Description

The B5 Passat was offered in a bunch of different trims and configurations but the rarest of them all was the top trim W8. It turned what was normally considered to be a pretty normal family sedan into a luxurious Autobahn storming machine.

The first W engine that Volkswagen made was a W18 which appeared in the EB118 Bugatti concept vehicle. They made this engine by combining three of their VR6 engines. The intent was to provide compact yet powerful engines as opposed to the larger V6 and V8 engines.

The first W engine to appear in a production vehicle was the Volkswagen Passat with the W8 from 2001 through 2004. This engine was created by mating two VR4 cylinder blocks together with one common crankshaft. This resulted in a 4.0L W8 producing 270HP and 273 lb-feet of torque. This small 8-cylinder engine was able to be mounted transversely in what are normally front-wheel drive cars. The Passat may seem like an odd choice for this engine but the W8 fit neatly into the engine bay that until then could only accommodate up to a V6. The W8 Passat was meant to be a bridge into the luxury segment for Volkswagen which had the Phaeton on the way.

This W8 Passat comes with the rare 6-Speed manual. Only 424 were ever imported over the entire production run. Even rarer is that it is painted in Indigo Blue of which only two were ever imported with the manual and this color combination.

This car has been well cared for and has been owned by our presenter Brendan for roughly two years. The common failure point of the W8 engine is the camshaft adjusters and the previous owner said that this had been fixed. Mechanically this car is in great shape with no known issues. It does have a modified exhaust where the mufflers have been replaced by straight pipes but the rest of the exhaust is original.

It does have a few cosmetic flaws. The first is the screen in the instrument cluster has lost a lot of its pixels which is a common issue with this generation of Volkswagens and Audis. It also has a fog light bulb out as well as some rock chips on the front of the car. Otherwise, the interior and exterior are both in great shape.