The limited-edition 2018 Volkswagen Passat GT wants to be a grown-up GTI

By Stephen Edelstein Published January 19, 2018

From the Golf GTI to the Jetta GLI, Volkswagen has made plenty of performance versions of its everyday models. But one model that hasn’t gotten the performance treatment is the Passat midsize sedan. VW is trying to make up for that with a new limited-edition model.

The 2018 Volkswagen Passat GT is really more show than go, but at least it’s a step in the right direction. As initially reported by Digital Trends last August, the Passat GT is a production version of a concept car that first appeared at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show. The Passat GT was designed at VW’s Engineering and Planning Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which also home to the factory that builds the U.S.-spec version of the Passat.

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The Passat GT is based on the existing Passat R-Line trim level, and gets the R-Line’s sportier-looking front bumper. But the GT also gets a model-specific honeycomb grille complete with a red stripe, just like on a Golf GTI. The GT sits on “sport suspension,” according to VW, with 19-inch “Tornado” wheels and red brake calipers. A black roof, mirror caps, and spoiler, as well as LED headlights and dark-tinted LED taillights complete the look.

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Volkswagen Passat GT — Ronan Glon/Digital Trends

Volkswagen Passat GT — Ronan Glon/Digital Trends

Volkswagen Passat GT — Ronan Glon/Digital Trends

Volkswagen Passat GT — Ronan Glon/Digital Trends

Volkswagen Passat GT — Ronan Glon/Digital Trends

Volkswagen Passat GT — Ronan Glon/Digital Trends

The interior features lots of plain black and faux carbon fiber trim, plus leatherette seats with a GT-specific black and Moonrock Gray two-tone design. Standard equipment on the GT includes heated front seats, a power driver’s seat, and a 6.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system with AppleCarPlay and Android Auto compatibility.

While it may look different than a normal Passat, the GT’s mechanical bits are largely the same. The 3.6-liter VR6 engine is shared with other versions of the Passat, and makes the same 280 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. That’s admittedly not bad for a sedan of this size, but it would have been nice if VW increased power a bit to help the GT live up to its racy styling. Drive is to the front wheels, through a six-speed DSG dual-clutch transmission.

The 2018 Volkswagen Passat GT arrives in U.S. showrooms in the second quarter of 2018. Its base price is $29,940. That includes a mandatory $850 destination charge.

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Stephen Edelstein

Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

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Audi halts vehicle deliveries to the U.S. as it mulls impact of tariffs

2021 Audi Q5

If you’d been thinking of buying an Audi, now might be the time. The German brand, owned by the Volkswagen Group, has announced it would halt shipments to the U.S. in the wake of President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on all imported vehicles.
Audi is currently holding cars that arrived after the tariffs took effect, on April 3, in U.S. ports. But it still has around 37,000 vehicles in its U.S. inventory, which should be able to meet demand for about two months, according to Reuters.
Automakers on average hold enough cars to meet U.S. demand for about three months, according to Cox Automotive.
Audi should be particularly affected by the tariffs: The Q5, its best-selling model in the U.S., is produced in Mexico, while other models, such as the A3, A4, and A6 are produced in Germany.
Holding shipments is obviously a temporary measure to buy time for Audi and parent company Volkswagen. If tariffs stay in place, vehicle prices would likely have to go up accordingly, unless some production is shifted to the U.S. Volkswagen already has a plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is planning a new plant in South Carolina. That latter plant, however, isn’t expected to be operational until 2027 and is currently dedicated to building electric vehicles for VW’s Scout Motors brand.
Other global automakers have also taken drastic measures in response to Trump’s tariffs. Jaguar Land Rover on April 5 said it is pausing shipments of its its UK-made cars to the United States this month. The British sports-luxury vehicle maker noted that the U.S. market accounts for nearly a quarter of its global sales, led by the likes of Range Rover Sports, Defenders, and Jaguar F-PACE.
And on April 3, Nissan, the biggest Japanese vehicle exporter to the United States, announced it will stop taking new U.S. orders for two Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs, the QX50 and QX55.

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Waymo faces questions about its use of onboard cameras for AI training, ads targeting

Two people exit a Waymo taxi.

In an iconic scene from the 2002 sci-fi film Minority Report, on-the-run Agent John Anderton, played by Tom Cruise, struggles to walk through a mall as he’s targeted by a multitude of personalized ads from the likes of Lexus, Guinness and American Express, everytime hidden detectors identify his eyes.
It was clearly meant as a warning about a not-so-desirable dystopian future.
Yet, 23 years later that future is at least partlially here in the online world and threatens to spread to other areas of daily life which are increasingly ‘connected’, such as the inside of cars. And the new testing grounds, according to online security researcher Jane Manchun Wong, might very well be automated-driving vehicles, such as Waymo’s robotaxis.
On X, Wong unveiled an unreleased version of Waymo’s privacy policy that suggests the California-based company is preparing to use data from its robotaxis, including interior cameras, to train generative AI models and to offer targetted ads.
“Waymo may share data to improve and analyze its functionality and to tailor products, services, ads, and offers to your interests,” the Waymo’s unreleased privacy statement reads. “You can opt out of sharing your information with third parties, unless it’s necessary to the functioning of the service.”
Asked for comments about the unreleased app update, Waymo told The Verge that it contained “placeholder text that doesn’t accurately reflect the feature’s purpose”.
Waymo’s AI-models “are not designed to use this data to identify individual people, and there are no plans to use this data for targeted ads,” spokesperson Julia Ilina said.
Waymo’s robotaxis, which are operating on the streets of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin, do contain onboard cameras that monitor riders. But Ilina says these are mainly used to train AI models for safety, finding lost items, check that in-car rules are followed, and to improve the service.
The new feature is still under development and offers riders an opportunity to opt out of data collection, Ilina says.
But as we all get used to ads targeting based on everything that’s somehow connected to the web, it seems a once-distant vision of the future may be just around the corner.

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Waymo’s driverless cars are about to begin an overseas adventure

Waymo Jaguar I-Pace

Waymo’s autonomous cars are about to appear on streets outside of the U.S. for the first time.

The company on Wednesday announced on social media that its autonomous cars will be driving onto the streets of Tokyo, Japan, “soon,” with some reports suggesting the rollout will begin as early as next week.