The Passat W8 MOTION weighs in at an opulent 3,847 pounds, so with the 271-horsepower engine, you get a power-to-weight ratio of 0.07-horsepower-per-pound.

The Passat has become a successful midsize model for Volkswagen, both in its sedan and wagon configuration. With the new W8 engine VW takes the Passat to new heights.

The 2002 Passat W8 is an important departure for the automaker. It is the first VW-brand car powered by an eight-cylinder engine. The 4.0-liter W8 produces 270 hp and 273 pounds-feet of torque.

Volkswagen offered the 4.0-liter Passat W8 4Motion, and Audi, the 6.0-liter A8 W12, whose engine went on to power the VW Phaeton, Bentley Continental GT and record-setting W12 Nardo.

Around town, the W8 Passat drives beautifully with peak torque of 370 Nm available at 2750 rpm but spin the engine beyond 4000 rpm and the W8's performance moves into sports car class.

The 4.0-liter W8 featured two narrow-angle 15-degree VR4 cylinder blocks arranged on a common crankshaft at an angle of 72 degrees. It delivered 275 hp and 273 lb-ft (370 Nm) of torque and the ...

That would all change in late 2001 with the introduction of the W8 engine in the newly restyled Passat. Alarmingly described in retrospect as a 'test bed' for later W12 and W16 engines, that motor ...

A Passat, of any generation with any engine, doesn’t sound interesting when it drives by—it just sounds like any other normie car. But the Passat W8 had the rumble of something exotic.

MUNICH, Germany --The W-8 engine configuration may be dead. Volkswagen AG has stopped producing the Passat W8 model because of slow sales, says CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder. It was the only vehicle to ...

The problem is that when the same Passat, now called a W8, starts costing closer to $40K, there are Mercedes C-Class wagons--and even the $39,300 BMW 5 series wagon--with which to contend.

Enter the 2002 Passat W8, a car that boasts two VW firsts–its first 8-cylinder engine, a no-doubt-about-it hint that “high mileage” wasn’t the motivation, and the “almost $40,000 ...