Thursday 30th November 2006

The Passat R36 made its public debut at the Essen Motorshow, joining the Golf R32 and only the second model in the Volkswagen line-up to carry the ‘R’ badge. Not only the fastest Passat but also the fastest estate car Volkswagen had ever produced, the R36 powered by the new 3.6-litre FSI V6 engine developing 300PS, with a 0 to 62 mph time of just 5.6 seconds. The estate version which, like the saloon, was fitted with 4MOTION all-wheel drive returned a time of 5.8 seconds. Both were electronically limited to maximum of 155 mph.