Mazda MX5, Eunos & Interesting Cars For Sale
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New Import; VW Passat W8 4Motion Estate

I've got a bit of a thing for estate cars - they often look so much better than the equivalent saloon. And I've also got a thing for big engines, especially if that big engine happens to be a V8. Even bigger and better than a V8 is a W8, a rarely seen configuration but thats what we have in the VW Passat that we are now importing from Japan. Most people don't even know that these things exist. In fact if you want an ultra-discreet quick car, the four exhaust tailpipes are one of the few exteriors items to give the game away.

Its a slightly crazy idea from the normally very sensible people at Volkswagen. Stick a 4.0 flat-plane crank quad camshaft 275bhp W8 into a fairly common Passat, add four wheel drive and then ask around £38000 for it (in 2002). Apparently at the time it was the most expensive engine that VW had ever produced, which makes even less sense when you consider that so few were ever produced. Less than 5000 ended up in the US while just 246 were sold in the UK. Another stupid but true fact is that the Passat W8 had the third heaviest battery ever fitted to a passenger car at the time.

Ours is a 2002 low mileage example Grade 4 car finished in Royal Blue metallic with tan leather seats. The W8 engine is mated to a 5 speed automatic tiptronic gearbox and the 4Motion 4wd system is a tried and tested idea that uses a Torsen central dif that allows the car to operate at a 50/50 torque allocation until one axle begins to slip, and then it sends more torque to the axle with the greatest adhesion. Very clever and it works well.

Car and Driver magazine tested one of these and managed a 0-60mph time of 6.9 seconds (in the auto' box version) but they reckoned there was more to come as the engine wasn't run in yet. Top speed is limited to 155mph but getting rid of the limiter (via a simple remap apparently) means 170mph + is achievable. I'm guessing that its not quite as economical as a Passat 1,9tdi though...

Ours is due to arrive in a few weeks time and condition is excellent throughout, especially underneath. We'll service it, check it over thoroughly , give it 12 months MOT and ensure that its correctly UK registered. Price is £6495. A deposit will secure it now.


STATUS: Deposit now taken
  • Home
  • Cars & parts for sale
    • New Cars Due in Soon
    • Mazda MX5 1.6 Mk2 Low Miles & Full Service History
    • Mazda Eunos 1.6 in Mariner Blue
    • Mazda Eunos 1.8 1993
    • New Import: Eunos 1.8 S-Special in Laguna Blue
    • Eunos 1.6 V-Special - Recently imported from Japan
    • New Import: Eunos R-Ltd in White
    • Mercedes ML55 AMG - Superb
    • New Import; VW Passat W8 4Motion Estate
    • Mercedes C320CDi 3.0TD Avantgarde Estate
    • Mazda Eunos 1.6 1992 in Red
    • New Import: Mercedes 190E 2.6
    • Previous Imports Gallery
  • Standards
  • MX5/Eunos Buying Guide Part 1
  • MX5/Eunos Buying Guide Part 2
  • Running an MX5
  • Mazda MX5 & Eunos Model Guide
  • Links
  • Latest News
  • Terms, Conditions and other Trivia
  • Mazda Hood Fitting Service
  • Contact
  • My Eunos Hillclimb Exploits
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