VW Passat Alltrack: UK price & spec revealed

VW Passat Alltrack - starts at £28,475

Volkswagen has revealed price and specifications for the VW Passat Alltrack. Arrives in the UK in May from £28,475.

Volkswagen revealed the VW Passat Alltrack, a 4WD rufty-tufty, jacked-up Passat Estate back in November ahead of a public debut in Tokyo, and the promise of the first Alltracks in showrooms by April. Well, they weren’t far off with the new Passat Alltrack now due to land in VW UK showrooms at the end of May.

As you’ve doubtless realised, the Passat Alltrack is VW’s answer to their own A6 Allroad and the ‘better than you probably think’ Volvo XC70 we reviewed recently and offers an answer to the questions not a huge number of car buyers ask: Can I have an SUV that looks like an estate car?

In the Volvo and – to a lesser degree – the A6 Allroad you can, and we’d expect that the Passat Alltrack will probably offer a muddy ruts solution of sorts, although as VW chooses not to send us cars to review we’ll not get the chance to test it properly and see for ourselves.

The promise is reasonable with an off-road driving programme from the Tiguan (which, in truth, is really a soft-roader) which tweaks the ABD and EDS and throws in Hill Descent to give you a better than fighting chance of keeping things together on slippery stuff. But don’t expect the Alltrack to do what the XC70 can.

VW are keeping it simple for the Alltrack models with just a single trim level and a choice of two engines – the 138bhp 2.0 litre TDI with manual ‘box or the 168bhp vesion with a 6 speed DSG.

Whichever engine you choose you’ll get Alcantara upholstery (we still don’t understand why you’d want that on a car that can go muddy places), Climate, SatNav, DAB, iPod connection, Bluetooth, Cruise, Parking Sensors, Dozy Driver Alert, Tyre Pressure Monitoring and 18″ alloys. A perfectly good spec.

But you can spend more without trying too hard, with stuff like Climate Massage Seats, High Beam Assist, Lane Change Assist, ACC (adaptive Chassis Control), Distance Control, Park Assist, Ambient Lighting…the list goes on.

But if you can keep your eyes off the options list you can have the manual version of the Passat Alltrack with the 138bhp engine for £28,475 and the 168bhp with DSG (do opt for this one) for £31,025.

Are the prices keen enough on the Passat Alltrack to attract buyers? We’re not too sure. The Volvo XC70 starts at £31k for the D3 ES and, although it’s a much older design than the Passat, it’s probably a lot more able.

But the new Audi A6 Allroad has jumped in price to start at a rather chunky £43k, so maybe VW are just looking to mop up sales from Allroad lovers who can’t, or won’t, pay the price for an Allroad?