Rush Hour: Loads of space, style and speed in new VW Arteon

The new Volkswagen Arteon is in many ways like a suped-up Passat. The 2.0 TDI model I drove, beautiful oryx white in colour, was quite superb.

The fuel tank is 66 litres. It comes with a three-year/120 000km warranty, three-year/45 000km service plan and service intervals of 15 000km.

Fuel consumption (combined) 5.6 litres/100km.

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A quick look from the outside reveals a sleek exterior appearance that is sportier than expected. On the inside, it’s all about space, space and then some more space.

And we haven’t even gotten to the boot space yet. Officially luggage capacity is 563 litres, but in the early morning pre-dawn light (when packing the car for the day) I could barely see the end of it.

It’s so deep that you could pack a lot of luggage therein. No need to cram, but if you have small children, you’ll know that cramming luggage is a foregone conclusion on any trip, no matter how far you are going or for how long.

In terms of in-cabin technology there’s a lot going on… reverse camera, a park assist that beeps so loudly you don’t need a hearing aid, and more. Much more.

Options fitted include: pearlescent paint, an electronically detachable towbar, a DynAudio Confidence sound system, titanium black leather trim, plus adaptive cruise control with front assist Rosario 20″ alloy wheels.

Performance in the six-speed vehicle was put to the test when running late for a recent golf game.

I needed to get from Oslo Beach to Southbroom in a big hurry.

“No problem,” I thought, “I’ll hop on the toll road.” The only hassle was that I discovered someone in the home had taken my cash.

When I got to the garage to draw some money the ATM was out of order.

I took a deep breath and decided on taking the back road as I figured Marine Drive would be very busy.

This seemed like a good option until the Gamalakhe traffic lights.

I’d forgotten about the jazz festival which was on the go, and was turned around by police.

Those back roads are great for testing road-handling and the Arteon took to the challenge with vigour.

With power of 130kW at 4000rpm it fairly flew along.

Zero to hundred is 8.7 seconds and off the mark acceleration is impressive. (Peak torque of 350Nm is reached at 3500rpm.)

My last option was to stop at the Southcoast Mall petrol station. It was also out of order!

“You can try, sometimes it works,” said an optimistic cashier. It did, thankfully.

From there the lead boot was applied to the accelerator as the white car shot effortlessly southwards.

Top speed is listed at 220km/h but obviously I drove nowhere near that.

I made my golf game with one minute to spare and promptly carved the opening tee shot over some trees, dams and then more trees!

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