First Drive Impression - Volkswagen Arteon

By Martin Pretorius 

Despite traditionally dominating the budget- and small car market segments, Volkswagen hasn't really enjoyed much success in the executive or luxury car niches. Sure, the Vivo, Polo and Golf rule their respective segments, and their SUVs are selling strongly as well, but executive saloon buyers have thus far basically ignored Volkswagen's best efforts.

Take the excellent Passat as an example: Since its re-introduction to local shores in the early 2000s, it has had very little impact on the sales dominance of the A4, 3-Series and C-Class. Not even the introduction of a “four-door coupé” could make any significant impact on this badge-conscious market niche, as the criminally under-appreciated CC proved. Now, Volkswagen is taking a different approach, by bringing their all-new Arteon to local shores and aiming at a slightly different kind of buyer: the one who doesn't want a saloon or coupé, but may consider a grand tourer.

A four-door coupé by any other name...

Volkswagen's marketing people make a big song and dance about the Arteon's “Touring Car” status, but its layout still says “four-door coupé”, albeit a particularly spacious example of this genre. The Arteon uses a version of the MQB platform, which also does duty in the current Polo, Golf, Passat and Tiguan models. This is the largest variant we've yet seen in South Africa, and it rides on the longest wheelbase and the widest track of all MQB cars thus far. The roof is very low and the cabin, with its sloping rear windscreen, is pushed rearwards as far as the front-wheel drive platform would allow, fitting the Arteon neatly into the contemporary four-door coupé envelope.

It looks suitably suave and sporty, and projects an upmarket image which will turn heads in the upmarket suburbs into which Volkswagen aims this car. There's enough futurism on display to impress the tech-savvy as well, with full-LED lighting and sequential indicator strips signalling the Arteon's ambition of matching (or even out-doing) the lighting displays on offer in its two main German opponents. The consensus among admiring real-life onlookers and social media commentators points towards some serious “kerbside appeal”- The Arteon is a seriously good-looking car.

It's very nice inside as well.

Volkswagen is currently on a roll as far as interior quality goes, and the Arteon doesn't disrupt this trend. The cabin will immediately be familiar to anyone with some prior MQB experience, as it follows the same design cues and uses similar controls. Volkswagen's latest Composition Media infotainment system takes pride of place in the middle of the dashboard, with touch-screen interfaces in either 6.5 or 9.2-inch sizes.

The top-level (optional) Discover Pro system includes the big screen, navigation, and gesture control. Volkswagen's pretty digital dashboard also makes an appearance (standard on the range-topping R-line variants), as does a head-up display (again, optional).

Seats are trimmed in Nappa leather, the plastics are pleasingly squishy, and it's all screwed together very nicely. There's also a surprising amount of interior space, given that low roof, and only the tallest rear-seat passengers will find their heads scraping against the roof liner. Cabin width and legroom all round is excellent, and there's enough room for five large-ish occupants to tackle long-distance journeys. Meanwhile, the boot will easily swallow all their luggage as well, given its capacity of 563 litres.

The go matches the show... mostly.

The South African Arteon range offers only two engine options, both turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinders, in either diesel or petrol flavours. The former is Volkswagen's “performance diesel”, as seen in the Golf GTD. Offering 130 kW and 350 Nm, it is paired with a 6-speed DSG transmission sending power only to the front wheels. Performance is... adequate, but can't really cash the cheques written by the car's assertive styling.

There's a nice slug of mid-range torque, and it's smooth and effortless in traffic, but it quickly loses interest when faced with any enthusiastic motoring. The 2.0 TDI specializes in efficiency, with a quoted average consumption figure of 5.6 ℓ/100 km, and is available in both entry-level Elegance and sporty-looking R-Line trim.

Things are considerably perkier in the petrol Arteon, where Volkswagen's versatile 2.0 TSI mill sends 206 kW and 350 Nm into the new-generation 7-speed DSG gearbox, before deploying it to all four wheels. Think of it as a larger, sleeker Golf R, and you're partway there. It's tuned rather differently in this application, however, with an emphasis on unobtrusive smoothness rather than outright sportiness.

Gear changes are noticeably less aggressive than those of the Golf; pull-aways and accelerator responses are just a touch softer, and there's no sign of the hot Golf's “vrrrrr-phaa” soundtrack, even with Sport mode engaged. At least it's still plenty quick in spite of this emphasis on refinement, with a claimed 0-100 km/h sprint time of 5.6 seconds and a governed top speed of 250 km/h.

It's dynamically gifted, too.

Don't imagine that its refinement implies soggy dynamics, as the Arteon is very adept in this department as well. The adaptive suspension soaks up road imperfections with aplomb, yet maintains strong damping of body motions when driven with enthusiasm. Volkswagen employs their variable ratio steering rack on all derivatives, and it works particularly well in this application: the car's front end is eager to bite into corners and determinedly resists understeer, while the stability control allows the independently-sprung rear end to tighten the car's cornering lines before intervening.

This is even more noticeable in the 4Motion-equipped petrol variant, where the AWD system adds unbreakable traction to a very competent chassis. It's very safe and sure-footed, and allows the Arteon 2.0 TSI to cover ground at an impressively rapid rate. The driving experience may be slightly sanitized because it's almost too good, but that's precisely why the Golf R is so popular as well: it's a very quick point-to-point car which doesn't need the driver to micro-manage every centimetre of road travelled.

What about the toys?

Well, apart from the aforementioned digital dashboard and big-screen infotainment, all Arteons come with full-LED headlights with automatic high-beam control. The R-Line adds dynamic cornering lights, a massaging driver's seat, panoramic sunroof and adaptive cruise control (optional in Elegance trim), while keyless entry and 3-zone climate control is standard across the range.

Other options include the high-level infotainment system, surround-view cameras, 20-inch alloy wheels (Elegance uses 18-inchers, and R-Line has 19-inch wheels as standard), and an electrically-folding tow hitch.

Pricing?

The Arteon 2.0 TDI Elegance opens the range at R 599 900, followed by the 2.0 TDI R-Line at R649 900, with the 2.0 TSI R-Line 4Motion costing R699 900. That's a lot of money for a non-premium branded car, but there's a fairly compelling case to be made for the 2.0 TSI 4Motion in particular. It undercuts the equivalent (AWD 2.0T) A5 Sportback by around R80 000, and costs about R60 000 less than a similarly-equipped BMW 430i Gran Coupé, while offering considerably more power and a higher standard specification level than either of them.

With its own set of virtues (drop-dead gorgeous styling, spacious and high-quality cabin, and potent engine), the Arteon 2.0 TSI is an attractive alternative to the other two Germans. Meanwhile, the 2.0 TDI variants will appeal to those who want to look pretty while being sensible. Either way, the Arteon has what it takes to succeed... if enough buyers can set aside their badge snobbery. Let's hope they do.