World premiere in Geneva: The VW Arteon. The Wolfsburg bring a five-door Gran Turismo to Switzerland, which is located above the Passat. The five-seater is designed to combine design elements of a sports car with the elegance and space of a fastback - a hatchback. With its standard LED headlights and other new elements results in a whole new front end. To make it airy inside, the Wolfsburg offers a long wheelbase and a large tailgate, behind which hide at least 563 liters of boot volume. We take a closer look at the new VW Arteon.
The VW Arteon wants to be a real GT
The Wolfsburg expand their portfolio to the avant-garde Grand Tursimo VW Arteon and want to arrive in business class. A similar way is currently Kia with the Stinger. The typical sobriety that is so often found at Volkswagen should not be the only pillar on which the design of the Lower Saxony is based. Klaus Bischoff, chief designer at Volkswagen, says that you want to touch the heart AND the mind with the design of the Arteon. For this, the highly functional overall concept was given athletic lines. Form and function go hand in hand here. The VW Arteon has a long wheelbase of 2,84 m and a wide roof line. The space in the rear, especially the legroom, should benefit greatly from this. With a total length of 4,86 m and a width of 1,87 m, the Arteon has clearly arrived in the field of the upper middle class. Nevertheless, it is surprisingly flat at 1,42 m.
In addition, the practical benefits come not too short: The large tailgate provides access to the stately trunk and creates a lot of variability. At least 563 liters of basic volume are available, which can be extended up to 1.557 liters. Thanks to the stretched proportions combined with good space, the MQB - the modular cross-construction kit. Cross is here for the front transversely mounted engines. That creates space.
However, the formal language is not really new, since we know it from the beginning Passat CCwho was later called CC only. But the VW Arteon sets - not least by its size - higher. In addition, he starts a kind of starting signal for a new design language. This can be seen most clearly in the newly developed front end. Here, the hood extends far forward and pulls over the fenders. In addition, there is a radiator grille, which extends over the entire vehicle width. Interesting here are the standard LED headlights, which merge with the chrome crossbars of the grill. In addition to the powerful shoulder line and the muscular fenders, the pronounced wheel arches stand out with up to 20 inch rims. You can also choose between the two lines Elegance and R-Line, which meet their respective name.
Flagship for Europe - for the time being
Settled is the VW Arteon, as mentioned, above the Passat and thus marks the top of the model range at Wolfsburg. The Phaeton there is no more and that VW Phideon is initially only intended for the Chinese market. Due to its production in Emden, the Arteon is not only reserved for Europe, but a kind of world product. From here, thanks to the tactically smart choice of location, it can be shipped all over the world. The starting shot for Germany will be given in mid-June.
The engines are familiar. Here is the VW Arteon on six turbo direct injection. All rely on four cylinders and will develop in the first two power levels 150 and 190 PS - both the gasoline as well as the diesels. The strongest TSI will be an 2.0 liter petrol engine with 280 PS, the most powerful diesel an 2.0 TDI with 240 PS. All drives, with the exception of the entry level petrol, will be available with DSG. The top engines get the dual-clutch transmission as standard as the four-wheel drive 4Motion.
Advanced technology for the VW Arteon
Technically, in this Gran Turismo much is familiar from other VW models. For example, the new 9,2 inches big infotainment with gesture control or the Active Info Display installed. But the Wolfsburg have upgraded. This is how innovative assistance and comfort systems come into play in the VW Arteon. Including the next generation adaptive distance control, which takes into account speed limits and automatically adjusts the speed. In addition, a new, dynamic cornering light with predictive control over GPS and road data of the navigation system will be found. In addition, the Wolfsburg show the second generation of the Emergency Assistant. If the system detects a health-related failure of the driver, it slows down as part of the safety systems and steers, taking into account the traffic at the rear, on the right lane. Another step in the direction of autonomous driving would be made.