Apart from having the longest name in VW's sedan-car line-up, the VW Passat 3.2 V6 FSI Sportline DSG 4Motion is also the most expensive model in the range. At R339 000 it's not a people's car but, ironically, it's one of the biggest bargains on the market.
The Passat was always the frumpy, dowdy Plain Jane of VW's range, with its emphasis on big spacious bodies and small, economical engines.
In Europe they were sold mostly to family men and taxi drivers, but the latest Passat has had both an image and a power boost.
It's still a spacious family car but this one is aimed at a younger, trendier buyer. The styling has been brightened with lashings of chrome, especially around the grille, and the inclusion of several powerful engines in the range means you can finally use the words performance and Passat in the same sentence.
The latest Passat is physically bigger than the model it replaces, as seems normal these days. It's 10mm higher, 74mm wider and 62mm longer for an overall length of 4.77m - not a small car by any stretch of the imagination.
The Sportline trim package gives the range-topping Passat a much sportier image, adding 17" Le Mans alloy rims, low-profile tyres, front fog lights, leather-rimmed steering wheel, leather seats, lowered suspension and, most important, a 3.2-litre direct-injection V6 engine combined with an all-wheel drive system that VW calls 4Motion.
The 3189cc V6 engine punches out a claimed 184kW (that's 250bhp in the old money) at 6200prm and a hefty 320Nm at 3200rpm, enough to power the Passat V6 from 0 - 100km/h time in 6.9 seconds, says VW, while top speed is just short of the magic 250km/h. Not bad for a 1660kg car.
It didn't take long behind the wheel for a nagging thought to come to mind: the Passat V6 4Motion is essentially a luxury car despite its sporty pretensions.
The seats are wonderfully comfortable, the ride quiet and smooth and the roadholding and handling top class. You could put an Audi or Mercedes badge on this car and nobody would know the difference.
And that's where the bargain bit comes in. At R339 000 the V6 is cheaper than the Mercedes C280 Elegance, the three-litre Peugeot, the Audi A6 2.4 Multitronic and even the Audi A4 3.2 Multitronic. The Passat 3.2 represents very good value for money, for anyone looking for a car with space and pace.
There were three things that really impressed me about this car - the seating, the gearbox and the boot.
To-ing and fro-ing
Getting the right seating position in a Passat is a mission, mostly because VW's seating system offers an infinitely variable array of positions. Moving the driver's seat backwards and forwards is done manually, with a handle under the seat, but tilting the seat back is done using an electric switch.
You raise and lower the seat manually, courtesy of a handle alongside the seat, but the lumbar support is controlled electrically with a four-button control switch. In addition, the steering is raised and lowered manually.
It takes a whole lot of to-ing and fro-ing and upping and downing to get the seat position right, but once you've cracked the system you can find the perfect position.
The second thing that impressed me about the new Passat V6 is the six-speed DSG (direct shift gearbox) automatic transmission.
VW's DSG system has been around for a while but this was the first time I'd ever used it. Essentially, it's three gearboxes in one. You can choose to leave it in normal Drive and the box will make the changes for you. In fact, the changes are so smooth that they're almost imperceptible.
But it also has a manual sequential option. Move the gear lever over to the left and you can make the changes by in sequence just like on a motorcycle. Or you can choose to use the paddle shifters behind the steering wheel.
Paddle shifters
Now, I hate paddle shifters with a passion. Normally they're slow and clumsy, even on such magnificent vehicles as Maserati's Quattroporte. But VW's DSG system is lightning-quick and the gear changes are just as imperceptible as they are on the conventional box.
It's light years ahead of systems such as Alfa's horrid Selespeed and even BMW's SMG transmission.
And then there's the boot. Man, does this thing have a boot. VW claims 472 litres of storage but that doesn't even begin to describe it. With my shins against the back bumper, leaning as far forward as I could, I couldn't reach the rear seatback even with my fingers outstretched - and I'm 1.9m tall. You could probably move house in that boot.
Complaints? Only two, and they're not major. The water temperature and fuel gauges are recessed deep into a panel ahead of the driver and I found them difficult to read properly. I'm the kind of driver who wants the fuel gauge right in his face.
Secondly, the firm suspension doesn't care for our South African back roads. The car runs smoothly on major highways but on bumpy corrugations the suspension just refuses to soak up the bumps, and the ride is jiggly, sometimes bordering on harsh.
SUMMARY
It may be marketed as a sporty sedan, but the VW Passat V6 4Motion does a very good impression of a luxury car. The engine and gearbox are superb and the car is wonderfully comfortable and spacious.
The only real luxury item missing is a rear park sensor, because that huge boot makes gauging the whereabouts of the rear bumper quite difficult.
The sad thing is that the Passat will probably be overlooked by many luxury sedan buyers because of its name, its badge and its fuddy-duddy image.
Well, that's their loss, because this Passat is a serious bit of kit at a bargain-basement price.