Volkswagen Phaeton: Guilty Pleasures

The Phaeton has recently been axed from the UK, and many won't miss it - Matt will though

By Matt Bird / Wednesday, 8 July 2015 / Loading comments

Despite the opinions of an unfair few and a weird obsession with America, I am not a flashy person. Reserved, diffident and subtle is just fine actually, which is why the VW Phaeton appeals so much. Well it's one of many reasons actually, but the rather dowdy appearance seems like as good as place as any to start.

Nondescript? Fine. Good, in fact

As luxury cars, indeed all cars, become visually more dramatic and bold, there's something increasingly quite plesant about the plain old Phaeton. For ultimate under the radar luxury, surely there's little to match it. The conservative look, combined with the VW badge, didn't help new sales; it hardly screams wealth and success, does it? But even from launch I've had a soft spot for its incredibly understated opulence, the ability to deliver the full luxobarge sensation behind a fairly humdrum badge. The Bentley link only strengthens the appeal, the impression of the poor old VW never quite getting the credit it deserves because of a perceived image problem.

I should qualify this by saying I've never actually driven a Phaeton. However, having consulted What Car? (a sensible sort of car deserves a sensible sort of opinion, right?) there's good news: "A superbly built, reliable and understated executive express." Apparently it's not the most dynamic luxury saloon - who cares?

The involvement of Ferdinand Piech in the project is another key factor of the Phaeton fascination. Of course it's not remembered as well as his other successes but that same meticulous attention to detail is there in its development: a Phaeton W12 had to be capable of driving at 186mph in an extenal temperature of 50 degrees while maintaining an interior temperature of 22 degrees. Allegedly. But I love the idea of it being overengineered, of incredible development goals being set and eventually reached.

Who cares about the badge, look at this!

Rumour goes as well that the Phaeton was a response to the Mercedes A-Class; that car was seen as Merc infringing on VW's domain and the Phaeton was intended to steal a few luxury saloon sales from Benz. Obviously that didn't quite work out, and it could all be hearsay, but it's a nice story nonetheless.

And there's a V10 diesel. As cars continually move to a powertrain uniformity, that period in the early 2000s where daft engines found their way into strange vehicles looks even better. V6 in a Clio? Nice. Passat W8? Even better. Rotary engines? Who cares about fuel, feel the smoothness! The V10 used in the Phaeton and Touareg is one of those engines. Today 300hp diesels are more plentiful but 313hp was really something back in 2003, or so it seemed. There was 553lb ft also, a sub-seven second sprint to 62mph and, er, 25mpg. Oh. But, personally speaking of course, the curio appeal of a 10-cylinder diesel still hasn't waned. I would love to know to know of any PHer experience with them.

So that's it really. I like the Phaeton because it's largely unloved, because it was developed by one of the world's greatest engineers and because it can be had with an interesting engine. I even think it looks good, especially on BBS wheels. But a disturbing fondness for the Euro scene is a discussion for another blog...