Putting Off The Passing of the Sedan With The New Passat GT

The steady descent curve of the sedan format in the face of the SUV and crossover onslaught is incontrovertible. And yet even as the proverbial pilot has signaled the warning that the plane is going down, cars like the Volkswagen Passat GT offer a fresh, fun and really affordable midsize sport sedan that really connects with the driver.

This sport styled, tuned and accessorized version of the long running VW Passat is smart looking with classic lines and rakish touches like red accent line around the blacked out front grill framing a polished VW logo. In the middle of the pack of seven Passat variants the GT comes on strong for the competitively relaxed price of $30,000.

The hot action on the roadway is powered by a very satisfying 280 horsepower V6 engine that really is at the top of its class for this price point. The familiarly German engineering of the VW Passat translates that power into a boisterous sprinter off the line and an amazingly supple handling sedan.

Inside the spare but attentively executed passenger cabin the faux carbon fiber touches set the tone along with GT logo plates on the door sills and the dash get heated front seats, a sunroof, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, blind-spot monitoring, forward collision warning, and automatic emergency braking.