For the past two Fridays, I've been spending a day at a dealer for a job shadow experience. I've got to test drive a 2001.5 Passat GLS V6, 2002 Maxima GLE, 2002 Altima 3.5 SE. The dealers do their weekly road test to point out any faults. I also tested a 2001 Pathfinder LE 3.5 and a 1998 Malibu but I didn't find those cars interesting.

Passat- The first thing I noticed about this car was the cool key that was handed to me. It was just a plain block, very small block until you hit a shiny button that springs a key out, just like a swiss army knife. I shut the door and started the car. What are you VW owners talking and bragging about? Superior Door slam quality? Sounds exactly like my Max There is a generous amount of hard hollow plastic on the mid/lower section of the dash and door. The whole center console was hard plastic, although it is very grainy making it appear like high quality leather. Soft plastics eh? RIGHT... I manually adjusted the seats and found the lumbar too firm. I started the car and heard a roar. Check to see what RPM it will idle at but the tach DID NOT spring into action until 5-6seconds later. I pointed this out to my job shadower and he wrote it down on his paper. Off we go, I tried out the tiptronic feature and found it had a 1-2second lag before it shifted, although downshifts happened quickly. The 2.8 lacks punch until its revved past 2,500rpms. There the engine spins like crazy to the redline making a very soft hum. I like it. The ride was soft and smooth around town and on the interstate. Road noise was louder than I had expected but wind noise was very low. Engine just hummed peacefully. Steering effort was VERY light and lacked some road feel. I wouldn't go and call it a Camry, it just didn't have any friction to it. I got off the interstate onto a country road and just went for it. This car wallows and floats in fast bends. I didn't expect this because every magazine I tested said it was a responsive handler. I backed off and we switch drivers.

Maxima- The first thing I noticed was the bigger key fob and different key. I tried out the window roll down feature. COOL!!! The car was grey lustre and black leather. I get in, see the seat move back to greet me and shut the door. It sounded more solid than my Maxima and the Passat. The seats are better than my Max and the shape was pleasing. I adjusted it and started the car. I saw it had a heated steering wheel but I didn't try it out. The interior is basically the same aside from a different door handle, shifter, redesign and better looking cup holders. Still has those cheesy wood-like trim. I saw a lever for the sunroof. COOL!!! I started the car and did not hear the engine start up. I could hardly hear the starter either. I couldn't figure out the gated shifter at first, but once I did, off we went. This car has power EVERYWHERE. Pulls like crazy from the start, pulls even crazier after 3,000rpms. My Max seems like nothing compared to this car. I tapped the shifter to the left to downshift into 3rd to pass a car going 30mph in a 40mph zone. 3rd gear passing was excellent. I headed towards the onramp to get on the interstate and give it enough gas to downshift into first gear. This thing revved clean, smooth, and extremely quite without the load intake roar of the 2k max. to 5,500rpms and it got up to 70mph quickly without even flooring the car. I did a couple of passings letting the car downshift a gear or two, but I never floored it. Passing power was great. The car felt the same way my max fells, except this car was slightly more pinned and glued to the road. Road noise is more controlled with the Turanzas Vs. Proxies and rides smoother. I did noticed the rear door having wind hiss, something that many on here has experienced on their Max. I guess Nissan hasn't fixed the problem yet. I turned off into the same place with the Passat and he told me to just go for it. I did and WOW!!! This engine is so sweet in sound, very quiet letting out a smooth hum like the SHO V6. This thing pinned you to the seat and to my suprise, still pulled hard in 3rd gear. I got it up to 110mph and slowed down. My job shadower told me to stop and car and do a 0-60 testing using his stopwatch. I take off and the car just squeals the tires like crazy and just pulls and pulls. I let off and we recorded a 0-60 of 6.4seconds. Two people in the car with 96miles on the Odometer. I pulled over and we switch drivers and he was even braver and goes past 110mph. All in all, It felt like a better 5th generation Maxima because of its power, features, and better tires that provided great grip and quiet ride. Steering was still heavy and lifeless though.

Altima-The first thing that struck me about this car is how substantial it looks. The design is swoopy and more gorgeous in person that in pictures. The dual exhaust chrome tips and ruby red paint made me smile. The rims look better in real life. Alot actually. I get and and shut the door. Sounds good. Unlike the other cars, I actually tried out the sound system. The Bose system didn't crank out mids and highs as clear as the Max, but the bottom end was just as punchy without the rattles in the Max. I noticed the sunroof had only one button for tilt up/down and open/close like on the 3rd gen max. This car didn't have leather but for cloth, it sure felt great and looked great. This car had a black interior and it looks great. I checked around and see a generous amount of hard hollow plastic similar in feel and graininess of the Passat. Its nothing like domestic hard plastic that feels thin and cheap. I power adjusted the seats and found that there were more travel in the adjustments. I adjusted the steering wheel tilt and telescope. This is an excellent feature and I think every car SHOULD have this. I just wish these two functions where controlled with one lever instead of two seperate ones. I started the engine and to my suprise, it was quieter than the Max at idle and around town at part-throttle. Only when pushed hard is when this car lets out a meanier and throatier sound compared to the Max. I actually like it better than the Max in sound. I felt some slight vibration near redline and I pointed this out to the guy. I had to concentrate on the vibration to feel it and it was very insignificant. This car will rev to 4,000rpms with no feedback whatsoever in sound or feel. Seriously. Steering was similar to what I felt in the Passat, only it felt more connected to the road. The whole car was glued down in fast bends, no slack and softness. The ride is what I would compare to with my Uncles 323i, it has a firm edge, like a european car, but is smooths out bumps and the highway ride, I would rate as on par with a Camry, only supremely controlled. Road noise and engine noise were no-existant on the highway cruising at 75mph. I heard some slight, very slight because I had to concentrait on it to hear it, wind noise around the A-pillar. I took a different path this time and did some 40-80mph runs. This car pulled like there was no tommorrow. It felt almost as powerful or equally powerful as the Max. The gated shifter adds some degree of control, even though it doesn't have a tiptronic feature. I brought it up to 100mph and backed off. Again, we did a 0-60 run and clocked 6.8 seconds. Two people in the car with only 26miles on the Odometer. I drive some more going 50mph in 25mph S curves and so forth. I test drove this car the longest and I thought it was the best car I drove during that experience. Sorry guys We headed back to the dealer and my day goes on watching them sell cars.

If you bought your car thinking it wasn't harmed or bashed, chances are it was. Going through this experience has taught me that.

 

Great insite, Thanks

 

got cliff notes?

 

That must be where the 204 miles came from

Hehe cool story, so the Passat really isn't all that.