruise control for the return commute. Thinking I could do much better I also tested the car at 65mph using cruise and with no aircon and didn’t quite break the 80mpg barrier with a 79.8mpg stat.
In town the figure drops a touch, but for a week’s worth of driving the BusinessCar team achieved and average of 58.2mpg. We’d used a quarter of a tank of diesel, covered about 300 miles, and the distance to empty still read more than 700.
All this and you get a full-size estate car that’s well equipped, quieter and quicker than the old Bluemotion Passat.
Why isn’t it 10 out of 10? I hear you asking. Simple really, there’s a Bluemotion Passat due later this year powered by a 1.6-litre engine with even better fuel and CO2 figures, and we can’t go giving things 11 out of 10 if it’s better than this one.
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