Raised wagon lovers rejoice – the Volkswagen Passat Alltrack is all set to return to Australia, having traded in its diesel four-cylinder engine for a spirited turbocharged petrol instead. The 2020 Passat Alltrack 162TSI shares its engine with last year’s Golf GTI, though the 162kW/350Nm powerplant drives all four wheels. The new Alltrack is expected to arrive in early 2020.
With most family buyers gravitating towards higher-riding SUVs, the humble station wagon continues to be the smart buyer’s choice. Wagons like the Subaru Outback continue to be successful in Australia, probably due to their semi-SUV appearance; success Volkswagen partially replicates with its Alltrack wagons.
Available in both the Golf wagon and Passat wagon sizes, Volkswagen’s Alltrack range adds Haldex-style all-wheel-drive to send up to 100 per cent of torque to the rear axle where the front tyres have no grip. That ratio is variable between zero torque sent rear, and all of it, depending on the conditions.
Cloth and leather interiors will likely be offered.
Though the Mk 7 Golf Alltrack has had some success in Australia, the current B8 Passat Alltrack has remained a totally niche choice due to relatively high pricing.
As reported previously by Chasing Cars, Volkswagen Australia are likely to introduce a more competitively-priced Passat Alltrack grade for 2020, with cloth seats, alongside a traditionally higher-end variant.
Both will share the EA888 turbo petrol four-cylinder in 162TSI guise and a six-speed wet-clutch DSG automatic gearbox. The same engine in the Tiguan 162TSI SUV sprints from 0-100km/h in 6.5 seconds, so we can expect the Passat Alltrack to be similarly sprightly.
Once we get the chance to drive the new Alltrack, we’ll have a detailed review up on site and over on the Chasing Cars YouTube channel.